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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Crypto Prices Fall; U.S. SEC Delays Three Bitcoin ETF Proposals: Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices fell on Tuesday in Asia following news that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed its decision on three Bitcoin exchange-traded fund proposals. Proposals by VanEck SolidX, Bitwise Asset Management and Wilshire Phoenix were delayed till mid-October, according to the SEC document released overnight. "The Commission finds its appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider this proposed rule change," the document said. In June, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said that the regulator must first feel comfortable with the safety of Bitcoin custodial services before it could move ahead on an ETF. Prices of major cryptocurrencies dropped following the news. Bitcoin slipped 0.1% to $11,392.3 by 12:09 AM ET (04:09 GMT). Ethereum was down 1.6% to $209.00, XRP lost 1.4%, while Litecoin dropped 4.5% to $84.785. Meanwhile, reports that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) may release its own digital currency remained in focus. Earlier this week, local media reported that the virtual coin was "almost ready" for release. According to CNBC, researchers at the central bank have been working on the cryptocurrency for five years. "Personally, I'm still struggling to understand the advantage of this over the current system," Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at trading platform eToro, said in a note on Monday cited by CNBC. "Something tells me that this is a a completely different animal from what we know as cryptocurrencies." Last month, the PBOC said Facebook's own cryptocurrency, Libra, should come under central bank oversight. Meanwhile, in a report, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said the recent fall in Bitcoin is an opportunity to buy on weakness "as long as it doesn't retrace further than the $9,084 low." Related Articles Story continues European blockchain company Bitfury launches artificial intelligence unit Crypto Derivatives Exchange Blade Raises $4.3M From Coinbase and Others Binance’s Trust Wallet Releases Desktop App for MacOS || Largest Bitcoin ATM Network Coinme Raises New Funding from Ripple’s Xpring: Coinme, which provides kiosks and ATMs for digital currencies, raised $1.5 million in a Series A-1 financing round that included Ripple’s subsidiary Xpring and Blockchain Finance Fund, the company said.
Proceeds from the fundingwill be used for additional licensing to expand its U.S. and international coverage.
Co-founder and CEO Neil Bergquist told CoinDesk that Coinme is licensed to operate bitcoin ATMs in 29 states and will apply for further state licenses in the near future. As for international markets, Coinme has set its eyes on Europe, Central and South America given the high popularity of cryptocurrencies in these countries, Bergquist added.
Related:Police in Spain Say Bitcoin ATMs Expose Problems in Europe’s AML Laws
Xpring is Ripple’s developer initiativethat focuses its investments in blockchain technology companies and is the firm’s first investment in the bitcoin kiosk industry.
Bergquist said Coinme raised $4.5 million in total in its previous financing, including $3.5 million in convertible debt, partly from Coinstar over the last few years, and $1.5 million from a venture fund in early 2017.
With more than 2,500 locations, Coinme currently services the largest bitcoin kiosk network in the world. Coinme began as a bitcoin exchange in 2014 and integrated its services with the coin-to-cash Coinstar machines in January.
The Coinstar kiosks allow customers to exchange bills and coins for a code sent to their mobile device that can be used to redeem up to $2,500 of crypto. The partnership was announced earlier this year with the kiosks mainly placed in public venues such as supermarkets.
Related:Coinstar Expands Bitcoin Buying Service to Cover 21 US States
Crypto kiosks and Bitcoin ATMs have quickly grown in popularity as coin use proliferates.
Data from Coin ATM Radar shows a nearly five-fold increase in the number of active crypto ATM installations since 2017. Earlier this summer, bitcoin ATMLibertyXsurpassed 1,000 kiosks under service.
Outside of the kiosks, Coinme provides concierge trading, high-volume transactions for institutional investors, and cryptocurrency retirement options such as a self-directed IRA and 401(k). Bergquist said one of the services provides white-gloved transaction services to high-net-worth individuals with a minimum investment of $5,000.
The new funding will also go towards developing online wallets for retail investors to help them use cryptocurrencies for payments and remittance.
ATM image via CoinDesk archives
• 2,000 More US Grocery Stores Enable Bitcoin Buying at Coinstar Machines
• NYDFS Grants BitLicense to Third Bitcoin ATM Operator || 5 Top Stock Trades for Thursday: WMT, BABA, LOW, XLNX, Bitcoin: Global stock markets are still trading violently but the U.S. equities are still battling close to the all-time highs. So the upside potential is still viable. Wednesday we saw strong earnings reports. This confirm that there are still stock trades to hunt in spite of the geopolitical risks and rhetoric.
Our five stock trade to watch for Thursday include:Walmart(NYSE:WMT),Lowe’s(NYSE:LOW),Alibaba(NYSE:BABA),Xilinx(NASDAQ:XLNX), and Bitcoin
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
WMT stock is near all time highs and for good reason. The company has taken the fight toAmazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) head on and it’s doing well against this formidable opponent.
Investors loved the earnings report last week and WMT stock rallied 8% on the headline. From here, there could be better entry points for the short term. WMT stock is vulnerable to fade and a retest of $110 per share. Maybe even fill the gap $2 lower. But for the long term, this company will continue to deliver and adapt to the market demands. If I am long WMT already, then I stay long. Otherwise I would buy the dips for the long term.
• The 10 Best Marijuana Stocks to Buy Now
Wednesday,Target(NYSE:TGT) stock soared as they reported a strong quarter. This confirms the strength of the U.S. consumer spending and operational success. Both companies are winners because of strong execution. WMT is employing technology trend to better compete with AMZN one to one and beat it.
LOW stock spiked today after a strong earnings report. The investor expectations were tepid going into the event so it made for an easy hurdle. This however is not the time to pile into LOW stock and chase this rally.
The reason the expectations were low is because it has a long history of trailing its competitionHome Depot(NASDAQ:HD). I believe this continues until we get several reports to prove otherwise. Case in point, HD stock is up 26% year-to-date which 60% better than LOW. This is also true for the last five year stats.
So if I took in profits from the LOW stock reaction to earnings, I would book it for now. From here, it carries the risk of a fade to fill the gap below especially if markets in general correct. This is not the same as shorting the stock.
So if I want to remain constructive on the segment, I would rotate my risk into HD stock instead. This one is sitting at another breakout line. Even though the LOW report shows domestic comparable sales beat those of HD, over the long term HD stock has performed better thanks to more consistent management execution.
BABA stock has an interesting setup brewing. It will be tough to trigger but the reward if they do so is great. If the BABA stock bulls can break above $180, they can target $192 per share or higher. It won’t be easy and there will be resistance at the neckline and at $185.
For a while, BABA stock has been lurking just under this breakout level and doing it from higher lows. But this is a steep rising wedge which leaves the stock vulnerable to pullbacks. If the general markets cooperate then BABA will make this happen; it’s a matter of time.
This would then fill an old gap and also places it at a was prior fail. The interesting part is that was also a neckline that if bulls can break could carry it to $200 per share or higher.
On pullbacks, BABA stock could fade to $170 which is just above its yearly point of control where bulls and bears loved to fight.
XLNX stock is no stranger to headlines. The whole chip sector has been in the line of fire in the economic war between the US and China. XLNX stock moves more on headlines extrinsic to its own execution than not.
But Tuesday XLNX fell on headlines of possible “unpatchable” security flaw in its equipment. So this is a rare dump from intrinsic problems. Nevertheless, this dip places XLNX sock at a place with it makes sense that it mounts a rally soon.
XLNX stock bulls defended the $100 mark hard on the May correction and yesterday’s scare didn’t even come near it. So as long as the support band below holds, it is likely that XLNX makes another run at $120 per share. There will be resistance at $109 and $113, but if the general markets rally then XLNX can slice through them and reach it major accident scene from the end of July.
Since the love-fest with bitcoin of 2017 the interest in the digital coin has not abated. While it’s not hogging the headline it is still a hot debate. Skepticism is high so Bitcoin has a questionable reputation on main street and Wall Street.
Both extremes are wrong when it comes to bitcoin. It has value because people say so. This is no different than gold. Bitcoin and gold are rare and people want them so they will continue to be valuable on that assumption. Critics say that it’s used for illicit activities and to that I say that so is cash. At least with bitcoin, they always leave an electronic trace. Furthermore, FIAT cash only has value because the people say so. So in essence cash and bitcoin are more similar than we think.
What’s the best place to buy bitcoin? This depends on time frame. If I am buying it like gold as a long term investment then timing really doesn’t matter much. But there are clues on the charts to offer some guidance. Bitcoin price here is falling into support. So in theory it should bounce back up to 10,200. But it moves so fast that by the time you read this note, the landscape would have probably change a lot.
• 10 Undervalued Stocks With Breakout Potential
So, it’s best to get the general feel for the zones that matter and know what’s at stake. For thathereis a free video from this week that does a great job of that. It sheds light on what’s in store for Bitcoin price.
Nicolas Chahine is the managing director ofSellSpreads.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Join his live chat room for freehere.
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The post5 Top Stock Trades for Thursday: WMT, BABA, LOW, XLNX, Bitcoinappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Largest Bitcoin ATM Network Coinme Raises New Funding from Ripple’s Xpring: Coinme, which provides kiosks and ATMs for digital currencies, raised $1.5 million in a Series A-1 financing round that included Ripple’s subsidiary Xpring and Blockchain Finance Fund, the company said. Proceeds from the funding will be used for additional licensing to expand its U.S. and international coverage. Co-founder and CEO Neil Bergquist told CoinDesk that Coinme is licensed to operate bitcoin ATMs in 29 states and will apply for further state licenses in the near future. As for international markets, Coinme has set its eyes on Europe, Central and South America given the high popularity of cryptocurrencies in these countries, Bergquist added. Related: Police in Spain Say Bitcoin ATMs Expose Problems in Europe’s AML Laws Xpring is Ripple’s developer initiative that focuses its investments in blockchain technology companies and is the firm’s first investment in the bitcoin kiosk industry. Bergquist said Coinme raised $4.5 million in total in its previous financing, including $3.5 million in convertible debt, partly from Coinstar over the last few years, and $1.5 million from a venture fund in early 2017. With more than 2,500 locations, Coinme currently services the largest bitcoin kiosk network in the world. Coinme began as a bitcoin exchange in 2014 and integrated its services with the coin-to-cash Coinstar machines in January. The Coinstar kiosks allow customers to exchange bills and coins for a code sent to their mobile device that can be used to redeem up to $2,500 of crypto. The partnership was announced earlier this year with the kiosks mainly placed in public venues such as supermarkets. Related: Coinstar Expands Bitcoin Buying Service to Cover 21 US States Crypto kiosks and Bitcoin ATMs have quickly grown in popularity as coin use proliferates. Data from Coin ATM Radar shows a nearly five-fold increase in the number of active crypto ATM installations since 2017. Earlier this summer, bitcoin ATM LibertyX surpassed 1,000 kiosks under service. Story continues Outside of the kiosks, Coinme provides concierge trading, high-volume transactions for institutional investors, and cryptocurrency retirement options such as a self-directed IRA and 401(k). Bergquist said one of the services provides white-gloved transaction services to high-net-worth individuals with a minimum investment of $5,000. The new funding will also go towards developing online wallets for retail investors to help them use cryptocurrencies for payments and remittance. ATM image via CoinDesk archives Related Stories 2,000 More US Grocery Stores Enable Bitcoin Buying at Coinstar Machines NYDFS Grants BitLicense to Third Bitcoin ATM Operator || Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Questions Bitcoin’s Role as ‘Safe Haven’: The debate over bitcoin’s role as a “safe haven” asset hit mainstream media on Tuesday, following reports that bitcoin’s recent price run could be attributed to Chinese capital flight.
Speaking withCNBCon Tuesday, businessman and co-host of NBC’s “Shark Tank” Kevin O’Leary and Morgan Creek Digital’s Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano took opposing sides in the conversation. Pompliano is a well-known bitcoin bull, while O’Leary played the role of skeptic.
Over the course of the conversation, Pompliano said over half of his net worth now resides in the world’s largest cryptocurrency by total value. O’Leary sought to describe the investment strategy as foolish in return.
Related:Bitcoin Price Rises Above $12K to Hit One-Month High
“In any one stock, never more than 5 percent, in any one sector, never more than 20 percent,” O’Leary said. “I teach this stuff! You never go beyond concentrations of that nature! Fifty percent! Shame on you! That’s nuts!”
Responding to bitcoin’s role as a safe haven, Pompliano said the asset is negatively correlated with every other major asset class.
“[Morgan Creek Digital] has been banging the drum for over a year now saying that this is a non-correlated asymmetric asset. If you look at times of global instability like in May, where we are lobbing tariff threats and the trade wars are going on, bitcoin is up 55 percent. It’s got a negative correlation, -0.9 to S&P negative -0.8 to gold.”
O’Leary’s main point concerned alternative cryptocurrencies.
Related:Bitcoin Eyes $12K Price Hurdle as Dominance Rate Hits 28-Month High
“If this is really such a great idea, why is there really only one Vegas game working?” he asked.
Two years ago, O’Leary explained, he purchased $100 of various cryptocurrencies likebitcoin,bitcoin cash,XRP,ethereum, andstellar lumens. His holdings are down about 70 percent.
Pompliano responded by saying no exposure to the asset class was irresponsible for financial institutions, a claim he’s frequently voiced via his popular Twitter account.
CNBC’s segment on bitcoin as a safe haven was an extension of the currency discussion occurring around China. Yesterday, the United States labelled China a currency manipulator.
The U.S. announcement fell on the heels of reports between Chinese capital fleeing into alternative investments like cryptocurrencies. A recentreportby CoinDesk said between $10 and $30 million Tether daily trade volume is conducted in Moscow from mostly Chinese accounts.
Image via Kathy Hutchins /Shutterstock.
• Bitcoin’s Price Jumps Back Above $11K for the First Time In 3 Weeks
• From Ghana to the Bronx, These Teen Bitcoiners Are Building the Future || Bitcoins Total Share of Crypto Market Now Highest Since March 2017: View Bitcoins price recovery from the Aug. 29 low of $9,320 is backed by an uptick in the dominance rate to 30-month highs. Weak trading volumes, however, indicate the recovery could be short-lived and a fall back to $9,750 could be in the offing in the next day or two. Weekly chart indicators continue to call a bearish move. A high-volume UTC close above the bearish lower high of $10,956 (Aug. 20 high) is needed to revive the short-term bullish outlook. A weekly close (Sunday, UTC) above $12,000 is needed for full bull revival. Bitcoin (BTC) is flashing green at press time, while its share of the cryptocurrency market has reached at 30-month highs above 70 percent. As of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at $10,350 on Bitstamp up 6 percent on a 24-hour basis after hitting an eight-day high of $10,506 earlier today. At that level, BTC was up 12.7 percent from the one-month low of $9,320 hit on Aug. 29. Over the last nine weeks, BTC has consistently found takers in the range of $9,000$10,000. The resulting recovery rallies, however, ended up creating lower highs a sign of bull market exhaustion as seen in the chart below. Related: Bitcoin Averts Bearish Trend Change But Stalls Beneath Key Price Average The question now is whether the latest recovery from sub-$10,000 levels will invalidate the bearish lower-highs setup with a move above $10,956. The gains seen in the last four days look sustainable and could be extended further, as BTCs dominance rate the cryptocurrencys share of the total crypto market has jumped to 70.10 percent, the highest level since March 2017, according to CoinMarketCap . The gauge stood at 69 percent on Aug. 29, when BTCs price slipped to one-month lows below $9,400. Related: Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Now Trading Below 200-Day Price Averages Many observers consider price gains sustainable if they are backed by a rise in the dominance rate, as discussed last month. The shift indicates money is being poured into BTC for the long haul and not to fund purchases of alternative cryptocurrencies. Story continues Trading volumes, however, tell another story, and suggest the recovery seen in the last four days could be short-lived. Hourly and daily charts The green bars (buying volumes) seen in the last four days on the hourly chart (above left) are smaller compared to the red bars (selling volumes) seen during bitcoins drop to one-month lows on Aug.29. Buying volumes only ticked up slightly in the 60 minutes to 21:00 UTC yesterday. During that time frame, BTC rose from $10,200 to $10,470. Further, Sundays green bar (above right) is significantly smaller than those observed during previous breakouts above $10,000 (marked by arrows). Put simply, the price bounce seen in the last four days lacks substance and a pullback, possibly to $9,750. could be in the offing in the next day or two. The outlook as per the daily chart would turn bullish if prices print a UTC close above $10,956 on high buying volumes. That would open the doors to $12,000. Weekly chart The bitcoin bulls have failed four times in the last 10 weeks to secure a weekly close (Sunday, UTC) above $12,000. Meanwhile, the sellers have failed persistently failed to keep prices below $9,500. A downside break looks likely, as key indicators have turned bearish, including a bearish crossover of 5- and 10-week moving averages. The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) histogram has also dropped below zero for the first time since February, while the Chaikin money flow, which incorporates both prices and trading volumes, has slipped to a 4.5-month low of 0.10, a sign of weakening bullish pressures. Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing. Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; charts by Trading View Related Stories Bitcoin Price Faces Third Monthly Loss of 2019 Why Tether Volume Is at All-Time Highs || 5 Top Stock Trades for Thursday: WMT, BABA, LOW, XLNX, Bitcoin: Global stock markets are still trading violently but the U.S. equities are still battling close to the all-time highs. So the upside potential is still viable. Wednesday we saw strong earnings reports. This confirm that there are still stock trades to hunt in spite of the geopolitical risks and rhetoric.
Our five stock trade to watch for Thursday include:Walmart(NYSE:WMT),Lowe’s(NYSE:LOW),Alibaba(NYSE:BABA),Xilinx(NASDAQ:XLNX), and Bitcoin
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
WMT stock is near all time highs and for good reason. The company has taken the fight toAmazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) head on and it’s doing well against this formidable opponent.
Investors loved the earnings report last week and WMT stock rallied 8% on the headline. From here, there could be better entry points for the short term. WMT stock is vulnerable to fade and a retest of $110 per share. Maybe even fill the gap $2 lower. But for the long term, this company will continue to deliver and adapt to the market demands. If I am long WMT already, then I stay long. Otherwise I would buy the dips for the long term.
• The 10 Best Marijuana Stocks to Buy Now
Wednesday,Target(NYSE:TGT) stock soared as they reported a strong quarter. This confirms the strength of the U.S. consumer spending and operational success. Both companies are winners because of strong execution. WMT is employing technology trend to better compete with AMZN one to one and beat it.
LOW stock spiked today after a strong earnings report. The investor expectations were tepid going into the event so it made for an easy hurdle. This however is not the time to pile into LOW stock and chase this rally.
The reason the expectations were low is because it has a long history of trailing its competitionHome Depot(NASDAQ:HD). I believe this continues until we get several reports to prove otherwise. Case in point, HD stock is up 26% year-to-date which 60% better than LOW. This is also true for the last five year stats.
So if I took in profits from the LOW stock reaction to earnings, I would book it for now. From here, it carries the risk of a fade to fill the gap below especially if markets in general correct. This is not the same as shorting the stock.
So if I want to remain constructive on the segment, I would rotate my risk into HD stock instead. This one is sitting at another breakout line. Even though the LOW report shows domestic comparable sales beat those of HD, over the long term HD stock has performed better thanks to more consistent management execution.
BABA stock has an interesting setup brewing. It will be tough to trigger but the reward if they do so is great. If the BABA stock bulls can break above $180, they can target $192 per share or higher. It won’t be easy and there will be resistance at the neckline and at $185.
For a while, BABA stock has been lurking just under this breakout level and doing it from higher lows. But this is a steep rising wedge which leaves the stock vulnerable to pullbacks. If the general markets cooperate then BABA will make this happen; it’s a matter of time.
This would then fill an old gap and also places it at a was prior fail. The interesting part is that was also a neckline that if bulls can break could carry it to $200 per share or higher.
On pullbacks, BABA stock could fade to $170 which is just above its yearly point of control where bulls and bears loved to fight.
XLNX stock is no stranger to headlines. The whole chip sector has been in the line of fire in the economic war between the US and China. XLNX stock moves more on headlines extrinsic to its own execution than not.
But Tuesday XLNX fell on headlines of possible “unpatchable” security flaw in its equipment. So this is a rare dump from intrinsic problems. Nevertheless, this dip places XLNX sock at a place with it makes sense that it mounts a rally soon.
XLNX stock bulls defended the $100 mark hard on the May correction and yesterday’s scare didn’t even come near it. So as long as the support band below holds, it is likely that XLNX makes another run at $120 per share. There will be resistance at $109 and $113, but if the general markets rally then XLNX can slice through them and reach it major accident scene from the end of July.
Since the love-fest with bitcoin of 2017 the interest in the digital coin has not abated. While it’s not hogging the headline it is still a hot debate. Skepticism is high so Bitcoin has a questionable reputation on main street and Wall Street.
Both extremes are wrong when it comes to bitcoin. It has value because people say so. This is no different than gold. Bitcoin and gold are rare and people want them so they will continue to be valuable on that assumption. Critics say that it’s used for illicit activities and to that I say that so is cash. At least with bitcoin, they always leave an electronic trace. Furthermore, FIAT cash only has value because the people say so. So in essence cash and bitcoin are more similar than we think.
What’s the best place to buy bitcoin? This depends on time frame. If I am buying it like gold as a long term investment then timing really doesn’t matter much. But there are clues on the charts to offer some guidance. Bitcoin price here is falling into support. So in theory it should bounce back up to 10,200. But it moves so fast that by the time you read this note, the landscape would have probably change a lot.
• 10 Undervalued Stocks With Breakout Potential
So, it’s best to get the general feel for the zones that matter and know what’s at stake. For thathereis a free video from this week that does a great job of that. It sheds light on what’s in store for Bitcoin price.
Nicolas Chahine is the managing director ofSellSpreads.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Join his live chat room for freehere.
• 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid
• 10 Marijuana Stocks to Ride High on the Farm Bill
• 8 Biotech Stocks to Watch After the Q2 Earnings Season
• 7 Unusual, Growth-Oriented REITs to Buy for Your Portfolio
The post5 Top Stock Trades for Thursday: WMT, BABA, LOW, XLNX, Bitcoinappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Kraken to Enable Worldwide Fiat Funding Options: The regulated spot and futures crypto exchange Kraken announced a wire service through Etana Custody that will allow users to transact in U.S. dollars, euros, Canadian dollars, British pounds, and Japanese yen from anywhere in the world.
Though the new feature is available immediately to Kraken’s Intermediate and Pro clients, across nearly 180 countries, it requires users to create an Etana Custody Wallet. Additionally, users’ bank accounts will be linked to this wallet, which will be topped off through wires that can take up to 1-5 days to process, according to acompany blog.
From there, however, the Etana wallet is instantaneously connected with a user’s Kraken account and will support free and expedient transfers.
Related:Kraken Boosts Institutional Offerings With Acquisition of Dan Held’s Interchange
Additionally, “Etana provides currency conversion for many fiat currencies. Clients can wire almost any currency to their Etana wallet, then convert to one of the five major currencies to fund their Kraken account.”
Etana supports the domestic or international withdrawal and deposit of all the currencies listed above, except for domestic transactions in Japan yen.
In June, Kraken announced it had passed the coveted $4 billion valuation mark, after a 2,000 plus participant funding round. The firm also announced that it holds over $100 million for a self-run insurance fund.
Starter accounts on Kraken must update for this feature.
Related:Coinbase Is in Talks to Launch Its Own Insurance Company
Krakenlogo via Shutterstock
• Over 2,000 Investors Back Kraken Crypto Exchange’s $13 Million Crowdfunding
• Kraken Exchange Joins Binance, ShapeShift in Delisting Bitcoin SV || Fold App Adds Bitcoin ‘Kickbacks’ for Purchases at Target, Starbucks: The crypto payments startup Fold, which launched a portal for buying Domino’s pizza using the Lightning Network in February, now offers cash-back rewards in bitcoin to shoppers who use the mobile app for purchases at Amazon, Uber, Starbucks, Burger King, REI and Target, just to name a few. The in-browser app Lolli already offers this feature for desktop users and is developing a mobile app of its own. Now with Fold entering the game, bitcoiners might benefit from competition between the shopping apps. But while Lolli offers an in-browser, custodial wallet, which can also be used to send bitcoin rewards to external wallets, Fold’s app automatically directs the rewards to an external wallet specified by the user. “It’s akin to accruing rewards points, just these are denominated in satoshis [fractions of bitcoin],” Fold product lead Will Reeves told CoinDesk. “They can be used for purchases within Fold or withdrawn to an actual bitcoin wallet.” Bitcoin price over the last 30 days via CoinDesk data . Related: Bitcoin Price on Track to Post First Monthly Loss Since January Fold’s lightning compatibility also sets it apart from Lolli’s beginner-friendly service. This is possible because while Lolli works directly with merchants, Fold partners with pre-paid card networks and essentially buys a gift card with users’ bitcoin then facilitates the purchase on users’ behalf. Reeves said the lighting pizza feature has generated nearly $22,000 worth of transactions so far, with dozens of pizza purchases still rolling in every day. Executives at both Lolli and Fold now say their respective startups have thousands of active monthly users. Lolli CEO Alex Adelman told CoinDesk that, in addition to launching a mobile app, his team has plans to implement lightning options into the Lolli payout feature. “Lightning will be a powerful tool to help with the mainstream adoption of bitcoin,” Adelman told CoinDesk. “I’m excited to eventually share it with all our merchants.” Story continues Related: WATCH: Metal Pay CEO Says He Isn’t a Bitcoin Maximalist Meanwhile, from Reeves’ perspective, competitors like Lolli have adapted incumbent affiliate models while Fold seeks to build a new payments system. “Soon, Fold users will be able to spend any currency they choose directly with these retailers and get free bitcoin for doing so,” Reeves said. “Beneath all the fun of shopping and rewards we intend to introduce a whole new paradigm to consumer spending.” Image via Fold app Related Stories Golden Cross Provides Glimmer of Hope for Bitcoin Price Revival Bitcoin Faces Sub-$9K Price Move as Bear Trend Strengthens || Craig Wright Again Claims Authorship of Bitcoin White Paper: Craig Wright, the Australian entrepreneur who controversially says he’s bitcoin’s anonymous inventor Satoshi Nakamoto, has made another attempt to cement that claim in the public domain. On Thursday, Wright posted the bitcoin white paper on the scientific journal hosting site, SSRN, citing himself as the author on Aug. 21, 2008. Related: CoinDesk Talks to Supporters, Critics at Craig Wright’s Contempt Hearing The SSRN (formerly the Social Science Research Network), is a repository and international journal for the sharing of scholarly research. The service is owned by major publishing house Elsevier, and allows paper authors (or those claiming to be) to upload pdfs of their work. The hosting site does not peer-review papers that are uploaded, according to its website . Uploads are reviewed by SSRN staff “to ensure that the paper is a part of the scholarly discourse in its subject area.” It also asks authors to self-certify that the information submitted is correct. Wright’s posting of the bitcoin white paper, the authorship of which has yet to be conclusively proven, comes after he filed registrations with the U.S. Copyright Office to support his claim of authorship over the original bitcoin code and white paper in May. Soon after the news caused uproar in the bitcoin community, the Copyright Office released a statement to dispel the notion that it had officially “recognized” anyone as the inventor of bitcoin. Related: Judge Blasts Craig Wright’s Evidence, ‘Inconsistent’ Testimony in Kleiman Trial “As a general rule, when the Copyright Office receives an application for registration, the claimant certifies as to the truth of the statements made in the submitted materials. The Copyright Office does not investigate the truth of any statement made,” the office said at the time. Similarly, Wright’s posting of Satoshi’s white paper on the SSRN is unlikely to give his claim to have invented bitcoin any more validity, but seems to be an attempt to populate the web with authoritative-looking instances of his claim. Story continues Some commentators have further claimed that the metadata of the paper posted by Wright has been altered to display a different date of creation. Craig Wright image via CoinDesk archives Related Stories Messages Proving Wright Created Bitcoin Likely ‘Faked,’ Developer Testifies Craig Wright’s Counsel Rebuts Forgery Evidence in Ongoing Lawsuit
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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もっと下がったらまた買います笑💦
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🌎Exchange: #Binance
📌#LSKBTC
⏳Buy Date : 2019-08-11 19:15:19
⌛Sell Date : 2019-08-11 20:15:03
📈Buy : 0.00011170
📉Sell : 0.00011280
💸Profit : 0.98%
#LSK #bitcoin #projectxonline #probot #trading #tradebot #btc #cryptocurrency #blockchain #crypto #altcoin || That's right a big ole bag of $LINK will do ya right! https://t.co/QLosntT3zD || Let'samily win together #NavCoin family, Keep voting for $Nav for the competition || BTC
finexの乖離がまだ異常水域です。
ペナントの収束タイミングに合わせた大口の仕掛けです。
前回の高値をギリギリ超えてきたことや、フィボナッチの重要ライン(過去の高値は2度フィボナッチライン上で止められています)を突破していることから大口の本気度が伺えます。 https://t.co/gmKKWduMlU || https://t.co/zE0DCkP3az #xrp #ripple #trx #btc #2 Complaints Filed In Courts Accusing Akbaruddin Owaisi Of "Hate Speech" - #Cricket
#CricketWorldCup2019 - https://t.co/xhQczhkkps #Two complaints were filed against AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in courts in ... || Will China's 'Cryptocurrency' Pump - or Pummel - Bitcoin? https://t.co/s40ipU6zRh
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Trend: down || Prices: 10347.71, 10276.79, 10241.27, 10198.25, 10266.42, 10181.64, 10019.72, 10070.39, 9729.32, 8620.57
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-07-29]
BTC Price: 656.99, BTC RSI: 49.78
Gold Price: 1349.00, Gold RSI: 62.27
Oil Price: 41.60, Oil RSI: 34.72
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin is the new safe-haven asset: Analyst: Bitcoin is becoming as safe a haven as gold, one investment analyst told CNBC.
The price of the cryptocurrency(: BTC=)has been rapidly rising in recent weeks. It traded above $730 per bitcoin at the end of last week, levels not since February 2014.
According to Chris Burniske, a blockchain analyst and products lead at investment manager ARK Invest, the cryptocurrency could be referred to as digital gold, as it shares many of the characteristics that makes the precious metal a great store of value.
"Bitcoin shares those same characteristics," Burniske told CNBC in a phone interview. "[Both have an] extremely limited supply and a relatively inert state. Bitcoin and gold can both be used: for example, gold is used in electronic circuits and bitcoin is used as payment.
While gold(Exchange: XAU=)has performed well in recent months, rising 20 percent year to date, Burniske suggested investors should also consider diversifying into bitcoin.
"When you look at the global markets, there's lots of fear, uncertainty and doubts. You've got people worrying about the equity markets [and] you've got people fleeing into bonds," he said. "While gold has had a bit of a run in 2016, over the last five year period it's been a terrible performing asset."
"So you've got people starting to wonder where there are safe havens to store their assets. I think you have lot of people saying 'Hey we want to diversify a little bit' making allocations to bitcoin'."
Some disagree that bitcoin should be considered a safe-haven asset. Vijay Michalik, research analyst at consultancy Frost & Sullivan, pointed out that bitcoin is still very volatile.
"Bitcoin is still such a new innovation that the economics of its value aren't fully understood, and the price looks likely to remain moderately volatile in the medium term," he told CNBC in an email.
"Volatility and the long-term unknowns involved in bitcoin's development stop it from being considered a safe-haven asset like gold. However, because bitcoin is unlinked to any one national currency or macroeconomic factor, it could be a good choice for portfolio diversification."
The recent rise in value of the digital currency is mainly due to anupcoming change which will see bitcoin miners make less moneyfor each block that they extract. This is likely to tighten the supply of bitcoins as fewer new coins enter the system.
"In early July, the annual rate of supply inflation will be cut from 8 percent to 4 percent. In basic economics, you cut the supply in half but demand continues to increase, which we're seeing with bitcoin," said Burniske.
But Burniske did highlight some risks facing the cryptocurrency in the near future.
"There's the risk of the developer community not being able to come to consensus on how they want to scale bitcoin. This has been talked about for the better part of the last year," he said.
"They have made a lot of progress; they are going to implement something called Segregated Witness and I think the network will scale."
Segregated Witness will reduce the size of each bitcoin transaction, thereby increasing the number of transactions that can be processed at any given time.
Another risk is to the security of the bitcoin's network.
"Part of the concern around the upcoming block award change is that if those miners make less money, then they are less incentivised to throw machinery at the network to secure it."
Meanwhile, gold remains a popular choice for investors looking for safety. Adrian Ash, head of research at investment gold service BullionVault, explained what advantages the precious metal has over other assets.
"Throughout civilisation gold has been viewed as a well-established safe haven used to store value by all cultures in all ages across the word and has never gone to zero in recorded history," he told CNBC in an email.
"As a physical asset gold cannot default or go bust and is protected by a strong property law which is simple, proven and universally understood."
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• Personal Finance || How the ETF Marketplace Continues to Innovate: Note: This article is courtesy of Iris.xyz By BNY Mellon New product innovations are driving the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) marketplace and offering investors access to new markets and asset classes. Steve Cook, Managing Director and Business Executive, Structured Product Services, at BNY Mellon discusses these new market and products trends. Certainly in areas that were looking at are multiple-asset portfolios, so funds that will offer through a single investment the ability for an investor to gain access to fixed income, emerging market, commodities, and other asset classes all wrapped in one ETF exposure. We also see unique asset classes coming to market with ETFs, certainly, Bitcoin, and Blockchain technology is something that were actively working on and looking at. We also see the opportunity for a better mix of fixed income securities in ETFs, although it was a trend that took place for a few years, it tapered off as threats of interest rate rises came into market, so we do see a number of different areas of focus as we look out for the ETF marketplace to continue to innovate. To learn more please watch the video here . || Bitcoin hits two-year high as yuan worries drive Chinese demand: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - The price of the web-based digital currency bitcoin soared to its highest in almost two years on Tuesday, rising to more than $500 per unit, as worries about a further weakening of the yuan drove increased demand from China. Trading volumes on the Chinese bitcoin exchange BTCC surged to three to five times their daily average since Friday, according to CEO Bobby Lee, as Chinese savers have moved to protect their money against a further devaluation of the yuan. Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" that can move money across the globe quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority. That makes it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. Around 95 percent of all bitcoin trading is done via Chinese exchanges, according to industry website Coindesk, so any increase in demand from the Asian super-power tends to have a particularly significant impact. The yuan weakened to a 4 1/2-month low on Tuesday and recorded its second-biggest monthly fall on record in May. Investors reckon it will weaken further, given growing expectations for an increase in U.S. interest rates and signs that China's credit-fuelled economy is slowing again. "People are worrying about the PBOC (People's Bank of China) devaluing the yuan," BTCC's Bobby Lee said from Hong Kong. "If you're in China and you're holding onto that yuan, that's a huge risk, so they're buying into hard assets ... Bitcoin is something that is very easily traded into, so that's what's happening." Despite being championed by some as the digital money of the future, bitcoin is often dismissed as too volatile to invest in. After rocketing above $1,100 in 2013, it then fell to around $150 in early 2015. But it has since recovered, and was the best-performing currency in 2015. Bitcoin hit $548.50 on the Bitstamp exchange on Tuesday, its strongest since August 2014, leaving it up over 20 percent in the past week. Story continues With around 15.5 million bitcoins now in circulation, that puts the currency's total value, or its "market cap", at around $8.5 billion -- about the same size as Anglo American, a global FTSE 100 mining company. Lee added that on his Chinese exchange, the price of bitcoin had at one point rallied above 4,000 yuan, or over $600. That was a sign investors sensed that the yuan was being artificially supported by the PBOC, he said. NEW SUPPLY HALVING Another reason given by bitcoin experts for the currency's latest surge is that in 40 days' time, the number of new bitcoins that are added to the system every day will be halved. By the principles of supply and demand, that slower growth in supply should raise the value of the currency. Instead of being controlled by a central bank, bitcoin relies on so-called "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and thereby clear the transactions is currently rewarded with 25 new bitcoins, worth around $13,500. But when it was invented in 2008 by the mysterious "Satoshi Nakamoto", the code was designed so that the reward would be halved roughly every four years, in order to keep a lid on inflation. The next time that is due to happen is July 10. "Bitcoin is days away from a reduction in its block reward, which will halve the daily supply coming onto the market," said Charles Hayter, CEO of London-based digital currency analysis website CryptoCompare. Hayter added that after months of struggles over how to upgrade the software run by the computers that process bitcoin transactions, dubbed the "bitcoin civil war, developers appeared to be reaching a consensus, which was also helping support the currency. "Bitcoin is emerging battle-hardened after a period of divisive governance issues and politics," he said. "Although not fully laid to rest, calmer waters look to be on the horizon as consensus on how to scale the network is appearing." (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Additional reporting by Sujata Rao; Editing by Larry King) || Coinbase gets $10.5 million investment from Bank of Tokyo, two others: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it received a $10.5 million investment from Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), the bank's Mitsubishi UFJ Capital unit and Sozo Ventures as part of a strategic partnership involving its long-term expansion. Coinbase, which is the world's largest bitcoin company and currently operates in 32 countries, does not operate in Japan just yet, though it runs an exchange in Singapore. The company said Japan is a big part of its international expansion. "BTMU will be a strong partner for us both in Asia and globally," Sam Rosenblum, international expansion and banking lead at Coinbase, said in a phone interview with Reuters. "Japan will certainly be an important market for us and one that is pretty critical for the development of digital currencies." Bitcoin is a digital currency that enables users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously without the need for third-party verification. Rosenblum said San Francisco-based Coinbase has been working with BTMU for about a year on various projects and those collaborations have culminated in a strategic investment. Sozo Ventures, which has dual headquarters in Silicon Valley and Tokyo, early on has been instrumental in bringing Twitter to Japan. In order for Coinbase to do business in Japan, it would need regulatory approval from the country's Financial Services Agency. Rosenblum said there is no timetable as to when Coinbase would launch operations in Japan. Coinbase last year raised $75 million from a slew of investors. The BTMU investment is an individual transaction and not part of any funding round, Rosenblum said. Coinbase currently has two trading platforms, one for retail investors and one for institutions. Over the last four weeks, trading volume for the two platforms totaled around $400 million, according to Adam White, Coinbase's vice president for business development. Since bitcoin's inception in 2009, it has grown in popularity and price. Late on Thursday, bitcoin traded at $621.74 on the Bitstamp platform. So far this year, the digital currency is up 44.2 percent. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Leslie Adler) || Bitcoin's Novelty Is Spent: If drawing a stack of Benjamins on fast-food napkins and praying they spring to life sounds like your idea of a good time, consider the urban myth behind bitcoin -- the enigmatic digital currency that exists online, has no central bank or even a known founder. Here's what we know, at least from the fabulist perspective: Satoshi Nakamoto is said to have invented bitcoins in 2008 after he sold a vintage McDonald's paper napkin online and the buyer defrauded him out of several thousand bucks. Since then, Nakamoto has been pegged as anyone and everyone from an Irish grad student to a reclusive Hungarian American. And as the legend grows, so grows the legal tender. Today you'll find an estimated 15 million bitcoins in circulation, worth about $872 million. But putting your money into bitcoins isn't a slam dunk (even if the Sacramento Kings accept them). That's because bitcoin fever -- much like the infamous "Tulip Mania" of 17th Century Holland -- has died down. Way down. Observers say once-smitten financial reporters and publications now focus elsewhere. "Bitcoin is actually unchanged since many years ago: What is different is the focus of the media," says Peter Leeds, the author of "Penny Stocks for Dummies." In it, Leeds mentions bitcoin as an example of what he calls "an investor stampede." [See: The 9 Best Investors of All Time .] "Much -- almost all -- of bitcoin's rise in value was driven by the standard media cycle," Leeds says. "And as the story became old news, coverage levels diminished and the currency faded into the background." But arguably, bitcoin was bound to make headlines in 2013, when European speculators sent its value through the roof. The Cyprus economic bailout drove anxious investors to bitcoins as they sought alternatives to the euro and other currencies manipulated by central bankers. Bitcoin also made waves because no one in the investment world had seen anything like it. Bitcoins are known as a "cryptocurrency," a term that appeals to the James Bond in all of us. In fact, early adopters included thieves and criminals who embraced its all-digital nature. Bitcoin's nefarious fans included Silk Road, an online black market (since shuttered) that sold drugs. A handful of anarchists embraced it, too. Story continues That said, old-fashioned cash has long been a favorite of malfeasants. For the rest of us, "the legal status of bitcoin varies from country to country," says Nicolette Kost De Sevres, senior policy advisor with DLA Piper, a global business law firm, "It is banned or restricted in some, undefined in many and explicitly allowed in others." Adding to the mystery, bitcoins hinge on tongue-twisting technobabble even most Wall Street pundits can't grasp. This includes "source code repository" and the concept of "computationally impractical to reverse." Nor is a bitcoin a coin in the traditional sense. It exists as an open-source, peer-to-peer internet protocol, which may explain why the digerati have embraced it. One bitcoin evangelist is Nicolas Cary, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Blockchain, the world's top bitcoin software company. "The virtual currency has specific properties that make it work really nicely as a form of money," Cary says. Ask him why and he rattles off a long list: "It is counterfeit-proof, fungible, easily divisible by up to 8 decimal points, purely digital, robust against the elements -- it won't burn or get corroded in water -- and with certain digital precautions far more resilient than cash." Yes, but... "If you lose the hard drive you've stored your coins on or lose access to a hosted account, you've effectively lost your money," says Cindy McAdam, partner in Goodwin Procter's Technology and Life Sciences Group, and a former executive at Xapo, a leading bitcoin company. And it's not like those things ever happen, right? If you think you'd be better off spending bitcoins than investing in them, online retailers such as TigerDirect and Overstock.com ( OSTK ) accept the currency. You can even make donations with bitcoins at higher-ed institutions that include the University of Puget Sound. Yet you don't have to be an economics professor to describe bitcoin like this: volatile. One bitcoin is worth about $581. On Nov. 29, 2013, it hit a peak of $1,108, according to Coinbase.com, a website that tracks Bitcoin prices. Less than a month later, it had plummeted to $593 -- more than its current worth. But if you bought in at the start of last September, you'd have doubled your money and then some. It's enough to give even a stalwart market-timing enthusiast a case of virtual currency vertigo. "There is a belief that much of the 'Wild West' spike in late 2013 was driven by fraud and market manipulation," McAdam says. "The price fell dramatically in the year following that, but has basically been on an upward trend for the past 18 months." [See: The 10 Best REIT ETFs on the Market .] That includes a price bump of $130 over two weeks between late May and early June. "With the upward price movement, we should expect to see more bitcoin headlines soon," says Anthem Hayek Blanchard, founder and CEO of Anthem Vault, which has created a gold-backed digital currency, HayekGold. He predicts that "it is very likely that bitcoin prices will go higher and breach $1,000 per bitcoin." Taken one way, the recent price rebound could be interpreted as newfound stability away from the harsh media spotlight. "Some speculate the buying is coming from the Chinese market due to currency controls and a devalued yuan," says Jalak Jobanputra, a venture capitalist and founding partner of FuturePerfect Ventures in New York City. Or, it could represent the latest gyration in Bitcoin's brief, marble-in-a-bathtub history. So is now a good time to buy bitcoins? Or is it ever a good time to invest in them? "Bitcoin remains a risky investment," says William Brindise, chief trading officer at DigitalX, a software solutions company in the global digital payments industry. "If growth in demand remains roughly constant as supply growth falls, economic theory suggests the price of bitcoin should rise," Brindise says. "However that's a big if, since the factors driving demand for bitcoins remain in flux." Meanwhile, some argue that the current lack of sensationalism means that bitcoin , once an investment upstart, is settling down. "Bitcoin never went away," says Christopher Burniske, analyst and blockchain products lead at New York City's ARK Investment Management, the first public fund manager to invest in bitcoin. "Its strength can be seen in the 'up and to the right' graphs of transactional volumes, trading volumes, hashing power, number of wallets, startups, merchants, and more, all involved with bitcoin." Burniske also points to the 99bitcoins website, which tracks bitcoin obituaries in the press. The number to date: 104. He notes that while bitcoin isn't the media darling it once was, it doesn't deserve to be on death row, either. The truth, in all likelihood, sits securely in the mundane middle. [Read: Real Estate's New Land of Plenty .] "There are fewer headlines because the currency has leveled out to a degree," says John Sedunov, assistant professor of finance at the Villanova University School of Business in the Philadelphia area. "If anything, it is becoming more mainstream." More From US News & World Report 11 Stocks That Donald Trump Loves 7 Ways to Tell if a Stock Is a Good Price 8 Easy Ways to Make Money || Bitcoin spikes as yuan hits five-and-a-half year low on Brexit: The price of global cryptocurrencybitcoin(: BTC=)spiked on Friday as the yuan dipped after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Bitcoin moves are often counter-linked to the yuan because the majority of trade in the cryptocurrency comes from China. The yuan hit a five-and-a-half-year low on Friday, while the price of bitcoin jumped around 8.7 percent from the day's opening price, hitting highs of around $680.19, according to Coindesk which tracks the price of the cryptocurrency.
"We are seeing trading volumes almost $100 million traded in the past 24 hours, it's two or three times compared to a slow day," Bobbly Lee, chief executive of BTCC, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world based in China, told CNBC by phone on Friday.
The value of bitcoin continues to be volatile. On Thursday, itplunged 25 percentsince hitting a two-and-a-half year high on June 17 of $774.94. It is still not back at that level.
But it's important to note that Brexit is just oneamong several factorsthat have affected the bitcoin price in recent times. Sentiment was dampened when earlier this week, Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was closed for a few hours because of "networking issues" in the company's data center, it said on Twitter. The issues were fixed on the same day.
"The correction from a day or two ago had more to do with a technical correction that it did with Brexit," Lee said.
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• Personal Finance || Bitcoin Services Inc. Launches bitcoin-basics.com: GRANDVILLE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2016 / Bitcoin Services Inc.(OTC Pink: BTSC) announced today that it launchedbitcoin-basics.com. The website explains the basics of Bitcoin to new users. It will make money from ads and affiliate offers. Bitcoin is a digital asset and a payment system. The system is peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes and recorded in a publicly distributed ledger called the blockchain, which uses bitcoin as its unit of account. Since the system works without a central repository or single administrator, the U.S. Treasury categorizes bitcoin as a decentralized virtual currency. Bitcoin is often called the first cryptocurrency.
About Bitcoin Services Inc.:Our business operations are Internet based to the consumer and consist of three separate streams, as follows: (1) bitcoin escrow services, (2) bitcoin mining, and (3) blockchain software development. The principal products and services are the mining of bitcoins, providing escrow services for buyers and sellers of bitcoins, and the development and sale of blockchain software. The market for these services and products is worldwide, and sold and marketed on the Internet.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and section 21e of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those statements include the intent, belief or current expectations of the company and its management team. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accomplishing the strategy described herein is significantly dependent upon numerous factors, many that are not in management's control. Some of these factors include the ability of the company to raise sufficient capital, attract qualified management, attract new customers and effectively compete against similar companies.
CONTACT:
info@bitcoinservices.biz
SOURCE:Bitcoin Services Inc. || This Is The Hacker Taking The Fight To ISIS: A hacker by the name of WauchulaGhost is doing his/her part in battling the terrorist group ISIS where it has a dominant presence: online. Terrorist groups like ISIS are notorious for maintaining a strong social media presence to spread their propaganda and recruit new members. Over the past month, WauchulaGhost has hacked over 250 accounts on Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR ) that have been linked with ISIS members. Related Link: Orlando Shooting: How Past Acts Of Terror Affected Stock Markets The hacker replaces ISIS' terrorist ideology and content with pornography and gay pride messages an act that is even more meaningful following the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, in which a gunman pledged allegiance to ISIS and massacred 49 people at a gay club. hacker2.jpg Once an account is hacked, ISIS' black flags are replaced with rainbows and gay couples embracing. The hacker has a network of people across the world willing to help him however possible, including translating conversations to and from Arabic. hacker4.jpg "There was a few of us... that discovered a vulnerability," the hacker told CNNMoney. "We thought, 'Hey let's go start taking their accounts ... and [start] humiliating them.'" The hacker also criticized social media companies, including Twitter, for not doing enough to shut down the accounts linked to Terrorist groups. For its part, Twitter told CNN Money it has suspended over 125,000 accounts related to ISIS sine the middle of 2015. hacker1.jpg "Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe in," he told CNNMoney. "If you want change, you have to make that change, even if it means doing something illegal." See more from Benzinga Reaction To Criticism Of 'Chef Curry' Shoe Cooking Up Buying Opportunity For Under Armour London's Tech Sector Thinks Brexit Will Be A Disaster Bitcoin Is Up 30% This Week And 200% This Year: Here Is What You Need To Know © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Self-Proclaimed Inventor Of Bitcoin Reportedly Seeks Hundreds Of Patents On Blockchain Technology: The man who claims to be the inventor of bitcoin is reportedly attempting to secure his intellectual property via a host of new patent filings. Australian Craig Wright, who claims to be bitcoin founder “Satoshi Nakamoto,” has now filed at least 50 patent applications via Britain’s EITC Holdings Ltd.
“It looks like he is trying to patent the fundamental building blocks of any blockchain, cryptocurrency, or distributed ledger system,”Reuters consultantAntony Lewis says.
Related Link:Digital Currencies Could Completely Transform Global Markets
The blockchain is the decentralized public record of all transactions that is at the core of the bitcoin currency.
A number of startups and financial institutions have been investing heavily in technology that utilizes the blockchain framework that bitcoin made so famous. If Wright gets his way, these projects may soon be derailed.
Wright himself has declined to comment on the patent filings.
Earlier this year, the 45-year-old Wright stepped up and revealed that he was the true identity of Nakamoto, but much of the skeptical bitcoin community was not convinced by the initial proof he provided. After promising to publicly provide additional proof of his identity, Wright subsequently changed his mind.
The London Review of Books claims that Wright is in the process of filing hundreds of patents that will eventually be sold for more than $1 billion dollars.
See more from Benzinga
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• A GigaFactory Deep Dive: Could Be Worth More Than 150% Of Tesla's Current Market Cap
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Breakout Coin Opens Crowdsale on Bittrex: LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 13, 2016) - Breakout Coin ( www.breakoutcoin.com ), the eagerly awaited gaming industry payment coin, will begin its public coinsale today at 10 am PDT / 1 pm EDT with a super-bonus of 25 percent for all purchases made in the first 60 minutes. Following that, the bonuses will continue at 15 percent for the first week, 10 percent for the second week, and 5 percent for third week of the sale, which will be hosted by the Bittrex exchange ( www.bittrex.com ), one of the largest and most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. A total of 6,627,494 Breakout Coins (BRK) will be offered for bitcoin at a base price of no lower than 0.00022222 BTC (about 14.4 cents at current bitcoin exchange rates), which along with a prior sale and tokens for incentivizing players and gaming sites, will bring the total number of BRK to ever be in existence to 19,500,000, according to co-founder Paul Kim. Breakout Coin is part of the Breakout Chain blockchain for gaming, created by a diverse team consisting of gaming and cryptocurrency experts, including lead developer James Stroud, PhD., a co-founder of CryptoCertify, the first cryptocurrency auditing and certification company; Randy Kim, a professional poker player with 20 years' experience in Los Angeles casino management; Paul Kim, with 25 years of experience in IT, computer science and gaming; and Gian Perroni, an iGaming executive with over 18 years of online gaming experience. The full white paper depicting all the technical elements of the sophisticated Breakout Chain, Breakout Coin and its interconnected components is available at http://bit.ly/25SjGtY "The online gaming world has been waiting for a solution like this for many years," said Perroni. "Breakout Coin provides for seamless in-game payments anywhere in the world, while the blockchain technology behind it, Breakout Chain, uses smart contracts and sidechains to enforce these financial agreements between parties," stated Stroud. Story continues "The online gambling industry generates over $42 billion in worldwide revenue annually, with another $96 billion in the video gaming space, which is holding its annual E3 event in Los Angeles this week," added Paul Kim. "Breakout Coin will be used to denominate many of our gaming properties, and will be accepted at all of them, including our soon-to-launch eSports platform and our full digital game download store." Breakout Coin is one of three cryptocurrencies that can be used in the Breakout Chain. The others are Breakout Stake (BRX), which BRK holders receive based on the size of the crowdsale and which earn staking interest. Miners who are responsible for the processing of BRK transactions also earn another type of token called SisterCoin (SIS). For complete information on the crowdsale, please visit www.breakoutcoin.com/coinsale . About Breakout Coin Breakout Coin (BRK), Breakout Stake (BRX) and Sister Coin (SIS) are tokens that work together to power Breakout Chain, the industry's first multicurrency blockchain for gaming industry payments and rewards. Breakout Coin is created and maintained by Breakout Services, Limitada, a Costa Rican LLC, and it operates independently of the regulated poker and casino gaming sites operating by Breakout Gaming, which accepts the tokens for gaming.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 $MOIN Price: C-Cex 0.00000210 #BTC
#MOIN #MoneyEvolved 2016-06-09 06:00
https://c-cex.com/?p=moin-btc pic.twitter.com/7BeUldeVN3 || Bitstamp: $582.00/BTC - last trade of USD/BTC at https://www.bitstamp.net/ (high: 585.26, low: 549.01) #bitcoin #BTC http://bitcoinautotrade.com || 1 #bitcoin 2399.41 TL, 725.773 $, 673.599 €, GBP, 43312.00 RUR, 78759 ¥, CNH, CAD #btc || One Bitcoin now worth $577.31@bitstamp. High $580.00. Low $572.00. Market Cap $ 9.032 Billion #bitcoinpic.twitter.com/4QXgqq8UND || Buy #Bitcoin in the UK with a Debit/Credit Card from http://tinyurl.com/juho5oc @ 10:00 AM || #TrinityCoin #TTY $ 0.000007 (-1.82 %) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00 %) || Litecoin Is Back: New Roadmap Signals the Start of a Renaissance https://t.co/vMxAc4JGrW #bitcoin #blockchain #btc #cryptocurrency #altcoi… || BTCTurk 2386.3 TL BTCe 726.5 $ CampBx $ BitStamp 760.00 $ Cavirtex $ CEXIO 764.89 $ Bitcoin.de 672.41 € #Bitcoin #btc || Buy #Bitcoin in the UK with a Debit/Credit Card from http://tinyurl.com/juho5oc @ 1:00 PM || Glad to see $FCT up +27.00. Sentiment is VERY positive. #BTC #Crypto
|
Trend: down || Prices: 655.05, 624.68, 606.27, 547.47, 566.35, 578.29, 575.04, 587.78, 592.69, 591.05
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-05-24]
BTC Price: 7987.37, BTC RSI: 65.90
Gold Price: 1283.00, Gold RSI: 49.73
Oil Price: 58.63, Oil RSI: 34.84
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Momentum Fails, Bearishly Overbought for the First Time Since 2017: A technical indicator is flagging a bearish outlook for bitcoin in the short-term. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN.com : According to a cryptocurrency trader, a technical indicator of bitcoin is signaling a potential downturn in the market for the first time since December 2017. The indicator, known as the Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) bearish divergence, signals a bearish downtrend and a decline in momentum. The bitcoin price has slightly declined in the past week (source: coinmarketcap.com) The RSI is typically utilized by traders to evaluate the momentum of the trend of an asset or a market. A bearish divergence flashes when the price of an asset, in this case bitcoin, rises while the RSI heads downwards, suggesting a lack of momentum. Although the RSI bearish divergence does not necessarily indicate that the bitcoin price would decline rapidly in the short-term, it shows that the asset would need to demonstrate significant strength to avoid a trend reversal. Can Bitcoin Overcome Short-Term Vulnerability? The decline in the momentum of bitcoin was not triggered by technical factors. Rather, the Tether (USDT) scandal and the office of the New York Attorney General filing of a lawsuit against iFinex, the company that oversees Tether and Bitfinex, led the bitcoin price to plunge by 7 percent. The office of the New York Attorney General alleged Bitfinex of mismanaging $850 million of Tethers cash reserves in an attempt to hide the companys loss. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Stockmarket Should Remain Strong as Long as Fed Avoids Misstep: The major U.S. stock indexes finished mixed last week with gains being posted in the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ Composite, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged behind. It was a busy week in regards to corporate earnings, Fed activity and economic data with all factoring into the price action at some time or another, however, all these news events generated very little change in prices. While all eyes were on the large-cap U.S. stock indexes, small-cap and international stocks outperformed the bunch. This suggests U.S. markets may be overcooked to the upside since the economy hasn’t really missed a beat, while beat-up international stocks may have more appeal because the global economy may be in a position to turnaround. In other words, we could be looking at an allocation play whereby asset managers sell-off some of the good stuff and move money into the cheaper stocks with more upside potential. There really wasn’t much to rattle stock traders last week except for potential valuation issues. This raises the question, will U.S. investors still be willing to chase the market higher at current price levels, or will they be more willing to book some profits and wait for a pullback into a value area. Last week’s domestic economic reports were mixed, but for the most part were still positive. We saw a rise in consumer confidence and productivity. Additionally, the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate hit a nearly 50 year low. Wage growth was steady, but still disappointing to some. From a positive perspective, this indicates that the labor market can continue to support economic growth without spiking inflation higher. The U.S. Federal Reserve actually came in a bit less-dovish than expected. The big surprise to some market participants is that the central bank reduced the chances of a rate hike last year with their commentary. Central bank policymakers reiterated their patient approach to setting rates, but also signaled that due to strong labor growth, it wasn’t preparing to cut interest rates. This triggered a light sell-off toward the end of week by investors who had priced in a more-dovish Fed. Story continues Nonetheless, stock market investors seem to like Fed policy at this time because it doesn’t suggest a rate hike is on the horizon. Traders would rather have the central bank hold rates steady then raise them. A rate cut would’ve been the cherry on top, however. Moving forward, the stock market should remain healthy since Fed policy is accommodating. The economy is also healthy although slow-moving. As long as inflation remains slightly under the Fed’s 2 percent target, the policymakers really have no choice but to watch how conditions unfold. While Fed stimulus has helped generate solid returns in the stock market, there is evidence that this bull market is now being supported by improving fundamentals. Recent data shows steady consistent growth in the economy and corporate profits. And over the last six-months we’ve seen what raising rates too fast can do to the stock market. Furthermore, April’s jobs report highlighted the strength in the labor force. Unemployment is low, wages are rising steadily and this is helping to boost household spending, which essentially holds together the economy. As earnings season comes to a close, investors will look back and see that corporate earnings results have come in ahead of expectations when less than a month ago experts were calling for the worst season in three years. This is important because even with the relatively low interest rate environment, earnings growth will continue to remain a key driver of market performance the rest of the year. While we remain optimistic about future growth in the stock market, we are being realistic when we say that there are potential pitfalls out there including the possibility of a Fed misstep, a collapse of US-China trade talks, political uncertainty regarding the White House and fallout from Brexit. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Strengthens Over .7030, Weakens Under .6967 USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Set Up for Steep Break Under 110.761 Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Trend Changes to Up on Trade Through $1290.90 E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – Strong Upside Momentum into Close The Crypto Week – Bitcoin Cash ABC and Litecoin Stole the Show Weekly Wrap – The Pound Stole the Show at the Expense of the Dollar || Bitcoin Nation: 22 Million US Crypto Traders Dwarf Global Rivals: The US boasts 22 million crypto traders, nearly one-third of Bitcoin exchange users worldwide. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : The overwhelming majority of crypto traders come from the United States, according to surprising new research from DataLight. The firm analyzed traders using the top 100 Bitcoin exchanges and found that over 22 million users hail from America. The next in line is Japan with 6 million, followed by South Koreans 5 million users. US Dominates Crypto Trading Industry Collectively, it takes almost six other countries to reach the same number of traders as the US. Notably, Korean exchanges like Bithumb report massive volume, but this volume is likely almost entirely fake. Several exchanges also engage in transaction mining, where users are rewarded for conducting trades, which means pumped-up volume. bitcoin exchange users by country The US boasts more than triple the crypto traders of Japan, its next closest rival. | Source: DataLight. DataLights report notes some interesting findings, including the impressive number of Turkish Bitcoin traders. Turkey for example, has in the last year seen wild fluctuations in the value of the Turkish Lira, as turbulent political conditions rock the country. Interestingly, on one day in August 2018, a 10% drop in the value of the Lira was accompanied by a marked spike in volumes on bitcoin exchange LocalBitcoins. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bitfinex Shareholder Says $1 Billion in Private Purchases Already Sealed for Upcoming IEO: Crypto exchange Bitfinex shareholder Zhao Dong has reportedly revealed that the exchange has sealed $1 billion in both hard and soft commitments for its initial native exchange token offering. The news was reported by crypto news outlet Coindesk on May 9. As previously reported, plans to issue a native Bitfinex exchange token first surfaced in late April, with later details revealed by Dong and a subsequent ostensibly official marketing paper allegedly from iFinex, the company behind both Bitfinex and associated stablecoin issuer Tether ( USDT ). A white paper published by Bitfinex on May 8 confirmed that the exchange intends to issue up to $1 billion in native LEO utility tokens, each worth 1 tether, in a private sale ending May 11. In his latest disclosure on Chinese messenger service WeChat, Zhao reportedly stated that theres a high possibility Bitfinex will not conduct a public sale, given that it has already allegedly sealed sufficient hard and soft commitments to purchase its $1 billion allocation from private investors. Soft commitments refer to cases where investors can still decide to cancel the deal upon their review of the LEO white paper. Zhao had previously outlined that investors are able to cement their soft commitment to a hard commitment by providing a 10% deposit. The ostensible $1 billion in both types of commitments thus means that there remains a chance that some investors will yet withdraw, in which case Zhao reportedly stated the leftover tokens would be issued to others on a first come, first serve basis. As reported, alongside his stake in Bitfinex, Zhao runs a major Chinese BTC over-the-counter trading desk and is the founder of Singapore-based DFund. Meanwhile, the New York Attorney Generals office has recently accused Bitfinex of having lost $850 million in user deposits, and subsequently secretly covering up the shortfall using funds from Tether the latter of which has itself come under renewed criticism for being backed only 74% by USD reserves. Story continues With Tether officially rebuffing the allegations and both companies heavily criticizing New York authorities for the manner in which they raised their complaint parent company IFinex continues to contest the legal allegations in court, with a judge on Monday partly siding with the co-defendants . Related Articles: Joseph Lubin on Bitfinex: It Seems Like a Really Big Mess That Probably Wont Get Better Bitfinex Confirms Initial Exchange Offering to Raise Up to $1 Billion in Tether Tether, Bitfinex Stay Afloat Amid Controversy New York Judge Criticizes Attorney General Claims Against Bitfinex, Tether || Bitcoin congestion is increasing: What’s going on?: Bitcoin’s price action over the past few days has come at a slight cost. As we saw during the height of the 2017-2018 bull run, whenever Bitcoin becomes popular, its transaction fees skyrocket. Not only that, but the mempool – or the memory pool where unconfirmed transactions are stored – is also getting bigger. BTC transaction fees have soared to a new 11-month high. At the time of writing, the average Bitcoin transaction fee is about $2.50. That’s up from $0.75 earlier in May – which itself is still some way above the yearly low of $0.17. Bitcoin transaction fee movement The chart above shows Bitcoin’s transaction fees for the past six months. Now compare that to the Bitcoin price trajectory over the same time period (which you can find here ) and we see a clear correlation. The peak transaction fee of $2.50 was recorded on May 12. The median transaction fee also peaked on the same day. Those fees apply to an average transaction value of just $409, according to Bitinfocharts. That may only equate to fees of 0.36% of the amount presented, but anyone looking to send a substantially lower sum would still have to pay roughly the same transaction fee. Bitcoin transaction fees are not dependent on the amount sent, but on the total number of transactions happening in that moment. In other words, fees rise when the blocks on the blockchain get too full. Only so many transactions can fit into Bitcoin’s 1MB blocks. Full blocks result in higher transaction fees, as holders must now compete to get their transactions through in time. Not only that, but the number of transactions not being approved begins to increase. Are Bitcoin blocks full? According to data from Bitinfocharts, the BTC block size has been pushed close to its limits for the past three months. We can see in the chart above that the number of unconfirmed transactions keeps rising, as it clearly mimics surges in Bitcoin’s price action. This means any time there’s a BTC price surge, we should expect transaction fees and the number of unconfirmed transactions to rise. At the moment, blocks seem quite close to being full, which is another trigger for an increase in unconfirmed transactions and fees. Meanwhile, the number of Bitcoiners using SegWit to move money is perched above 40%, and there are little signs of more addresses joining in the meantime – which is a total shame if you ask me. SegWit adoption SegWit refers to nodes on the Bitcoin blockchain that strip out certain data from transactions in order to reduce their size. This in turn allows for more transactions to fit in a single block. SegWit blocks can expand to 4MB, and according to optimists, they will be able to handle millions of transactions per second when paired with the Lightning Network. Story continues However, SegWit has drawn plenty of controversy. Many question its security due to the fact that it doesn’t operate fully on the blockchain. Rather, SegWit nodes – or ‘channels’ – are opened up, allowing nodes to validate certain data without sending it to the blockchain. In essence, you can use a hash to validate bits of information without committing said data to be fully verified on the blockchain. What’s interesting is that, looking above, we seem to be stalling in terms of adoption. Could it be due to the ongoing block size debate? Right now, the Bitcoin community is divided between ‘big-blockers’ who want to scale Bitcoin on-chain and ‘small-blockers’ who want to move everything over to SegWit and the Lightning Network (off-chain solutions). Two of the most influential proponents of the first solution are Roger Ver and Craig Wright, while key supporters of the second solution lie within the Bitcoin core community and core programmers like Greg Maxwell and Jimmy Song. The legacy of this debate, which started around 2015, can still be felt to this day. The entire Bitcoin Cash hard fork saga was based around the same contentions. And as some of you remember, Bitcoin’s adoption of SegWit was the reason that Bitcoin Cash (BCH) split off and became its own coin in the first place. Bringing this back to very recent events, there’s even a feasible idea circulating that SegWit was inadvertently responsible for the latest Binance hack. Interestingly, over 99% of the stolen BTC was sent to a SegWit address on Binance. Since Binance has not yet adopted SegWit, there’s a strong possibility that its security safeguards weren’t able to register the transaction. You can see more below as discussed by Ivan on Tech. Don’t forget the most important advice out there: “Not your keys, not your coins.” Safe trades! The post Bitcoin congestion is increasing: What’s going on? appeared first on Coin Rivet . View comments || Catch Me If You Can: Fighting Fraud With Blockchain: Fraud impacts organizations of all types and sizes across a wide range of industries and geographies. Consequences can be direct, through financial losses, or indirect, through fines and reputational fallout. In 2018, firms worldwide lost more than $7 billion to internal fraud schemes, according to a “ 2018 Report to Nations ,” by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) — which analysed 2,600 real cases of occupational fraud from companies across 125 territories and 23 industries. Addressing the risk of fraud is a key challenge for all organizations. Blockchain as a solution Blockchain is an anti-fraud technology by design. The essence of blockchain technology is a shared and tamper-proof record of activities that are time-stamped and verified by a distributed network of computers. This provides a near real-time audit trail of information being exchanged. So, even if fraudulent information is recorded on a blockchain, there is a simple way to identify and tag the associated transactions. In the context of digital currency payments, it is almost impossible to conduct a fraudulent transaction. The value sent from one digital currency wallet to another cannot exceed the amount recorded in the sender’s wallet. Employees working in organizations transacting in digital currency would therefore find it very difficult to tamper with payment records, thereby preventing many asset misappropriation schemes such as theft of company assets — which, according to the ACFE, represented 89% of reported fraud cases. For organizations that don’t yet conduct payments in digital currencies (the vast majority, at present), they can still leverage the benefits of blockchain technology to disincentivize fraud. For example, when documents — such as financial statements, excel sheets or any other sensitive digital file prone to tampering — are created, edited, stored, exchanged or destroyed, such activities can be automatically “logged” on a blockchain. Story continues The process of logging these transactions to public blockchains such as bitcoin or Ethereum is known as anchoring, whereby only the hash or cryptographic reference code pertaining to a particular activity (e.g., an email exchange) or file (e.g., a passport scan) is broadcast as part of a blockchain transaction. These blockchain transactions can then be viewable to anyone, for full public accountability, or only to those granted permission to view or access the original files for inspection, such as external auditors or regulators. In this context, blockchain could be very effective in addressing financial statement fraud schemes, which involve overstating assets, revenues and profits, and understating liabilities, expenses and losses (or the opposite) — costing organizations a median of $800,000 per case, according to the ACFE report. Potential fraudsters that are aware of this auditability and the permanence of these records are consequently unlikely to carry out their desired schemes. Why fraud takes place and how it is tackled A lack of internal oversight combined with a high-pressure work environment provides the ideal conditions for organizational fraud to take place. A survey by PwC , a global auditor, showed that 52% of reported fraud cases were committed by internal actors, 24% of which were senior management. According to PwC’s “Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2018” — which gathered data from 7,200 respondents across 123 different territories — usage of a blockchain-enhanced system for information exchange may help to reduce the risks and costs to reputation of senior managers committing fraud. Currently, organizations address fraud by establishing a code of conduct, engaging with external auditors and providing authority to internal audit teams. Employing the use of data-monitoring tools and analytics also contributes to lower losses and faster detection of fraud cases, as reported by the ACFE. However, the ACFE report also cited the most common method of initial fraud detection did not rely on technology at all, but through employee tips and whistleblowing, representing 40% of cases. Blockchain is therefore not likely to solve all types of fraud, especially those that take place primarily offline, nor does it serve to detect or predict when fraud takes place. Nonetheless, the technology’s tenets serve as a significant fraud disincentive and data integrity enforcement tool that can be used to tackle real problems, such as protecting migrant workers from corrupt employment practices and preventing tampering in real estate investment transactions. Thomas Glucksmann is head of data management solutions at Diginex, a global blockchain solutions company. Related Articles: Exec Warns $9 Trln Trade Finance Industry Must Go Digital to Combat Fraud, Cites Blockchain Former Worldpay US Executive Joins Crypto Payments Firm BitPay as Its New CFO French Regulatory Agency Sees 14,000% Surge in Crypto-Related Scam Enquiries Since 2016 Diar: Average Bitcoin Transaction Fees Increased by Nearly 200% From March to April || Hackers Steal $100,000+ Worth of BTC From Engineering Manager at Crypto Custodian BitGo: Sean Coonce, engineering manager atcryptocurrencycustodianBitGo, announced that he has fallen victim to aSIMswappinghackin a Mediumpostpublished on May 20.
According to the post, Coonce had over $100,000 siphoned out of his account oncryptocurrency exchangeCoinbasein under 24 hours.
In his post, Coone details SIM swapping, a practice that sees the attacker maliciously requesting atelecommunicationscarrier to redirect the traffic of a mobile phone number to a device over which they have control. This device is then used to obtain two-factor-authentication (2FA) codes which grant control over the victim’s online account.
After describing in detail how the attack had been carried out, Coone noted his recommendations to prevent such attacks, including using ahardware walletto secure personal cryptocurrency holdings and using a YubiKey for 2FA. In cases in which a YubiKey is not supported, he recommends using Google Voice 2FA, since he claims those numbers are not vulnerable to SIM swapping.
Lastly, Coonce also suggests using a password manager and reducing a user’s personal online footprint by publicly sharing less personal information online. He stated that he “can’t stop thinking about the small, easy things I could have done to protect myself along the way,” and added:
“Given my naive security practices, I probably deserved to get hacked.”
As Cointelegraphreportedearlier this month,United Statesblockchainand crypto investorMichael Terpinhas won $75.8 million in a civil case against 21-year-old Nicholas Truglia, who reportedly defrauded him of crypto assets through SIM swapping.
Also in May, the U.S. Department of Justicereleaseda fifteen-count indictment charging a hacking group labeled “The Community” with SIM swapping in order to steal cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin Stolen in Binance Hack Moved to Seven Addresses
• US Blockchain Investor Terpin Awarded Over $75 Million in SIM Swapping Case
• ETH Stolen From Crypto Exchange Cryptopia Moved, Portion Deposited on Exchange
• Coinbase Earn Now Available to the Public in Over 100 Countries || Virtual Summit Preview: Current State of Bond Market with Fixed Income Strategist: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
The evolution of fixed income in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) space has undoubtedly opened doors for investors to provide easy access to this asset class. Now, investors have a plethora of options when it comes to the bond market, especially with the advent of fixed income ETFs.
For investors looking to add exposure to the bond market while reaping the benefits of doing so through the ETF wrapper, it can be daunting to look at the options available. Invesco’s Senior Fixed Income Strategist Timothy Urbanowicz discussed the current state of the fixed income market and how investors can position themselves to take advantage of this growing space.
Fixed Income Inflows Still Strong
As investors are well aware after last year, volatility makes for a challenging environment in the equities market, but a safe-haven move to the fixed income market was a boon to inflows. Thus far in 2019, equities are rebounding, but the strength in the bond market is still persisting with fixed income ETFs still receiving steady flows.
"We got almost $74 billion of total ETF inflows already for the year--almost 40 of that has gone into fixed income," said Urbanowicz.
The move to bonds near the end of 2018 was seen as a defensive move amid a bevy of sell-offs in equities, but a more dovish central bank is also fueling the current capital allocation into fixed income. Despite the Fed taking on a more dovish tone as it preaches patience with respect to interest rate policy in 2019, investors are still opting for more exposure to fixed income.
However, investors with a penchant for yield have found that the current environment presents more of a challenge as the central bank is less inclined to step on the accelerator pedal on rate hikes and opting to keep the federal funds rate steady.
"That investor hunger for yield seems to be very challenging once again," Urbanowicz acknowledged.
Where the Opportunities Are
Given the current challenges, where are the opportunities in fixed income? Urbanowicz is seeing the lion's share of capital allocation spread across investment grade and high yield debt -- a shift by investors pursuing a more risk on strategy as opposed to last year’s risk off mindset.
"In our lineup, the predominant driver of Fixed income inflows has been money coming into the investment-grade and high-yield BulletShares ETFs," said Urbanowicz.
To that end, investors who still want to appease their appetite for yield can look at Invesco's roster of high yield ETFs:
• Invesco Corporate Income Defensive ETF (IHYD)
• Invesco Corporate Income Value ETF (IHYV)
• Invesco BulletShares 2018 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJI)
• Invesco BulletShares 2023 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJN)
• Invesco BulletShares 2022 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJM)
• Invesco BulletShares 2024 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJO)
• Invesco Fundamental High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (PHB)
• Invesco BulletShares 2025 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJP)
• Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJQ)
• Invesco BulletShares 2019 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJJ)
• Invesco BulletShares 2021 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJL)
• Invesco BulletShares 2020 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (BSJK)
Even with the bond market facing headwinds, investors are not ready to tamp down their exposure to fixed income. Whether it's inverted yield curves, lower interest rates or concerns that BBB investment-grade debt is on the cusp of high-yield status, investors are still forging on with fixed income exposure.
"At the same time, investors need yield especially as we've seen rates come down," said Urbanowicz.
Urbanowicz acknowledges this wall of worry, but maintains faith in the bond markets, especially high yield where it has become a prime option for income-producing assets over loans.
"A lot of the demand last year was in the loan market as you started to see rates rise," said Urbanowicz, who is now seeing "a shift out of loans into high-yield bonds."
Getting More Strategic with Fixed Income
As markets have cycled out of the growth and momentum-fueled investments of 2018, a move to more quality-oriented investments are in order. Identifying these quality-based investments, however, will require more due diligence.
"There's obviously been a shift into quality," said Urbanowicz. "You saw that all last year where investment grade took in 106 percent of total fixed-income ETF flows last year. You saw that de-risking across the board--we are seeing investors add risk back on."
Learning to feather that risk in the current market landscape will certainly require discipline by the bond investor. In essence, bond portfolios will have to be built with a strategic bent--investors can opt for the bond strategies Invesco puts forth via their ETFs to aid in thequest for income.
That strategic allocation into fixed-income means that investors should also look overseas for opportunities. While it’s tempting to simply allocate capital into the domestic bond markets, investors shouldn’t ignore the international credit markets, especially with countries like China becoming less stringent with respect to foreigners accessing their once hard-to-penetrate markets.
Investors looking for overseas debt exposure can look to theInvesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (PCY) . PCY tracks the investment results of the DBIQ Emerging Market USD Liquid Balanced Index, which measures potential returns of a theoretical portfolio of liquid emerging market U.S. dollar-denominated government bonds.
"One of the challenges we've seen with EM is with the strong dollar--if you do continue to see the Fed pause, maybe start to some weakness creep in to the dollar, this could potentially be a very nice tail wind for emerging markets," said Urbanowicz.
Learn More About Fixed Income at the Virtual Summit
Urbanowicz is just one of the speakers who will be discussing the bond markets at the Virtual Summit on Wednesday, Apr. 17, 2019.ETF Trends will give financial advisors the opportunity to congregate in a cutting edge virtual settingto discuss these latest trends in the fixed income space.
Topics Discussed to Address Fixed Income Strategies for a Changing Debt World:
• Advantages of global income diversification
• How indexing and fixed income work together in today’s portfolios
• Assessing the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve and Central banks around the world
• How to position fixed income strategies in an investment portfolio while controlling risk
Register nowto take advantage of this opportunity to gain valuable insight into the fixed income market.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Impressive Streaks Inside Mid-Cap Dividend ETF ‘REGL’: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
Many investors large-cap stocks are the best ideas for dividends, particularly when it comes to consistent dividend growth. After all, there are large-cap dividend exchange traded funds (ETFs) that require companies to have minimum dividend increase streaks of 10, 20 or even 25 years.
As proven by theProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (CBOE: REGL), mid-cap funds can play that game and play it well. REGL, which recently turned four years old, follows the S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats Index. That is the dividend aristocrats offshoot of the widely followed S&P MidCap 400 Index. REGL’s components, which currently number 52, are required to have minimum dividend increase streaks of 15 years.
Regardless of market cap spectrum, dividend increase streaks of 15 years are impressive, but many of REGL's holdings far exceed the ETF's minimum threshold for inclusion.
Long Traditions
A recent breakdownof REGL's holdingsby length of dividend increase streaks indicate seven of the fund's components have boosted payouts for 45 or more consecutive years. Two of those stocks are utilities names and another two hail from the consumer staples sector. Those sectors combine for more than 23% of REGL's weight.
Nine of REGL's member firms have dividend increase streaks of 35 years to 44 years. A third of those names are industrial stocks. That sector is the ETF's second-largest sector weight at 19.51%.
Fourteen of REGL's holdings have dividend increase streaks ranging from 25 years to 34 years. Five of those 14 stocks are financials services names. That sector is REGL's largest sector exposure at 26.68%. A minimum dividend increase streak of 25 years is important because that is the requirement for entry into REGL's large-cap cousin, theProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF (CBOE: NOBL), indicating that if some of REGL's holdings eventually matriculate to large-cap status, those stocks could reside in NOBL's underlying index.
Twenty-two of REGL's holdings have dividend increase streaks of 15 to 24 years, indicating that some of the fund's holdings are recent additions while others are fast approaching a quarter century of boosting dividends.
REGL has a dividend yield of 1.86%, or 67 basis points above the yield on the S&P MidCap 400 Index.
For more information on middle capitalization stocks, visit ourmid-cap category.
Have you signed up for the ETF Trends Virtual Summit on Wednesday, April 17? It's complimentary for financial advisors (earn up to 5 CE Credits)!Register now to learn about alternative and thematic tools to better diversify client portfolios.POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || South Korea: Bithumb Exchange Operator Reveals Plans for US, Japanese Markets: The CEO ofSingapore-based Blockchain Exchange Alliance (BXA) — which has a controlling stake in majorSouth Koreancrypto exchangeBithumb— has revealed plans to expand to the American and Japanese markets. The news wasreportedby Cointelegraph Japan on April 18.
BXA CEO BK Kim told Cointelegraph Japan in an interview that BXA’s strategy is to pursue a so-called reverse merger route by acquiring a publicly-traded company that is already listed on either Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The route can be a faster way to take a company public than a traditional Initial Public Offering (IPO), BK Kim noted, adding that it can also help reduce listing fees — reportedly estimated to amount to around $6 million.
According to BK Kim, BXA has already sought legal advice in the United States, where a lawyer has reportedly given the opinion that the current legal framework allows for BXA to be listed using such a reverse-merger structure.
The CEO also revealed that BXA is currently seeking potential partners in Japan to establish a joint venture for a crypto exchange that would be officially licensed by the country’s watchdog.
BK Kim further discussed plans to prospectively increase BXA’s stake in Bithumb by acquiring up to 70% of Bithumb operator BTC Holdings — although he emphasized that even without the additional shares, BXA is already the controlling stakeholder for the exchange.
In regard to BXA’s own token, BXA — already listed on BitMax exchange — the CEO noted that a potential Bithumb BXA listing would require thorough consideration of regulatory impediments and that the firm would announce any further developments on the matter.
BK Kim’s disclosure of BXA’s U.S. plans confirms anonymous sources who had indicated the company’s interest in pursuing a reverse-merger this January, asreportedat the time.
Earlier this week, BXAreceived$200 million in funding fromJapan’sST Blockchain Fund, with the reported intent to use the funds to expand the international outreach of Bithumb.
Bithumb has undergone aturbulent period, recently suffering losses of around $13 million from a late March hack in what executivessuggestedwas an insider operation to defraud the company. The exchange was prompted toconductan external audit to reassure users its funds were being kept in cold storage wallets and that the losses had affected the exchange’s assets only.
Prior to that,a major hackin 2018 had resulted in the loss of around $17 million. Bithumb’s company's net annual losses for that yeartotalledabout $180 million.
• South Korea: Bithumb Exchange Operator Gains $200 Million From Japanese Investment Fund
• Major Japanese Fintech Firm Halts Plans to Launch Crypto Exchange, Citing Bear Market
• Bithumb Announces External Audit Results in Wake of $13 Million Hack
• Bithumb Losses Totalled $180 Million in 2018 Bear Market, Company Reports
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Correct. || BTC
週足のチャネルライン下端まで価格が落ち込みました。
日足の形を見ても売り疲れの印象を受けます。
ここからチャネルを守りつつ順当に推移すると、
来年末あたりには最高値へ接近することになります。 https://t.co/Sp7po3dToZ || low
#BTC https://t.co/9YkHO4Gt2a || “I’m writing a book and have a part in it about how bitcoin is worth 0. But I’m told bitcoin is very valuable in Venezuela. I mean, what are the barriers to entry in crypto currencies? Yet, maybe one considers putting in a little bit in, just in case.” -James Dow #Disrupt19 || Long/Short Bitcoin & altcoin volatility with up to 100x Leverage at PrimeXBT! 👑💰
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$BTMX - $SNT - $MANA - $BTC - $ZIL - $NEXO - $MXM https://t.co/Wl2kpojkbi || @Quark_Chain #QuarkChain #QKC and any one of them (#Blockchain #BTC #ETH #blockchaintechnology #sharding || @PeterLBrandt This was real!! Can’t do BTC on this. Old enough to remember, young enough to learn 👌 https://t.co/hZfQsMYomn || Bitcoin (BTC) Price Crosses $8,000 Again, Bounce Back is Positive Sign By Cryptovest https://t.co/RWV4xocmDk || @Jessica55770446 Seems that BTC is alive again . I know private channel with market info . And it is free for 5 days !
Look --> https://t.co/EhLDe7mwaP
⭕ 1867917464 || Lmao
Ofc $btc H1 closes in ambiguity. 🤪
Flip a coin for a continuation or drop. https://t.co/bTUrxllueD
|
Trend: up || Prices: 8052.54, 8673.22, 8805.78, 8719.96, 8659.49, 8319.47, 8574.50, 8564.02, 8742.96, 8209.00
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-03-31]
BTC Price: 6438.64, BTC RSI: 45.92
Gold Price: 1583.40, Gold RSI: 49.00
Oil Price: 20.48, Oil RSI: 26.36
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
The Morning After: A cheaper Google Pixel and a flagship Motorola phone leaked: Hey, good morning!
When the world's biggest phone show never happened, companies like LG and Huawei resorted to showing their new devices at dedicated events from New York to London and Hong Kong. But now? Well, we're already scanning the horizon for what's next. Namely, budget spin-offs of existing phones, like a cheaper Pixel 4, and a new flagship phone from Motorola -- a company that's avoided high-spec battles in recent years.
If you're reading this, you're more interested in the high-spec, high-cost phone, but for a lot of people, cheaper phones usually suffice. The Pixel 3a amazed me last year --and I wasn't alone. Can Google repeat the magic? And will more people pick up a Pixel, based on past success? Maybe. I'm less interested in Motorola's flagship phone hopes. Again,times are toughif you're not making iPhones or Galaxy phones.
-- Mat
Google might stick to the basics for its next Android handset.Pixel 4a photo leaks hint at a no-frills budget phone
Waiting on a cheaper Pixel phone? Multipleleaksappearing on Twitter and Reddit appear to show Google's upcoming low-cost Pixel 4a phone in the wild -- to be honest, looking a bit worse for wear. Judging by the pictures, the prototype ditches the face recognition and dual cameras of the regular Pixel 4 in favor of a more conventional fingerprint reader and single rear cam, though it still has that huge squarish camera module. It seems Google will keep the headphone jack around for those who can't justify Bluetooth earbuds -- a stealthy way of keeping shoppers' additional costs down, perhaps?
The Edge+ might also be headed to the US.Motorola's first high-end phone in years may have a 'bezel-free' display
Motorola hasn't attempted a flagship phone for a while -- perhaps because Apple and Samsung seem to have that market sewn up. Flip-phone experiments aside, Motorola's Edge+ is another attempt at phone glory. Leaks suggest a 6.7-inch phone with a "bezel-free" (on the sides, at least) curved screen and, according to renders, a relatively tiny hole-punch camera.
Your real-life soccer skills could improve a virtual team.Google and Adidas prep smart insoles that tie into 'FIFA Mobile'
The latest Google wearable appears to be an embeddable sensor for your soccer / football boots. Not only will it do the obligatory movement tracking you'd expect but also translate that presumably middling performance toFIFA Mobile. Your skills, including in real-life challenges, promise to improve the Ultimate Team in your game. Adidas and Google have teased an announcement on March 10th.
People love a super-expensive EV.Lotus has already sold out its $2.6 million electric hypercar
TheLotus Evija: an electric hypercar costing over $2.6 million. Who would buy it? Some people. Apparently. Lotus has reportedly already sold out of the Evija production run for 2020, which is due to start in the summer. It didn't provide specific numbers, but there were expectations the automaker would make 130 Evijas in total. Perhaps now, it might make more.
• Apple Watch might detect your blood oxygen levels
• Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra is surprisingly sturdy
• New York power plant mines Bitcoin using excess energy
The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don'tSubscribe.
Craving even more?Like us on FacebookorFollow us on Twitter.
Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After?Send us a note. || We Think 10-Minute Settlement Is Slow but Thats Crazy, Feat. CoinDesk Researchs Noelle Acheson: CoinDesk Head of Research Noelle Acheson joins the Amun State of Crypto crew to discuss the advantages, disadvantages and eccentricities of crypto markets, exchanges, settlement and more. Listen or subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , IHeartRadio or RSS . In this deep-dive conversation, the group discusses the differences in the market microstructure between the crypto asset industry and traditional capital markets. The guests drew from their experience within traditional capital markets to explain the intricacies of the crypto market micro-structures and price discovery. Related: How Bitcoin Is Used to Promote Human Rights: Stories From Activists and Refugees Listen or subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , IHeartRadio or RSS . Related Stories Mainstream Moments and the CompuServe of Crypto, Feat. Andreas M. Antonopoulos The Top Narratives Driving Crypto Market Growth, Feat. Travis Kling IOHK Opens Cardano Research Lab at University of Wyoming Following $500K Donation || XRP Dips Below 0.17320 Level, Down 3%: Investing.com - XRP fell bellow the $0.17320 level on Saturday. XRP was trading at 0.17320 by 14:35 (18:35 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, down 2.83% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since March 22.
The move downwards pushed XRP's market cap down to $7.64000B, or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, XRP's market cap was $20.48129B.
XRP had traded in a range of $0.16670 to $0.17668 in the previous twenty-four hours.
Over the past seven days, XRP has seen a rise in value, as it gained 3.22%. The volume of XRP traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $1.13639B or 0.00% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.1454 to $0.1871 in the past 7 days.
At its current price, XRP is still down 94.74% from its all-time high of $3.29 set on January 4, 2018.
Bitcoin was last at $6,221.4 on the Investing.com Index, down 6.75% on the day.
Ethereum was trading at $127.74 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 6.69%.
Bitcoin's market cap was last at $113.70688B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $14.14455B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
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After 14 Years in Investment Banking, I Joined the Crypto Industry || Binance Now Lets Users Borrow Against Crypto Holdings to Fund Futures Trades: Malta-based Binance, one of the worlds top cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, now allows users put up their crypto holdings as collateral to fund futures trading. Launched soon before press time, the new Cross Collateral feature means users can trade futures contracts using assets stored in their Binance exchange wallet as collateral, without the need to use their coins to directly fund orders. Traders using the service can currently borrow tether (USDT) at zero percent interest against holdings of Binance USD (BUSD) the exchanges own stablecoin issued in partnership with New York-regulated firm Paxos thereby eliminating the need to transfer BUSD to a futures wallet. Related: Former OKEx Exec to Raise $40M for Crypto Derivative Exchange Aaron Gong, director of Binance Futures, said users of the exchange can expect additional tokens to be supported in the near future. Cross Collateral is a much-anticipated feature for traders on Binance, allowing more flexibility and more choices of deposits to open futures positions, said Gong. The Binance Futures platform gives users the opportunity to trade 13 pairs with high leverage, and also to hedge existing positions to manage their risk. To date, users can trade BTC contracts with a leverage of up to 125x, the highest among major crypto exchanges. Binance also said Tuesday its adjusting its fee structure to encourage market makers to add liquidity to its futures platform. Under the revised Binance Futures Market Maker Program, market makers will receive a negative fee for placing trades on selected pairs. Full details are yet to be released. Related Stories Binance Will Soon Reward Market Makers for Providing Futures Liquidity Winklevoss Twins Crypto Exchange Adds TradingView Integration Winklevoss Patents Tout Use Case for Gemini Stablecoin Tech in Banking || Thursday’s Market Madness Strained Ethereum’s Killer App: DeFi: So many people were trying to use the Ethereum blockchain during Thursday’s market meltdown that many applications simply stopped working as intended.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector was hit particularly hard.
The decentralized services that feed price information into these headless lending platforms – known as “oracles” in the industry – simply couldn’t keep up.
Related:Bitcoin Ekes Out Gains but Remains in Red Amid Broader Market Rebound
Oracles could not send accurate price data and traders could not execute trades without paying horrendous fees to record transactions onto the blockchain.
In a throwback to 2017, the Ethereum network became too crowded to execute transactions for many projects. In 2017, it was NFT gaming app CryptoKitties that overloaded Ethereum by issuing too many transactions during a bull market. At one point,30,000 transactions were stuckin the queue waiting to be processed by the network.
Thursday’s mass transaction action was caused by the precarious plummet of ether’s price, which shed 30 percent in 24 hours in anetwork first.
Pricing oracles – typically Chainlink or Maker’sV2oracle – were the main victims Thursday.
Related:MakerDAO Debts Grow as DeFi Leader Moves to Stabilize Protocol
Several of Chainlink’s 21 oracles were down during prime trading hours, according to bZx co-founder and CEO Tom Bean.
Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of DeFi platform Aave, said he saw a Maker oracle throw a “20 percent price deviation” between the actual market price and Maker’s generated feed.
Oracles query data from on- or off-chain sources. Contracts pulling from on-chain sources had their requests crowded out by other transactions on the ethereum network, leading to oracle failures for both V2 and Chainlink.
Orders were also backlogged on the Ethereum mainnet and traders were forced to pay outlandish gas fees to settle.
For example, users were not able to perform trades on exchange dYdX or lending platformNuo Network. Both DeFi platforms changed their fee structures (including dYdX multiple times) to execute a slew of backlogged trades Thursday and early Friday.
“The network condition is affecting everyone,” Aave’s Kulechov said. “People need to just pay the 160 gwei [gas fee] to keep prices up to date.”
MakerDAO was undoubtedly the biggest loser on Thursday. An infrastructure error led to over$4 millionbeing swooped up by a lurking bot-maker, leaving investors high and dry as their collateral was taken away. In response, theMaker community votedFriday to restructure certain risk measures.
DeFi exchange bZx also halted opening new trades and loans and will leave these features offline until an audit is conducted, said Bean. bZx recently switched to Chainlink followinga flash loan attackthat relied on manipulated pricing data. All Chainlink oracles are reporting as of press time.
“The issue is that data providers can’t provide timely updates. I can query the current rate, but it’s way off from [the] actual market rate,” Bean said.
In an email, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov told CoinDesk that “unique market conditions created temporary congestion” on the ethereum mainnet. He said the congestion has been reduced, and all Chainlink oracles, which pull from multiple pricing feeds themselves, are now reporting accurately.
Still, other DeFi applications handled the surge of transactions without heavy-handed measures.
Decentralized exchange Uniswap saw its all-time trade volume double to over $53 million,according to a tweet from Uniswap founder Hayden Adams.
Kyber Network also set an all time high with some $30 million in 24-hour trade volume, according toCoinGecko.
What does this all mean? DeFi didn’t die, but it didn’t thrive either.
“If we want crypto to become a global asset class, we need better DeFi [infrastructure],” Multicoin Capital managing partner Kyle SamanitweetedFriday. “The status quo is not sufficient by orders of magnitude.”
• DeFi Leader MakerDAO Weighs Emergency Shutdown Following ETH Price Drop
• In Defense of Blockchain Voting || Here’s Why L Brands Stock Failed: On Thursday, Victoria’s Secret parent companyL Brands Inc.(NYSE:LB) announced that it is working with private equity firm Sycamore Partners to spin off the once-legendary lingerie brand as a private company.
Source: mysirikwan / Shutterstock.com
At the same time, longtime CEO and Chairman Leslie Wexner, the 82-year-old entrepreneur who ran Victoria’s Secret for decades, is stepping down. L Brands will keep Bath & Body Works as its primary business, and Wexner will remain on L Brands’ board as chairman emeritus.
According to the deal’s details, L Brands and Sycamore will split control of Victoria’s Secret. Sycamore paid $525 million to gain control of 55% of the brand, while L Brands will control the rest. They plan to spin Victoria’s Secret off as a fully private company.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
While L Brands stock fell as much as 15% before the market opened Thursday, it quickly recovered and, as of Friday morning, is down about 1.7% since the deal’s announcement.
Victoria’s Secret was once a cutting-edge brand.
But no longer.
Founded in 1977 and nestled in virtually every mall from coast to coast by the 2000s, Victoria’s Secret is now a sputtering private equity-dependent company valued at only $1 billion.
• 7 Explosive Cryptocurrencies to Buy for the Bitcoin Halvening
In this report, I’ll show you how that happened… how it ties into the Technochasm we’ve been talking about over the past couple of weeks…
And how putting these two facts together add up to the biggest profit opportunity I’ve seen in at least a decade…
Victoria’s Secret used to be the lingerie brand that set the standard for others to follow, but it is now a has-been – one that is engaged in a brutal fight for its survival.
While this company and its models will still be in business tomorrow, it is struggling to adapt to evolving cultural sensibilities and fashions. Its products are falling flat with younger generations of consumers.
In surveys Piper Jaffray conducts twice a year, the Victoria’s Secret brand ranked consistently in the Top 10. But that stopped in 2018. Even worse, the struggling brand now regularly makes Piper Jaffray’s “Bottom 10” list of retailers that teens no longer patronize.
Negative data points like these indicate that it is out of step with recent cultural shifts and fashion trends.
This company developed a powerful, trendsetting brand from the late 1970s through the 2000s, but it has failed to adjust to the changing tastes of the marketplace.
The supermodel marketing strategies that helped to establish and expand the brand throughout the 1990s and early 2000s are now a liability. Many fashion marketers want nothing to do with manipulated images of “The Perfect Body,” as these images convey negative messages to the very women that the brand’s marketers are trying to attract.
Dove pioneered “body positive” marketing 15 years ago when it launched its “Real Beauty” campaign.
And in 2016,Sports Illustratedfeatured plus-size model Ashley Graham on the cover of its famous swimsuit issue. That was a first for the magazine. (Interestingly, 2016 also happened to be the year that same-store sales of this brand’s retail outlets started a steep decline.)
Click to Enlarge
Source: InvestorPlace, unless otherwise noted
Despite the obvious success other “body positive” brands are achieving, Victoria’s Secret kept doubling down on the past.
Its slumping share price reflects L Brand’s struggles. In the past five years, while theS&P 500 Indexclimbed more than 75%, L Brands fell more than 70%.
But I believe the stock will continue to trend even lower, despite unloading Victoria’s Secret and concentrating on Bath & Body Works.
Source: InvestorPlace, unless otherwise noted
That said, Victoria’s Secret failed not only because of not keeping up with the times, fashion-wise.
It also fell into the Technochasm …
As we’ve been discussing here, that’s the phenomenon in which companies that innovate technologically outperform.
While those that don’t innovate, like Victoria’s Secret… simply fade away.
Consider this: The tech-heavyNasdaq 100 Indexhas delivereddoublethe performance of the S&P 500…triplethe performance of the transports… and12 timesthe performance of oil.
Click to Enlarge
Source: InvestorPlace, unless otherwise noted
That said, Amazon and the technology that drives it is not simply a destroyer. It is a creator of new ways of doing business. So companies that learn to mimic Amazon’s world-beating practices will thrive.
In particular, companies that develop a robust direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales channel will flourish. They’re flourishing already.
Click to Enlarge
Source: InvestorPlace, unless otherwise noted
L Brands and the clothing sector illustrates this phenomenon perfectly. Companies in the sector that have developed a robust DTC sales channel are growing rapidly. Those that haven’t… aren’t.
Lululemon Athletica Inc.(NASDAQ:LULU), for example, has created a vibrant DTC sales channel. It was one of the first retailers to emphasize online sales, and the company is reaping the rewards of that forward-looking strategy.
DTC sales account for more than one-quarter of the company’s revenue and more than one-third of its operating income.
Nike Inc.(NYSE:NKE) is also accumulating massive sales volumes and growth from its DTC division, Nike Direct. Last year, almost a third of Nike’s global sales came through Nike Direct, and the company expects to boost DTC sales by at least 50% over the next two years.
On the other hand, companies like L Brands andCapri Holdings Ltd.(NYSE:CPRI), owner of Michael Kors and Versace, have failed to develop winning DTC strategies.
Investors have taken notice. During the lasttwoyears, the smart money behind Lululemon and Nike has racked up big gains, while Capri and L Brands investors are big losers.
Not members of my elite-level service, though. I recommended buying puts on L Brands in November 2018. MySpeculatorsubscribers sold them less than one month later for a return of 81.4%!
There’s no going back to the old ways of retailing. Amazon and technology’s other “vampire squids” destroyed that world forever.
But in the process, they created huge opportunities for companies on the right side of the Technochasm.
Those companies – and investors – that adapt and embrace this new paradigm will prosper. Those that don’t, won’t.
I recently recorded aspecial video presentationin order to explain the growing gap between technology and the rest of the market in much greater detail.
You can check that outhere.
Eric Fry is anaward-winning stock pickerwith numerous “10-bagger” calls — in good markets AND bad. How? By finding potent global megatrends … before they take off. And when it comes to bear markets, you’ll want to havehis “blueprint” in hand before stocks go south. Eric does not own the aforementioned securities.
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The postHere’s Why L Brands Stock Failedappeared first onInvestorPlace. || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – 14/02/20: Bitcoin fell by 1.12% on Thursday. Reversing a 0.89% gain from Wednesday, Bitcoin ended the day at $10,222.0.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rally to a mid-morning high $10,480.0 before hitting reverse.
Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $10,452.67 before sliding to a late morning intraday low $10,058.0.
Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $10,230.67 and the second major support level at $10,123.33.
Finding support in the early afternoon, Bitcoin bounced back to an early afternoon intraday high $10,491.0.
Bitcoin broke back through the first major resistance level at $10,452.67 before sliding back into the red.
The near-term bearish trend, formed at late June’s swing hi $13,764.0, remained firmly intact, however, the upward trend.
For the bulls, Bitcoin would need to break out from $11,000 levels to form a near-term bullish trend.
Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was another mixed day for the crypto majors.
Binance Coin and Tezos led the way down, with losses of 6.74% and 5.76% on Thursday.
Bitcoin Cash SV (-1.89%), Litecoin (-1.01%), and Monero’s XMR (-3.02%) also joined Bitcoin in the red.
It was a bullish day for the rest of the majors, however.
Ripple’s XRP led the way, rallying by 7.40%, with Stellar’s Lumen up by 3.16%.
Bitcoin Cash ABC (+0.16%), Cardano’s ADA (+0.49%), EOS (+0.42%), Ethereum (+0.67%), and Tron’s TRX (+0.09%) saw modest gains on Thursday.
Through the current week, the crypto total market cap fell to a Tuesday low $279.65bn before rising to an early Thursday high $308.04bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $300.81bn.
Bitcoin’s dominance slipped further back through the week, falling from 63.3% to 61.8% at the time of writing.
Trading volumes were on the rise, however, jumping to $195bn levels on Thursday before easing back. Volumes had stat at sub-$130bn levels in the early part of the week. At the time of writing, 24-hr volumes stood at $187.47bn.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.31% to $10,190.0. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from an early morning high $10,236.4 to a low $10,173.0.
Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
Elsewhere, Binance Coin and Stellar’s Lumen bucked the trend early on, rising by 0.28% and by 1.62% respectively.
It was bearish for the rest of the pack, however. Ripple’s XRP and EOS fell by 1.25% and 1.15% to lead the way down.
Bitcoin would need to move back through to $10,260 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $10,456.0 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break back through to $10,400 levels.
Barring another broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level at $10,456.0 would likely leave Bitcoin short of $10,500 levels.
In the event of another breakout, Bitcoin would eye a breakout from the second major resistance level at $10,690.0.
Failure to move back through to $10,400 levels could see Bitcoin fall deeper into the red.
A fall back through to sub-$10,100 levels would bring the first major support level at $10,023.0 into play.
Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the sub-$10,000 levels on the day.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Gold Price Prediction – Prices Rebound on Increase in Coronavirus Cases || Bitcoin sees its best January in 7 years as Halvening nears: Bitcoinhas just recorded its best January performance in seven years. The cryptocurrency started the month at $7,208, according to data by CoinMarketCap and finished the month yesterday on $9,395. That's a gain of more than 30%.
That last time Bitcoin performed this well in the first month of the year was in 2013, where it saw a 54.50% rally.
Looking back over other years, Bitcoin's January performance has been split equally between rises and falls. While 2013 was the currency's biggest gain, 2015 saw the coin's price drop 32% in one month, and in 2018, by 29%. But this year is different. In fact, Bitcoin's price came just short of beating its three month high of $9,488 recorded on November 4. So what's got the price heading in this direction? There have been several reasons.
Earlier in the month, Bitcoin watchers pointed to the US's sudden drone strike against one of Iran's leading generals as the reason for Bitcoin's steady climb out of its low point of $6,597 recorded on December 17.
Within hours of the attack, the price of Bitcoin (along with oil prices) shot up to $7,339. While traditional assets like oil and gold see price rises during periods of uncertainty, Bitcoin has been historically less predictable when it comes to similar geopolitical events. Instead, several industry leaders—including e-Toro’s Mati Greenspan and Matthew Graham of Sino Global Capital—believe the currency’s price is growing because Iranians are buying up Bitcoin as the political environment heats up.
But within a week, theprice of bitcoin had cooled. Next, Bitcoin watchers looked to the Chinese New Year as another cause of the coin's continued rise. But historically, the opposite has been true. Chinese New Year often falls at the same time as a price dump and increased market volatility. The reason, according to some, lies with the tradition of Hóngbāo, which roughly translates to "red package." Every year, millions of red envelopes containing cash are given out as gifts to friends and families. Bitcoin hodlers could, in theory, exchange their Bitcoin for cash for the occasion. Such a sustained sell-off could be sufficient to change the dynamics of supply and demand such that supply outstrips demand, causing Bitcoin prices to tumble as exchange volume drops.
But the opposite was true. Across the period, there wasn't the big sell-off like there had been in previous years. Some have suggested theCorona Virushas hampered people's ability to spend time with family.
The last and possibly the most plausible reason for Bitcoin's stellar January is the Halvening.
In May of this year, the reward for mining a block on the Bitcoin network will half from its current 12.5 BTC to just 6.25 BTC per block. Some believe this reduction in the number of Bitcoin being produced will cause the price to go up. Some have suggested in anticipation of the event, the price has startled to tick upwards.Tyler and Cameron Winklevossspoke confidently about the Halvening being "big for Bitcoin". But like anything crypto, for every opinion, there is an equal and opposite one saying something completely different.
Crypto luminaries like Meltem Demirors have argued that as the event is known and predictable meaning the price is unlikely to rise in response.
But whatever your opinion, January has been a good month for Bitcoin. Will February follow suit? || Crypto Derivatives Platform Gets Nod From London Stock Exchange’s Software Tester: A crypto derivatives exchange has received a clean bill of health from the same software tester that vets the trading and settlement systems used by the London Stock Exchange (LSE). ZUBR, which only opened for trading in early March, said its trading software had been successfully stress-tested by Exactpro. The exchange’s high-frequency trading feature, risk management protocols and trading engine met requirements set by the software tester. “The testing included a few milestones, such as the analysis of documentation and requirements, the development of testing scenarios, multiple rounds of testing, risk assessment and recommendations,” said Alexey Zverev, Exactpro co-founder and director, in a statement. Related: Australian Crypto Exchange CoinSpot Wins ISO Security Accreditation ZUBR is a crypto derivatives exchange aimed at professional traders using algorithmic and high-frequency trading strategies. The platform offers perpetual contracts – futures with no expiry dates – for bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) with up to 20 times leverage. Based in Gibraltar, the company is looking to become regulated in Europe, although a spokesperson declined to specify where. See also: Blockchain Arbitration Firm Proof of Trust Plans London Stock Exchange Listing Established in 2009, Exactpro has tested the LSE’s trading technology since 2010. It was acquired by the exchange group in 2015, but was subject to a management buyout three years later for undisclosed terms. “LSEG remains a substantial client of Exactpro and we continue to provide services following a multi-year master services agreement,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk. Speaking about the tests it performed for ZUBR, Exactpro concluded the exchange “met the requirements of a high-frequency trading venue,” with trade executing in microseconds even in high-demand simulations. Its risk management protocols meant the exchange could, subject to regulation, offer higher leverage options. Story continues Related: Binance Cut Leveraged Tokens Because Users ‘Don’t Read Warning Notices’ Exactpro recently expressed some skepticism about whether blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) could replace existing financial infrastructure. Co-founder and co-CEO Iosif Itkin told CoinDesk that the technology was still very much at the prototype stage. See also: Retail Investors Aren’t Interested in Crypto Derivatives, Says eToro Executive ZUBR was the first cryptocurrency exchange assessed by Exactpro. The company said it would “continue to collaborate with [ZUBR] to ensure any new technical features are fully tested.” Related Stories Singapore Crypto Exchange Eyes US Expansion After Registering With FinCEN Users See ‘Buying Opportunity’ in Coronavirus Market Downturn, Says Crypto.com || Bitcoin Lender BlockFi Raises $30M in Series B Led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures: Fresh on the heels of an $18.3 million Series A funding round in August, crypto lending startup BlockFi has secured a $30 million Series B.
Announced Thursday, the new funding will help the firm expand both its product offering and geographic footprint.
“We decided to opportunistically raise the Series B to expand the balance sheet and give ourselves the ability to invest in the things we’re doing this year,” BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said in an interview.
Related:PoolTogether DeFi App Announces $1M Investment After No-Loss Lottery Payout Tops $1K
The Series B was led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures with participation fromrepeat investorsMorgan Creek Digital, PJC, Akuna Capital, CMT Digital, Winklevoss Capital and Avon Ventures. New investors included Castle Island Ventures, Purple Arch Ventures, Kenetic Capital, Arrington XRP Capital and HashKey Capital.
Having Hong Kong-based HashKey as an investor will help BlockFi expand into Singapore later this year, Prince said. While the company has been serving customers in the region, this would be its first physical presence there.
In the Asia-Pacific region, BlockFi expects to attract a lot of institutional customers, Prince said, given the number of mining companies, asset managers, exchanges and market makers that exist there. BlockFi also plans to begin attracting more retail customers in the region as it translates its site and products into local Asian languages.
In the first quarter of this year, the startupplansto develop a mobile app and the ability to send fiat wire transfers. In Q2 2020, BlockFi plans to offer Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments.
Related:How Fund Managers View Lending and Staking: 3 Takeaways From a CoinDesk Research Webinar
It also expects to double the size of its 75-person team by the end of 2020, Prince said.
BlockFi has been providing fiat loans with bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) collateral since the beginning of last year. In March, it launched a service offering clients interest on their crypto, which the company then loaned out to institutions. BlockFi has had to cut rates more than once because borrower supply has not been able to meet depositordemand.
The firm reports having more than $650 million in assets on its platform, a 160 percent increase from the $250 million in assets it reported in August, with a 0 percent loan loss rate.
Last month, BlockFi announced a slightreductionin yield for customers lending bitcoin and ether, caused by a more bullish crypto market.
• BlockFi Adjusts Interest Rates to Lure Larger Crypto Deposits
• Bitfinex Investor’s Crypto Lending Startup Posts $2.3M in 2019 Revenue
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 6606.78, 6793.62, 6733.39, 6867.53, 6791.13, 7271.78, 7176.41, 7334.10, 7302.09, 6865.49
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-10-18]
BTC Price: 637.96, BTC RSI: 66.33
Gold Price: 1260.80, Gold RSI: 34.49
Oil Price: 50.29, Oil RSI: 61.31
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Blockchain could soon power stock markets, music sales, and even prevent child labor — here's how it works: bi graphics_future of blockchain (.) It's a technology conceived by the mysterious creator of bitcoin — the digital currency championed by a motley crew of privacy-obsessed libertarians, social activists, and some criminals. Bank of America (AP Photo) Now the idea of blockchain has gripped Wall Street's biggest institutions. Its enthusiasts think it could change the world. Sure, it would make contracts more enforceable and speed up the settlement of stock trades — hence the interest from big banks. But some see it going much further, cracking down on sex trafficking , music piracy, and child labor. And the key to all that — what attracts these different factions — is something that, on the surface at least, sounds rather banal: a digital ledger, like the one in your checkbook. "Blockchain is a truly extraordinary technology that does really mundane things," said Paul Brody, Ernst & Young's global blockchain leader. But for all the promise, these big questions remain: Who will foot the bill, and is it really as secure as supporters say? What is blockchain? In the non-blockchain world, we keep separate records of transactions. If you write your friend a check, you balance your own checkbook and your friend does the same when they deposit it. But things can go wrong. They might forget to update their checkbook ledger. And each bank has no way to know immediately if the person has enough in their bank account to cover it. checkbook, checks, writing a check (Flickr / oblivion9999) With a blockchain, instead of two separate checkbooks with two records of debits and credits, you'd both look at the same ledger of transactions. It's private (encrypted, in computer-speak), and decentralized, so neither of you controls the ledger. This "distributed ledger" operates on consensus. Both of you can look at the ledger. Each transaction gets put into a block. If you both say that block is valid and correct, it's added to a chain. And that chain is protected by sophisticated cryptography: No one can change the chain after the fact. Now imagine this in a more complex form. This is what gets people in finance and technology excited. Say you want to buy a stock. Right now, your bank, brokerage, the stock exchange, and the company you're buying all have separate, private records of transactions. They can't see each other's ledgers. Nor can they verify that everything is accurate among all involved. With blockchain, they can all be on the same page — literally. Your bank can verify that you have enough money to transfer to your brokerage. That transfer is added to the ledger of transactions that everyone involved can see. Then your broker executes a trade for 100 shares. That gets added to the blockchain, too. Everyone involved verifies it's legitimate. Story continues The exchange receives the order — also added and verified. And then the company's shares end up in your account. You could see the record of all the shares you buy and sell in the permanent record. If you decide to sell the shares later, that transaction gets added to the blockchain. And because it's a consensus model in which every party confirms a transaction, "it gets more secure the more people you add" to the blockchain, Brody said. "When a transaction is completed, everyone has to get a copy of the transaction." That's blockchain in its purest form. In reality, however, different companies are experimenting with different forms. A blockchain used in financial services could be private, or a hybrid model between the decentralized vision and a more traditional centralized model that bankers are used to. A regulator, for instance, could hold the key to a blockchain, and some companies are thinking about how to maintain a middleman. Mysterious beginnings No one knows who invented blockchain. The idea for it came from a paper published online eight years ago that unveiled bitcoin, the digital currency. The author, Satoshi Nakamoto, is thought to be using a pseudonym. The true identity remains a mystery, and there's debate over whether it was created by an individual or group. At first, bitcoin got all the attention. The idea of a secure, private currency, divorced from a specific government, captured the imaginations of technologists, libertarians, and people concerned about the power of big banks and government regulation. Bitcoin transactions occur peer-to-peer, meaning no government or third party is involved. Goldman Sachs recruiting video (Goldman SachsYouTube/Goldman Sachs) Today, bitcoin and blockchain still attract privacy-minded and antigovernment types. But it also increasingly appeals to people like Grainne McNamara. She spent years building out technology at banks like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Now she's a leader of PricewaterhouseCooper's blockchain for financial services. And that means she spends a lot of time attending and hosting blockchain conferences. At one, a speaker showed a picture of a shed in his presentation. McNamara remembers him jokingly saying, "Take the bankers behind the shed and kill them." He didn't know his audience. McNamara was sitting next to former bankers, who found the whole thing humorous, she said. Despite the shed metaphor, "it's a peaceful cohabitation," McNamara told Business Insider. "People genuinely appreciate the disruptive element to spawn innovation." A contract with a brain One area blockchain proponents get excited about is the idea of a "smart contract." While most bank agreements are still paper documents — banks are awash in paper, even in 2016 — a smart contract is a computer program that helps keeps everyone accountable. video games (People play a video game on the stand of Acer at the IFA Electronics show in Berlin, Germany, Sept. 2, 2015.Reuters/Axel Schmidt) Let's say you're a company that designs and sells video game consoles. You work with suppliers and shipping companies, and have a number of serious concerns. You want to make sure they're manufactured well and on time. You want to make sure there are no labor violations, such as children working on the assembly line. And you want to make sure everyone gets paid on time. In the old way of doing things, numerous contracts might be involved to manufacture one video game console. And each side may have its own paper copies. Smart contracts provide automated accountability. bi graphics a smart contract (Samantha Lee / Business Insider) Because this is blockchain, everyone involved looks at the same contract; no one can change it without the permission of most others. Here's an example: When a truck picks up finished video game consoles from a factory in, say, China, the shipping company scans each box. Those are added to the blockchain, triggering a release of funds from the video game company's bank account. No one has to invoice and chase a payment. "You can marry up the delivery and payment of services," Brody said. It can go beyond getting paid, too. Each worker on the assembly line could scan their identification card, which is then verified by multiple sources such as government agencies and third-party auditors, ensuring the workers are not underage or overworked. And because it's a blockchain, no one can alter the record later. Some have discussed blockchain as a possible tool to help prevent sex trafficking and other scourges. And there are other uses for it that may become big parts of our lives. Healthcare bi graphics possible uses for blockchain (Samantha Lee / Business Insider) Smart contracts in healthcare could do things such as trigger an insurance payment to a doctor when a patient undergoes a CT scan. A blockchain could also be a secure place to store electronic medical records. It would detail all patient-doctor communication, illness and treatment information, vaccination records, medical bills etc. Every subsequent doctor visit or treatment would be added to the blockchain, including those in different cities and countries, creating a complete, historical record of the patient's health. In this case, the blockchain is private, and only certain participants would have the encryption keys to see the record. Music and media Musicians may wish there had been blockchain when Napster undermined music sales around the turn of the century through file-sharing. Music (Blockchain could prevent music piracyFlickr/Kelsey) Now some are thinking blockchain could prevent piracy and help boost sales. Artists could provide their music directly off a ledger, and smart contracts might ensure the right people are paid and only those with rights play the tracks. A similar model could help fund news outlets and other media organizations. Property records Some companies' whole job is tracking down property records. Blockchain could change that. If property deeds were on a blockchain, the other participants (known as "network nodes") that validate the transaction could be real-estate agents, financing banks, and a land registry authority. Once the transaction is validated, it is added to the blockchain, and the updated state of the blockchain is broadcast to the participants in real time. As the blockchain maintains the history of all transactions, the entire history of the property and its owners is on the blockchain. Trading and banking The Australian Securities Exchange — ASX — plans to decide by mid-2017 if it will replace its post-trade clearing and settlement system with a blockchain version . This could be a turning point for blockchain and potentially a catalyst for widespread adoption. Bank of England (Bank of EnglandJim Edwards) Central bankers are also getting in on the action. The Bank of England and the People's Bank of China are discussing issuing their national currencies — the pound and the renminbi, respectively — on blockchain. If successful, the technology would make the currencies more traceable, allowing the banks to track them through the financial system in real time. Right now, this use of blockchain is limited to discussion and research papers, but if implemented, other central banks are likely to follow suit. The US Federal Reserve is closely following developments as well, with Fed Gov. Lael Brainard in charge of keeping an eye on the new technology. It's also rumored that other items such as diamonds, art, and food could be put on blockchain so the entire history of the items could be traced. Buzz vs. reality There are over 120 blockchain projects spanning a variety of industries, and the annual budget for blockchain initiatives in 2016 is estimated to be $1 billion. In financial services, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America are among the big names that have partnered with R3, a startup trying to bring blockchain technology to the finance world. But if blockchain is going to work, it needs an industrywide standard. For the first bank to adopt this digital system and overhaul existing infrastructure, it could mean a risky and expensive investment, and that bank would have to hope others follow suit. No one wants to be the first to test that theory. That's why this is one of the few cutting-edge technologies that is generating a lot of talk but not a lot of action among banks. While they are dabbling in the technology, attending conferences and partnering with R3, no bank is taking the lead and going from proofs of concept to using it in the real world. "To get the true value, you need the network effect," said Graham Warner, head of global transaction banking product development in the Americas at Deutsche Bank. The more people and companies use blockchain, the more valuable the technology becomes. Other challenges For all its promise, some major impediments could prevent blockchain's widespread deployment, including regulation, cost, and security issues. Implementing and standardizing blockchain could cost in the billions of dollars, and it would mean an overhaul of legacy systems that people are used to and understand. Today's technology works, and replacing it with something unproven is seen as an expensive risk. Blockchain technology would also potentially mean a huge number of job losses, especially in middle- and back-office functions. Banks would have to get the remaining employees up to speed on the new technology, and using it would initially be a trial-and-error process. Security and privacy issues ethereum (Ethereum) In August, hackers stole $72 million worth of bitcoin from accounts at the Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. And in June, hackers stole $55 million worth of ether, a bitcoin rival. The nonprofit that runs ether, Ethereum Foundation, just rolled back the chain. It's as if the hack never took place, and business returned to normal. But that worries purists. The Ethereum hack — and the response to it — led Accenture to create an "editable blockchain model," to "resolve human errors, accommodate legal and regulatory requirements, and address mischief and other issues," according to a news release . Blockchain enthusiasts say this threatens the very nature of the blockchain itself. One of the fundamental benefits of blockchain technology is its immutability — the blockchain represents a "golden record" of transactions, a complete, historical record that technically cannot be interfered with or undone. But there "isn't one blockchain to rule them all," Warner said. "It will be an evolutionary, Darwinian process" to figure out which version of the blockchain applies to which use case. What's next When McNamara learned about blockchain, she said she was "a little bit of a skeptic. But I've been proven wrong." The ecosystem is evolving, she said, and people involved, whether they're activists or bankers, are getting together and talking about "shared values and pain points." ASX Australia Stock Exchange Trader (ASXAP) While some big players like the ASX may be using some form of blockchain as early as next year, some issues are holding blockchain back. Different versions of blockchain are in development, and there's little agreement on what's the best or purest version to deploy. And dozens of startups are working on their own takes on blockchain. Innovation is happening, but all the competing ideas makes big companies cautious to commit to any one type. But most proponents think everything will be worked out in due time, and that in the next few years, blockchain and its smart contracts would improve our lives, even if it operates quietly in the background, invisible to most people. NOW WATCH: Ken Rogoff explains why he's been advocating to eliminate the $100 bill More From Business Insider Now is the worst time to buy a new computer John Kasich's dire warning for the Republican Party: EVOLVE OR DIE Amazon Prime members have access to one of the best smartphone deals out there right now View comments || What companies need to do after a major hack: Yahoo confirmed a huge data breach took place in 2014 affecting up to 500 million users on Thursday. In August, the company said it was investigating a possible breach after a hacker claiming to have stolen the account information posted 200 million Yahoo user accounts for sale on dark web marketplace The Real Deal. The account information — which purportedly included user names and passwords easily cracked with free tools available online — was listed for 3 Bitcoin, or roughly $1800.
Such a low asking price is indicative of an older breach, said Security Scorecard chief research officer Alex Heid. It is likely that the hacker or hackers behind the attack has already tried to use the information to hack into other services — such as bank accounts, PayPal accounts, email services, even Netflix — and erased a lot of the value, said Heid.
Yahoo is already drawing criticism for not acting quickly enough to notify users of the breach, which could have larger implications on the $4.8 billion sale of the core business to Verizon. Cybersecurity experts agree that responding quickly to a breach is key to mitigating the impact. If you think you may be among the possible millions of victims of the breach,here are the five steps you should take.
The big question is whether Yahoo has accurately quantified the liability to Verizon, saidDimitri Sirotachief executive officer of cybersecurity firm BigID which helps companies track data within their systems.
It is not uncommon for companies not to reveal the extent of a breach prior to a thorough forensic investigation, he said. Confirmation that a breach took place is unlikely to derail the Verizon deal, he said. That said, class action lawsuits from customers and security suits from investors are not uncommon in these types of situations.
"A lot of this will depend on the severity of the breach and how current it is," he said. "I suspect there will be some fallout."
Here are the five steps experts say every company should take following a breach.
1) Respond quickly
"It's all about speed," said Wendi Whitmore, IBM director of incident response and intelligence services.
How fast a company can detect and respond to a breach greatly impacts their recovery time, she said. Organizations which complete a post-mortem within 30 days save an average of $1 million, according to theIBM and Ponemon Institutecost of a data breach study.
"Every day it goes undetected, unchecked, that's going to escalate damage," saidExperian vice president of Fraud & Identity product strategyMatt Ehrlich
2) Have a plan in place
Ideally, a company should already have a response plan in place in the event that a breach takes place. The response plan should engage three key teams: An incidence response team, a crisis communications firm, and outside counsel — a legal firm focused on computer security and cyber law, said Whitmore.
"Make sure you have contracts that specify how quickly these organizations will provide support and response time, so you aren't negotiating when you have had a breach," she said. "As the organization, you have a lot more leverage in negotiating if you're doing it proactively —the rates are less and they will agree to time frames."
By getting all the legal and procurement done ahead of time, companies can save days in the event of a breach.
"Days make a huge difference when responding to a breach," she said.
3) Be prepared to access the data for investigators
An investigative response team will need access to a company's network and host and any threat detection and logging tools the company employs. Healthcare and retail companies need to notify consumers as soon as possible.
"The more time it takes them to identify that and get to the bottom of it, the more its costs them," said Whitmore.
4) Be ready to do damage control
Typically, the investigation and remediation go hand in hand, said Whitmore. The remediation process should be tactical and strategic — a company may need to ask users to reset account information — which often has a knock on effect on operations.
5) Have a crisis communications plan for employees, customers and the media
Once a company confirms a breach has taken place, depending on the industry, it may be legally required to inform people — the requirements vary from state to state, country to country, and depend on industry, regulation and compliance laws, and the type of information breached.
"This is one reason why it is so important to hire outside legal counsel and an IR firm well versed in these requirements," said Whitmore.
When communicating about the breach with employees, customers and the media, it is important not to overreact and reveal too much information, too soon, said Ehrlich. All communication should be factual and straight forward — a strategy that is more likely to make your customers empathetic.
"You need to have all the facts and information — acting without those can be as damaging as doing nothing," said Ehrlich
Something that often gets overlooked is an internal communications plan, said Whitmore. Once the news of a breach leaks out, employees often start to field a lot of questions. Having a law firm and crisis communications firm develop a crisis communications plan in advance is a good idea. Employee training is also important, and can be worked out before a breach ever happens.
"Imagine the worst case scenario— an intern tweets screenshot of something happening on you network," said Whitmore. "Make sure employees know wait they can and can't say and are trained and aware of what the corporate communications policies are."
The key takeaway: Take care of your crown jewels
"Personal data is the life-blood of most organizations, and they need to better safeguard it against misuse and theft," said Sirota. || Bitcoin Services Inc. to Develop Online Marketplace Where Bitcoin Can Be Exchanged for Goods & Services: GRANDVILLE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / October 13, 2016 /Bitcoin Services Inc., (OTC Pink: BTSC) announced today that it plans to develop an online marketplace where bitcoin can be exchanged for goods & services. Some of the goods will include real estate, cars, apparel, and electronics. The services will include plumbing, catering, and delivering. The advantages of users paying in Bitcoin is being able to send and get money anywhere in the world at any given time. Payments in Bitcoin can also be made and finalized without one's personal information being tied to the transactions. Due to the fact that personal information is kept hidden from prying eyes, Bitcoin protects against identity theft. Furthermore, Bitcoin protocol cannot be manipulated by any person, organization, or government. This is due to Bitcoin being cryptographically secure. In addition, there are currently either no fees, or very low fees within Bitcoin payments.
About Bitcoin Services Inc.:Our business operations are Internet based to the consumer and consist of three separate streams, as follows: (1) bitcoin escrow services, (2) bitcoin mining, and (3) blockchain software development. The principal products and services are the mining of bitcoins, providing escrow services for buyers and sellers of bitcoins, and the development and sale of blockchain software. The market for these services and products is worldwide, and sold and marketed on the Internet.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and section 21e of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those statements include the intent, belief or current expectations of the company and its management team. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accomplishing the strategy described herein is significantly dependent upon numerous factors, many that are not in management's control. Some of these factors include the ability of the company to raise sufficient capital, attract qualified management, attract new customers and effectively compete against similar companies.
Contact:
info@bitcoinservices.biz
SOURCE:Bitcoin Services Inc. || The YouTuber behind the 'African Drug Lord' pranks reveals his secrets – and a disturbing truth about our online privacy: If you haven't watched the hilarious "African Drug Lord" videos on YouTube, you shouldcheck it out– just be aware the videos contain profanities.
In his videos, YouTuber "VirtuallyVain" scares the hell out of video gamers by pretending that a seemingly random person from Africa with a thick accent knows their names, location, and sometimes even their phone numbers.
(A screenshot from one of VirtuallyVain's YouTube videos, where he pranks gamers into thinking they've been hacked.VirtuallyVain/YouTube)
It sounds terrifying for the prank's victims, as there's a sense of total helplessness when a person from a foreign place with unclear intentions and capabilities reveals private information they thought was private.
For the rest of us watching, the videos are hilarious. And Vain will get in touch with his "victims" after the prank to reassure them that everything is OK, they haven't been hacked, and he asks them permission to appear in his YouTube videos. He's doing it for a laugh, as well as a "public service" to show you that"your information is not safe."
I spoke with VirtuallyVain, who keeps his identity secret and chose to simply be called "Vain," to find out how he gets a gamer's information for his pranks, and what tips he has for anyone who wants to boost their privacy online.
(REUTERS/Kacper Pempel)
"What I'm doing is not hacking at all, nothing I do is illegal," Vain told me. "It's basically when people are irresponsible with the information they post online."
For his specific videos that center around pranking online video gamers, Vain focuses on revealing two main pieces of information to scare them: their names and where they are.
Vain says he can find a name by "researching their gamer tag (a nickname you use for online multiplayer games) or their username in different avenues that might provide more information."
That part isn't the scariest. It's when the "African Drug Lord" reveals he knows where you are at that very moment.
Once Vain gets a name that's linked to a gamer tag or username, social media will essentially do the work for him, as he can potentially find your location and even your phone number from a Facebook account.
(Depending on what information you add, your Facebook profile can be a useful tool in the wrong hands, unless you're these guys.Screenshot)
Don't have your phone number listed on Facebook? Doesn't matter, there's another completely legal website called Whitepages.com that lets you type in a name to find out a bunch of information, like a phone number.
Don't have your location listed on Facebook, either? Piece of cake. "The easiest most guaranteed information you can get" is from your IP address, which reveals where the computer you're using is located. Vain can get your IP address from the online video game pretty easily and legally.
Believing that I was responsible with the information I post online, I asked Vain to use his legal methods to see what he could find out about me after of our Skype call. About five minutes after we hung up on Skype, he called me on my cell phone. The thing is, I never gave him my cell phone number, I never publicly posted it on any social media platform, and it's not on Whitepages.com.
The Matrix, Warner Bros
He then emailed me with two addresses, one of which was my old address, and the second was my current one. Again, I didn't think that information was available anywhere.
"There are some places that you can't even think of where you use your username where you would also use your name, address, or phone number," he told me. Indeed, he got my phone number from somewhere I never would have thought he could get it from.
Vain says that a lot of people assume he's using a method called "social engineering," which is fraudulent. It's when someone pretends to be someone else to obtain a victim's information. For example, a person looking to get information about you could call your cell phone provider posing as you or even the service provider's representative to transfer your phone number to a new SIM card.
But Vain doesn't do that, or anything else illegal or fraudulent.
• You're less at risk if you have a common name.
• "Have a reserved alias or username and in no way make any connections towards your personal self." That means any account you have online shouldn't link to you. When you sign up for anything online that requires an email, use a separate email to your personal email that's dedicated to online accounts, and don't make any reference of your name or personal details in that email address.
• "Use a VPN (virtual private network)." A VPN will mask your IP address with a different IP address, so anyone trying to find it won't see your actual IP address.
• "Ask your internet service provide for a dynamic IP address," where your internet service provider will continuously change your IP address.
• "Ask to have your information removed from Whitepages."
At the end of the day, however, Vain told me "nobody's safe, we live in a time where our attacks are better than our defenses, so I think it comes to a point where you have to acknowledge the fact that you are susceptible to this."
But before you unplug to go live in the woods where no one can find you, Vain reassured me that "for those who aren't a target, you're pretty much safe. It's very rare that someone would target you for no reason."
Still, you don't want to make it easy.
NOW WATCH:There’s a glaring security problem with those new credit card chips
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• Bitcoin users have been warned about a potential attack by government hackers || What companies need to do after a major hack: Yahoo confirmed a huge data breach took place in 2014 affecting up to 500 million users on Thursday. In August, the company said it was investigating a possible breach after a hacker claiming to have stolen the account information posted 200 million Yahoo user accounts for sale on dark web marketplace The Real Deal. The account information — which purportedly included user names and passwords easily cracked with free tools available online — was listed for 3 Bitcoin, or roughly $1800. Such a low asking price is indicative of an older breach, said Security Scorecard chief research officer Alex Heid. It is likely that the hacker or hackers behind the attack has already tried to use the information to hack into other services — such as bank accounts, PayPal accounts, email services, even Netflix — and erased a lot of the value, said Heid. Yahoo is already drawing criticism for not acting quickly enough to notify users of the breach, which could have larger implications on the $4.8 billion sale of the core business to Verizon. Cybersecurity experts agree that responding quickly to a breach is key to mitigating the impact. If you think you may be among the possible millions of victims of the breach, here are the five steps you should take . The big question is whether Yahoo has accurately quantified the liability to Verizon, said Dimitri Sirota chief executive officer of cybersecurity firm BigID which helps companies track data within their systems. It is not uncommon for companies not to reveal the extent of a breach prior to a thorough forensic investigation, he said. Confirmation that a breach took place is unlikely to derail the Verizon deal, he said. That said, class action lawsuits from customers and security suits from investors are not uncommon in these types of situations. "A lot of this will depend on the severity of the breach and how current it is," he said. "I suspect there will be some fallout." Here are the five steps experts say every company should take following a breach. Story continues 1) Respond quickly "It's all about speed," said Wendi Whitmore, IBM director of incident response and intelligence services. How fast a company can detect and respond to a breach greatly impacts their recovery time, she said. Organizations which complete a post-mortem within 30 days save an average of $1 million, according to the IBM and Ponemon Institute cost of a data breach study. "Every day it goes undetected, unchecked, that's going to escalate damage," said Experian vice president of Fraud & Identity product strategy Matt Ehrlich 2) Have a plan in place Ideally, a company should already have a response plan in place in the event that a breach takes place. The response plan should engage three key teams: An incidence response team, a crisis communications firm, and outside counsel — a legal firm focused on computer security and cyber law, said Whitmore. "Make sure you have contracts that specify how quickly these organizations will provide support and response time, so you aren't negotiating when you have had a breach," she said. "As the organization, you have a lot more leverage in negotiating if you're doing it proactively —the rates are less and they will agree to time frames." By getting all the legal and procurement done ahead of time, companies can save days in the event of a breach. "Days make a huge difference when responding to a breach," she said. 3) Be prepared to access the data for investigators An investigative response team will need access to a company's network and host and any threat detection and logging tools the company employs. Healthcare and retail companies need to notify consumers as soon as possible. "The more time it takes them to identify that and get to the bottom of it, the more its costs them," said Whitmore. 4) Be ready to do damage control Typically, the investigation and remediation go hand in hand, said Whitmore. The remediation process should be tactical and strategic — a company may need to ask users to reset account information — which often has a knock on effect on operations. 5) Have a crisis communications plan for employees, customers and the media Once a company confirms a breach has taken place, depending on the industry, it may be legally required to inform people — the requirements vary from state to state, country to country, and depend on industry, regulation and compliance laws, and the type of information breached. "This is one reason why it is so important to hire outside legal counsel and an IR firm well versed in these requirements," said Whitmore. When communicating about the breach with employees, customers and the media, it is important not to overreact and reveal too much information, too soon, said Ehrlich. All communication should be factual and straight forward — a strategy that is more likely to make your customers empathetic. "You need to have all the facts and information — acting without those can be as damaging as doing nothing," said Ehrlich Something that often gets overlooked is an internal communications plan, said Whitmore. Once the news of a breach leaks out, employees often start to field a lot of questions. Having a law firm and crisis communications firm develop a crisis communications plan in advance is a good idea. Employee training is also important, and can be worked out before a breach ever happens. "Imagine the worst case scenario — an intern tweets screenshot of something happening on you network," said Whitmore. "Make sure employees know wait they can and can't say and are trained and aware of what the corporate communications policies are." The key takeaway: Take care of your crown jewels "Personal data is the life-blood of most organizations, and they need to better safeguard it against misuse and theft," said Sirota. || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Brian Klein, a lawyer for Murgio, said he disagreed with the decision. "Anthony Murgio maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name at his upcoming trial," he added. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft) || Traders take their position on bank stocks ahead of earnings: The " Fast Money " traders weighed in on the bank stocks ahead of earnings reports from Citigroup (NYSE: C) , Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) before the market open on Friday. Trader Brian Kelly said he's keeping an eye on the financial sector, but thinks the "banks are a sell here." Trader Tim Seymour disagreed and said investors should be looking at the banks and find companies with relatively "pristine balance sheets" and "earnings power." Trader Karen Finerman said she likes the valuation of the banks at current levels. Disclosures: TIM SEYMOUR Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM KAREN FINERMAN Karen is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, short DB preferred, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen. GUY ADAMI Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. || How Bitcoin was brought down by its own potentialand the banks: Wouldn't it be so much easier if they just looked like this? The best that can be said about Bitcoin right now is that it still exists . Split by internal divisions while its most useful aspects are harvested by the very financial behemoths it once hoped to destroy, Bitcoin is fast becoming the tech worlds version of Waiting for Godot , wherein a hermetically sealed community squabbles and bickers over arcane points of code and law as their world slowly crumbles around them. In the last 12 months, attempts made to produce a road map for the cryptocurrencys future have come to naught, all while core developers abandon the project and opaque Chinese mining concerns wield outlandish power . What it feels like to be the last generation to remember life before the internet Welcome to todays Bitcoina phenomenon so internally focused that its advocates have barely noticed the battle has already been lost. Back at its inception, the conversation around the currency was driven by an almost unconscionable optimism. This wasnt simply a mechanism for the easy transfer of capital: This was a tool by which the entire international financial system could be made anew, with corrupt central banks, inflationary currencies, and immoral stockbrokers consigned to the dustbin of history. In a world still reeling from the chaos of the global financial crisis, Bitcoin seemed less like a currency and more like a way of future-proofing the global economy from ever having to deal with something so awful again. The Bitcoin boom of late 2013 brought greater mainstream attention to the cryptocurrency. Bitcoins value surged from $200 to $1,200 over the space of a few weeks, temporarily rendering it more valuable than gold . This was to be a short-lived state of affairs, however, as a string of scandals, hacks, exchange collapses, anddare I say itcommon sense brought the price of Bitcoin plummeting back to Earth. Cue three years of stagnation and false promise , as Bitcoin has struggled to prove its use for, well
anything, really. Even after all this time, Bitcoin is still an economy driven almost entirely by potentialby the dream that, one day soon, Bitcoin will become the lingua franca of the global economic order. Story continues Giving up alcohol opened my eyes to the infuriating truth about why women drink But Bitcoins spike and crash did have one unintended effect: It shone a bright light on a delicate, still-evolving financial ecosystem and shouted to the world, Theres gold in them thar hills! While the currency itself struggled to rediscover the magic of that first almighty explosion in 2013, the circling sharks of international finance spotted opportunity. Soon Bitcoin seemed primarily valuable for its blockchain, the distributed, unalterable public ledger that allows it to operate without trusted intermediaries. If Bitcoin is the power grid, blockchain is the electricity giving it life. But electricity doesnt need to be bound to a particular power gridyou can find ways to create your own. At least in the early days, the shift seemed largely semantic; a question of emphasis. But as time wore on, the discussion surrounding Bitcoin increasingly became focused on how banks, governments, and financial systems could create or use their own blockchains, of which Bitcoin would be, at best, an incidental part. The revolution heralded by Bitcoin now looks more likely to be transactional rather than transformational. Soon, Nasdaq, the worlds second-largest stock exchange, had declared 2015 to be the year of the blockchain . They even created their very own blockchain-enabled trading platform, Nasdaq Linq . The momentum has continued to build: A company called R3CEV is working with a consortium of 45 of the worlds most powerful banks and investment firms to create a modified blockchain that would allow companies to pick and choose what information they actually decentralize and what they keep held tight . Meanwhile, the Linux Foundation has joined forces with a whos-who of the tech and business worlds to create the Hyperledger Project , an open-source attempt to find new use cases for blockchain technology. Goldman Sachs has even patented its very own cryptocurrency, SETLcoin, to permit the instantaneous execution of trades on the stock market . One thing that links all of these projects? None of them use the word Bitcoin. For these financial behemoths, the appeal of the blockchain is obvious. Companies spend an inordinate amount of money on the intermediaries that facilitate the flow of capital between markets. Blockchain technology offers the possibility of those issues being delegated to a few lines of immutable computer code that, by their very nature, guarantee the legitimacy of the transaction. Vast swathes of complex transnational banking and investment apparatus could be rendered obsolete in a few comparatively minor technological adjustments. Bitcoin may be the platform on which this coming blockchain boom operates, or it may not. I imagine this will depend on some purely economic calculations being done by unfathomably vast and powerful financial institutions. In comparison to the almost $5 trillion traded on the international currency markets each and every day, Bitcoins $10 billion market cap is next best thing to a rounding error. It could vanish entirely and only a small cadre of true believers (and high-end drug dealers) would even mark its passing. What does seem certain is that the revolution heralded by Bitcoin now looks more likely to be transactional rather than transformational. Dont get me wrong: I think Bitcoin is a fundamentally useful thing. Its myriad advantages over fiat currency would seem to demand its widespread adoption. But at a basic level, Bitcoin is trying to disrupt money . As it turns out, this may be like trying to refashion water, or the second law of thermodynamics. And like so many technologically disrupted fields before it, the promise of great change has given way to the reality of great consolidation. Whereas we once dreamed of a flat, universal currency with an equal value for all players, irrespective of size, now we face the reality of an international financial system thats almost entirely the samejust with a new coat of paint. Technological innovations of all stripes have long wrestled with a tension between revolution and legitimacy, and Bitcoin has perhaps felt the tension more keenly than most. To put the dilemma another way: Is Bitcoin trying to replace the international economic order, or work within it? Does it want to destroy Goldman Sachs, or be bought by it? To many within the movement, this is still an active question. But as the shadows lengthen on Bitcoins moment in the sun, its increasingly hard to believe in its initial promise of changing money for good. You can follow Luke on Twitter at @lukeayresryan . We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com . Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: I got scammed: A tech workers awful story shows the gap between idealism and reality in Silicon Valley Chinese people want renewable energy more than anyone, but nobodys selling it to them || Got bitcoin? Despite early setbacks, some say it is stronger than ever: Bitcoin, the digital currency that captivated the world just three years ago before being tainted by scandals, may be making a comeback. In fact, many experts say it never really went away despite wild swings in its value. "I think the future of digital currency is bright," said Marco Santori, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York, and leader of the firm's digital currency and blockchain technology team. Blockchain refers to the virtual ledger that powers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. "This is probably the most important invention since the internet," Santori said in an interview with CNBC's " American Greed ." From the beginning, the concept has been alluring if not utopian. Imagine a currency that is not tied to the whims of politicians, the foibles of central bankers, or the fortunes of a particular country. Rather than relying on a government to mint a currency, users could "mine" their own bitcoin by running software contributing their own computing power to verify other bitcoin transactions. Or they could simply buy bitcoin on one of several online exchanges, investing in it like any other currency. To many, it seemed like a good bet. By the fall of 2013, with the U.S. government locked in yet another showdown over raising the debt ceiling and facing the specter of an unprecedented default, interest in virtual currencies like bitcoin peaked. The price of a single bitcoin reached a high of $1,108.80 according to Coinbase, the first licensed U.S. bitcoin exchange. But the frenzy would be short-lived. Around the time prices were reaching their high, U.S. authorities were exposing what they considered the dark side of bitcoin, busting what the FBI called "a black market bazaar for drugs and illegal services" an underground web site known as Silk Road. In a case explored in the latest episode of "American Greed," the FBI arrested the site's 29-year-old founder, Ross Ulbricht, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison (he is appealing his conviction). And the government seized more than $30 million worth of Silk Road's currency of choice: bitcoin. Story continues Meanwhile in Japan, the world's largest bitcoin exchange, Mt.Gox, was spiraling into bankruptcy amid allegations it was a conduit for money laundering. Within two months of Ulbricht's arrest, bitcoin lost nearly half its value. The price would continue to decline for more than a year, hitting a low of $203.77 at the beginning of 2015, according to Coinbase. But lately, bitcoin has been rebounding, hitting $757.77 in June. The price has leveled off since then but is still roughly three times its 2015 lows. Santori says an even better indicator of bitcoin's apparent rebound is volume. "After the Silk Road was taken down, we did see a hit in volume," he said. "It confirms that bitcoin was being used on the Silk Road and used in earnest. But volume went back up again, and now it's many, many times what it was back then." Indeed, according to the Luxembourg-based technology firm Blockchain, more than 200,000 bitcoin transactions are taking place daily now, compared with just 90,000 at the peak of the frenzy in 2013. "Digital currency today is so much farther along than it was even back in 2013 when it arguably started to reach its height and peak in sort of mass market popularity," Santori said. But bitcoin still faces challenges some old, some new. Bitcoin is no longer the only game in town. Other cryptocurrencies have sprung up, most notably ethereum. It expands on bitcoin's blockchain technology, allowing users not only to engage in basic transactions, but also to execute "smart contracts" that automatically enforce themselves. Meanwhile, the law surrounding virtual currencies remains a work in process, with conflicting court rulings about how to define them. "Are they commodities? Are they property? This is going to be a very long road for virtual currencies in general to kind of settle in to a particular legal class," Santori said. Then of course there is the issue of crime. The value of any currency depends in part on its reputation, and in that respect the Silk Road case was a huge setback for bitcoin. But Santori says that is unfair. "Are bitcoins used for crime? Well of course. But so are a lot of other currencies. So are a lot of other technologies," Santori said. Many experts agree that bitcoin is actually less useful to criminals than other currencies, because contrary to popular belief, it is not anonymous. In fact, one of the IRS agents who helped to finally unravel Silk Road says it was bitcoin that ultimately led law enforcement officials to their man. "Back then, criminals are operating under the impression that bitcoin was an untraceable currency and law enforcement wouldn't ever, maybe never, be able to figure this out," Tigran Gambaryan told "American Greed." "Well, when you fast forward it to 2014-2015, that was no longer the case." So will bitcoin and its fellow cryptocurrencies eventually replace all the money in our wallet? Not necessarily. Even some of the most enthusiastic boosters, like Santori, say that contrary to some of the early expectations, it is hard to beat the U.S. dollar. "You can complain all you want about the banks, but the U.S. dollar is strong," he said. "It's a good currency. It's a good store of value. it's a good medium of exchange. It does all the things we want money to do." But he says other countries with less stable currencies could find bitcoin to be a useful alternative a medium of exchange for them, and a source of investment elsewhere, including in the U.S. And as the technology develops, we may all have to expand our concept of the meaning of money. Follow the amazing global manhunt that finally put an end to the Silk Road on the ALL-NEW season finale of "American Greed," Thursday, Sept. 29 at 10 pm ET/PT only on CNBC Prime. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || John McAfee's MGT receives SEC subpoena, shares slump: By Noel Randewich and Jim Finkle
(Reuters) - Shares in a firm led by anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee fell 24 percent on Monday after it disclosed that it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company, MGT Capital Investments Inc <MGT.A>, said in a statement that it was cooperating with the SEC after receiving the subpoena on Thursday and that it does not believe it is or will be subject to any enforcement proceedings.
In May of this year, shares in MGT surged more than 1,200 percent after the mobile gaming company said McAfee would become its chief executive. It said it would enter the fast-growing cyber-security market through acquisitions.
MGT shares fell 97 cents to $2.47 in late-afternoon trade, trimming its market capitalization to about $64 million.
An SEC spokesman declined to say why it subpoenaed MGT and what information it wanted. An MGT spokesman also declined to comment.
With McAfee at the helm, MGT has said it plans to acquire security technologies to address threats to mobile and personal devices.
McAfee was the subject of a media frenzy in 2012 when he fled his home in Belize after police sought to question him about the murder of a neighbor. They ultimately said he was not a suspect.
Chipmaker Intel <INTC.O>, which bought McAfee Inc for $7.7 billion in 2010, long after its founder had left the company, said recently that it would spin off the unit.
McAfee and MGT recently sued Intel for the right to use the McAfee name.
McAfee said during a conference call on Thursday that he expected MGT to begin generating revenue in the second quarter of next year after launching its first product at the end of 2016. He declined several requests from callers to provide financial projections.
"I really can't say now about future revenue streams, but I certainly tell you that what we are doing and what we are building is going to be monumental," McAfee said in response to one of the questions, from a man identified as an individual investor.
"Good enough for me, man. Good enough," the man replied.
MGT also said it launched a Bitcoin mining operation, which involves using customized computers to earn Bitcoins in return for recording and verifying transactions in the crypto-currency.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich and Jim Finkle; Editing by Dan Grebler)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#BTA Price: Bittrex 0.00001101 BTC YoBit 0.00001200 BTC Bleutrade 0.00001100 BTC #BTAprice 2016-08-24 20:00 pic.twitter.com/ZbMGT4jUDB || [Bitcoin] Bitcoin and United States Dollar: 0.0010 BTC = 0.58 USD
1.00 USD = 0.0017 BTCConverter #YAF || #HamRadioCoin #HAM $0.000669 (1.00%) 0.00000111 BTC (0.91%) || 1 KOBO = 0.00000000 BTC
= 0.0000 USD
= 0.0000 NGN
= 0.0000 ZAR
= 0.0000 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-09-13 22:00 pic.twitter.com/YViD7adphs || Send 1.0 - 4.9 BTC today, get 20.00 - 98.00 BTC in 20 hours,G20 Hangzhou BITCOIN. http://ow.ly/s3hr303SN82 || #TrollCoin #TROLL $ 0.000028 (4.00 %) 0.00000005 BTC (3.33 %) || #ChainCoin #CHC $0.000136 (10.58%) 0.00000022 BTC (10.00%) || Goedkoopste Nederlandse aanbieder op dit moment is Clevercoin (http://www.bitcoinweb.nl/kopen-clevercoin …) - 0.00 Euro/bitcoin - http://www.bitcoinweb.nl/prijzen-bitcoins-vergelijken/ … || GDAX Users Can Now Trade Litecoin Against USD and Bitcoin - http://ift.tt/2bgezcc || #Anoncoin/#ANC price now: $ 0.165409, that's -0.00 % change in 1hour. 2.32 % past day, and -2.28 % in the past week! #Bitcoin is $ 587.36
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Trend: up || Prices: 630.52, 630.86, 632.83, 657.29, 657.07, 653.76, 657.59, 678.30, 688.31, 689.65
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
The most elite students in America have had it with investment banking: (flickr/willbeardphoto)Harvard MBA grads are no longer interested in banking.
Harvard Business School graduates are some of the most sought-after new hires in the world.
They're among the top choices for companies in just about every industry — including Wall Street investment banks.
It turns out, however, many of them are no longer interested in that industry.
Only 4% of the 2015 graduating class said they wanted to work at an investment bank, reportsBloomberg's Jennifer Surane.
Of the 46 students in the top 5% of the class, only one expressed an interest in banking, according to the report.
The report cited data froma member of the graduating MBA class, who blogged about the findings of a class survey he received from the university.
This may not come as a surprise.
Entry-level jobs on Wall Street are notoriously grueling: Young people work 90-hour weeks perfecting pitch books, scrolling through spreadsheets, ormaking presentations.
MBA grads, of course, would typically join banks at the associate or vice-president level. But many of them started out their careers as interns and analysts and may not have shaken the memories.
The Harvard blog's author started out in M&A at Morgan Stanley,according to his bio. Now he's running a tech startup as well as a family healthcare business, Bloomberg reported.
Industry veterans, too, know that banking is no longer as sexy.Ex-Credit Suisse managing director Fred Lanessaid: "The opportunities elsewhere ... are more attractive outside of investment banking."
That doesn't mean that bright Harvard MBA-holders are leaving finance altogether.
Many young financiers, after putting in their time at investment banks, make the jump to the "buyside" — hedge funds or private-equity firms.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday thatmany MBA students are now only interested in becoming activist investorslike Bill Ackman or Carl Icahn.
Ackman's Pershing Square even holds an annual investing competition at Columbia as part of its recruiting efforts.
Ex-Merrill Lynch analyst andFinancial Times writer Sujeet Indap publisheda study on Wednesday on where his banking analyst class from the year 2000 now work.
Over half the class, he found, had taken a break at some point to earn graduate degrees, two-thirds of which were MBAs. More than 40% of the analyst class now work in private equity or in the hedge fund/investment management industry.
Less than 20% still work at investment banks.
NOW WATCH:The 10 trickiest Goldman Sachs interview questions
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• Bitcoin keeps surging, makes another new high for 2015 || Retirees Represent Major Marijuana Market: As marijuana legalization spreads across the U.S., the public perception of a marijuana user is slowly changing from a young, unambitious kid to an elderly person with a cup of tea. That's right, marijuana use is becoming more and more common among retirees who say the drug helps them deal with some of the ailments associated with growing older. Forget Florida Retirees have long flocked to states with sunshine and great healthcare in order to live out their golden years, but marijuana legalization is becoming a top priority for many seniors who use the drug to cope with things like chronic pain or insomnia. Oregon has seen an influx of new residents over the past year as its relaxed marijuana laws drew in people who want to get high without worrying about legal consequences. Many dispensaries say at least 50 percent of their clientele is made up of elderly people suffering from varying illnesses and looking for relief. Related Link: California Plans For Pot Expansion Boomers The aging population of baby boomers has also contributed to increased marijuana use among seniors. As that generation lived through the 1960's and 1970's when drug use was common among teenagers, the decision to use marijuana as a retiree is often more comfortable. Pushing For Legalization The growing popularity of medical marijuana among retirees has created a powerful voice in the campaign to legalize marijuana in the U.S. Groups like Grannies for Grass paint marijuana use as a safe, effective way for the elderly to manage their pain in lieu of traditional medicine. Many believe that as more and more retirees adopt medical marijuana, states like Florida with large elderly populations will be pushed to legalize the drug. See more from Benzinga Bitcoin Payments Decline Significantly At Expedia EU In Favor Of Iran Deal Is Social Activism And Marketing A Good Combination? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Uber's Food Delivery Service Could Become A Big Part Of Business: The ride-sharing service Uber recently rolled out a new service called UberEATS, which customers in certain cities can use to order prepared meals. At first, the offering appeared to be a pilot program that was testing the waters for a wide-scale rollout, but a recent update to the company's app suggests that UberEATS could play a more prominent role in the company's business plan. Front And Center Uber updated its mobile app so that customers in New York City, Los Angels, Toronto, Austin, Chicago, Barcelona and San Francisco can easily access the UberEATS ordering screen from the home page. Before, UberEATS was located on a separate screen with other Uber programs, but now the service has its own button for easy access. Related Link: Get To Know UberEATS What Does It Mean? The button's location won't change the company's food delivery service, but it could hint at Uber's intentions for the future. Some say the new prominent location suggests that Uber is getting serious about expanding on food delivery. Others believe that the new location is a way for the company to get more people to try the service out. Uber has also rolled out offers, like free delivery in NYC, to get more people to use UberEATS. Expanding Its Reach Uber's expansion into the food delivery space aligns the company's aim to become an urban logistics giant. Uber execs appear to be bent on turning what began as a taxi service into a comprehensive logistics solution that can deliver anything from a package to a cup of coffee quickly and easily. See more from Benzinga European Markets Still Uncertain With Greek Elections On The Horizon Time-Release Capsules Make Medical Marijuana More Approachable Greeks Begin To See An Opportunity In Bitcoin © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Isle Of Man Could Become Most Bitcoin-Friendly Place On Earth: Bitcoin has struggled to make its way into mainstream use for years as merchants, government officials and consumers all worry about security and longevity when it comes to cryptocurrencies. One way the bitcoin community has been working to make the currency more approachable has been through regulation, though many claim that strict laws governing bitcoin use could take away from the decentralized nature of digital currencies. However, some governments are embracing bitcoin as a revolutionary new technology and working together with the industry to create laws that will promote usage while still allowing the currency to expand. This is especially true in the Isle of Man, which could soon become the most bitcoin-friendly place on earth. Related Link: Did Barclays Start The Bitcoin Bull Run? Working Together The Manx government has been working to support the bitcoin industry for years. Recently, government officials agreed to amend the island's laws to include bitcoin businesses. By creating transparent laws that cryptocurrency startups must adhere to, the government is hoping that more people will become comfortable using digital currencies. The straightforward laws protect against money laundering and criminal activity, and give new businesses a blueprint to follow in order to adhere to the region's regulations. Regulators, cryptocurrency industry leaders and government officials have promised to keep an open dialogue regarding the laws in order to ensure that they keep pace with the fast changing fintech landscape. Blockchain Registry Perhaps the most surprising step toward bitcoin acceptance on the Isle of Man was the Manx government's decision to create a registry for cryptocurrency businesses using blockchain itself. Together with blockchain startup Pythia, Manx government officials plan to create a database powered by blockchain in which all of the island's cryptocurrency firms will be registered. The decision will make the Isle of Man the first country to use blockchain in order to maintain official data. See more from Benzinga September Rate Hike: Will They Or Won't They? Betting On More Than The Game During Football Season McDonald's Goes Cage Free In Latest Attempt To Turn Image Around © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || itBit hires former NY financial regulator's general counsel: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange itBit has hired Daniel Alter as the company's new general counsel and chief compliance officer, the firm announced on Wednesday. Alter, who spent three years as general counsel to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), said there was no impropriety in his employment at itBit. "The New York State Public Officers law requires that I have a two-year recusal before I can appear before the New York Department of Financial Services on behalf of the company," said Alter, who left the DFS in mid-February and joined itBit last week. "And it will certainly apply to itBit. I will not step near or have any communications with the New York Department of Financial Services. Those will be handled by outside counsel or qualified compliance people within the company," added Alter, who is also an adjunct professor of law at New York University School of Law. In June, Benjamin Lawsky, former superintendent of the New York DFS also left the agency to form his own consulting firm that will advise companies on regulation and other matters. Lawsky was widely criticized by the bitcoin community that he may have generated consulting work for himself by issuing controversial regulations for virtual currency firms before he left his post. itBit also announced the appointment of Kim Petry as the company's chief financial officer. Petry joins itBit from her post as CFO of global operations and technology at Broadridge Financial. Prior to Broadridge, Petry served as the CFO and vice president of global commercial/corporate card payment at American Express Co. itBit's new appointments are the latest in a series of high-profile additions to the company's leadership team. Sheila Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, Senator Bill Bradley, and Robert Herz, former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, joined itBit's Board of Directors in May this year. The New York-based exchange was recently granted a trust charter by the DFS. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Diane Craft) || Is Social Activism And Marketing A Good Combination?: Earlier this month, The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO ) removed its logo from cans of coke in the Middle East and replaced it with a message that read "Labels are for cans, not people." The campaign ran during Ramadan, an Islamic festival that takes place from June 17 to July 17. Overall, Coke's decision to pair marketing with social activism appeared to be a success, as the campaign quickly made its way through social media. Smart Marketing Or Soap Box? Many big corporations have used a global issue to drive their marketing campaigns much like Coca-Cola did, but the results haven't always been so positive. Trying to drive social change can have big rewards as it gets consumers to associate a company's brand with positive influence. However, firms also run the risk of seeming insincere, hypocritical and even uninformed if their campaign is a failure. Related Link: Bitcoin In The Middle East Race Together When racial tensions were at an all-time high earlier this year in the U.S., Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX ) inserted itself into the cross fire with its " Race Together " campaign. Soon after asking baristas to write the phrase "race together" and encourage open dialogue about race relations, the company disassembled much of the campaign. Social media lit up with accusations that the coffee-chain was overstepping its boundaries and using the issue as a marketing ploy and ultimately, the "Race Together" initiative was considered a flop. Real Beauty On the other hand, Unilever plc (ADR) (NYSE: UL )'s Dove brand used its far-reaching popularity to send a message about female self-esteem through its "Real Beauty Sketches" campaign. The company released a video in which women received two portraits of themselves from a forensic artist. The first was drawn based on their own description of themselves and the second was from a stranger's point of view. The video drove home the point that many women are critical of their own appearance and that they are more beautiful than they perceive. Soon after its release, the video went viral. Story continues Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Starbucks Hopes To Blend In With The Locals Starbucks Hits Its Stride In The Digital Age Beverage Makers Hope To Ride The Craft Beer Wave © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Fed Stuck In The Middle Of Marijuana Debate: One of the major issues plaguing the United States' newly developing marijuana industry has been banking. Although President Barack Obama has granted states the right to determine their own marijuana laws, the substance is still classed as illegal in the federal government's eyes. For that reason, banks bound by federal law have been unable to engage with marijuana firms even in states where the drug is legal. Fed Lawsuit Last week, Colorado's Fourth Corner Credit Union sued the Kansas City Fed after its application for federal insurance was rejected. The credit union was denied a routing number in order to set up its master account, meaning that Fourth Corner would be unable to operate. The firm said the Fed's decision to reject Fourth Corner is an unreasonable restraint of trade and commerce and that the credit union's receipt of a state charter should have given it access to federal insurance. Fed Pushes Back The Fed has argued that it has the right to use its own discretion when it comes to opening new master accounts. The bank claims it was unable to accurately asses the risks associated with Fourth Corner's business and therefore is allowed to reject the application. Conflicting Laws The legal battle underscored the pitfalls of conflicting laws at the federal and state level. While legalization efforts have been successful in many states across the US, the banking issue will likely continue to plague the industry as long as federal law continues to class marijuana as illegal. See more from Benzinga Australian Government Takes Steps Toward Becoming A Bitcoin-Friendly Nation Tech Firms Gear Up For 2016 Presidential Race Are Tethered Drones The Answer To Safety Concerns? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Mike Tyson stepping into the bitcoin ring: Mike Tyson is getting into the bitcoin (:BTC=) market, apparently sponsoring an ATM that allows users to convert real-world cash into the digital currency. Tyson, who was the former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, tweeted on Saturday the link to a website advertising the "Mike Tyson Bitcoin ATM" coming in August of this year. Tyson tweet. The site boasts that "Mike Tyson's fastest knock out in the ring was 30 seconds. The Mike Tyson Bitcoin ATM can turn your cash into bitcoin in under 20 seconds." "I'm very proud to be a part of the Bitcoin revolution," Tyson said in a statement provided by his spokeswoman. "Digital currency is the future and the more I learn about it the more intrigued I become. Digital currency is going to level the playing ground for those that want alternatives for financial freedom." "No one knows better than I how uncertain the economy can be and at this juncture in my life it is imperative that I am proactive about my financial planning and for me it includes Bitcoin," he added. Still, tech news site SiliconAngle reported that Tyson himself may have been "suckered into a deal by a fast talker who has promised him millions if he gets involved and lends his name to the enterprise." It cited MikeTysonBitcoin.com's registration to a Peter Klamka, who is connected to Bitcoin Brands-a firm with a paltry $6,780 market cap according to Google Finance. Speaking to CNBC over the phone, Klamka disputed that account, saying that Bitcoin Brands has nothing to do with his Tyson venture, which operates under the moniker Bitcoin Direct LLC. This new firm (which Klamka says is a subsidiary of cattle company Conexus Cattle ( CNXS ) "for financing") seeks to create a whole suite of celebrity bitcoin-related products. He told CNBC that he came to the idea after previously working with celebrity credit cards tied to Kiss, Donald Trump and Hello Kitty. Read More Bitcoin's 'war' could threaten its survival The Tyson-branded bitcoin ATMs, which are slated to launch in two Las Vegas locations in about three weeks, will feature "Mike branding on the software" and will "hopefully have the ability to build a database of Mike's fans that are bitcoin users," Klamka said. The venture is a 50-50 split between Tyson and Bitcoin Direct, he added. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance View comments || SunGard And HSBC's Massive IT Glitches: Why Customers Freaked Out Last Friday: Last Friday, two major banks were reported to be experienced big IT problems, affecting thousands of customers.
HSBC Leaves Thousands Without Salaries
According to a recent Finextraarticle, a big tech issue surfaced on Friday morning when HSBC customers checking their account balances noticed their latest monthly salaries were not accounted for. Apparently, the glitch affected roughly 275,000 Bacs payments – Bacs is the system used for fund transfers in the UK.
Bacs released a statement assuring that it is "aware of an isolated issue that has affected one of its member organizations. The Bacs system is operating as normal and we [Bacs] are currently working with our partners to help them resolve this as quickly as possible."
Related Link:Barclays Becomes First Big UK Bank To Accept Bitcoin
The HSBC bank is owned byHSBC Holdings plc (ADR)(NYSE:HSBC), which fell 0.65 percent on Friday trading and continues to tumble on Monday.
BNY Mellon, Mispriced Funds Cause Panic
Another third-party service provider that had trouble on Friday is SunGard. It seems like its InvestOne system, used by custody bankBank of New York Mellon Corp(NYSE:BK) to price funds, failed on Friday, causing panic among the bank’s U.S. fund management clients.
The main fear was that the system failure had led to a mispricing of hundreds of funds “during a week of especially high market volatility,” another Finextraarticleexplained.
In a public statement, SunGard assured that, while they “are confident that no data was lost as a result of the incident, calculation and processing of net asset values (NAVs) of certain mutual funds and ETFs was disrupted."
They added that, despite the speculation, no “external or unauthorized systems access” had caused the glitch, which wasn’t a result of "recent turmoil in the equity markets” either. Instead, the issued derived from “an unforeseen complication resulting from an operating system change carried out by SunGard last Saturday.” SunGard pledges this was an isolated incident, and that it is now working with Bank of New York Mellon to resolve the problems caused.
Research firm Morningstar calculated that approximately 796 funds were missing NAVs as of Wednesday.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
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• Seabridge Gold's Stock Could Hit , Another Deposit Site Extended
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Winklevoss twins file paperwork to operate Gemini bitcoin exchange: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss earlier this week filed paperwork to operate a bitcoin exchange called Gemini for both individual and institutional investors in New York state, a spokeswoman said on Friday. The twins, best known for accusing Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea, want to make the digital currency mainstream in the United States. Unlike conventional money, bitcoin is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. Bitcoin is not backed by a government or central bank and its value fluctuates according to demand by users. The Winklevoss brothers filed an application on July 21 with the New York State Department of Financial Services to operate as a trust company. ItBit also filed a trust application in New York in February. In May, it became the first virtual currency company to receive a charter in the state. A trust company is a type of financial institution technically different from a bank, according to a blog by Houman Shadab, an expert on bitcoin regulations and a professor at the New York Law School. Under New York state's banking law, a trust company has all the powers of a bank to take deposits and make loans, alongside certain fiduciary powers such as acting as an agent for governmental bodies, he wrote. Examples of trust companies in New York include securities custodian the Depository Trust Company, the wealth and asset manager Northern Trust, and the Bank of New York Mellon. Last year Mt. Gox, a Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange, was forced to file for bankruptcy after hackers stole an estimated $650 million worth of customer bitcoins. Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the Mt. Gox attack. One bitcoin is currently worth around $289 on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 #bitcoin = $4155.00 MXN | $246.808712852 USD #BitAPeso | 1 USD = 16.8349MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000004
Bittrex: 0.00000004
Average $1.1E-5 per #reddcoin
00:15:02 || LIVE: Profit = $1,159.16 (0.69 %). BUY B597.26 @ $279.00 (#BTCe). SELL @ $280.74 (#HitBTC) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Current price: 261.43$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-08-15 20:00:03 EDT || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 23 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,322.33 #bitcoin #btc || The average price of Bitcoin across all exchanges is 268.00 USD || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 20 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,894.45 #bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 20 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,709.94 #bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 19 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $487.46 #bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 16 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $431.75 #bitcoin #btc
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 230.51, 230.64, 230.30, 229.09, 229.81, 232.98, 231.49, 231.21, 227.09, 230.62
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-08-29]
BTC Price: 7047.16, BTC RSI: 57.73
Gold Price: 1204.50, Gold RSI: 47.83
Oil Price: 69.51, Oil RSI: 57.26
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Why Have Chipotle Mexican Grill Shares Gained 49% in 2018?: Chipotle 's (NYSE: CMG) long, dark night appears to be over. The chain struggled after a 2015 scandal when E. coli outbreaks occurred at a number of its locations. Those struggles appeared to end in 2018 when the company made a major break with its past. What happened In late November 2017, Chipotle founder and CEO Steve Ells decided to step aside and become executive chairman of the chain. The company's share price started moving steadily ahead from that moment on. When former Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol was given the Chipotle job in mid-February, shares continued to rise. After closing 2017 at $289.03, shares pushed to $431.37 on the final trading day of June, a 49% increase, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence . People are in line at a Chipotle. Chipotle's new CEO wants more people to order digitally. Image source: Chipotle. So what Niccol made it clear from the moment of his hiring that he respected the brand and would maintain its quality, but would not be stuck in the past. In a press release, he said: At Chipotle's core is delicious food, which I will look to pair up with consistently great customer experiences. I will also focus on dialing up Chipotle's cultural relevance through innovation in menu and digital communications. This will attract customers, return the brand to growth, deliver value for shareholders and create opportunities for employees. The new CEO was not going to offer $1 tacos or partner with snack chips, but he clearly intends to innovate. That includes technical changes like improved ordering technology and adding delivery partners as well as menu innovation. Now what Niccol has laid out some good ideas and shown that he's not as slow to change as his predecessor. He still has to prove that his changes are going to work. Chipotle has posted nice sales gains (7.4% revenue growth and 2.2% comparable-store growth in the first quarter), but it will have to maintain that and maybe even increase it going forward. Menu innovation worked well at Taco Bell, but Chipotle has often failed with new items (chorizo and queso being recent examples). Story continues But Niccol isn't flying blind. He's using the company's New York test kitchen, then doing limited rollouts before launching new items. He's doing that at an accelerated pace, and he has promised that the company will have new seasonal and permanent offerings on its menu soon. It's likely that this strategy will work. Chipotle's menu had become stale in a market where rivals regularly go over the top with innovation. Niccol's company isn't going to offer wacky snack chip tie-ins, but it will be steadily offering new choices to keep consumers interested. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Daniel B. Kline has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Ethereum Falls 10.27% In Bearish Trade: Investing.com - Ethereum was trading at $272.08 by 18:32 (22:32 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Monday, down 10.27% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since August 13. The move downwards pushed Ethereum's market cap down to $27.94B, or 13.44% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Ethereum's market cap was $135.58B. Ethereum had traded in a range of $271.51 to $303.74 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, Ethereum has seen a drop in value, as it lost 2.63%. The volume of Ethereum traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $1.38B or 12.55% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $250.84 to $320.81 in the past 7 days. At its current price, Ethereum is still down 80.88% from its all-time high of $1,423.20 set on January 13. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $6,299.2 on the Investing.com Index, down 2.97% on the day. Ripple was trading at $0.32558 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 5.45%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $109.41B or 52.64% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ripple's market cap totaled $13.01B or 6.26% of the total cryptocurrency market value. Related Articles EOS Falls 10.89% In Bearish Trade Ontology (ONT) Technical Analysis: Support Continues to Arrive After Successful Korean MainNet Launch Dash Retailers Rise in Numbers Despite Weak Market || 4 Top Stocks in Semiconductors: Semiconductors form the bedrock of the tech sector. Without new chips, data centers couldn't run, cloud services would fail, and the development of consumer electronics would stall out. That's why the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, the main benchmark of the growing industry, has more than doubled over the past three years. However, it can be tough for investors to identify decent semiconductor investments beyond market leaders like Intel and NVIDIA . So today, let's highlight four other top semiconductor stocks that could deliver big returns. Chips being manufactured. Image source: Getty Images. Cypress Semiconductor Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY) is the market leader in wireless Internet of Things (IoT) chips, NOR and SRAM memory chips, USB-C controllers, and auto instrument cluster microcontrollers. Cypress generates most of its revenue from the automotive and industrial IoT markets, and its "Cypress 3.0" strategy aims to make the chipmaker a one-stop shop for various IoT needs. The company has three core strengths. First, it dominates niche markets that are largely overlooked by bigger chipmakers. Second, it sells its chips in bundles, which locks in customers and helps it gain content share in cars and industrial machines. Lastly, rising sales of connected cars and the automation of factories should buoy its sales over the long term. Wall Street expects Cypress' revenue to rise 7% this year as its earnings climb 39%. The stock trades at less than 14x forward earnings and pays a forward yield of 2.7%. Those numbers look solid, but the stock remains weighed down by near-term concerns about China and peaking auto sales. Texas Instruments Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) sells a wide variety of analog and embedded chips for automakers, industrial IoT machinery, and consumer electronics. Over the past few years, the company shifted its production from 200mm to 300mm wafers, which cut its average production costs by about 40%. That's how Texas Instruments continually expanded its margins as many other chipmakers struggled. Story continues The company has two main strengths. First, its focus on low-end analog and embedded chips keeps its margins high, as the company can avoid direct competition with bigger chipmakers. Second, it's so well diversified that it can easily offset slowdowns in one market (like consumer electronics) with growth in other markets (like connected cars and industrial machines). Analysts expect Texas Instruments' revenue and earnings to rise 7% and 26%, respectively, in 2018. Its stock trades at a reasonable 20x forward earnings, and it pays a forward yield of 2.2%. Shareholders have enjoyed annual payout increases for 14 straight years, which reduced its share count by a whopping 43% during that period. A worker uses a laptop to control an automated factory. Image source: Getty Images. AMD AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) is the second largest manufacturer of x86 CPUs and discrete GPUs in the world. It trails Intel and NVIDIA in those markets, respectively, but its chips are still popular with budget OEMs and consumers. AMD also merges its CPU and GPU technologies in single APU chipsets -- which power the PS4, Xbox One, and various gaming laptops. AMD's EESC (Enterprise, Embedded, and Semi-Custom) unit, which supplies APUs to console makers, often supports its core business if its CPU and GPU sales waver. Instead of staying in the low-end market, AMD is challenging Intel and NVIDIA with higher-end chips. Its Ryzen chips are already claiming market share from Intel in desktops, while its new Vega chips won back some market share from NVIDIA during the first quarter, according to research firm JPR. Many tech analysts seem unsure if AMD can keep landing body blows against its larger, more well-heeled rivals. Nonetheless, they still expect revenue to rise 26% this year as its earnings nearly triple. Those are stellar growth rates, even for a stock that trades at about 35x earnings. Xilinx Back in the 1980s, Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) invented a new class of programmable chipsets called FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), which could be reprogrammed after being shipped. Today, Xilinx is the world's top maker of FPGAs, which are used across a wide range of industries. Its only meaningful competitor is Intel, which acquired Xilinx's top competitor Altera in 2015. Xilinx generates its revenue from three core markets -- Communications and Data Center customers; Industrial, Aerospace and Defense customers; and Broadcast, Consumer and Automotive customers. Xilinx's Communications and Data Center market was its weakest one last quarter, but that softness was offset by the double-digit sales growth from the other two segments. Many of its newer chips are used for AI and machine learning tasks. Wall Street expects Xilinx's revenue to rise 8% this year, and for its earnings -- which dipped on higher expenses last year -- to grow 38%. Xilinx trades at 24x earnings and pays a forward dividend yield of 2.1%. Investors shouldn't buy a stock based on buyout buzz alone, but Xilinx has often been cited as a takeover target following Intel's takeover of Altera. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Leo Sun owns shares of Cypress Semiconductor. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Cypress Semiconductor. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Report: Apple Passes on Intel Connectivity Chip for 2020 iPhone: Last week, a report came out from Israeli website CTech claiming that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) , which has been using cellular modems developed by Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) since 2016, wouldn't use Intel's upcoming 5G modem technology in the iPhone models that it expects to launch in 2020. The report was later corrected to reflect that the chip Apple had chosen not to buy from Intel wasn't, in fact, a 5G cellular modem but instead a connectivity combination chip known as Sunny Peak. An Intel 5G modem chip mockup between a person's index finger and thumb. Image source: Intel. That chip, CTech said in a corrected version of the article, is a "Wi-Fi and Bluetooth component designed by Intel for Apple's future phone." CTech also said that Intel would halt development of the so-called Sunny Peak chip since Apple was supposed to be the "key mobile customer" and "main volume driver" of this product. While Intel reportedly stopped working on Sunny Peak, the company is apparently "now looking to further improve Sunny Peak to get the component into Apple's 2022 mobile devices." While, on the surface, this development might seem like a negative to Intel, it's actually much more of a potential negative for Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) . Allow me to explain. Intel has nothing to lose, but Broadcom does Today, Intel doesn't supply any Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity chips into Apple's iPhones; Broadcom, on the other hand, has had this spot to itself for years. Moreover, while Broadcom's overall business is quite diversified, its wireless chip business (31% of revenue during the company's fiscal year 2017 ) is heavily dependent on Apple. In fact, Broadcom said in its most recent annual filing that "more than 20%" of its revenue during fiscal year 2017 came from sales of chips to Apple. If wireless chip sales represented 31% of Broadcom's overall revenue and sales to Apple made up "more than 20%" of Broadcom's total revenue, then a quick calculation tells us that almost 65% of Broadcom's wireless chip revenue came from sales of chips to Apple. Story continues It's worth pointing out that Broadcom doesn't just sell wireless connectivity chips to Apple -- Broadcom provides Apple with touch screen controllers, radio frequency filter chips, and wireless charging chips for its devices. Nevertheless, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combination chip sales into the iPhone make up a substantial portion of Broadcom's wireless chip business. The fact that Intel thought that it was even in the running for the 2020 iPhone connectivity spot and is working hard to try again for the 2022 spot should have Broadcom investors concerned. Now, to be clear, I doubt that Apple would shift entirely from a proven supplier like Broadcom to an inexperienced vendor like Intel for a product as important as the iPhone. However, given Apple's well-known desire for having multiple sources on critical components (more vendors means lower prices for the buyer), it wouldn't surprise me if Intel had hoped to win a minority allocation of the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combination chips in the 2020 iPhone with Sunny Peak. Implications for Intel Selling wireless connectivity chips isn't Intel's core business -- such chips are basically complementary components to its main computer processor business. Nevertheless, Intel has continued to improve its Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity offerings in its bid to increase its share of wallet in the personal-computer market, and Intel hopes to accelerate this phenomenon by integrating this connectivity technology into its processors. So it's only natural that the company would like to grab a larger piece of the iPhone's bill of materials with such technology, too. Obviously, in the near term, it looks like Intel's out of luck -- it apparently didn't win the 2020 iPhone spot and its next chance seems to be in the 2022 iPhone spot. So any potential financial implications from Intel's efforts to win connectivity share inside of Apple's iPhone could be years away. Over the longer term, though, if Intel can build future Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips that are good enough for Apple's iPhones, then it could win some share from Broadcom. Broadcom's total wireless chip business was worth $5.4 billion in 2017, with Apple's business likely making up roughly $3.5 billion. It's hard to estimate how much of that wireless revenue was due to Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity chips versus, say, RF chips and wireless charging chips, but if we take a wild guess and call it 50/50, and then assume that Intel could get 30% share, then the opportunity for Intel would be in the ballpark of $500 million. That wouldn't be a game-changing win for Intel, which expect to generate more than $68 billion in revenue this year, but it'd certainly be a nice chunk of incremental, profitable revenue. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Ashraf Eassa has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Trading Platform BitMEX Hits 1 Million BTC in Daily Volume [Again]: Bitcoin investors might be suffering under the weight of one of the asset’s heaviest-ever bear markets, but for cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges like BitMEX, the mood is anything but sour.
“What market downturn?,” began a press release sent from a public relations firm representingBitMEX, reporting that the Seychelles-based exchange had on Wednesday crossed 1 million BTC in daily trading volume for the second time.
Altogether, the platform saw 1,027,214.62 bitcoin contracts traded for the day, worth approximately $6.6 billion at the present exchange rate.
“Once again meeting our own record of 1 million bitcoin traded within 24 hours is a major milestone for the crypto-coin market and testament to the strong community BitMEX is growing,” said BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes.
Hayes attributed the milestone in part to the firm’s recently-launched ETH/USD perpetual swap product, which allows traders to make leveraged bets on the ethereum price without ever holding ether.
The exchangepreviously crossed the 1 million BTC markon July 24, notching a record both for the exchange and the industry at large. At the time, those contracts equated to more than $8 billion in 24-hour volume.
BitMEX isn’t the only cryptocurrency derivatives platform that has seen an uptick in trading in spite of the bear market. As CCNreported, U.S. exchanges CME and CBOE have each seen a steady rise in bitcoin futures volume since these products launched in December, with the two platforms accruing a combined $572 million in volume on the same day in which BitMEX crossed 1 million bitcoin contracts for the first time.
LedgerX, a lesser-known U.S. cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that exclusively serves wealthy investors and institutions, also reported that its clients had traded arecord $50 millionworth of contracts on the CFTC-regulated platform during July.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Trading Platform BitMEX Hits 1 Million BTC in Daily Volume [Again]appeared first onCCN. || VanEck Responds to SEC’s Bitcoin ETF Concerns In New Letter: Money management firm VanEck has responded to the SEC’s concerns over bitcoin exchange-traded funds (bitcoin ETF) in a letter to the regulator made public on the agency’s website.
Addressed to Dalia Blass, director of the SEC’s division of investment management, the letter tackles the five points of order from the SEC’s previous communication with the industry, namely: valuation, liquidity, custody, arbitrage, and potential manipulation.
On this issue, the company states that it does not see valuation as a “novel issue” for a futures-based bitcoin ETF because it is already common practice to use futures to build an investment profile in an asset.
The valuation of such contracts VanEck says, is a well-established practice, with more than 100 exchange traded products currently listed on U.S. exchanges basing their value on futures contracts. In the company’s opinion, prices from CBOE and CME are enough to adequately determine an ETF’s net asset value (NAV).
Responding to concerns about the proposed ETF’s liquidity, VanEck points out that thebitcoin marketis a very liquid one, with an average trading spread of less than five basis points. It also makes the point that the bitcoin futures market has been efficient against the physical bitcoin market, with the total volume of the CBOE and CME coming up to $200 million.
The company also mentions that it has no intention for its proposed ETF to invest in physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts should they become available.
Moving on to custody, VanEck restates that its ETF will not invest in physically settled bitcoin contracts, but it could engage with market players to find a solution to satisfy direct custody requirements. Until such arrangements are possible and viable, it says, the status quo remains in effect.
Speaking on the subject of arbitrage trading, VanEck’s letter states that the diversified, decentralised nature of bitcoin exchange activities allows for arbitrage trading due to price differentials and inefficiencies across different exchange platforms.
In VanEck’s opinion, bitcoin markets are not significantly more volatile than gold miner stocks or comparable equities.
An excerpt reads as follows:
“We believe that neither the volatility nor the current volume in the bitcoin futures market will inhibit the creation and redemption process by authorized participants and that these creations and redemptions will keep the proposed ETF’s market price in line with its NAV.”
In the company’s opinion, such risks with its ETF are overwhelmingly mitigated by its nature as a regulated product traded on a US exchange.
A quote from the letter reads:
“While one cannot rule out manipulation in the underlying spot market, we believe that, due to the diversified ownership and volume of trading, the market does not have major, structural vulnerabilities. Therefore, the Commission’s increased enforcement and regulatory actions can reduce the number of bad actors in a basically sound market.”
CCN earlier reported about VanEck’sinterestin launching a bitcoin ETF and the SEC’s subsequenthesitanceon the issue, as well as the agency’s decision todeny the Winklevoss twins’ latest bidto create a cryptocurrency ETF.
To read the letter in full, clickhere.
Images from Shutterstock
The postVanEck Responds to SEC’s Bitcoin ETF Concerns In New Letterappeared first onCCN. || Binance Argues it Does Not Charge 400 Bitcoin For Listing, CEO Clarifies: Binance Zhao Changpeng Sequoia Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has officially stated that the company does not charge 400 bitcoin ($2.5 million) to list cryptocurrencies on its platform. Legitimacy of the Claim Last week, cryptocurrency researcher Christopher Franko claimed that Binance , the worlds largest digital asset exchange, has been charging cryptocurrencies a listing fee of 400 BTC to integrate them on its exchange. Franko cited a screenshot of an email with the address oyyq@binance.com, an address which allegedly said that it costs 400 BTC to list Expanse, his blockchain project, on the exchange. However, on August 12, CZ released an official statement refuting the claims of Franko, saying that the exchange does not list cryptocurrencies for 400 BTC or even 4,000 BTC without conducting due diligence and putting them through a rigorous verification process. The statement of CZ read : We dont list shitcoins even if they pay 400 or 4,000 BTC. ETH/NEO/XRP/EOS/XMR/LTC/more listed with no fee. Question is not how much does Binance charge to list? but is my coin good enough? Its not the fee, its your project! Focus on your own project! Also, the email Franko showed is a spoofed/scam email, not from Binance. Binance never quote fees in email, and not in BTC. Project owners should be able to spot email spoofing, those who cant should not issue a coin. The communication process/method tells a lot about a coin, he added. As a commercial company and an exchange, similar to the way major stock markets require listing fees and maintenance costs prior to listing new assets, it is appropriate for Binance and any other cryptocurrency exchange to accept a listing fee to integrate a cryptocurrency into its platform. The amount of the fee involved in the listing process is irrelevant, whether that is 4 BTC, 40 BTC, 400 BTC, or 4,000 BTC, as blockchain projects that see merit in the listing, even with a high fee, will take the offer, and that is how the free market works. If there is enough demand and low supply, the price of a product inevitably goes up. Story continues But CZ stated that Binance does not blindly accept listing fees to integrate cryptocurrencies, which is important for the users of Binance, as it demonstrates that even for a large amount of capital, the exchange does not list cryptocurrencies that are not legitimate. Is CZ Speaking the Truth? binance cryptocurrency exchange volume chart Earlier this week, in an interview with local publications, blockchain project operators in South Korea spoke up about the black market of cryptocurrency listings, in which brokers charge $2 million to $5 million for guaranteed listings. These offers are illegal, and cryptocurrencies that pay for these services are also a part of an illicit group of operations. Several blockchain operators reached out to the top three exchanges in the world, including Binance, OKEx, and Huobi, all of which claimed that they do not accept listing fees and that cryptocurrencies will have to use proper channels to be listed, meaning that these brokers, who are charging multi-million dollar listing fees, are operating independently without the authorization of exchanges. Conclusively, it is appropriate for cryptocurrency exchanges to charge high listing fees, given the high demand from the market. But, as CZ emphasized, and other blockchain operators in leading markets have said, major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance are following proper protocols to list digital assets. Featured image from YouTube/ Piergiorgio Borgogno The post Binance Argues it Does Not Charge 400 Bitcoin For Listing, CEO Clarifies appeared first on CCN . || Crypto Market Loses $9 Billion in Hours as Tokens Drop 10% on Average: In merely three hours, the crypto market has lost more than $9 billion of its valuation, as the price of tokens and small market cap cryptocurrencies dropped substantially. Tokens Plunge 10% Off of 2% Decline of Bitcoin After demonstrating a relatively strong corrective rally, the crypto market saw a decline in the value of tokens, which recorded 30 to 50 percent gains against the US dollar over the past 48 hours. Nano, Zilliqa, and Aelf, the best performers against both the US dollar and Bitcoin on August 17, dropped by 18 percent, 13 percent, and 12.9 percent respectively, becoming the worst performers on August 18. Worst performers of August 18, data provided by CoinMarketCap Some analysts have attributed the decline in the price of tokens in the past three hours to the overly strong recovery of the cryptocurrency market, which was triggered as the crypto market reached oversold conditions. Respected cryptocurrency trader and FX market maker trading analyst Alex Kruger recently said: “BTC was rejected at $6,600 and the whole crypto complex fell like a house of cards (-10%/20% this morning). A strong bounce out of massively oversold levels does not indicate a new bull run has started.” In essence, Kruger emphasized that the majority of traders in the cryptocurrency sector mistook a minor corrective rally formed by strong oversold conditions in the crypto market for a bull rally, and expected the market to perform better than its projected recovery in the first place. As investors started to acknowledge the minor corrective rally as a proper rally, traders aggressively pursued high-risk high-return trades in tokens, driving the price of certain tokens such as VeChain and Ontology by 30 to 50 percent. At one point, on August 18, the price of VeChain increased by nearly 90 percent against the US dollar in a 24-hour span. Steady Growth Subsequent to a major correction, similar to the drop from $8,500 to $5,800 Bitcoin experienced in early August, a stable recovery is necessary for the market to find momentum that can support a strong mid-term rally. Story continues In the past few days, investors overreacted to a minor recovery that was formed after breaking out of the $6,000 support level by aggressively pushing high risk trades. In the upcoming days, it is likely that Bitcoin will minimize its loss at around the $6,400 region and tokens find their momentum but the expected fall in the price of tokens on August 18 alerted investors that engaged in the market with unjustified anticipation after a long slump. Currently, the volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum remain at July levels, which do not suggest that a strong rally is in play in the short-term. The volume of tether has increased from below $2.8 billion to $3.5 billion in the past 12 hours, suggesting that investors are hedging the value of cryptocurrencies to the value of the US dollar to avoid short-term losses. Featured image from Shutterstock . The post Crypto Market Loses $9 Billion in Hours as Tokens Drop 10% on Average appeared first on CCN . || Under Pressure: Bitcoin Price Could Defend $5.6K, Charts Say: Down two-thirds from its December all-time high of $20,000, bitcoin (BTC) now risks printing fresh 2018 lows below $5,755.
The corrective rally seen over the weekendfailedto penetrate the key risingtrendlinehurdle of $6,480 on Monday, allowing the bears to make a strong comeback.
As a result, the leading cryptocurrency fell below $6,000 (February low) and extended the slide to $5,859 earlier today â the lowest level since June 29 â according to Bitfinex data.
A New Way to Compare Bitcoin Cash to Bitcoin
As of writing, BTC is changing hands at $6,032 â down 6 percent in the last 24 hours. Despite sharp losses, bitcoin is the fourth best-performing cryptocurrency among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, according toCoinMarketCap.
Other cryptocurrencies are reporting bigger losses. For instance, 92 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies have suffered double-digit losses on a 24-hour basis.
Further, thebitcoin dominance rate, a measure of BTC's market share, jumped to an eight-month high of 53.7 percent today.
Hence, it seems safe to say that the cryptocurrency markets have turnedrisk-averse, that is, investors are venturing out of the high-risk alternative cryptocurrencies and into well-established cryptocurrencies like BTC, and then possibly on to fiat currency.
You Can Now Get Paid (a Little) for Using Bitcoin's Lightning Network
Looking ahead, the downtrend in bitcoin prices could continue as the technical chart analysis is calling a deeper sell-off â although support at $5,650 could hold for now.
The bears are likely to be feeling emboldened following the bull failure at the descending trendline hurdle despite the bullish divergence of the relative strength index (RSI) seen in thechartabove.
More importantly, the bullish RSI divergence has been invalidated (prices dropped below $6,000) within three days of confirmation, which indicates the bearish sentiment is quite strong.
What's more, the major moving averages (50-candle, 100-candle, and 200-candle) continue to trend south in favor of the bears.
Thus, BTC could hit fresh yearly lows below $5,755 (June low) this week.
As the abovechartshows, BTC could encounter support around $5,650 (trendline drawn from the February low of $6,000 and the June low of $5,755).
BTC may, however, defend support at $5,650 in the short-term, as the cryptocurrency is looking oversold, having dropped more than 40 percent over the last three weeks.
If the support at $5,650 is breached, though, then the lower end of the falling channel, currently located at $5,340, could come into play.
• BTC could drop below the June low of $5,755 this week, however, support at $5,650 (as per the weekly chart) could hold ground in the short-term, courtesy of the oversold conditions.
• A high volume break above the falling trendline seen in the 4-hour chart would confirm a short-term bearish-to-bullish trend change and would allow a rally to $6,850â$7,000.
• The outlook as per the weekly chart would turn bullish if prices break above the July high of $8,507.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; Charts byÂTrading View
• Bitcoin's Price Falls Below $6K to Near 2018 Low
• Below $200 Billion: Crypto Market Sinks to New 2018 Low || Penta Announces Investment in Shares of AXS Listed Company, CCP Technologies, Us-ing Penta's PNT Cryptocurrency: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 17, 2018 / On July 17, 2018 Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listed company, CCP Technologies (CT1), made a public announcement regarding a significant purchase of shares by the Singapore based Penta Global Blockchain Foundation. The share purchase was approved by the ASX, and with this approval Penta became one of CCP Technologies's largest shareholders. The official announcement, released to the ASX by CCP Technologies elicited a very positive reaction from the investment community. Asked about the deal, Penta CEO David Ritter said, "The Penta Global Blockchain Foundation is very happy to announce completion of a strategic investment in ASX listed company, CCP Technologies. This represents one of the first times a digital currency has invested directly in a public company on a major exchange and reflects Penta's commitment to bring blockchain technology to the real-world economy. We see many strategic opportunities to work with CCP Technologies to deliver new solutions to the market." In fact, Penta's investment of PNT tokens to purchase shares of CCP Technologies represents the first time an altcoin - a non-large cap cryptocurrency - has been used to purchase shares of a company on a major exchange. While Penta may be a lesser known blockchain project, this investment in CCP Technologies is raising eyebrows around the world. It has led many to reconsider whether the gap between the digital world of cryptocurrencies and traditional equities markets is closing. Michael White, Chief Executive Officer of CCP said, "Our company is leveraging Cloud, IoT, Blockchain, Big Data and AI technologies to revolutionise critical control point management. We have an industry leading suite of technical capabilities, a growing customer base and partner network. We're bringing exciting new solutions to a massive market which offers a compelling value proposition. This raise provides synergistic investment that we expect will further accelerate our commercial and technical advancements." Story continues Both CCP Technologies and Penta believe there is a natural synergy between blockchain and IoT technologies. The new partnership reflects a mutual desire to merge and integrate these disruptive technologies for use in the Australian economy and beyond. CCP Technologies is already in consultation with some government organizations to explore potential uses of blockchain-IoT technology that could serve the public interest. Penta is one of the rare blockchain organizations that has generated considerable revenue in deployment of blockchain projects in the real world economy. According to the Penta white paper, the Penta Network is a next generation platform for both public and private blockchain projects, with an emphasis on impacting the real economy. Designing innovative technology solutions for real world applicability is a strategic goal shared by Penta and CCP Technologies. Recognizing the commercial value of bringing blockchain and IoT together, First Growth Funds (FGF), was also a major investor in the deal. First Growth Funds Limited is a diversified Listed Investment Company which focuses on increasing shareholder value by making investments across a broad range of listed and unlisted investments. Since December 2017, FGF has strongly positioned itself in the digital currency space and is an active investor and advisor for new blockchain technologies. Regarding FGF's investment, Executive Director Anoosh Manzoori said, "FGF believes it is an opportune time to invest in CCP. Their technology is fully developed and with the establishment of key channel partners, including Vodafone, Dicker Data Limited (DDR), Sigfox operators and now with Penta, CCP has a great growth outlook." Perhaps the most important element of this deal is the fact that Penta's investment was completed without using fiat currency - any government-backed currency, for instance the Australian dollar. This could lead to a new era of investment in traditional equities markets, in which commonly used global currencies, such as the US dollar, Euro, etc. are replaced by a wider basket of potential currencies, including digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Penta. Inclusion of cryptocurrencies on the balance sheets of listed companies could also have the added benefit that if the value of those cryptocurrencies increases over time, the holdings of the listed company could see growth reflected in both cryptocurrency growth and stock growth. If this is to be the future direction of equities markets, the marriage of traditional equities and cryptocurrencies may trace their roots to back to Penta's successful investment in CCP Technologies using PNT. Media contact email: molly.ma@penta.global SOURCE: Penta
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
@BTC_INFOCHAIN || BTC戦闘力↓:¥818,744(max #FCT/mini #ETC)
まだナメック星で消耗しているんですか？
https://hitbtc.com/?ref_id=59ed57655bc09 …
#ロング #暗号通貨 #ドラゴンボール #ピッコロ #フリーザチャートpic.twitter.com/xKHM9MyIFL || @lifeoncoin || @btc_fan || @btc_fan || #ABT - Sharp decrease 1h: -9.5% V: 9.1M$
Subscribers have been notified 1 hour ago via http://Coinalert.Live & App.
#blockchain #cryptocurrency #altcoins #coinalert $ABT $BTC $ETH $XRP $BCH $LTC $EOS $NEO $TRX $IOTA $XVGpic.twitter.com/DI376XF0iq || @btc_fan || @btc_fan || @Bitcoin_price_8 || @BTC_INFOCHAIN
|
Trend: down || Prices: 6978.23, 7037.58, 7193.25, 7272.72, 7260.06, 7361.66, 6792.83, 6529.17, 6467.07, 6225.98
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-12-14]
BTC Price: 444.18, BTC RSI: 72.15
Gold Price: 1064.70, Gold RSI: 40.22
Oil Price: 36.31, Oil RSI: 31.28
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Cryptocurrency Trader Launches Super Deal for Bitcoin Sellers: WILMINGTON, DE --(Marketwired - October 28, 2015) - Miners Center Inc. ( www.minerscenter.com ) is now offering 12% to 13% above the market value for Bitcoin, and now is the time to take advantage. With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin commerce, many online firms are finding creative new ways to take advantage of this valuable virtual resource. However, none are more market-savvy than Miners Center, an up-and-coming financial world star that is taking e-commerce by storm. For those not in the know, Bitcoin is the premier virtual currency that is being used online for a variety of purposes, including electronics purchases, travel, and a growing number of online businesses. It allows spenders to take advantage of the convenience and flexibility of online currency, invest, and grow their finances in a totally new way. Miners Center is offering unprecedented returns on user investments with their new offer. Emilian Tourey, the CEO of Miners Center, commented: "We are happy that with this promotional offer we will be able to help the Bitcoin community. By riding on this next wave of digital technology, we hope to become a major leader of the Bitcoin community, and offer exceptional deals for all Bitcoin purchases. It's about staying in-step with the times, and we know that Bitcoin is a wise investment and are confident that it can take us to the top." A visit to www.minerscenter.com reveals a cleanly-designed website that is easy to use, making Bitcoin transactions quick and easy. Users only need to enter their email address, and bank or PayPal information and they will be ready to take advantage of this new promotional offer. Aside from the main page, they also offer a news section and frequently asked questions, which can help new users discover the relevance and importance of Bitcoin, and the subtleties of the trading process. Any further questions on the website can be answered in real time by staff. Rates are updated constantly, following current market trends, for the most accurate information. Combined with knowledgeable staff and a regularly updated news page, this gives Miners Center the edge over competitors in the field by offering a depth of market knowledge that is unrivaled. Miners Center is currently purchasing Bitcoins so any interested sellers should visit their website as soon as possible for the best deals. For more information, visit, www.minerscenter.com . Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/10/28/11G069537/Images/Bitcoin-648633992982.jpg || Consumer growth lagging as mobile payments battle rages on: The battle over the future of consumer payments raged on at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas this week, just without consumers, most of whom seem quite content to keep swiping their credit cards or handing over cash instead of adopting the latest in mobile payment technology. JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) announced that it would offer its own smartphone-based payments service to compete head on with Apple ( AAPL ), Google ( GOOGL ), Samsung and others. Scheduled to arrive in the middle of next year, Chase Pay will be available for all 94 million of the bank's credit and debit card customers. And Chase has signed on a huge array of retailers -- from Walmart ( WMT ) to CVS Health ( CVS ) and Target ( TGT ) — that haven't supported other programs. Samsung said 14 more banks had joined its payments service including Chase, SunTrust Banks ( STI ) and PNC Financial Services ( PNC ). It didn't disclose how many U.S. customers had signed up for the service in its first month but said participating consumers made an average of eight transactions. The company said three out of four transactions used Samsung's unique magnetic secure transmission, or MST, technology, which works at almost any checkout terminal by mimicking an ordinary credit card swipe. "We are seeing early signs of customer adoption and we are very, very encouraged by that," Thomas Ko, general manager of Samsung Pay, told the conference on Wednesday. Apple didn't speak at the conference. Meanwhile, Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice president at Google overseeing Android Pay, offered few details on the early performance of that service, revealing only that "millions" of users have signed up for Android Pay since the program launched Sept. 10. When it comes to convenince, cash and credit rule Despite all the talk of mobile payments, consumers are still sticking with their more traditional forms of payment. Two thirds of consumers used cash on a daily basis, 59% used a debit card and 50% used a credit card, according to a survey by Accenture. Only 8% said they used Apple Pay or Google Pay, the prior name of Android Pay, "regularly," while 16% said they used PayPal. Story continues Less than 1% of transactions used Apple Pay at American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ), an early Apple supporter, Joe Megibow, American Eagle's chief digital officer, revealed on Monday. The reasons are fairly obvious — cash and credit cards are quick and convenient ways to pay that are accepted almost everywhere. Some mobile payments systems work only at a small fraction of all stores, others work with only certain credit cards and none are as convenient as a traditional credit card yet. "We're still plagued by how is this really different in the end from plastic," Greg Weed, director of research at Phoenix Marketing, said. Asked what they'd like to see added to mobile payments services, 64% of consumers said they want to be able to redeem loyalty or rewards program points at the time of purchase, Weed said. And 52% said they wanted the ability to view discounts and deals while at a specific store. All of the announced services have pledged to include loyalty and rewards programs but very few have been offered so far. Consumers are "looking for something beyond the digitization of the swipe," Brian Mooney, CEO of the Merchant Customer Exchange, said. The three year old group, formed by leading retailers, is piloting its own payments app, called CurrentC, which intends to integrate loyalty and rewards programs. Mooney didn't say when the long-delayed service would be generally available but the group is also partnering with Chase's new service. The evolution of Bitcoin Amid all the excitement around digital payments, there was still plenty of talk about the financial world's favorite cryptocurrency, bitcoin. But unlike past years, entrepreneurs are now focused less on bitcoin as a replacement for buying and selling goods and more on the digital currency's infrastructure for securely recording all kinds of dealings. Every bitcoin transaction is recorded in a public ledger known as the blockchain. Nasdaq ( NDAQ ) announced that its pilot using the blockchain to record private stock transactions was a success . The exchange said it had signed up six clients, including messaging service Tango and data security specialist Vera, to use the transaction system as the basis for actual private trades in their shares. Some entrepreneurs are looking to add considerably more transactions onto the block chain, particularly the trillions of dollars per day of trades in public stocks and bonds. The current system makes traders wait three days for transactions to formally settle, but some at the Money conference said a blockchain-based solution could complete deals in a fraction of the time and with improved security and transparency. Three day settlement is "silly, it's downright dumb," famed venture capitalist Vinod Kholsa, who has backed numerous financial technology and bitcoin related start ups, said. || Hired-gun hacking played key role in JPMorgan, Fidelity breaches: By Jim Finkle and Joseph Menn
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When U.S. prosecutors this week charged two Israelis and an American fugitive with raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in one of the largest and most complex cases of cyber fraud ever exposed, they also provided an unusual look into the burgeoning industry of criminal hackers for hire.
The trio, who are accused of orchestrating massive computer breaches at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and other financial firms, as well as a series of other major offences, did little if any hacking themselves, the federal indictments and a previous civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate.
Rather, they constructed a criminal conglomerate with activities ranging from pump-and-dump stock fraud to Internet casino break-ins and unlicensed Bitcoin trading. And just like many legitimate corporations, they outsourced much of their technology needs.
"They clearly had to recruit co-conspirators and have that type of hacker-for-hire," said Austin Berglas, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's New York cyber division, who worked the JPMorgan case before he left the agency in May. "This is the first case where it's that clear of a connection." Berglas, who now heads cyber investigations for private firm K2 Intelligence, said additional major cases of freelance hacking will come to light, especially as more people become familiar with online tools such as Tor that seek to conceal a user’s identity and location.
RENTED TIME
This week's indictments accused a hacker referred to as "co-conspirator 1" of installing malicious software on the servers of multiple victims at the direction of Gery Shalon, the alleged mastermind of the scheme now under arrest in Israel. A second indictment charges a man referred to as John Doe, believed to be in Russia, for an attack on online trading firm E*Trade (ETFC.O).
Officials have not said if the co-conspirator and John Doe were the same person, or even if the FBI knows their true identities.
Law enforcement and computer security officials say that outsourced cyber-crime services - including rented time on networks of previously compromised personal computers and custom break-ins - are most readily found on underground Russian-language computer forums, where skilled attackers advertise their services.
The forums are tight-knit communities where newbies must be vouched for by multiple known members and pay membership fees that cost thousands of dollars, said Daniel Cohen, who oversees an undercover team at EMC Corp's (EMC.N) RSA Security that monitors the forums.
“You can find anything you want for an operation. Hackers, servers, software, code writing. They are all available," said Cohen. Individuals hide their identities even from each other, making infiltration and arrests rare.
In this case, the ringleaders are accused of hiring hackers to steal contact information and other data that they then used to help convince ordinary investors to buy little-regulated stocks. Prosecutors have not disclosed how the hackers were compensated.
Fees vary greatly in the cyber underground, depending on the complexity of the assignment and supply of talent available to do a particular job. Elite hackers who pull off the most technically challenging attacks might get a percentage of profits, while others might earn an hourly rate or get paid a few thousand dollars for winning access to a target’s network, researchers said.PUMP-AND-DUMP
All three of those accused this week - Shalon, Joshua Samuel Aaron, who is at large, and Ziv Orenstein, who is also in jail in Israel – began promoting penny stocks before the hacks took place, according to U.S. government claims.
They used websites including Pennystockdiscoveries.com and Stockcastle.com to send emails as part of a scheme in which they invested in penny stocks, spread false information to boost their prices, and then sold them to make windfall profits, according to an SEC suit filed in July.
Orenstein’s lawyer declined to comment, and Shalon’s lawyer did not return messages seeking comment.
In one case in early 2012, the SEC claims that they used the website Stockcastle.com to promote shares in Mustang Alliances Inc, reaping $2.2 million, the largest pump-and-dump cited in the regulator's lawsuit. In March of that year, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission issued an alert warning that two entities tied to Stockcastle were falsely claiming to be registered in the territory. That same year, the enterprise began a massive hacking spree to get contact information for investors who might be good targets, according to prosecutors. By the end of 2013 they had ordered up six hacks that provided data on tens of millions of customers, prosecutors said.
They hit the mother lode in 2014 when they attacked three other firms, and stole data on 83 million customers from JP Morgan alone, prosecutors said.
In addition to JP Morgan and E*Trade, the firms attacked included the mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD.N) and News Corp's (NWSA.O) Dow Jones unit, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, according to court documents and people familiar with the cases.
"To do a 'pump-and-dump' operation, you no longer need 30 people behind phones in a strip mall," said Shane Shook, a security consultant specializing in investigating financial breaches. All you need is to find a hacker on a “Dark Web” forum to provide addresses from customers of financial services firms like Fidelity or JPMorgan, then hire a spam service to push out promotional emails, he said.
Shalon bragged about the stock manipulation scheme, telling the hacker known as co-conspirator 1 in a web chat message that it was "a small step towards a large empire," according to the indictment.
His plan, Shalon told the hacker, was to distribute "mailers" on stocks to those customers. The hacker asked if buying stocks was popular in America, the indictment said, prompting Shalon to reply: "It's like drinking freaking vodka in Russia."
Shalon ultimately made good on his promise to build an empire, according to the indictments. Profits from the pump-and-dump fed into a sprawling conglomerate including offshore Internet casinos and payment-processing services for other criminal operators, such as counterfeit pharmaceutical makers. Shalon also allegedly directed hackers to attack rival casinos, stealing customer data and temporarily bringing down their websites with denial-of-service attacks, which are easily commissioned online.BUTTERFLY AND HIDDEN LYNX
While this week's indictments opened the first major criminal case involving outsourced hacking, there have been other substantial break-ins that researchers believe were contract jobs.
Researchers at Symantec in July attributed a series of precision breaches at Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter in 2012 and 2013 to a sophisticated gang called Butterfly, which also attacked law firms and pharmaceutical companies.
Computer security firm Symantec concluded that the group likely works for hire, either for a client looking for financial gain in the stock market or for competitors. How Butterfly gets hired remains unclear.
Tech criminologist Marc Goodman, author of the book “Future Crimes”, says another group, dubbed Hidden Lynx by Symantec, may consist of contractors moonlighting from jobs with the Chinese military.http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/security_response/whitepapers/hidden_lynx.pdf"It's crime as a service," "Goodman said. "They take all the pain out of it."
(Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Jim Finkle and Nate Raymond in New York; Additional reporting from Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Martin Howell.) || Bitcoin keeps surging, makes another new high for 2015: (A sign welcomes consumers paying in bitcoin.Thomson Reuters)
2015 may be the year that bitcoin rebounded.
The digital currency smashed through a new high for the year on Monday morning, trading at nearly $370 andcontinuingits impressive streak as of late.
Bitcoin has been on a big run for much of the last two months, gaining about 70% on private exchanges since hitting a second-half low of $213 in late August.
For investors who bought in during bitcoin's headiest days to date, in early 2014, that's not enough of a rebound: before the price of the digital currency plummeted in 2014, it reached more than $1100 a bitcoin.
Now, after bitcoin's big seven-week run, it is trading at around $363 a coin.
Even as detractors to bitcoin point toward a difficult-to-regulate culture that has popped up around the cryptocurrency, there is a growing push from well-known investors to advance thepayment technology.
In October, investors including MasterCard and Bain Capital Ventures provided backing toBarry Silbert's Digital Currency Group. Already, Silbert's latest project has backed dozens of cryptocurrenty startups, largely focusing on bitcoin deals.
BitcoinCharts.com tracks the daily price of the cryptocurrency, and captures the last month's run-up in value. Monday morning marked the biggest single day of gains for bitcoin, as it rose about 10% in one day.
(Bitcoin value has been growing steadily over the last two months.BitcoinCharts.com)
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More From Business Insider
• Chase has debuted a new card aimed at small businesses
• Deutsche Bank is shuffling some of its top investment bankers in the US
• American Express has linked up with Global Payments || Bitcoin Seeks To Right Music-Industry Wrongs: The music industry has been plagued by problems ever since the advent of the Internet and digital file sharing. Free file sharing, illegal downloads and streaming services that offer unlimited listening for a low monthly fee have all contributed to a growing resentment among artists who say that the value their work isn't being recognized adequately.
However, the bitcoin community is looking to all of that by using blockchain, the ledger-like technology that the cryptocurrency runs on, to create more transparent contracts.
Royalty Distribution
As many artists have their royalty fees negotiated by their labels, undesirable contracts with streaming services are often outside of their control. That means that their music can be played on services likeApple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)'s Apple Music or Spotify for a minor fee that the artist often find insufficient. In order to combat this, Ujo Music is working to create a system in which artists contracts are secured via blockchain. That way, transparency between the artist, the label and the streaming service is ensured and artists have more control over how and where their music is sold.
Related Link:Is Adele Giving Pandora's Stock A Boost? Maybe, But A Major Copyright Overhang May Have Just Been Removed
Peer-To-Peer Sharing
A service called Peertracks is looking to use an alt-coin in order to deliver value to artists that choose to share their music on the service. The company uses "artist tokens" which increase in value as a particular track gains popularity. Music that doesn't reach many people would generate tokens with less value. In such a system artists are paid for the consumption of their music and rewarded for songs that are particularly catchy.
Bitcoin Payments
Bittunes is another startup aiming to the music industry, only this service is hoping to keep things simple and use bitcoin as a form of payment. The company allows users to play new tracks for $0.50, half of which goes to the artist while the other half is redistributed to a group of buyers. That way, the company's managing director Simon Edhouse has said, the transaction remains between an artist and their fans. Songs that make it to the service's Top 100 increase in price to $1.00, leaving the artist with 40 percent of the sale, the buyers sharing an additional 40 percent between themselves while Bittunes collects the remaining 20 percent.
A World Outside Of Cryptocurrency
Blockchain's entrance into the music space underscores the growing enthusiasm surrounding the technology. While bitcoin itself has raised questions about safety and reliability, the technology behind the cryptocurrency is often dubbed one of the most important technological advances of the decade. For that reason, many startups are focusing on how to implement blockchain into new industries rather than on ways to help spread the word about bitcoin.
Many believe that bitcoin may never make it as a widely accepted form of currency, but on the other hand blockchain has the potential to revolutionize several different industries.
See more from Benzinga
• 6 Ways Blockchain Could Change The World
• 8 Ways To Add Solar To Your Portfolio
• Obamacare Is Still Under Pressure; Here's Why
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 10 things you need to know today: (https://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResultFarmer Zhang Xianping with pig Big Precious during an interview with the media in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, China.
Here is what you need to know.
Volkswagen has another emissions scandal.The German automaker announced that an internal investigation had discovered "irregularities in CO2 levels" in as many as 800,000 vehicles. It is unclear whether the irregularities are related to the recently discovered emissions scandal related to nitrogen-oxide testing. "Under the ongoing review of all processes and workflows in connection with diesel engines it was established that the CO2 levels and thus the fuel consumption figures for some models were set too low during the CO2 certification process," Volkswagen said in a statement. "The majority of the vehicles concerned have diesel engines."
Tesla is flying high after its latest outlook.Shares of Tesla were up 10% in after-hours trade after the company announced it expected to deliver 17,000 to 19,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, outpacing the Wall Street consensus. For all of 2015, Tesla said it would deliver 50,000 to 52,000 vehicles, narrowing its range from its previous estimate of 50,000 to 55,000. On the earnings front, the electric-car maker lost $0.58 per share, which was slightly worse than the $0.56 loss that was anticipated. Revenue jumped 33.4% to $1.24 billion, in line with estimates.
US auto sales are at the highest level in a decade.The latest Autodata showed US auto sales rose at an annualized pace of 18.24 million in October, the best in a decade. The number easily surpassed the Wall Street consensus of17.7 million vehicles. Mazda (+35.4%) saw the biggest gains, while General Motors (+16%) and Ford (+13%) posted solid results. BMW USA (-6.6%) was the lone decliner.
Honda is dumping Takata airbags.The AFP reports that Takata's largest client, Honda, has severed its relationship with the company after US authorities announced a $200 million fine against the airbag maker. Takata airbags have been linked to eight deaths and even more injuries around the world."On a global basis, no new Honda and Acura models currently under development will be equipped with a front driver or passenger Takata airbag inflator," Honda said in a statement. Shares of Takata were down as much as 20% in Tokyo.
Iceland raised rates.Iceland's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 5.75%. The central bank noted that domestic demand was expected to increase by more than 7% this year and that gross domestic product was forecast to grow at 4.6%. As for inflation, the central bank said: "It is still expected that large pay increases will cause inflation to rise above the target as 2016 progresses and the effects of low global inflation taper off. Inflation will not return to target until 2018." The Icelandic krona is weaker by 0.2% at 128.90 per dollar.
European services data was strong.October Services PMI for the eurozone was released, and it showed that every country outpaced expectations except for Germany. Spain saw the biggest month-over-month increase, as its reading climbed from 54.6 in September to 55.9 in October and easily beat the 54.6 that was expected. Germany's number ticked up to 54.5 from 54.1 but missed the 55.2 that economists were expecting. The eurozone as a whole improved to 54.1 from 53.7. The euro is down 0.3% at 1.0935.
Bitcoin has gone parabolic.On Tuesday, bitcoin rallied 10% to close just shy of the $400 mark. On Wednesday morning, bitcoin is up another 15% near $454. The digital currency has surged 89% since the beginning of October.
Stock markets around the world are higher.China's Shanghai Composite (+4.3%) surged after the People's Bank of China released some dated comments fromgovernor Zhou Xiaochuan. In Europe, Spain's IBEX (+1.2%) leads the gains. S&P 500 futures are higher by 2.75 points at 2,105.75.
US economic data is moderate.ADP Employment Change is due out at 8:15 a.m. ET before the trade balance crosses the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET and ISM Services is released at 10 a.m. ET. Crude-oil inventories will be announced at 10:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 1 basis point at 2.20%.
Earnings reporting remains heavy.21st Century Fox, Allergan, CDW, Honda Motor, Michael Kors, and Time Warner highlight the names scheduled to release their quarterly results ahead of the opening bell. Facebook, Marathon Oil, MetLife, Prudential, Qualcomm, Sturm Ruger, and Whole Foods are among the companies reporting after markets close.
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• 10 things you need to know today || Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated?: The way consumers watch TV has changed drastically over the past few years as the popularity of Internet video sites like YouTube have skyrocketed. Dedicated streaming services like Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX ) and Hulu emerged and their warm reception from American viewers caused traditional broadcasters to rethink their own operations. Now, several big name networks have created their own online, subscription-based services in an effort to give customers more choices for web-based viewing. However, with so many fragmented viewing options out there, many are wondering if the space is starting to become crowded. The All Important Millennial The younger generation is increasingly switching to online viewing, a troublesome sign for traditional cable. Services like Netflix and Amazon offer a wide range of content geared toward that demographic and have become popular choices for Millennials who are cutting the cord. Related Link: Why Netflix's Initial Selloff Was "Correct" However, in an effort to maintain a youthful audience, firms like NBC Universal and CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS ) have launched their own subscription services with content aimed at younger viewers. Stiff Competition NBC Universal recently unveiled a new streaming offering called Seeso, which will focus on comedy programming. The firm has been working together with non-traditional media companies like BuzzFeed and Vox to attract younger viewers, but the firm will have to compete with a host of other networks that are all doing the same thing. Dish Network's Sling TV, CBS' All Access service and Time Warner's HBO Now are just some of the many online subscription services that Seeso will have to compete with. Cutting The Cord While online viewing is gaining popularity, most agree that at the present moment there is no good way to cut the cord completely. Subscribing to the many online services that have saturated the streaming space would typically cost more than paying a traditional cable bill, so most consumers are choosing one or two online services to enhance their programming. That makes it difficult for new entrants like Seeso as more established names like Netflix are often a top choice. Story continues Image Credit: By Taro the Shiba Inu [ CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons See more from Benzinga Virtual Reality Becomes An Actual Reality With New Oculus Headset Netflix Viewing Stats Reveal That All Shows Aren't Created Equally 21 Inc's Bitcoin Computer Seeks To Redefine The Internet © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin firm raises funding from Bain, New York Life, MasterCard: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Digital Currency Group, a holding firm focused on investing and developing businesses that deal in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has raised funding from some of the biggest U.S. financial names, founder and chief executive officer Barry Silbert said on Tuesday. Bain Capital Ventures, the Boston-based venture capital unit of private equity firm Bain Capital, credit card company MasterCard, insurance giant New York Life Insurance Company, and Canadian bank CIBC were four of the company's new investors. The holding company (DCG) is currently building and supporting the largest early-stage investment portfolio in digital currencies and the blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin. Silbert, a prominent bitcoin advocate and investor, declined to disclose the amount of funding raised from the new investors. The other investors in DCG include a range of venture capital firms and family offices such as FirstMark Capital, Novel TMT, Oak HC/FT, RRE Ventures, Solon Mack Capital, and Transamerica Ventures. Bain, CIBC, New York Life, Mastercard, FirstMark, Novel, Oak, and Transamerica are investing in bitcoin for the first time, Silbert said. Structuring DCG as a company and not a fund is a strategic business decisions, Silbert said, and the business model is similar to that of Berkshire Hathaway, founded by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. "Setting it up this way gives us flexibility," said Silbert, in an email to Reuters. "We can start companies, invest in companies, buy companies, etc and it gives us patient, permanent capital." There is therefore no need to raise a bunch of different funds with different investors, he said, adding that this gives the company the opportunity to go public down the road. DCG was formed this year with the merger of two SecondMarket Solutions companies: Genesis Global Trading, a bitcoin over-the-counter trading firm, and Grayscale Investments, a digital currency asset management firm that manages the publicly-traded Bitcoin Investment Trust. Story continues SecondMarket, an entity that has helped private companies facilitate trading in their shares, was founded by Silbert. It was acquired last week by Nasdaq Private Market. Financial terms were not provided. Silbert has invested in some of the biggest bitcoin companies: Coinbase, BitPay, Circle, itBit, Ripple, Xapo, and Coinsetter. Bitcoin is a virtual currency bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. The digital currency is used for retail purchases and investments. Other virtual currencies include litecoin and dogecoin. One bitcoin is currently worth around $296.01 on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by David Gregorio) || Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc., Releases HempCoin Audio Interview: DOVER, DE--(Marketwired - Nov 30, 2015) - Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc., a holding company ( OTC PINK : RMTN ), has released an Internet link to an Audio Interview performed by one of its Directors, David Tobias. During the interview, David discusses the technical aspects and the future plans for RMTN's Crypto-Currency, HempCoin. The Audio-Interview can be heard at: http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/11-19-15-smallcapvoice-interview-with-rocky-mountain-ayre-inc-rmtn About HempCoin. HempCoin (HMP) runs on its own peer to peer blockchain like BitCoin (BTC) but at a faster rate because it is using the script technique like LiteCoin. So in addition to having the advantage of being able to move HMP around faster than BTC, HMP is backed by the marketable securities of RMTN. BTC is strictly a fiat currency like the US Dollar, however, BTC has the potential to go up in value against the Dollar because of supply and demand factors and HMP has this same built in advantage because unlike the Dollar, both BTC and HMP have a limited amount of coins in circulation, while the Dollar is ever increasing in supply. About Rocky Mountain, Inc. Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc. ( www.rockymountainayre.com ) is a publicly traded company listed on the OTCmarkets under the "RMTN" trading symbol. It is a holding company increasing its asset and revenue base through acquisition of fast-growing food and hospitality, manufacturing and retail businesses. All inquiries should be directed to: info@rockymountainayre.com . Safe Harbor Statement This Press Release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has tried, whenever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "potential" and similar expressions. These statements reflect the Company's current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Accordingly, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or advise in the event of any change, addition or alteration to the information catered in this Press Release including such forward-looking statements. || Trade Options? Here's How To Get Involved In Bitcoin: By now, Bitcoin needs no introduction. The digital asset has become the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, and people are already getting used to using it and trading it every day.
But, are there other ways to capitalize from the fluctuations of the currency? An innovative way to trade the popular cryptocurrency uses binary options.
The Playbook
Do you think the Bitcoin will continue to surge? Or will it lose value going forward?
Whatever your thoughts on the issue are, binary options might offer an interesting way to play the events with relatively low collateral.
Related Link:Think Energy Has More Downside? Here Are Two Ways To Play It
What Are Binary Options?
Investing via binary options is just that: playing a binary event. “Binary options are limited risk contracts based on a simple yes/no market proposition like will the markets go up by the end of the trading week,” binary options trading site Nadex .
How To Trade Bitcoin With Binary Options
Via binary options, traders can partake in the popular Bitcoin market with “limited risk, short-term contracts in a transparent, regulated marketplace.”
At Nadex, investors can find unique daily and weekly Bitcoin binary option contracts, based off the Tera Bitcoin Price Index.
Below is an example of how to trade Bitcoin using binary options.
A standard Bitcoin Binary Option may look something like: Bitcoin > 440 (3:00PM)
This means that this contact suggests the underlying price of Bitcoin will be above $440 at 3:00 p.m. If you think the answer is yes, buying the binary option might be the way to go. If you think the answer is no, you would sell the contract.
Investors should note that the price at which they would buy or sell the contracts is not the actual price of Bitcoin, but rather a value between zero and 100.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.
Image Credit:
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$397.28 at 15:15 UTC [24h Range: $364.37 - $495.00 Volume: 92815 BTC] || LIVE: Profit = $700.00 (0.89 %). BUY B202.10 @ $389.53 (#BTCe). SELL @ $393.15 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || $331.98 #coinbase;
$331.03 #bitfinex;
$329.11 #bitstamp;
$328.00 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc via #ThePriceOfBTCpic.twitter.com/me3urwJSjG || One Bitcoin now worth $267.03@bitstamp. High $272.95. Low $265.00. Market Cap $ 0.000 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/xerB2QHTeB || $326.85 at 16:30 UTC [24h Range: $294.00 - $344.78 Volume: 40097 BTC] || $419.60 at 02:00 UTC [24h Range: $408.91 - $420.13 Volume: 8667 BTC] via #btcusdpic.twitter.com/B3QKKAnztn || LIVE: Profit = $74.09 (3.01 %). BUY B6.47 @ $380.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $391.40 (#HitBTC) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || @pikooy 20.00 lg sy jln dr ujungberung @nebengers biasanya 20.30 tiba di SPBU Pasteur samping BTC || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 22 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $287.04 #bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $8,962.25 (5.42 %). BUY B530.97 @ $310.31 (#BTCe). SELL @ $327.00 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - … pic.twitter.com/GrioUxysjL
|
Trend: down || Prices: 465.32, 454.93, 456.08, 463.62, 462.32, 442.68, 438.64, 436.57, 442.40, 454.98
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2017-10-06]
BTC Price: 4370.81, BTC RSI: 57.88
Gold Price: 1271.60, Gold RSI: 37.33
Oil Price: 49.29, Oil RSI: 46.27
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
The dollar drifts as the Fed kicks off its two-day meeting: us dollar index (Markets Insider) The dollar is hovering as the Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting. The US dollar index was little changed at 91.99 at 8:17 a.m. ET. Expectations for an interest rate hike at the meeting, which concludes on Wednesday, are almost zero as the Fed is expected to announce its plan for unwinding its massive balance sheet. " While we’re not expecting any surprises out of the meeting – in terms of another rate hike for example – we should learn a lot about how the Fed plans to tighten monetary policy going forward and that will determine how US yields and the dollar respond ," said Craig Erlam, senior market analysts at OANDA, in emailed comments. " With so much unknown at this stage, it’s not surprising why traders are cautious, especially as we’re yet to see any real response to the Fed’s plans [to cut] its almost $4.5 trillion balance sheet." Looking forward, there's a 49.8% chance the Fed hikes by the end of the year, up from 35.2% last week, according to Bloomberg data. The US dollar index has fallen by about 11% since US President Donald Trump's inauguration. In other FX news, here was the scoreboard at 8:31 a.m. ET: The euro was stronger by 0.2% at 1.976 against the dollar after Germany's ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment climbed 7 points to 17 in September. Worries about the euro's recent strength had "faded into the background," according to ZEW's president professor Achim Wambach. The Canadian dollar was up by 0.2% at 1.2273 per dollar after data showed manufacturing sales fell by 2.6% month-over-month in July, following the prior month's dip of 1.9%. The British pound was higher by 0.2% at 1.3528 against the dollar. The Japanese yen was little changed at 111.53 per dollar. The Indian rupee was down by 0.2% at 64.341 per dollar. NOW WATCH: Bitcoin's bubble swells with a new record high More From Business Insider The dollar is 'teetering' near its recent lows DEUTSCHE BANK: The dollar and the euro are all about politics The stock market's secret weapon may be vanishing || Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast Slow and Steady Recovery Afoot: The bitcoin prices continued their recovery over the last 24 hours as well as the prices have since pushed through the $4500 and continue to move higher as of this writing. Though the prices are still quite far away from the highs of the range and the progress higher has slowed down quite a bit, it just shows the strength of the market has it has been able to deal with the Chinese ICO-ban news quite comfortably. Many had predicted the end of the cryptocurrency market and they continue to believe so, following the Chinese news, but so far,there have been no such hints on that and the prices have been holding steady. Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today Bitcoin Prices Continue Recovery The investors and traders continue to believe in this industry and the industry has grown so much and penetrated various walks of life so much that it would be difficult to reverse it back anytime soon. This is the reason why we believe that this industry and these coins are here to stay. Of course, some of the smaller coins would lose out in the long term but that is a sign of the aging and the maturity of the market while the bitcoin and ethereum markets would continue to thrive along with the other strong ones. The fact that the bitcoin market has suffered two major changes, the fork on August 1 and the Chinese ban on the ICOs in September, is a huge show of strength from this market. The ethereum market has also been following the lead of the bitcoin network and continues to recover as it pushed through $300 and trades comfortably above $320 as of this writing. It is still quite far away from its highs near $400 but we believe that it would only be a matter of time before it gets there and moves further as well. Forecast Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we believe that the bitcoin and ETH prices could continue to move higher, though in a slow, steady and cautious manner as the market still comes to terms with the Chinese ICO ban and watches how the rest of the ban would pan out in the short term. Story continues The Best and Safest Way to Buy and Sell Bitcoins For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations, Some brokers provide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution. Click here for more details . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast Draghi Comments Will Drive the Price Action Today Commodities Daily Forecast September 7, 2017 EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook September 7, 2017 Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast EIA Report Expected to Show 4.1M Build DAX Index Daily Fundamental Forecast September 7, 2017 USD/CAD Daily Fundamental Forecast September 7, 2017 || Dow poised for 5-day winning streak: The Dow’s on track for a 5-day winning streak as stocks set record highs — again. Auto sales blowing out in September, but can the good times last for the Big 3? And, Wall Street’s coming on board with bitcoin, and now there’s a hedge fund that’s trading it. We’ve got the story. Catch The Final Round with Jen Rogers and markets reporter Nicole Sinclair.
Winners and losers
Stocks on the move lower include Ericsson (ERIC) as Credit Suisse downgraded the communications firm to underperform, The Tile Shop (TTS) as the specialty retailer warned on sales for the 3rd quarter, and Urban Outfitters (URBN) – shares slashed as Deutsche Bank downgraded shares to ‘sell’ citing valuation following a recent run-up in retail shares.
Stocks in the green today include GM (GM) on strong September sales, Wayfair (W) on positive commentary from Piper Jaffray claiming the home furnishings site could see higher revenue growth than forecast, and Paychex (PAYX) – shares climbing higher as the payroll and HR services company beat on earnings and revenue in the last quarter.
A hedge fund that trades only Bitcoin?
It’s been called a bubble, a fraud and a scam. But do you need to take a closer look at Bitcoin? Even Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweeted today “Still thinking about Bitcoin. No conclusion – not endorsing/rejecting. Know that folks also were skeptical when paper money displaced gold.” Joining us now the CEO and founder of BitSpread, a cryptocurrency hedge fund. || Why Some Analysts See Even More Gains for Nvidia’s Stock Price: Shares of graphics chip maker are up 69% this year and have risen almost fivefold since the end of 2015. That’s quite a ride and some investors may be ready to cash in their gains. But on Wall Street, plenty of analysts say Nvidia’s stock could go even higher.
The latest is William Stein at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. With Nvidia’s share price up 1% to about $180 on Monday, Stein on Monday increased his price target on the stock to $200 from $181.
Once dependent on video gamers eager for the fastest graphics cards, Nvidia’s haslately been benefittingfrom the use of its GPUs in servers that run artificial intelligence and machine learning programs. Stein expects Nvidia’s revenue from the server market, which more than doubled to $830 million last year, to increase at an average rate of 61% annually through 2020. The company’s total revenue increased 38% to almost $7 billion.
The server sales should offset any slowdown in sales from graphics cardsto the cryptocurrency mining market, or arumored lossofchip salesat carmaker Tesla to competitors Advanced Micro Devices and , Stein says.
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Nvidia should benefit from improvements in both new hardware and software it is offering to customers soon, the analyst noted. While the new Volta V100 chip is two to six times faster than competing chips on some machine learning tasks, with the addition of the new TensorRT3 compiler for software, the set up is 40 to 140 times faster.
“Following recent new product and customer announcements, and our update from management, we now ascribe a higher likelihood to a more bullish growth scenario,” Stein wrote.
Stein isn’t the only analyst getting more bullish about Nvidia’s prospects. Michael McConnell at KeyBanc Capital Markets raised his target on the stock to $186. “Robust sell-through trends at desktop graphics card partners, sustained high-end GPU market share, and strong data center customer reception to NVIDIA's new Volta A.I. platform (ASP $7,000 vs. Pascal $4,500) should drive an F3Q beat and raise,” he wrote in a report on Monday.
And last week, analysts at Needham & Co. also dismissed the Tesla rumors and urged investors to buy the stock. “We believe the reaction to the announcements are overblown and psychological in nature,” they wrote.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Why Bitcoin is Boosting Graphics Card Sales and Not Their Manufacturers' Stocks || Your first trade for Friday, September 15: The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Tim Seymour was a buyer of Ferrari (NASDAQ: GSM) (RACE). Karen Finerman was a buyer of General Motors (NYSE: GM) (GM). Steve Grasso was a buyer of Vista Outdoor (: VSTO'WI) (VSTO). Guy Adami was a buyer of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) (XOM). Trader disclosure: On Septemeber 14th the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long AMZA, APC, BAC, C, CCJ, CLF, CSCO, DAL, DPZ, DVYE, EEM, EUFN, EWM, FB, FXI, GILD, GM, GOOGL, HAL, INTC, LOW, M, MAT, MCD, MOS, MPEL, RAI, RH, RL, SBUX, SQ, T, TWTR, UA, UAL, VALE, VIAB, VOD, VRX, XLE. Tim is short IWM, XRT, RACE, SPY. Karen is long AAL, BAC, BAC short calls, Bitcoin and Ethereum, C, DAL, short EFX, EEM, EPI, EWW, DVYE, FB, FNAC, GMLP, GLNG, GM, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, TACO, WIFI, WFM. Bitcoin and Ethereum are in her kids' trust. Her firm is long ANTM, BAC short calls, C, C calls, FB, FNAC, GOOG, GOOGL, GLNG, GMLP, JPM, JPM calls, KORS puts, LYV, SPY puts, SPY put spreads, VRX, WIFI, UAL, her firm is short IWM, MDY, VRX calls. Steve Grasso's firm is long stock AMD, APC, CMG, CTL, CUBA, DIA, DVN, F, HES, HPQ, IBM, ICE, KDUS, M, MAT, MFIN, MJNA, MSCC, MSFT, NE, RIG, SNAP, SNGX, SPY, SQBG, TITXF, UA, VEON, WDR, WHR, WPX, ZNGA. Grasso is long stock AAPL, BABA, CAR, EVGN, JCP, MJNA, MON, PHM, SQ, T, TWTR, VRX. Grasso owns Callable Trigger contingent yield note linked to SPX RTY and MXEA. Grasso's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Tim Seymour was a buyer of Ferrari (NASDAQ: GSM) (RACE). Karen Finerman was a buyer of General Motors (NYSE: GM) (GM). Steve Grasso was a buyer of Vista Outdoor (: VSTO'WI) (VSTO). Guy Adami was a buyer of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) (XOM). Trader disclosure: On Septemeber 14th the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long AMZA, APC, BAC, C, CCJ, CLF, CSCO, DAL, DPZ, DVYE, EEM, EUFN, EWM, FB, FXI, GILD, GM, GOOGL, HAL, INTC, LOW, M, MAT, MCD, MOS, MPEL, RAI, RH, RL, SBUX, SQ, T, TWTR, UA, UAL, VALE, VIAB, VOD, VRX, XLE. Tim is short IWM, XRT, RACE, SPY. Karen is long AAL, BAC, BAC short calls, Bitcoin and Ethereum, C, DAL, short EFX, EEM, EPI, EWW, DVYE, FB, FNAC, GMLP, GLNG, GM, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, TACO, WIFI, WFM. Bitcoin and Ethereum are in her kids' trust. Her firm is long ANTM, BAC short calls, C, C calls, FB, FNAC, GOOG, GOOGL, GLNG, GMLP, JPM, JPM calls, KORS puts, LYV, SPY puts, SPY put spreads, VRX, WIFI, UAL, her firm is short IWM, MDY, VRX calls. Steve Grasso's firm is long stock AMD, APC, CMG, CTL, CUBA, DIA, DVN, F, HES, HPQ, IBM, ICE, KDUS, M, MAT, MFIN, MJNA, MSCC, MSFT, NE, RIG, SNAP, SNGX, SPY, SQBG, TITXF, UA, VEON, WDR, WHR, WPX, ZNGA. Grasso is long stock AAPL, BABA, CAR, EVGN, JCP, MJNA, MON, PHM, SQ, T, TWTR, VRX. Grasso owns Callable Trigger contingent yield note linked to SPX RTY and MXEA. Grasso's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Your first trade for Thursday, September 14 Here's what traders made of Jamie Dimon's bitcoin comments Nordstrom is looking to go private, here's what that could mean for retail || Losing Steam? Dash Price Rallies Over $300 But Upside in Doubt: With a rally in bitcoin pushing up the wider cryptocurrency asset class, dash is back above $300. At press time, the dash-US dollar ( DASH/USD ) exchange rate is down over the last week ( as expected ) falling to $285 on October 3; its lowest level since September 17. The cryptocurrency is now trading at $306; down 1.6 percent in the last 24 hours as per CoinMarketCap. Yet, the sell-off seen over the last week serves to highlight a peculiarity of the cryptocurrency – that is proving somewhat disconnected with the broader market. For example, while bitcoin remained strongly bid over the weekend, dash suffered losses. One possible explanation for the behavior, however, is that the market is becoming more conscious that dash is seeking to compete with bitcoin as a payment network focused on consumer transactions. As the bitcoin blockchain has hung tightly to limitations on network storage (see: the scaling debate ), other blockchains, dash included, are seeking to compete. At press time, the average dash transaction fee was $0.02, or about $1.50 at current prices. Larger debates about blockchain mechanics aside, dash could remain well bid above $300, and any signs that this value proposition is strengthening could potentially lead it to act as a viable bitcoin hedge. However, the price action analysis suggests, the uptick in dash could run out of steam around $320 levels. 4-hour chart A bullish break of the falling channel would open doors for a rally to $324 (4-hour 200-MA) and $330 levels. Daily chart The chart above shows: 5-day moving average and 10-day moving average is sloping downwards. Thus, upticks above $320 could be short-lived. The 50-day moving average is still sloping upwards and currently, stands at $323 levels. View In the short-run, a move to $320-330 looks likely. Caution is advised above $320 levels as the 10-day moving average is still sloping downwards. Only two consecutive days-end close above the 50-day moving average would open doors for a rally to $373 levels (Sep 27 high). Story continues Billiards image via Shutterstock Related Stories Above $4,300: Bitcoin Is Up, But Is It Out of the Woods? Ripple Price Consolidates, But Could It 'Swell' Higher? $100 Ahead? Monero Price Holding Strong Above Key Support Level Golden Crossover: Bitcoin Charts Suggest Price Readying for Bump || Bitcoin should be valued at half of what it's worth today, says Mohamed El-Erian: Bitcoin , which has surged roughly 300 percent in 2017, is certainly a "disruptive" technology but won't see widespread use, economist Mohamed El-Erian said Wednesday. "The current pricing assume massive adoption, and I don't think governments will allow the amount of adoption that's currently priced in," Allianz's chief economic advisor said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Asked what would be a reasonable price for bitcoin, El-Erian said: "I would say at least half of what it is, a third of what it is." El-Erian believes the cryptocurrency will exist as a peer-to-peer means of payment. "It exists in that world," he said, "but the current prices assume massive adoption, which is not going to happen." Bitcoin fell below $4,000 on Wednesday on the threat of a regulatory crackdown in China and negative comments from major business leaders. On Tuesday, at the CNBC-Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference, JPMorgan ( JPM ) chief Jamie Dimon called the digital currency a fraud and governments will step in. "Wait until someone gets hurt. Wait until it's used for illicit purposes, which it's somewhat used for illicit purposes. They close it down. That's my point," he said. At the same time, Dimon's own bank has reportedly started a trial project using blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin, to try to cut trading costs. At the conference, Social Capital founder and CEO Chamath Palihapitiya defended the currency, saying countries can control how bitcoin is traded but not the way it's used. "It's a fundamentally distributive system that exists peer to peer," the venture capitalist and ex-Facebook executive said. "To the extent that you can eliminate the will and actions of every person in the world, you can eliminate it. But in the absence of that, the genie [is] out of the bottle whether we like it or not." He added he's been "massively long" bitcoin for years. Also see: North Korea appears to be trying to get around sanctions by using hackers to steal bitcoin . WATCH: Bitcoin mining can land you in jail in this country More From CNBC Terror to end bitcoin anonymity? 'Smart' people and Panama Papers Bitcoin mining IPO falls short || Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Final GDP, FOMC’s Fischer Likely to Drive Price Action Today: Gold priceshit a one-month high on Wednesday amid heightened expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates before the end of the year. Rising U.S. Treasury yields helped make the U.S. Dollar a more attractive investment which lowered demand for dollar-denominated gold.
December Comex Gold settled at $1287.80, down $13.90 or -1.07%.
The main catalyst for the weakness in the gold market was hawkish remarks by Fed Chair Janet Yellen earlier in the week. On Tuesday, Yellen said it would be “imprudent” to keep rates on hold until U.S. inflation hits 2 percent. Gold traders interpreted this to mean the central bank will pull the trigger and raise its benchmark interest rate in December 2017.
Gold was also supported by a stronger U.S. Dollar. Besides higher Treasury yields, the Greenback was also supported by optimism over the release of the Trump Administration’s long-awaited tax reform plan.
The Trump Administration and U.S. Republican Party finally released its tax plan framework on Wednesday after a lengthy delay. The plan includes softer tax treatment for American companies to bring back profits they have held abroad, a process known as repatriation that is boosting shares of companies like Apple and Microsoft.
The tax reform framework would reduce the corporate rate to 20 percent, as many expected. It also proposes to create three individual tax rates and double the standard deduction.
In U.S. economic news, Durable Goods Orders showed a 1.7 percent increase in August. Traders had priced in a 0.3 percent increase. The data was supported by a 0.9 percent rise in Non-defense capital goods. Core Durable Goods Orders came in at 0.2 percent, meeting the estimate.
Pending Home Sales posted disappointing results with a -2.6 percent reading. Traders were looking for a read of -0.5 percent.
Gold prices are going to continue to be influenced by U.S. Treasury yields, the U.S. Dollar and increased demand for risky assets. The wildcard will remain North Korea which will continue to be an issue until peace between the rogue nation and its enemies is reached.
With the wheels in motion for a possible December interest rate hike, government reports are going to take on added importance.
There is a slew of economic data today with the most important being Final GDP. It is expected to come in at 3.0%, the same as the last report.
Minor reports include Weekly Unemployment Claims, Goods Trade Balance and Preliminary Wholesale Inventories. Federal Open Market Committee Member Stanley Fischer is also expected to deliver a speech. He is an ally of Fed Chair Janet Yellen so he is likely to push her hawkish agenda. If he does then look for gold prices to weaken.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Commodities Daily Forecast – September 28, 2017
• Bitcoin Above $4,200, the New Bitcoin Gold and the Looming Hardfork
• Global Stocks Rise after Trump’s Tax Reform Plan, U.S. Growth and Bank of England in Limelight
• US & UK Rate Hikes Likely, Trump Unveils His Tax Reform
• Daily Market Forecast, September 28, 2017 – EUR/USD, Gold, Crude Oil, USD/JPY, GBP/USD
• Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Final GDP, FOMC’s Fischer Likely to Drive Price Action Today || Euro Roller Coaster Ride Scaring Traders: The Euro has remained under pressure the past two day . After attaining new highs, the Euro has lost value against the U.S Dollar rapidly and may continue to face headwinds the next two days as technical traders take advantage of its short-term range. Range Proving Rough for Euro Traders The Euro has taken traders on an amusement park like the ride this week and has traded in a broad range. After plowing to new highs on Tuesday, the Euro promptly began to lose value against the U.S Dollar and its sudden weakness has been sustained. EUR/USD 1H Chart The Euro is now trading below the 1.19 level and short-term support looks to be around 1.1820. Nervous Euro Traders Emerging A mid-term look at the Euro against the U.S Dollar shows its strong trend remains intact EUR/USD 4H Chart However, the last two days of trading have likely caused Euro buyers to reconsider their convictions and made them nervous. Yesterday’s strong economic data from the U.S likely added additional concerns to Euro bulls who may be worried about a more hawkish U.S Federal Reserve. Important U.S. Data Tomorrow Will Affect Euro Important economic data will come from the U.S tomorrow via jobs numbers and inflation reports. The Euro is likely to trade in a technical manner leading up to the U.S data tomorrow. And technical traders may take advantage of the Euro against U.S Dollar and position themselves depending on instinct. The Euro may continue to fight headwinds the next twenty-four hours as traders take advantage of its range. EUR/USD Weekly Chart In the short term, we believe the Euro may be negative. Mid-term and Long-term we are unbiased. Yaron Mazor is a senior analyst at SuperTraderTV. SuperTraderTV Academy is a leader in investing and stock trading education. Sign up for a class today to learn proven strategies on how to trade smarter. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Gold Resistant to the Stronger USD and Higher Stocks Investors Ready for Crucial Data from States Next Two Days, Bitcoin Prices Hold Near Record High Technical Overview of USD/CHF, EUR/CHF, AUD/CHF & NZD/CHF: 31.08.2017 Euro Roller Coaster Ride Scaring Traders EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for August 31, 2017 Forex Trading Signals – August 31, 2017 View comments || Dollar holds steady after U.S. jobless claims report: Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Thursday, despite the release of upbeat U.S. jobless clains data, as U.S. political tensions continued to weigh and and as investors eyed the Jackson Hole summit set to begin later in the day.
The U.S. Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last weekrose less than expected.
But sentiment on the greenback remained fragile after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would bewilling to shut down the governmentin order to get the funding needed for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump also warned that he mightterminate the NAFTA trade treatywith Canada and Mexico.
Investors were also cautious ahead to this week's annual meeting of top central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the heads of the U.S. and European central banks will be making keynote speeches.
EUR/USD eased 0.09% to 1.1796, as investors were looking ahead to a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Jackson Hole on Friday.
Draghi was not widely expected to deliver any new policy message in his speech, despite speculation over how soon the central bank plans to start scaling back its stimulus program.
The yen remained lower, with USD/JPY up 0.32% at 109.37, while USD/CHF slipped 0.12 % to 0.9637.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD rose 0.22% to trade at 1.2827, off a two-month low of 1.2774 hit overnight, after data showed that U.K. economic growth was unrevised in the second quarter.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars remained weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.14% at 0.7893 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.19% to 0.7213.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD fell 0.18 % to 1.2529.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.18 by 08:40 a.m. ET (12:40 GMT).
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Bitcoin ticks higher in rangebound trade
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
The Profit Trifecta: Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Electric Cars https://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/the-profit-trifecta-blockchain-bitcoin-and-electric-cars/6003 … || $4271.80 at 04:45 UTC [24h Range: $4167.21 - $4480.00 Volume: 15134 BTC] || #Bitcoin -0.67%
Ultima: R$ 14402.01 Alta: R$ 14764.66 Baixa: R$ 14200.00
Fonte: Foxbit || Bitcoin - BTC
Price: $3,626.25
Change in 1h: +0.09%
Market cap: $60,095,437,046.00
Ranking: 1
#Bitcoin #BTC || 1円下がるごとに買い増しと言う名のナンピンをしてきた$XRPわたしは握り続けます！5月に仮想通貨始めた時BTC買って寝てたら倍になってた事実は
ああああ
ああはたさあさあらた
結果論だし仕方ないもんねえ！！！ || One Bitcoin now worth $3953.17@bitstamp. High $3970.00. Low $3750.81. Market Cap $65.572 Billion #bitcoin || Gana $45,00 Usd Por Afiliar, Quieres ganarte dólares con Bitcoin sin tanto esfuerzo? Es solo de ···- https://goo.gl/Cdo6SQ .. #España || Growshop Sr. Verde https://www.territoriobitcoin.com/growshop-sr-verde/?utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost … #Bitcoin #Blockchain #Fintech || One Bitcoin now worth $3810.25@bitstamp. High $3934.00. Low $3511.00. Market Cap $62.876 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/Sv6QJtQY1z || Sep 28, 2017 08:30:00 UTC | 4,261.10$ | 3,625.10€ | 3,182.70£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/h6XtCWLFp2
|
Trend: up || Prices: 4426.89, 4610.48, 4772.02, 4781.99, 4826.48, 5446.91, 5647.21, 5831.79, 5678.19, 5725.59
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2022-06-30]
BTC Price: 19784.73, BTC RSI: 30.47
Gold Price: 1804.10, Gold RSI: 37.77
Oil Price: 105.76, Oil RSI: 40.87
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Coinbase, MicroStrategy Lead Crypto Stocks Lower in Market Rout: Don't miss CoinDesk's Consensus 2022 , the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12. MicroStrategy (MSTR) stock fell 25% and Coinbase (COIN) dropped 20%, setting the tone for crypto-related equities as bitcoin ( BTC ) crumbled from $40,000 a few days ago to as low as $30,200 on Monday afternoon. Checking miners, Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Blockchain (RIOT) each declined by 19%. Crypto banking-related names Galaxy Digital ( GLXY.TO ) and Silvergate Capital (SI) fell by 27% and 19%, respectively. A sampling of some of today's declines (CoinDesk) For Coinbase, Monday’s plunge has the stock now trading down more than 70% since its April 2021 initial public offering, with the company set to report Q1 earnings after the close on Tuesday. For MicroStrategy, CEO Michael Saylor and team made their first purchase of bitcoin in August 2020 – 21,454 coins for $11,650 each. Subsequent buys have brought holdings to more than 129,000 bitcoin at an average price of $30,700 each – meaning the company is now roughly breakeven on its purchases. The sell-off in crypto came alongside continued major pressure on stocks, particularly in the tech sector. The Nasdaq index of stocks fell another 4.3%, the S&P 500 was down 3.2% and the DJIA declined 2%. “Bitcoin’s long-term fundamentals have not changed in months, but growth/recession concerns have made this a very difficult environment for cryptos,” wrote Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. “No one is looking to buy the crypto dip just yet and that leaves bitcoin vulnerable here,” he added. || This week in TechCrunch podcasts: Chain Reaction, Found, Equity and The TechCrunch Live Podcast: TechCrunch is morethan just a site with words. We're also building a growing stable of podcasts focused on the most critical topics relating to the startup and venture capital worlds. To help you find the right show for your interests, we've compiled our audio output from the week.
Embedded below is the latest fromChain Reaction, our new and stellar crypto-focused podcast hosted byLucasandAnita. You will also findFound, a long-form bit of work that goes deep on the real saga of company formation fromJordanandDarrell. There's an audio-only version ofTechCrunch Livehosted byMattthat features founders and investors discussing successful pitch decks. Finally, there'sEquity, TechCrunch's long-running, Webby-award-winning podcast focused on venture capital and the latest startup news, hosted byNatasha,Mary AnnandAlex.
We have more coming, so stay tuned. And if you are more into the written over the spoken word, wellwe have newsletterson the above topics as well.
Episode 5: Moonbirds founder talks crypto crash and where NFTs go from here (with Kevin Rose)
Welcome back, this week Lucas and Anita discuss turmoil and heartbreak in the crypto markets as Bitcoin and Ethereum get hit hard, a number of other popular tokens get crushed and crypto-aligned public stocks like Coinbase and Robinhood see their share prices tank. What caused this bloodbath? Well, a major catalyst was the disastrous implosion of Terra’s Luna token as a result of ongoing stablecoin woes.
In their interview this week, Lucas and Anita chat with Kevin Rose. Kevin is a serial entrepreneur who founded Digg in the early 2000s and is now an investor at True Ventures and a co-founder of the Proof Collective. His startup recently raised $10 million from Seven Seven Six and launched its NFT project Moonbirds, which has quickly become one of the most popular NFT efforts out there. Listen along as we discuss the crypto crash and its fallout, and the challenges up ahead for NFTs.
Subscribe tothe Chain Reaction newsletterto dive deeper.
Episode 5: Raising monster rounds for self-driving mobility startups
Raquel Urtasun founded Waabi in 2021 after spending nearly three years as Uber's R&D head of Advanced Technology Group (ATG). Waabi's mission is to develop an AI-first approach to speed up the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles, starting with long-haul trucks. To do so, her company raised an $83.5 million Series A with Khosha Venture's Sven Strohband leading the round. Both will speak to Urtasun's unique (and commanding) perspective, and what allowed the company to raise the massive Series A.
This event is also available onYouTube. See upcoming eventshere!
Episode 56: Sassie Duggleby, Venus Aerospace
Sassie Duggleby is leading the team at Venus Aerospace to develop a spaceplane that could go from LA to Tokyo in an hour. As CEO, Sassie sets the tone that her team doesn’t have to adhere to the typical startup grind to solve some serious deeptech issues. She talks with Darrell and Jordan about honoring the company’s namesake -- Venus, the goddess of love -- and loving her customers and her employees well, all while working to bring the world closer together with greener, more efficient travel.
Episode 513:The dominoes are falling
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Every Monday, Grace and Alex scour the news and record notes on what’s going on to kick off the week.
Happily once again we did not start the day by talking about Elon Musk and Twitter, though the news was not really very good:
• Stocks are down sharply around the world. And crypto prices, which track larger asset prices, are also sharply lower in the last day, and week.
• Uber's CEO told his company that things are changing. Adjusted EBITDA is out, FCF is in. Hiring? Going to slow. Capital expenses? Those will get harder looks, and so on. During the show, we asked about the slowdown, and how it may, or may not impact the bouyant crypto startup market.
• Neat funding rounds from Pyramid, which raised $120 million, and Paymob, which raised $50 million.
Episode 514: Tech layoffs don't happen to companies, they happen to people
This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week,NatashaandAlexasked:What does the most recent wave of layoffs mean for tech workers?
The question comes after Natasha’s recent Startups Weekly column,"The Great Resignation, meet the Great Reset."In the piece, whichincluded a roundup of recent tech layoffs, she explored the idea of employee whiplash, and why this moment in pullback is different than what we saw in March 2020.
The goal of the episode was to humanize the tech layoffs we've seen ripple across the startup ecosystem, from buzzy, big names like Cameo, On Deck and Robinhood, to B2B platforms like Workrise and Thrasio.As our piece last week notes, the common thread between most of these layoffs, according to founders, is that there’s been a shift in the market and a serious pivot in business is required. A pivot, that is, that hurts the employees that built your product up after high demand.
Episode 515: How close are we to understanding what's going on?
This week we recorded live, which is always good fun, meaning that we took some questions from the audience. If you want that version of the show, we have a YouTube archive of it here.
For those of you more into audio, we have you covered here. Natasha, Alex and Grace teamed up with Julio and Yashad to host the shindig, allowing us to cover the following:
• The end of iPod, a time to reflect on technology trends.
• The exit of a Modern Fertility co-founder, and the MARA round bringing more money to Africa's fintech scene.
• From there it was onto the Terra crash, Coinbase's earnings and the general sentiment shift in the crypto scene.
• Next up was Tiger and the downturn in startup valuations.
• And we closed on some personal notes.
And that's the rundown from the week -- send us a tweet if you have suggestions, or questions. Onward! || Dow sinks more than 600 points as US stocks tumble ahead of key May inflation report: • Losses in US stocks accelerated on Thursday as investors await results from a key May inflation report.
• Economists expect Friday's CPI reading to show the rate held steady at 8.3% in May, with core inflation cooling to 5.9% from 6.2% in April.
• Any signs of peak inflation could cause a relief rally in the stock market, while high inflation is likely to put pressure on stocks.
US stocks fell on Thursday, with losses accelerating near the end of the day as investors await a highly anticipated May inflation report.
Friday's consumer price index report will reveal if prices continued to rise last month. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the CPI to have been unchanged at 8.3% in May, and expect core inflation to have fallen to 5.9% from 6.2% in April.
Any slowdown would be a relief for investors, as it would be a relief for the all-important consumer and potentially give the Federal Reserve some breathing room in its current tightening cycle. But continued high inflation readings would likely add continued pressure to stocks as the Fed could get even more aggressive with its interest rate hike trajectory.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Thursday:
• S&P 500:4,017.74, down 2.38%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average:32,272.13, down 1.94% (638.77 points)
• Nasdaq Composite:11,754.23, down 2.75%
The Fed won't be alone in raising interest rates next month, according to comments from the European Central Bank today. The ECB saidit plans to hike interest rates in Julyfor the first time in a decade. The decision comes as Europe grapples with an imminent recession, caused by surging commodity and food prices, which have been exacerbated by Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine.
Natural gas prices surged 33% across Europeon Thursday after a fire broke out at a US export hub, putting further pressure on already tight global supplies. The Freeport liquefied natural gas export facility in Quintana, Texas, will remain closed for at least three weeks after an explosion.
Bill Ackman's SPAC, which raised $4 billion from investors,may have to return the moneyas it has just six weeks to find a target company and make a deal. The SPAC and IPO market have floundered so far this year amid a broader decline in equity markets.
Lumber pricesfell to a nine-month low on Thursday after mortgage demand hit its lowest levelin more than two decades. The essential building commodity is down 50% year-to-date, and is down nearly 70% from its record high reached last year.
West Texas Intermediate crudeoil fell as much as much as 0.66% to $121.30 per barrel.Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, fell as much as 0.50% to $122.96.
Bitcoin fell 0.63% to $30,084. Ether prices fell 0.60% to $1,787.
Goldfell as much as 0.36% to $1,849.80 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 2 basis points to 3.04%.
Read the original article onBusiness Insider || In Cuba, caution and confusion meet eased US sanctions: HAVANA (AP) Marylín Álvarez seemed to be just the sort of person that eased American sanctions on Cuba were meant to help. With the aid of money sent by a cousin living in the United States, she began transforming the entrance to her ground-floor apartment into a tiny cafe about four years ago. It was one of myriad small private businesses blossoming on the Communist-led island as U.S. President Barack Obama's opening to Cuba led to more money and visitors from the north. She bought a freezer, a juicer and some cups. She installed a new water faucet and was about to add a sink to go with it, as well as chairs and ingredients for the food she was going to sell at her doorway in Havana. And then it all fell apart. Former President Donald Trump tightened the six-decade-old embargo of Cuba and sharply restricted money transfers to Cuba in late 2020, shutting down the system that made them relatively easy: Western Union transfers to a government-owned Cuban exchange house. Álvarez abandoned her application for a small business license. Now the administration of new President Joe Biden is once again making it legal for Americans to send larger amounts of money to Cuba, saying it hopes to stimulate private enterprise there. But so much has changed over the past two years that Álvarez is wary of reviving her plans an example of the caution with which many Cubans are greeting the new measures and confusion about how they may work. Cuba's economy has been devastated by the loss of tourism caused by the pandemic and by Trump's tougher sanctions. Fewer people would have money to buy the coffee and snacks Álvarez hoped to sell. The government's lack of hard currency has hit imports, so it's extremely difficult to get reliable supplies of the flour, coffee and cheese Álvarez would need for her products and prices for those scarce goods have been soaring. That crisis also collided with the local government's effort to fix deep-rooted problems by eliminating an old two-currency system while raising pay and prices last year. That coincided with the emergence of a black market for foreign currencies and sharply added to inflation. While the new peso is supposed to be valued at 24 per dollar, people on the street sometimes offer 100. Story continues You earn very little with this. It doesn't give me enough to make an investment," said Álvarez, who has turned to a less costly form of making money for her family giving manicures. There are no official figures on how much money family and friends abroad send to Cubans, but the Miami-based Havana Consulting Group estimated it reached $3.7 billion in 2019 with a similar value arriving in the luggage of visitors bringing food, household supplies, small appliances, tires and the like. About 400,000 Cuban-Americans visited the island in 2018 and more than 500,000 in 2019. In addition, a half million other U.S. visitors came in 2018. By 2021, remittances had fallen to about $1 billion, the Consulting Group calculated, and overall U.S. visitors dropped to just 60,000, according to government figures partly due to Trump's tighter restrictions on travel but even more to the pandemic shutting off flights. The impact of remittances far predates Obama, however. Cuban economist Pavel Vidal of Javerian Pontifical University in Cali, Colombia, said they averaged about $2.1 billion over he whole period from 2005 to 2020. Much arrived in the wallets and handbags of travelers. But for years, Cuban-Americans also could send Western Union transfers to relatives on the island. That ended in November 2020 when U.S. officials barred dealings with a Cuban government agency, Fincimex, that distributed those transfers at hundreds of branches across the island. The Biden opening removes many limits on transfers but didn't specify how they can be made. The old Western Union method through official channels may have been made obsolete in the meantime anyway due to Cuba's new single currency. With the street value of those pesos only a quarter of the official rate, few people would want to trade dollars for pesos at a state-run exchange house. So Cubans are finding other ways. The flow of remittances never ceased to arrive. The Cuban, with his creativity, has invented excellent mechanisms" to send money, said Erich García, a 35-year-old programmer and specialist in cryptocurrencies. Some people have used those virtual currencies like Bitcoin to shift money to Cubans electronically. Garcia estimated that about 100,000 have cryptocurrency accounts. But those, too, have complexities and drawbacks. Commonly used cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have lost more than half their dollar value since November. Visitors to the island sometimes bring in dollars for their own relatives, or those of friends. Some do it for those they barely know, and charge a commission. Others send in packages of food and personal care products, and recipients trade what they don't need to neighbors. Some websites even let people pay Cuban cellphone bills from abroad credits that Cuban recipients sometimes trade. We have to wait to see what solutions are offered by these measures," Garcia said. During his campaign, Biden promised to undo many of the new restrictions Trump had imposed, though the tough Cuban government crackdown on an outburst of protests last year may have made that politically impossible for Washington. Still, the measures announced this month, in addition to relaxing limits on transfers, also call for resuming the processing of visas for Cubans in Havana, as well as a family reunification program to let some people on the island join relatives in the U.S. The measures that President Biden has taken are going to have a not-insignificant impact in the short and above all in the medium term," said economist Arturo López-Levy, a professor of international relations at Holy Names University in Oakland, California, "Given the precarious situation of the Cuban economy, that should be considered a space for relief. ___ Andrea Rodríguez is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP || 7 Growth Stocks to Buy After a 70% Correction: These attractive growth stocks to buy have corrected by at least 70% in the last six months, but are fundamentally strong and poised for a comeback. Marathon Digital ( MARA ): Depressed due to a decline in Bitcoin. However, with the deployment of miners, the growth outlook is robust. Coinbase ( COIN ): Healthy addition of institutional clients. The long-term outlook remains positive with wider cryptocurrency adoption. Roblox ( RBLX ): The best metaverse play. Healthy growth with visibility for higher free cash flows in the coming years. Lucid Motors ( LCID ): Weak guidance for 2022 discounted in stock, but long-term outlook is positive with international expansion and new models. Etsy ( ETSY ): Growth in active buyers and sellers remains encouraging. GMS per active buyers continues to trend higher. DraftKings ( DKNG ): Cash burn is a concern. However, the addressable market is big and robust growth is likely to sustain. Sea Limited ( SE ): Stock rally after Q1 2022 results indicates a potential reversal in sentiment. Healthy e-commerce revenue growth to sustain. tree growing on coin of stacking with green bokeh background Source: Freedom365day / Shutterstock.com Most of the high-flying growth stocks have been battered in the recent market correction. In fact, the S&P 500 Pure Growth Index has declined 24% year-to-date (YTD). This does not come as a surprise, with several stocks plunging from overvalued levels. Also, the markets have been discounting the economic slowdown and liquidity tightening factors. And overall, there is a possibility of a recession in 2023. Furthermore, its worth noting that growth stocks are high-beta stocks. Therefore, the reaction on the downside has been extreme. Even with all the concerns, though, I would look at some growth stocks to buy after a big correction. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips While a handful of growth stocks have been relatively resilient, some stocks have declined by as much as 70% in the last few months. However, these are not purely speculative stocks. These are stocks of companies with a robust business model. Therefore, the correction provides an attractive entry opportunity into some quality growth stocks. Story continues With all of that in mind, I would prefer to gradually invest in these growth stocks than take a one-time plunge. And once macro-economic headwinds wane, these stocks can deliver robust returns. 7 Oil Stocks to Buy With Safe Dividends So, lets take a look at factors that make these seven growth stocks worth considering. Ticker Company Price MARA Marathon Digital $10.16 COIN Coinbase $63.03 RBLX Roblox $32.55 LCID Lucid Motors $17.36 ETSY Etsy $78.84 DKNG DraftKings $13.86 SE Sea Limited $74.20 Growth Stocks to Buy: Marathon Digital (MARA) Macro view of miner working for bitcoins mine pool. Devices and technology for mining cryptocurrency. Mining cryptocurrency concept. MARA stock. Crypto mining. Source: Yev_1234 / Shutterstock The plunge in Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) has been more than 50% from all-time highs. Therefore, its not surprising that Bitcoin miners have witnessed a deep correction. Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA ) has declined by 80% in the last six months. However, current levels seem attractive for long-term exposure. As of April 2022, Marathon reported a mining capacity of 3.9EH/s . That said, the company plans to increase mining capacity to 13.3EH/s by mid-2022, and to 23.3EH/s by the first quarter of 2023. Of course, Marathon has been slow in deploying capacity. However, even if the capacity addition takes longer than expected, Marathon is positioned for healthy growth through 2023. Assuming that Bitcoin is back to $40,000 to $45,000 levels, Marathon is positioned to deliver revenue in excess of $1 billion. Clearly, the stock seems undervalued considering the impending growth. With a healthy balance sheet, I also dont see any financing concerns. Thus, MARA stock is among the attractive growth stocks to buy, as it can potentially double from current levels. Coinbase (COIN) The app for Coinbase (COIN) displayed on an iPhone screen. Source: OpturaDesign / Shutterstock.com Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN ) stock is another name among cryptocurrency stocks that have plunged in the last six months. In fact, during this period, the stock has declined by 81%. Moreover, last year was strong for Coinbase in terms of revenue and EBITDA growth. However, with the decline in trading and speculative activity, the outlook seems pessimistic for 2022. Even with this factor discounted, COIN stock seems attractively valued. For Q1 2022, Coinbase reported a 58% decline in retail trading volume on a year-over-year (YOY) basis. For the same period, though, institutional trading activity increased by 37%. So, the wider adoption of cryptocurrency among retail and institutional investors over the long term is a key growth catalyst. Coinbase also reported subscription and services fee of $151.9 million for Q1 2022, good for a boost of nearly 170%. More specifically, blockchain rewards was the largest contributor to revenue in this segment. 7 Blue-Chip Stocks to Buy Right Now Therefore, there are positives even as headline numbers have disappointed. And so, I believe that COIN stock can easily double from current levels in the next 12-24 months. Growth Stocks to Buy: Roblox (RBLX) Roblox sign logo at headquarters Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com Roblox (NYSE: RBLX ) had a sharp correction from November 2021 highs of $141.60 to current levels of $32.55. That said, it finally seems that the correction is over with the stock looking undervalued. Overall, the metaverse is the key reason to be bullish on Roblox. In 2022, the metaverse market size is estimated at $100.3 billion . By 2029, though, the market size is expected to increase to $1.5 billion . This presents a big opportunity for Roblox, which is among the top metaverse plays. For Q1 2022, Roblox reported revenue growth of 39% to $537.1 million . Also for the same period, the company reported healthy growth in daily active users. Another important point to note is that Roblox reported free cash flow (FCF) of $105 million for the quarter. This is vital because the company already has an annualized FCF potential of $400 million. With sustained revenue growth, the company is positioned to deliver strong cash flows. Also, with cash and equivalents of $3.1 billion, there is ample flexibility to invest in product development. Overall, the companys growth metrics remain encouraging and the stock plunge has clearly been an overreaction. Thus, RBLX stock is worth holding for the next few years. Lucid Motors (LCID) Closeup of the Lucid logo seen at a Lucid showroom in Millbrae, California. LCID stock. Source: Tada Images / Shutterstock Among electric vehicle (EV) stocks , Lucid Motors (NASDAQ: LCID ) stock looks attractive after a correction of almost 70% over the past six months. The correction was primarily due to Lucid providing weaker-than-expected guidance for 2022. Additionally, supply chain concerns have also contributed to the weak sector sentiment. However, at current levels of $17.36, LCID stock seems poised for a reversal. In April 2022, Lucid announced a deal for the purchase of up to 100,000 vehicles by the Government of Saudi Arabia. With that in mind, international expansion is a key catalyst for long-term growth. Moreover, as of Q1 2022, Lucid reported total customer reservation of 30,000 vehicles . In turn, this implies potential sales of $2.9 billion. And as the backlog swells, the stock is likely to trend higher. 7 Undervalued Dividend Stocks to Buy Now Another important factor to note is that Lucid also has $5.4 billion in cash and equivalents. This provides ample financial buffer for investments in the next 12-18 months. Growth Stocks to Buy: Etsy (ETSY) Etsy logo is over an orange background with a little shopping cart with packages in it. ETSY stock. Source: Sergei Elagin / Shutterstock Among e-commerce growth stocks to buy, Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY ) is attractive after a correction of 70% the past six months. At a forward price-earnings ratio (P/E) of 27.7, the downside seems capped. However, the upside potential is meaningful considering the long-term business outlook. For Q1 2022, the companys revenue growth was just 5.2% to $579 million. Moreover, muted top-line growth is discounted in the price. However, Etsy has reported sustained growth in active buyers and sellers. At the same time, the percentage of non-U.S. gross merchandise sales have been increasing. Its likely that growth will accelerate with a global addressable market. Another positive is the trend in the gross merchandise sale (GMS) per active buyer. In Q1 2020, the GMS per buyer was $104. Two years later, it swelled to $137 in Q1 2022 . So, as the purchase value for active buyer trends higher, its likely to have a positive impact on the companys EBITDA and cash flow potential. Overall, with all of this in mind, ETSY stock is attractive with the company having the potential to deliver strong cash flows over the next few years. DraftKings (DKNG) DraftKings (DKNG) website in browser with company logo Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com Even with relatively strong numbers, DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG ) stock has been in a correction mode. Recently, Jefferies analyst David Katz opined that the stock trades at attractive valuations. The analyst has a price target of $60 for the stock , which would imply multi-fold returns from current levels. For Q1 2022, DraftKings reported revenue growth of 34% to $417 million. However, EBITDA losses widened for the same period to $290 million. EBITDA losses remain a concern. DraftKings has however guided for a relatively lower loss for 2022 as compared to the previous guidance. In terms of positives, there is a big addressable market as more states in the U.S. legalize sports betting and online sports gambling. This is likely to ensure that top-line growth remains robust. Also, the companys average revenue per monthly unique payer has been trending higher . 7 Best Value Stocks to Buy if You Need Some Market Stability in Your Life Once marketing and selling expenses stagnate or decline on a relative basis, EBITDA margin will improve. So, overall, DKNG stock clearly seems to have over-reacted to cash burn concerns. Thus, a strong rally from oversold levels seems likely. Growth Stocks to Buy: Sea Limited (SE) The logo for Sea Limited (SE) is seen on a web browser through a magnifying glass. Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com Sea (NYSE: SE ) has been among the worst-performing growth stocks in the last few quarters. However, at current levels of $74.20, the stock seems poised for a reversal rally. For Q1 2022, Sea reported revenue of $2.9 billion an increase of 64% YOY. While the cash burn has sustained, its likely that losses will narrow in the coming quarters. In fact, the company has already taken steps to cut costs for the e-commerce division. Moreover, the digital entertainment segment has witnessed a decline in active and paying users. However, this factor is discounted in the stock. For example, after these results, SE stock was trading higher by 10%. This might be an indication of a potential reversal in sentiment. Its also worth noting that as of Q1 2022, the company reported cash and equivalents of $8.8 billion. Therefore, there is ample financial flexibility to invest in growth even with the cash burn. So, for all these reasons, investors should keep an eye on Sea Limited as one of the top growth stocks to buy. On the date of publication, Faisal Humayun did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2
Says Buy THIS It doesnt matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. Get in Now on Tiny $3 Forever Battery Stock Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air The post 7 Growth Stocks to Buy After a 70% Correction appeared first on InvestorPlace . || First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Holds $21K as BTC Outflows Hit Record High: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Good morning, and welcome to First Mover.I’m Lyllah Ledesma, here to take you through the latest in crypto markets, news and insights.
• Price point:Bitcoin is trading slightly down on the day, but is holding $21,000.
• Market Moves:Data from CoinShares shows a record high of bitcoin net outflows last week.
Bitcoin (BTC) is slightly down on the day after a steady weekend of trading in a range of $20,000 to $21,800. This comes as the cryptocurrency has struggled to stabilize over the last few weeks, dropping to a low of $18,001 on June 18.
Bitcoin, is up 3.8% over the last seven days, but is down about 27% over the last month.
“BTC is showing some decent support, but it’s a bit too early to get excited for any continued upside,” said Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack Funds.
Dibb expects the price will continue to follow macro trends, which have seen a nice bounce over the last week. “Any additional news around contagion and lender insolvency will likely lead to a swift sell-off,” he said.
In recent weeks, digital asset markets have been weighed down by reports of financial difficulties at crypto lenders, includingCelsius Network,BlockFiandVoyager Digital, and at hedge fundThree Arrows Capital.
If additional crypto lenders "come out with unhealthy balance sheets, we may see further liquidation of assets across the board,” Dibb said.
“It’s hard to tell right now which lenders and exchanges are safe.” Dibb added. BlockFiannouncedlast week that it has secured a $250 million revolving credit facility from crypto exchange FTX.
Digital asset investment products saw a record of $423 million in net outflows last week, which is the largest of all time, according to data fromCoinShares.
The outflows were solely focused on bitcoin, which saw net outflows for the week of $453 million. That erased almost all inflows year to date and left total bitcoin assets under management at $24.5 billion, the lowest point since the beginning of 2021.
Short bitcoin funds – set up to bet on price declines – saw net inflows of $15 million. CoinShares cited the launch of the first U.S.-basedshort exchange-traded fundlast week.
Ethereum saw net inflows of $11 million, ending a streak of 11 consecutive weeks of net outflows.
According to this week's report, outflows were consistent with CoinDesk'sreportinglast week
• Morgan Stanley: GPU Demand Likely to Slow if Ethereum Moves to Proof-of-StakeMoving to PoS will also not solve Ethereum’s scaling problems, the report said.
• Ethereum Lending Protocol XCarnival Hit With $3.8M Exploit, Recovers 50%The DeFi protocol persuaded a hacker to return $1.9 million from a smart contract exploit.
• Australian Crypto Exchange Banxa Cuts 70 StaffThe crypto exchange said the "crypto winter" drove such a decision.
• Nexo Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Anonymous Twitter Account Accusing It of EmbezzlementThe Twitter account "@otteroooo" has claimed that crypto lender Nexo embezzled funds from a charity. Nexo says the the account user is intentionally using the name of someone unrelated to Nexo.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Parikshit Mishra and produced by Stephen Alpher. || Optima emerges as the cryptocurrency exchange software with multiple features in the industry.: Optima Optima is a newly established crypto platform that provides the Cryptocurrency exchange script. It was built in Laravel Framework 8. The freshly emerged platform enables its users to list their own ERC, BEP, and TRC Token with Optima. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, May 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Optima is the ultimate cryptocurrency trading script, and it has the same business logic and an alternative as Binance or Coinbase. Optima helps its clients to launch their cryptocurrency exchange business within three days at affordable prices, where they can list and sell their custom coins. Additionally, Optima is an Ultimate Cryptocurrency Exchange Script with many coins and unlimited fiat currencies. Optima allows depositing cryptocurrencies, fiat money, and exchange and trade on the spot market. Optima uses Binance as a liquidity provider. Users can get an exact copy of the order book from Binance Markets. Whenever they place an order, if it matches the orders from the order book, the system will create the same order in their Binance account. Optima offers the multiple features for the crypto enthusiasts: Unlimited Markets: Optima allows people to add unlimited market pairs, e.g., BTC-USDT, ETH-BTC, XRP-ETH, BTC-EUR, ETH-USD, USDT-USD, and more, at affordable prices Encrypted Data Storage: Optima uses AES-256 as AES has never been cracked yet and is safe against brute force attacks. Launchpad/ICO: The Launchpad module helps blockchain projects raise funds and increase their reach across the crypto ecosystem. Coin/Token Staking: Optima distributes rewards for supported staking coins to users through its Staking program. Powerful API Interface: Optima provides both Public and Private APIs so that users can integrate Optima with trading bots, merchants, list to Coinmarketcap, and more 2FA / ReCaptcha: 2FA is an extra layer of security used to protect accounts. ReCaptcha is a security service that protects from fraud and abuse. Ultra-Fast Trading Engine: Optima uses an automated trading platform and well-optimized matching engine to handle high-frequency trading operations. Credit Card / Bank Transfers: Optima supports Bank Transfers and Bank Card to handle deposits/withdrawals in fiat currencies. KYC Verification: Optima supports the KYC Verification system to verify the identity of customers to gauge their legitimacy and credibility. Reports / Health Monitor: The health monitor captures information about the database, workers, payment gateways, email providers, etc. Story continues Optima supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Monero, Litecoin, Binance Coin, and more trending coins, fiat currencies, and all custom ERC-20/BEP-20/TRC-20 based tokens. The source code of Optima is fully open source, which means it can be customized based on your requirements. The core of Optima is based on Laravel Framework 8 and VueJs JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. As a database, Optima uses PostgreSQL or MySQL. Moreover, Optima has both Public and Private API endpoints. People can connect Optima with trading bots, mobile apps, payment gateways, and more through the API interface. Their highly experienced team provides a smoothly working solution that helps people modify and extend the functionalities, trading rules, and the UI/UX based on their client’s requirements. Further information can be acquired through their main website: https://optima.exchange CONTACT: Dastan Kenzhebek Optima dastan.kenzhebek -at- optima.exchange || Bitcoin Immune to 'Sell in May' Adage if History Is Guide: Don't miss CoinDesk's Consensus 2022 , the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12. It's that time of the year again when investors wonder, "should I sell in May and go away?" The famous traditional market adage may not apply to bitcoin (BTC), however, according to seasonality analysis. Bitcoin has logged gains in May in seven years out of the past 11 years, per charting platform TradingView's bitcoin index, which records prices from July 2010. Historically, May has been the fourth-best month for the cryptocurrency. "In terms of seasonality, May is considered a relative success for BTC. Over the past 11 years, bitcoin has ended the month up seven times and down four times," Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, said in an email. "The average rise was 27%, and the average decline was 16%. Under these scenarios, the estimated average range for BTC at the end of May is between $32,000 and $48,000," Kuptsikevich added. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, more so as bitcoin's market composition has changed significantly since 2020, with institutions and macro traders having more say in determining prices. These entities treat bitcoin as a risk asset and could liquidate their holdings if bears continue to dominate the action on Wall Street. The chart below shows the second quarter of the second year of the U.S. presidential cycle is bearish for S&P 500, the Wall Street's benchmark equity index. S&P 500's performance during U.S. presidential cycles. (LPL Research) || The ‘Google of Blockchains’ Is Sunsetting Its Centralized Service: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
The Graph – a service that helps applications collect and interpret blockchain-based data – announced Thursday that it will be sunsetting its centralized Hosted Service early next year.
Representatives for Edge & Node, the original team behind The Graph, did not provide an exact date for when the free Hosted Service will be phased out. They say app developers using the platform will be encouraged to migrate over to the pay-per-query Graph network, which relies on a distributed community of Ethereum-based “indexers” to handle data rather than the Hosted Network’s single operator. GRT is The Graph’s native token.
“This big vision that we’ve been trying to fulfill for years is now possible, and the big piece of that is you can make data decentralized,” Eva Beylin, director of the Graph Foundation, told CoinDesk. “This vision of open data – owning your own data – is now possible because now you’re relying on a network and not one company or one operator.”
The announcement, which came at The Graph’s “Graph Day” conference in San Francisco, marks a major step towards decentralization for the self-described “Google of Blockchains.” It will accompany new features and updates to The Graph’s core technology that will, according to the protocol’s leaders, soon render the free Hosted Service unnecessary.
The news also accompanied a proposal to expand The Graph’s decentralized network to Arbitrum, an Ethereum scaling solution with greater speeds and reduced fees.
As The Graph works to sunset its centralized hosted service, leading voices in tech and crypto areraising concernsthat centralized infrastructure providers – services like The Graph’s Hosted Service that power most majorWeb 3products behind the scenes – threaten crypto’s promise of “decentralization.”
Proponents of blockchain technology often pitch it as a way to make data open and transparent.
The reality is not so simple. Just as it was difficult to surf the web before the advent of search engines, blockchains of today are an amalgam of bits and bytes that can be difficult to interpret without the help of specialized tools. Blocks on a blockchain are just lists of transactions – in a sea of non-fungible token (NFT) sales and token swaps, individual transaction data doesn’t really mean much on its own.
This, Beylin says, is where The Graph comes in.
“The point of The Graph altogether is to organize blockchain data and make it easily accessible,” she told CoinDesk. “That can be for an application, a data dashboard or just regular analysis.”
App developers can configure theirsmart contractsso their data can be interpreted by The Graph and turned into so-called subgraphs. It’s sort of like how websites create an index file so they can be crawled by search engines.
“A subgraph can be anything from financial metrics … to things like art statistics, to things like voting metrics or proposals,” Beylin explained.
The Graph has been adopted by a long list of major projects – from the ArtBlocks NFT platform to Sushi’s decentralized exchange service – which benefit from the ability to gather and process vast quantities of blockchain data.
Bitcoin emerged in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis as a way to pull power away from a rigged financial system. Smart contract platforms like Ethereum extended this vision. By distributing power across a vast network of operators, these networks would theoretically enable builders to create products outside the reach of greedy institutions and corrupt bureaucrats.
Blockchain critics will say that this promise of “decentralization” is all marketing, and they have a point. In recent years, centralized services – from exchanges like Coinbase to infrastructure providers like Alchemy – have sacrificed some of blockchain technology’s core promises for the sake of convenience. Running a node is hard.
Beylin says The Graph launched its centralized Hosted Service in 2019 as a way to bootstrap the platform.
As for why the team planned to sunset the service “from the get go,” Beylin explained that “the Hosted Service is a single operator, meaning there’s a single server or a single database processing queries, which results in potential single points of failure.”
According to Beylin, The Graph’s Hosted Service was theoretically prone to the same vulnerabilities (data censorship, services outages, etc.) as the Metas and Amazons of the world – the same companies The Graph wants to disrupt.
On the other hand, The Graph’s decentralized network, which launched in 2020 and has grown to include over 160 individual “indexers,” is being framed as a more decentralized alternative.
“With the decentralized network, what people get is the security and that reliability that at any point their queries will be served,” said Beylin.
UPDATE (June 2, 18:12 UTC):The Graph Hosted Service launched in January 2019, not 2018. This article has also been corrected to reflect that the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection does not use The Graph. || Martin Lewis cryptocurrency scams ads continue to be shared on Facebook: Mr Lewis has received messages from people ‘tearing their hair out’ about rising bills (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Archive) Cryptocurrency scams claiming to feature advice from Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis have been spreading on Facebook . Numerous adverts have been uploaded to Facebook’s Ad Library claiming that if people invest a small amount of money – between £190 and £250 – they can generate £3400 per month. The scams on Facebook’s ad library (The Independent) The links used in the six adverts uploaded to Facebook’s ad platform take viewers to a poorly-designed website attempting to mimic the BBC’s website. “Special Report: Martin Lewis’s Latest Investment Has Experts in Awe And Big Banks Terrified”, the headline of the fake article states. It encourages people to invest in a cryptocurrency auto-trading program called Bitcoin Code with claims that it will generate huge amounts of money in short spaces of time. It also claims that “big banks are trying to cover this up”, while also using the rise in inflation and cost of living crisis to encourage people to invest. A screenshot of the fake BBC News article (The Independent) The websites running the adverts, which have only appeared on Facebook and not on other Meta platforms, mimic the Amazon-owned book website Goodreads. Apart from the URL and a slight change in font, the fraudulent websites look identical to the original. The first advert appeared on the platform on 4 May, with the most recent uploaded on 6 May. “Ads must not contain deceptive, false or misleading claims, such as those relating to the effectiveness or characteristics of a product or service”, Facebook’s policy states . This includes “exaggerated claims, tips or tricks” and “false or misleading claims about product attributes, quality or functionality”. “The ads in question were removed by our automated ad review systems prior to The Independent bringing them to our attention”, a Meta spokesperson said, but though they stated that their Ad Review can sometimes take more than 24 hours to complete, Meta provided no evidence to back up this claim despite multiple requests from The Independent , and would not say how long the adverts had been active for. Story continues This is not the first time that Facebook has had to content with Mr Lewis’ image being used for scams. In 2018, Mr Lewis launched a High Court legal battle against Facebook over claims that over 1,000 scam adverts on its platforms have caused vulnerable people to hand over thousands of pounds to criminals. Facebook and Mr Lewis eventually settled after the social media giant launched a dedicated tool to report scam ads and donated £3 million to a new Citizens Advice project to stop more from spreading. “It shouldn’t have taken the threat of legal action to get here. Yet once we started talking, Facebook quickly realised the scale of the problem, its impact on real people, and agreed to commit to making a difference both on its own platform and across the wider sector”, Mr Lewis said at the time. It is unclear why Facebook did not detect these adverts before they were live on its platform. Facebook’s ad platform has been criticised for lax rules in the past. An investigation by The Independent last year found that companies can use fake testimonials attributed to Twitter accounts that do not exist to advertise on Facebook and Instagram , despite Facebook’s ad policies forbidding “deceptive, false or misleading claims”. Facebook told The Independent that the ads did not violate its policies because they are not advertising misleading claims about the benefits of a product, service, or functionality. When The Independent asked how testimonials from seemingly fake Twitter accounts could be interpreted as anything other than a misleading claim about the benefits of a product, and that companies could theoretically bypass Facebook’s policies in this way, Facebook declined to comment. As well as Facebook, Microsoft’s ad platform has also been used to share scams. A fake ‘Amazon’ website attempted to scam people out of money under the impression they are investing in Tesla was accidentally promoted on Microsoft’s news website. “We have numerous control measures to identify advertisements that do not comply with our policies, and terms of services including the ingestion and blocking of the FCA unauthorised domain lists”, Microsoft said in a statement to The Independent at the time.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 19269.37, 19242.26, 19297.08, 20231.26, 20190.12, 20548.25, 21637.59, 21731.12, 21592.21, 20860.45
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-10-25]
BTC Price: 63039.82, BTC RSI: 64.81
Gold Price: 1806.00, Gold RSI: 61.35
Oil Price: 83.76, Oil RSI: 73.33
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Best Crypto Currency Apps for 2021: Cryptocurrencies remain some of the hottest assets on the market, and that’s unlikely to change. They are one of the most discussed, most volatile, most sought-after and (in some cases) most valuableasset classes. Countless pixels have been spilled on the legal and tax status of crypto assets alone. People have made fortunes and many, many more people have lost their investments entirely. That doesn’t mean you should stay away, but if you want to jump intocryptocurrency tradingyou should make sure to equip yourself with the right information and tools. Here are five apps that should help.
Figuring out how much – if any – of your portfolio should include crypto assets is challenging. Afinancial advisorcan help you assess your choices.
Great for Trading: Coinbase
Ordinarily this writer strongly argues against app-based trading. The gamification of investing has not done anyone any favors.Cryptocurrency, however, is a little bit different. This is an asset class marked by its extreme volatility, such that many traders would be well served to have the tools for quick day trading in their pocket. And if you’re going to hold a cryptocurrency trading app in your pocket, then Coinbase is the one to choose.
Why:Quick access to trading, which can be very useful for an extremely volatile asset class.
Pros:Coinbase is one of themost highly rated cryptocurrency exchangesout there, and their app is well designed for doing light research and executing trades.
Cons:While very well regarded, Coinbase is more expensive than many competing exchanges, and the app’s emphasis on ease of use makes it harder to do more sophisticated research.
Great for Wallets: Ledger
Acrypto walletis how you store your cryptocurrency keys. These can be as elaborate as encrypted pieces of dedicated hardware or as simple as a piece of paper stuck inside your literal wallet. Ultimately the point of this service is to store the long alphanumeric string that secures access to each of your crypto tokens.
Cryptocurrency traders debate the relative merits storing your keys offline (“cold storage”) vs online (“hot storage”). While cold storage offers far more security, hot storage offers significantly better access. This is an extreme simplification of the debate, but fortunately Ledger allows you to skip the issue entirely. With Ledger’s app you can track and monitor your cryptocurrency keys, while you can also pair it with the company’s very well regarded hardware options for more secure cold storage.
Why:Track and access your cryptocurrency keys with your phone, anywhere any time.
Pros:One of the most well-respected names in the walletand storage business, Ledger offers hardware based storage solutions that pair with the company’s software to let you access those keys online.
Cons:Ledger can be quite expensive.
Great for Spending: Gemini
Gemini, named after a well-known constellation, is steadily becoming a well-known part of the crypto world. The platform offers a trading exchange, banking products with interest and even lending through its Gemini credit card. Readers who are interested in cryptocurrency as a currency, not just an investment asset, should check out all of these products. (Although readers interested in crypto as a currency should also be extremely carefulabout the volatilityof this asset class.)
For our purposes, the Gemini app is particularly useful as a spending tool. Its QR-based software makes it easier than just about ever before to actually spend cryptocurrency on products and services in the real world. If you want to buy a cup of coffee (or a car)with Bitcoin, this might be the app for you.
Why:Spending cryptocurrency can be a very real challenge. This app makes it much easier to actually use your crypto as a currency.
Pros:Spending crypto by just scanning a QR code on the Gemini app is as easy as using any mobile wallet on the market.
Cons:Relatively few businesses still accept cryptocurrency in exchange for goods and services, and you will still have to deal with lengthy transaction times due to the nature of crypto itself.
Great for Research: Coin Metrics
Investors who want to do research into the crypto market will have an embarrassment of riches. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites dedicated to tracking and analyzing the cryptocurrency market.
Among these, Coin Metrics stands out. They not only offer an enormous and robust set of data, but do so in a way that is clean and relatively accessible to the average user. Their data isn’t always the easiest to wade through, but in part that’s the nature of the product. At a certain point access and sophistication conflict, Coin Metrics errs on the side of giving you more data. But for users who want to learn as much as possible during their morning commute, the Coin Metrics app is a winner.
Why:Research the market and your options before making a trade, or obsessively re-research the market after sending in your orders.
Pros:A wealth of information and a well designed interface make this a great product.
Cons:That well designed interface can only go so far, and Coin Metrics can be fairly dense and hard to use at times.
Great for Tracking: Blockfolio
Portfolio tracking can be an essential way of weeding through market data.
A tracking app is one which doesn’t just track the crypto market at large (although many do offer this feature). Instead it specializes in tracking the contents of your portfolio. You pull it up, see what you own and how each of those products is doing. While this seems simple, it can actually be an enormously valuable product in a market as volatile as cryptocurrency. This is an at-a-glance product, and Blockfolio offers a particularly good one. Natively designed for smartphones, this app is clean, thorough and provides you with exactly the information you need. It’s a near-must for serious crypto traders.
Why:Always-on access to information about your cryptocurrencyportfolioand how it’s doing.
Pros:Blockfolio has a great design that was built for smartphones from the ground up and it supports justabout every currency on the marketat time of writing.
Cons:While it connects to the biggest exchanges, if you use a smaller exchange Blockfolio may not work for you, and its price alerts don’t work for every type of crypto asset.
The Bottom Line
Like any form of investment, crypto traders will do better if they have the right tools. For access to active trading, we recommend Coinbase’s app, while Blockfolio is particularly good at keeping track of that portfolio. In-depth research is well handled by Coin Metrics, and Ledger has built a terrific wallet. And if you want to spend all of these tokens, Gemini may be the app for you.
Tips on Investing
• Volatility can be scary, but it isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, it can be very good, as volatility means that an asset can rise as much as fall. The key is to make sure that you balance these speculative assets well in your overall portfolio, and that’s where a good financial advisor can be invaluable. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’sfree toolmatches you with up to three financial advisors in your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor,get started now.
• Because theIRS categorizes cryptocurrency as property, you may owe capital gains taxes. SmartAsset’sfree capital gains calculatorcould help you figure out how much you owe.
• If you lost money on Bitcoin or other cryptoassets, a financial advisor can also help you deduct your capital gains losses. Learn more abouttax-loss harvesting.
Photo credit: ©iStock.com/alengo, ©iStock.com/Alexandr Yurtchenko, ©iStock.com/Clerkenwell
The postBest Crypto Currency Apps for 2021appeared first onSmartAsset Blog. || Have You Tried This "Set It And Forget It" Investment Style?: The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzingas in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. BlockFi just announced that clients can now use Instant Bank Transfers to buy crypto directly through a linked bank account. This allows clients to take advantage of market opportunities without delay. Its the fastest and easiest way to buy and start earning crypto interest on the BlockFi platform. Clients can also set up repeat buys. This "set it and forget it" investment style enables seamless crypto portfolio management. You can now dollar cost average into crypto in an automated fashion! You can buy the following cryptocurrencies on BlockFi: BTC, ETH, LTC, UNI, LINK, BAT, PAXG, DAI You can buy the following stablecoins on BlockFi: USDC, GUSD, BUSD, PAX Read our full BlockFi Review or get started with a BlockFi account now. Disclaimer: Geographic restrictions and limitations apply. The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzingas in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || $wLITI lists on Changelly PRO, on the heels of HitBTC and Bitcoin.com listings: GENEVA, Aug. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Liti Capital’s wLITI token, a wrapped version of the Swiss company’s LITI equity token, lists today onChangelly PRO,30 August 3 PM UTC.$wLITIpairs with BTC and USDT are now available for trading.
This comes less than a week afterlisting on Bitcoin.com Exchangeand less than two weeks onHitBTC. The Changelly PRO team has expressed their warm welcome to the litigation financing token.
“We are happy to welcome $wLITI to our big family of carefully curated cryptocurrencies and hope that our users will gain maximum benefits from this collaboration. We are proud to partner with a company that provides financial resources, strategic solutions and renowned connections to the best law firms worldwide to help plaintiffs obtain court awards for damages or losses they have suffered,” says a Changelly PRO spokesperson.
Liti Capital, a Swiss-based blockchain private equity fund specializing in raising capital for legal cases, is making waves in traditional investing by bringing litigation financing to the masses, an investment practice traditionally monopolized by hedge fund heavyweights and elite investors.
Litigation financing is the practice of bringing in investors to cover the cost of a lawsuit or arbitration in exchange for a portion of the profit. Litigation financing specialists, such as Liti Capital, purchase litigation assets for cases they deem to have a high chance of winning.
“We appreciate the amazing support that established exchanges such as Changelly PRO have shown for our $wLITI token. With high profile projects in the blockchain and decentralized finance spaces finally attracting mainstream interest, we are excited to explore the possibilities for $wLITI as a wrapped version of an equity token that offers regular people the chance to invest in an asset class that previously wasn’t available to them,” says Liti Capital CEOJonas Rey.
$wLITI: an ERC-20 Wrapped Version of Equity Token $LITI
wLITI is an ERC-20 wrapped version of the LITI equity token. Launched on June 29, 2021, the wLITI token is suitable for trading on centralized exchanges (CEXes) like Changelly PRO, and also on DEXes, whereas the LITI token is only available throughliticapital.comafter meeting KYC requirements.
Liti Capital uses the blockchain to manage its share registry. Development of its own blockchain-based case management tools is on its roadmap.
wLITI can be exchanged for LITI at a token buyer’s request via Liti Capital’s app or website, which converts LITI to wLITI at a 1:5000 ratio and vice versa. The tokens will always maintain this ratio. The buyer is then able to trade their wLITI freely. Liti Capital does not directly sell wLITI.
LITI is a true digital share of Liti Capital that has voting rights, pays dividends and is protected under Swiss law. LITI is purposely not designed to be on exchanges at this time.
Both tokens represent Liti Capital, whose mantra is “Private Equity for All.” Liti Capital works exclusively in a single form of private equity – Litigation Finance, also called third party funding. This asset class has remained almost entirely exclusive to hedge funds and venture capitalists since its inception several decades ago. Litigation Finance is the practice of financing all or part of a legal case on behalf of a plaintiff for an agreed upon percentage of the court award.
Once Liti Capital purchases a portion of ownership of a case, it provides capital that can be used in many ways: legal fees, case management and strategy, expert witnesses, intelligence work and whatever else is needed to give the plaintiff the best chance of winning the case and collecting the award. The portion owned by Liti Capital becomes a “litigation asset” that backs the LITI token.
On 19 August 2021, Liti Capital announced that it was funding aclaimagainst Binance, which would enable affected individuals to pursue compensation in relation to the exchange failing on 19 May 2021. This failure resulted in the trading accounts (including Futures, Margin, and Leveraged Token products) of at least 700 and potentially thousands of individuals being effectively untradeable for hours, causing traders to suffer losses that could exceed one hundred million dollars.
Listing Details
[{"Trading Opening:": "Trading Pairs:", "Aug. 30, 2021 3 PM UTC": "wLITI/BTC"}, {"Trading Opening:": "", "Aug. 30, 2021 3 PM UTC": "wLITI/USDT"}]
About Liti CapitalSwitzerland-based Liti Capital is a Swiss limited liability company specializing in litigation finance and fintech. Liti Capital buys litigation assets to fund lawsuits and provides a complete strategic solution along with connections to top law firms to help clients win their cases. Tokenized shares of the company lower the barrier of entry for retail investors and give token holders a vote in the company’s decision-making process. Dividends are distributed to LITI token holders upon the success of the plaintiff. Jonas Rey, co-founder of Liti Capital, also heads Athena Intelligence, one of the most successful intelligence agencies in Switzerland. His two co-founders, Andy Christen and Jaime Delgado, bring operational, innovation and technical skills to round out the leadership team.
Liti Capital recently onboarded seasoned industry leader David Kay as chief information officer and executive chairman. Boasting more than a decade of experience as funding partner and portfolio manager of a billion-dollar private equity fund in the litigation financing space, Kay successfully enforced what was at the time the largest international arbitration award in history, bringing in over $1 billion in cash and securities.
For project information, please read theWhitepaper.For token distribution, please readTokenomics.
Liti Capital Official ChannelsLiti Capital Website:https://liticapital.comLiti Capital Telegram:https://t.me/Liti_Capital_OfficialLiti Capital Telegram Announcements:https://t.me/Liti_Capital_Official_ANNLiti Capital LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/liti-capitalLiti Capital Twitter:https://twitter.com/liticapitalLiti Capital Medium:https://medium.com/@liticapitalLiti Capital Reddit:https://www.reddit.com/r/liticapital
About ChangellyChangellyprovides an ecosystem of products and services that enables customers to have a one-stop-shop experience when engaging with crypto.
Operating since 2015, Changelly acts as an intermediary between crypto exchanges and users, offering access to 200+ cryptocurrencies that can be effortlessly swapped within 10 minutes on desktop and on the go via the Changelly mobile app.
In 2020, Changelly branched out to accommodate the needs of traders.Changelly PROhas been built as a platform focused on the customer’s needs, effectively enabling retail buying and selling of digital tokens and coins. Piggy-backing on the great support system found within Changelly, Changelly PRO will provide the community with high limits, effective pricing, fast execution and 24/7 live support.
Learn more about Changelly:Changelly Website:changelly.comChangelly PRO website:pro.changelly.comTwitter:twitter.com/Changelly_team
Media Contacts
Dean Baker,yourPRstrategist.comdean@yourPRstrategist.com
Cecilia Wong,yourPRstrategist.comcecilia@yourPRstrategist.com || Ethereum Settles Over $6 Trillion In Transactions In Last 12 Months: Over $6 trillion in transactions were settled on the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH ) blockchain over the last year. What Happened: According to a report from crypto research platform Messari, Ethereum has settled $6.2 trillion in transactions over the last 12 months. This figure is up 369% compared to 2020, and was powered by a strong Q3 where Ethereum settled $1.5 trillion, commented Messari analyst Ryan Sean Watkins. In the past 12 months Ethereum settled $6.2 trillion in transactions. This figure is up 369% compared to 2020, and was powered by a strong Q3 where Ethereum settled $1.5 trillion. Probably nothing. pic.twitter.com/O7Kx9OgWqF Ryan Watkins (@RyanWatkins_) October 4, 2021 Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the smart contract platform that facilitates most NFT and decentralized finance (DeFi) activity today. More than half the value of the networks settled transactions, worth $3.3 billion, can be attributed to the growth of stablecoins on Ethereum. During the same period last year, there were $888 million in stablecoins on the network. This is the kind of 4.7x that I really want to see. Prices are one thing, protocol adoption is another, commented crypto YouTuber Coin Bureau . ETH Price Action: Ethereum was trading at $3,426 Tuesday morning. The cryptocurrency has rallied by 16% over the last week and gained 43% over the last three months. Image by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Bitcoin, Ethereum Miner Hive Blockchain Reports 466% Year-Over-Year Revenue Surge Bank Of America Bullish On Bitcoin, Says Crypto Market Too Large To Ignore © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 'Shark Tank' star Kevin O'Leary says no one wants to be 'cowboys' by investing in crypto if regulators say it's not okay: Kevin O'Leary. REUTERS/ Gus Ruelas Kevin O'Leary said he wants cryptocurrencies to be regulated in the US because people don't want to be "cowboys" about it. "I don't want to get involved in crypto if the regulator says it's not okay," he told CNBC. There'd be another trillion dollars worth of buying into bitcoin if regulators class crypto as a security, he said. Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell . "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary has called on US regulators to set some rules around the cryptocurrency market, saying that no one in finance wants to be "cowboys" about it. "We want the regulator to actually make some decisions about crypto, because none of us that are in financial services want to actually be cowboys about this," he said on CNBC's "Capital Connection" in an interview published Monday. "I don't want to get involved in crypto if the regulator says it's not okay." The US has no single regulatory agency that oversees the crypto market, as digital assets aren't classified as "securities." SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has called the cryptocurrency industry "the Wild West ," and recently urged Congress to provide the agency with more authority to regulate it. "I can't afford to be offside. I cannot afford to be non-compliant," O'Leary said. "If the regulator finally allowed financial services companies to call it an asset, put it into an ETF in the United States - like they have in Canada and other countries - I'd figure there'd be another trillion dollars worth of buying into bitcoin . And we don't have that yet, but that's the opportunity." Some portfolio managers say although many are excited about bitcoin ETFs, it's a massive contradiction because crypto investors shouldn't need a product like that to get into the crypto market. However, traditional investors want an ETF so they can speculate on bitcoin's price. Story continues The SEC is yet to approve a bitcoin ETF, but is currently considering applications from more than 20 entities, including billionaire Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital , VanEck , Valkyrie Investments , and FirstTrust/SkyBridge . "I think, at the end of the day, over the next couple of years, that will happen," O'Leary said. "That's why there's so much interest right now." O'Leary, popularly known as "Mr. Wonderful," also mentioned the SALT event , which will take place in New York from September 12-15. He said the premier hedge fund industry conference, hosted by crypto enthusiast Anthony Scaramucci's SkyBridge, is about the future of decentralized finance and cryptocurrencies. "There is not a single hotel room available in New York," he said. "We are jam-packed. This is like 'Bitcoin 2021.' All the institutions are coming to the conference to discuss this very topic." Read More: A crypto hedge fund manager breaks down his 3 trading strategies, including a liquid fund that has returned 1,240% since June 2019 - and shares the next alpha-generating trend on his radar Read the original article on Business Insider || Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From?: Jirapong Manustrong / iStock.com It’s fairly common knowledge that cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital medium of exchange that isn’t issued by a government or bank. Most people are probably familiar with Bitcoin by now, and you might have heard of Ethereum, too. But those are just two of the more than 5,000 cryptocurrencies vying to be the next big thing. Beyond Bitcoin: Looking at Some Crypto Financial Jargon See: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out With that many out there, you might be wondering where they all come from? No bank and no government means no printing and no minting — but none is needed. Although you can spend it like regular money, cryptocurrency is born from an entirely different process altogether. Find Out: What Is Chainlink and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency? All Cryptocurrency Is Software Many cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are “mined.” Others are not. More on that in a moment. Read More: Millennials Own More Crypto Than Any Other Generation No matter the origination process, all cryptocurrency is software that is created by code. That code determines absolutely every function associated with the cryptocurrency, from the way data are stored and how transactions are recorded to the distribution of mining rewards and the maximum supply of tokens to be produced. Take a Look: The 10 Wildest Things Selling as NFTs In almost all cases, the code is public and the software used to generate a given cryptocurrency is decentralized, just like the cryptocurrency itself. That public, decentralized software is hosted on individual computers all over the world instead of on a central server. Algorithms, Cryptography and Blockchain Are at the Heart of It All When cryptocurrencies are designed to be used as money, transactions are stored on a special kind of secure database called a blockchain, which serves as a ledger of all coded transactions. Think of it as a checkbook for cryptocurrency. Discover: Should Crypto and NFTs Be Part of Your Retirement Plan? Story continues Once entered into the blockchain, no one can ever change an entry in the database without meeting specific conditions. Everyone involved can see the public record of all transitions. Blockchain technology, therefore, allows cryptocurrency to achieve its three most important defining features: Transparency Decentralization Immutability The part of the code that represents what end-users know as “tokens” or “coins” is just a string of numbers stored on a blockchain. Cryptocurrencies are generated by algorithms, and those algorithms rely on cryptography — hence the name cryptocurrency. More Economy Explained: Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment Most Cryptocurrency Is Mined In most cases, the algorithms that fuel the cryptocurrency factory are written to award tokens to computers that add transactions to the blockchain. That process is known as mining. Miners use special hardware and the cryptocurrency’s public, decentralized software to add transactions to blockchains. Read: What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks? In exchange for providing that critical blockchain maintenance, miners get paid in new cryptocurrency tokens. Most cryptocurrency coins or tokens are created this way. Technically, anyone can be a miner, but it’s a largely fruitless endeavor for most. It’s complicated, competitive, expensive if you fail — which is highly likely — and it gobbles up an enormous amount of power. But Some Is Not Some cryptocurrency was never designed to replace fiat currency like the dollar. In other words, it was never meant to be used as money. This kind of non-mineable, unspendable cryptocurrency is usually generated to reward early investors in a new cryptocurrency launch, called an ICO (initial coin offering). The Economy and Your Money: All You Need To Know In other cases, a new cryptocurrency can be created through a deviation in a blockchain called a hard fork. Hard forks occur when blockchain protocols change so significantly that a new, unique branch is formed on the chain that is incompatible with the old chain. Bitcoin Cash, for example, was formed through a hard fork on the original Bitcoin blockchain. Proof of Work and Proof of Stake Verification is at the core of crypto. Unlike fiat currency, the value of cryptocurrency is not based on trust. It’s based on one of two verification techniques: proof of work and proof of stake. Bitcoin Cash (BCH): The Most Important Things You Need To Know About It Most transactions are verified through proof of work. Algorithms create complex math problems that miners race to solve using special hardware. By solving the puzzle, a miner verifies a group of transactions called a block, which is then added to the larger blockchain ledger. The miner who pulls it off first is rewarded with cryptocurrency. Proof of stake was developed to reduce the amount of power needed to verify transactions. With this method, someone has to prove they have skin in the game in order to check transactions and compete for rewards. Users have to “stake” their own existing cryptocurrency by locking it up in a communal vault to be allowed to verify transactions. The more you stake, the more transactions you’re allowed to verify and the more cryptocurrency you can earn. This article is part of GOBankingRates’ ‘Economy Explained’ series to help readers navigate the complexities of our financial system. More From GOBankingRates What Money Topics Do You Want Covered: Ask the Financially Savvy Female 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social Security Nominate Your Favorite Small Business To Be Featured on GOBankingRates 5 Cities Around the World Experiencing a Housing Market Boom Last updated: June 7, 2021 This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From? || Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Strengthens Over $1800.00, Weakens Under $1795.00: Gold futures are edging lower early Monday after giving back more than half of its gains the previous session on U.S. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell’s comments that inflation could ease next year and the central bank was on track to start tapering its stimulus. At 02:58 GMT, December Comex gold futures are trading $1795.30, down $1.00 or -0.06%. On Friday, gold futures rallied to their highest level since September 7 before trimming gains on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments on tapering. The price action suggests weak sellers were taken out on the move since there is little evidence of new buying. Buyers are being cautious which means they aren’t likely to chase the market higher. During the current rally, they seem to be more inclined to buy dips. Daily December Comex Gold Daily Swing Chart Technical Analysis The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. A trade through $1815.50 will signal a resumption of the uptrend. A move through $1760.30 will change the main trend to down. Gold is currently trading inside a pair of 50% levels at $1795.00 and $1800.00. This area is controlling the near-term direction of the market. On the upside, resistance is a long-term 50% level at $1800.00 and a long-term Fibonacci level at $1828.80. On the downside, the nearest support is a series of 50% levels at $1795.00, $1787.90 and $1780.50. These levels are followed by $1768.30 and $1747.40. Daily Swing Chart Technical Forecast The direction of the December Comex gold market early Monday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to $1795.00. Bullish Scenario A sustained move over $1795.00 will indicate the presence of buyers. The first upside target is $1800.00. Taking out $1800.00 with strong volume could trigger an acceleration to the upside with $1815.50 the next potential target. Bearish Scenario A sustained move under $1795.00 will signal the presence of sellers. This could trigger a break into $1787.90. Buyers could come in on the first test of this level. If it fails then look for the selling to possibly extend into the next 50% level at $1780.50. Story continues The 50% level at $1780.50 is a potential trigger point for an acceleration into another 50% level at $1768.30. For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Strong Over 35429, Weak Under 35383 The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – October 25th, 2021 Shiba Inu Coin – Daily Tech Analysis – October 25th, 2021 Bitcoin and Ethereum – Weekly Technical Analysis – October 25th, 2021 Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – October 25th, 2021 European Equities: German Business Sentiment and Earnings in Focus || Home Building Disappoints Last Month; J&J and P&G Beat on Earnings: Tuesday, October 19, 2021 A setback in new home development and quarterly earnings reports greets investors this morning, though even the disappointing news here has not thrown pre-market indexes off a buoyant growth trajectory. At this hour, the Dow is up +140 points, the S&P 500 is +20 and the Nasdaq is +50 points. These are off the early morning highs somewhat, but the launch of a Bitcoin ETF today looks to have captured the lions share of attention thus far. One of the most important components of the Great Reopening of the past 6+ months has been the housing market, though it has been anything but steady. The topsy-turvy course continues through the month of September, where Housing Starts have reported seasonally adjusted, annualized units of 1.555 million notably off the expected 1.61 million, and -1.6% from a +0.3% expected for the month. The August headline number was revised down to 1.58 million. Building Permits a proxy for future starts performed even worse: 1.589 million from an expected 1.69 million, -7.7% from last months 1.72 million and -3.4% from estimates. This represents a 12-month low, taking out the 1.59 million reported in June of this year and October 2020. It is also a far cry from the 12-month high in new permits: Januarys 1.88 million. Weve seen housing prices go up nearly 20% this year, forcing some would-be buyers out of the market, at least temporarily. There have also been much-covered shortages, both in housing materials on supply-chain bottlenecks and workforce demands for higher wages and improved conditions. Further, Hurricane Ida ripped through the South and Northeast over this period, helping push monthly levels -6% and -27% in each, respectively. If there is a silver lining here and, to be clear, a million and a half new homes built in a month is far from a tragedy its that most of the miss from estimates came from the less-valuable multi-family housing side. This comes as no surprise to followers of these metrics; multi-family home development in August was much higher than expected, so this lower number brings a bit of equilibrium here. The more-valuable single-family home creation was in-line with August numbers. Two commercial drug and household products companies Johnson & Johnson JNJ and Procter & Gamble PG reported quarterly earnings before todays opening bell. Results were good mostly
Johnson & Johnson reported Q3 earnings of $2.60 per share, beating expectations for $2.37 per share and a notable improvement from the year-ago quarters $2.20 per share. This amounts to a +9.7% earnings beat, which is in-line with the average beat of the previous four quarters (J&J never, ever posts an earnings miss going back more than 10 years). However, revenues of $23.34 billion missed the Zacks consensus by -1.2%, and was below the year-ago $26.08 billion. For more on JNJs earnings, click here. For Procter & Gamble, the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated company outperformed on both top and bottom lines in the companys fiscal Q1 $1.61 per share on earnings vs. $1.59 expected; $20.34 billion in sales beat the Zacks consensus by +2.5% but no raise to guidance has caused a bit of a sell-off in the shares on the news, -2.2%. Neither P&G nor J&J are keeping pace with the S&P 500 year-to-date, so it will be interesting to see if at some point P&G becomes an attractive value play. For more on PGs earnings click here. Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Procter & Gamble Company The (PG) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || BANXA Announces $78 Million in August Transaction Volume and New Partners Signed: Highlights: Monthly Total Transaction Volume (TTV) of $78 million AUD, an increase of 275% year-on-year New partners signed including Hivelly and Bityard Toronto, Ontario and Melbourne, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 9, 2021) - BANXA Holdings Inc. (TSXV: BNXA) (OTCQX:BNXAF) (FSE:AC00) ("Banxa" or "The Company"), the world's first listed payment service provider (PSP) and Reg-Tech platform for the digital assets industry, today announced its latest TTV numbers of $78 million AUD for August 2021 and the addition of two new partners who both signed agreements on standard commercial terms. Banxa has also continued to build out its compliance solutions for global digital asset businesses, largely driven by requests from the company's partners. This focus on regulation and compliance service provision moves Banxa firmly into the Reg-Tech space with its Compliance-as-a-Service model. Holger Arians, CEO of Banxa said, "It has been a couple of exciting weeks for us - barring Tuesday's BTC sell off, we've seen an overall pick up in volumes across the digital asset sector that seems likely to continue. Additionally, it is great to announce new partners coming onboard. Bityard is based in Asia Pacific and it is excellent to partner with another great company in the region. Hivelly is also now live, and is a welcome addition to the Banxa network." Bityard is headquartered in Singapore and holds a Money Service Business (MSB) registration with FinCEN for the US market. The exchange serves customers across Asia and the Pacific region, and globally. Hivelly is a copy trading exchange that makes it possible for anyone to buy and sell and trade cryptocurrencies. --- ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Per: "DOMENIC CAROSA" https://twitter.com/dcarosa Domenic Carosa Chairman (1-888-218-6863) ABOUT US Banxa Holdings Inc. (TSXV: BNXA) (OTCQX: BNXAF) (FSE: AC00) Banxa powers the world's largest digital asset platforms by providing payments infrastructure and regulatory compliance across global markets. Banxa's vision and mission is to build the bridge that provides people in every part of the world access to a fairer and more equitable financial system. Banxa is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with European headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Story continues For further information go to www.banxa.com This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, and contingencies. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "should", "will", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Banxa's statements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and conditions, many of which are outside of Banxa's control, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties of the Company's business, including: Banxa's assumptions in making forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect; adverse market conditions, including risks related to COVID-19 and risks that future results may vary from historical results. Except as required by securities law, Banxa does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Banxa Holdings Inc For additional information: CONTACTS: Investor Relations: North America: +1 (604) 609 6169, International: +61 451 744 080, Email: Investor@banxa.com ; Lytham Partners, LLC, Ben Shamsian, New York/Phoenix, Email: shamsian@lythampartners.com ; Media Contacts: Liam Bussell, Head of Corporate Communications, Email: Liam@banxa.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/95962 || Investview (“INVU”) Reports $3.1 Million Month in Bitcoin Mining Gross Revenue & Announces Operations Updates for August 2021: Eatontown, NJ, Sept. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investview, Inc. (OTCQB: INVU), a diversified financial technology company that through its subsidiaries and global distribution network provides financial technology, education tools, content, research, and management of digital asset technologies with a focus on Bitcoin mining and the new generation of digital assets, announces its production and operational updates, including its unaudited Bitcoin (“BTC“) production for August 2021.
August2021BTCProduction andDigital Asset Holdings
• Gross Revenue of $3.1 million, up 238% Year-Over-Year August
• Gross Profit of $2.5 million, up 561% Year-Over-Year August
• Gross Profit Margin of 80%
• Bitcoin Mined over 16 months period ending August 2021, 1,072.43 Bitcoin
• As of August 31, 2021, Investview holds over 146.38 BTC
• As of August 31, 2021, Investview holds over 73,990.62 NDAU
Operations Update:Hash Rate Growth PlanUpdate
In August 2021, SAFETek increased its fleet of Bitcoin miners as part of its ongoing plans to expand hashrate and Bitcoin production. This recent increase will expand SAFETek’s existing fleet of Bitcoin miners to nearly 10,000 miners. As a result, SAFETek’s hashrate capacity is estimated to grow by 22% or 70 petahash per second (PH/s) to a total hashrate of nearly 400 PH/s.
Note: The numbers included in this release are initial expected results and are un-audited and may differ from numbers reported in our SEC filings due to compliance with US GAAP and are subject to final review by the Company’s independent auditors. Final audited financial statements can be found in our annual SEC Form 10-K filings.
About Investview, Inc.
Investview, Inc. is a diversified financial technology and global distributor organization that operates through its subsidiaries to provide financial education tools, content, research, and management of digital asset technology that mines cryptocurrencies, with a focus on Bitcoin mining and the next generation of digital assets. Investview – driving decentralization of education and finance through a commitment to blockchain technology. For more information on Investview and its family of wholly owned subsidiaries, please visit:www.investview.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this release that are not based on historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies, and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believe," "expect," "may,” “should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "anticipate" or other comparable terms. These forward-looking statements are based on Investview’s current beliefs and assumptions and information currently available to Investview and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. More information on potential factors that could affect Investview’s financial results is included from time to time in Investview’s public reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements made in this release speak only as of the date of this release, and Investview, Inc. (“INVU”) assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in expectations, except as otherwise required by law.
Investor RelationsContact: Arthur RomePhone Number: 732.889.4308Email:pr@investview.com
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: up || Prices: 60363.79, 58482.39, 60622.14, 62227.96, 61888.83, 61318.96, 61004.41, 63226.40, 62970.05, 61452.23
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Chinas Chipmaking Power Grows Despite US Effort to Counter It: (Bloomberg) -- Chinas semiconductor industry is showing signs of flourishing even in the face of Biden administration efforts to counter its growth, raising alarm bells in Washington. Most Read from Bloomberg China Alarms US With Private Warnings to Avoid Taiwan Strait Stocks Pandemic Bull Run Ends With Recession Fear: Markets Wrap Crypto Market Sinks Below $1 Trillion After Latest DeFi Blowup Volatility Grips Stocks as Traders Brace for Fed: Markets Wrap Bitcoin Turns Lower Again as Celsius Weighs on Sentiment Chinese orders for chip-manufacturing equipment from overseas suppliers rose 58% in 2021, making it the biggest market for those products for a second year running, according to data provided by industry body Semi. While those figures appeared in April, the flood of machinery headed to China is now drawing more attention especially as a legislative push to bolster the US chip industry with investments and incentives falters. The US Commerce Department, meanwhile, appears unwilling to crack down harder on Beijing, irking critics. If the Biden administration is serious about securing the semiconductor supply chain in the United States and allied and partner countries, its absurd to let the Chinese Communist Party buy up and stockpile the global supply of tools and equipment to make semiconductors, said US House Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas. The semiconductor industry became a key battleground during the Trump administrations trade war with China. President Joe Biden then inherited a set of rules aimed at restricting some Chinese companies access to technology. While some parts of the US government want to extend that into a more blanket ban, others are resisting what they see as an unnecessary escalation. The global chip shortage, which disrupted supplies of everything from cars to smartphones, further inflamed tensions. Biden ordered a review of supply-chain vulnerabilities last year and found that while the US maintains a healthy share of chip design and manufacturing equipment the industry is highly dependent on overseas sales, notably in China. Story continues That dilemma is evident in the latest industry figures for 2021. Even in a year when worldwide bookings for equipment from the likes of US-based Applied Materials Inc. and Japans Tokyo Electron Ltd. climbed 44% fueled by a global surge in chip demand the growth of Chinas chipmaking industry far outpaced other regions. Some US chipmakers have expressed concerns that Chinese companies are paying above-market rates to obtain the machinery. They say thats made it harder for US companies to get the equipment they need to expand domestic production, undercutting a core goal of the Biden administration. But the US government isnt convinced intervention is needed. At the center of the growing debate, the US Department of Commerce said its so far found nothing other than normal market forces at play. The department has enforced bans on some supply to Chinese companies listed as a threat to national security, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. But its avoiding dabbling in industrial policy beyond that. I hear a lot of concerns within the chip industry and when I heard this, I looked into it, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in an interview. Selling a commodity product to a Chinese company is in and of itself not problematic. If at any point we found evidence of preferencing Chinese companies, then we would take action to address it immediately. Raimondo in April summoned the CEOs of Applied Materials, Lam Research Corp. and KLA Corp. to explain the supply-chain data presented to her and answer accusations of favoring Chinese customers, people familiar with the matter said. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese were also present at the meeting. The executives provided data in follow-up meetings and appear to have convinced the Commerce chief that theres no foul play. I dont think anyone would want the US government to dip into the private sector supply chain and try to micromanage it if nothing wrong is happening, Raimondo said. That stance is too passive for many China critics, possibly including some within the Biden administration. Saif Khan, technology director of the National Security Council, argued before joining the administration in favor of stringent export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The idea, he said at the time, was to make it difficult for China to make advanced chips, largely preempting Chinas development and use of many dangerous or destabilizing technologies. Khan didnt respond to a request seeking comment. McCaul and others have advocated for tighter controls on equipment exports to China, either unilaterally or by working with allies such as Japan and the Netherlands countries that together with the US control some 90% of the market for the most advanced chipmaking gear. Thats not gone unnoticed in China and may be spurring the run-up in ordering, particularly at a time of shortages and increasing demand. Beijing is willing to provide the financing for many of the purchases, said Guarav Gupta, an analyst at Gartner Inc. Theyre encouraging the domestic chipmakers to buy more, to get whatever you can right now because you never know when the US may place more restrictions, he said. Even if they require one tool, they will order three or four. Money doesnt seem to be a problem. The beneficiaries include Applied Materials, Lam and KLA in the US, as well as Tokyo Electron and Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV. ASML is hiring more than 200 workers in China this year to keep up with growth there. China is the largest consumer of semiconductors because of the size of its domestic electronics market and its status as production base for entire industries. Yet it is dependent on foreign companies for equipment, and the overwhelming majority of its output is several generations behind the most leading-edge chips. Keep in mind that more than 40% of the equipment spending in China is by multinational corporation operating facilities there to produce closer to the large contract assembly base, said SEMI head Ajit Manocha. Furthermore, the great majority of the installed base capacity for foundries in China is for lagging-edge technologies. Yet during the height of the global chip shortages, its exactly semiconductors made with lagging technologies that were in the most severe short supply. Carmakers and many other companies were scrambling to get enough of power management chips, display drivers and microcontrollers. Even Apple Inc., the largest corporate buyer of semiconductors, was not immune. Chinas increasing capability of making those could mean the world will come to rely on the countrys supply even more. Gartners Gupta sees it as unlikely that equipment makers would prioritize shipments to China over their main sources of income: the worlds three largest chipmakers. Those companies Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp. together account for more than 40% of gear purchases and are planning or building new plants in the US. Smaller companies may have to wait longer to get what theyve ordered, Gupta said. All the same, apart from ASML whose extreme ultraviolet lithography machines are necessary to make the most advanced chips all of the equipment makers saw sales in China outpace overall growth in 2021. Tokyo Electron reported the strongest China expansion, with sales from that market increasing more than twice as fast as its overall rate. The Japanese company has fewer restrictions on what it can sell to China. US equipment makers are prevented from selling some cutting-edge tools to Chinas top chipmaker, SMIC, because of its ties to the Chinese military. The Dutch government has yet to renew an export license for ASML to sell its EUV machines to China. Even with the limitations, China has helped fuel booming sales for the industry over the past five years: ASMLs China revenue tripled, while KLAs grew fourfold. While the Commerce Department has received complaints from some chipmakers that Chinese companies are paying premiums to jump the line for gear, investigations have shown no evidence thats the case, according to a person familiar with the process. The major US chip-equipment makers, which may receive federal chip funding, are still unlikely to give up the Chinese market willingly. All have indicated they have the capability to avoid US sanctions by building capacity outside of America. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek A Billion-Dollar Crypto Gaming Startup Promised Riches and Delivered Disaster A Parisian General Stores Radical Message for Its Customers? Buy Less Amazon and Spotify Boost Podcast Offerings, and Audiences Soar Wall Street Executives Cant Stop Talking About a Recession The IRS Is Coming for Your Venmo Income ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || VanEck files for spot Bitcoin ETF despite Grayscale rejection: Investment firm VanEck has filed an application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), despite Grayscales application getting rejected on Tuesday. See related article: Next step for spot Bitcoin ETF in the US may be a courtroom battle Fast facts VanEck had filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF, but was rejected by the SEC in November 2021. The SEC has cited concerns about market manipulation and investor protection in turning down all spot Bitcoin ETF applications to date. The regulator has approved Bitcoin ETFs based on futures contracts and derivatives. The SEC approved exchange-traded products for other commodities and currencies in unregulated markets and the agency relied on the underlying futures market as the regulated market to form the basis for approvals, VanEcks filing said. [The] precedent makes clear that an underlying market for a spot commodity or currency being a regulated market would actually be an exception to the norm, the filing said. See related article: VanEck Bitcoin-linked ETF XBTF price slightly down in CBOE debut || Harmony Protocol Offers $1M Bounty Following Massive Exploit: • Harmony’s Horizon bridge was exploited for $100M on Friday.
• The team’s 1% bounty may not be enough incentive for the attackers.
• The funds remain in the hacker’s wallet and have yet to be moved or ‘cleaned.’
Late last week, the high-throughput layer-1 blockchain platform Harmony became the latest victim of a bridge exploit. Around $100 million in various crypto assets were stolen from the protocol due to a vulnerability in a multi-signature wallet connected to the Horizon bridge. The bridge allows assets to be transferred to and from Harmony and other networks such as Ethereum and Bitcoin (BTC).
On June 26, the Harmony team offered a million-dollar bounty for the return of the funds. It also promised to advocate for no legal charges.
The theft makes Harmony the fourteenth-largest industry exploit, according to Defiyield’s Rektdatabase(which has yet to be updated). However, the 1% bounty is one of the smallest offered so far, so they may have to up the incentive a little to have any hope of funds being returned.
At the time of writing, the funds were still in the hacker’saddresswhich held 85,867ETHworth approximately $104.6 million. If the assets start moving to anonymizing services such as Tornado Cash, Harmony can kiss goodbye any hopes of retrieval.
There was plenty of reaction from the crypto community, with many suggesting that the amount offered was too low. Others pointed out that providing bounties doesn’t solve the problem and, if anything, may even encourage hackers.
“Isn’t it funny to actually reward the hackers with $1M dollars for returning the fund when they can get away with $100M?” onecommentedbefore adding, “even if they accept the offer, the same hackers will and again comprise another system? Problem isn’t solved.”
The exploit, which resulted from a private key breach, not a smart contract bug, is the latest cross-chain bridge attack this year. On June 26, Harmony stated:
“The team has found evidence that private keys were compromised, leading to the breach of our Horizon bridge. Funds were stolen from the Ethereum side of the bridge.”
The attacker was able to access and decrypt a number of these keys and use them to sign unauthorized transactions, it added.
Hackers have been increasingly targeting these conduits between different networks. In February, hackers stole $320 million from the Wormhole bridge; then, the following month came the industry’s largest attack. More than $600 million was stolen in an attack on Axie Infinitie’s Ronin bridge in March.
Harmony’s native token,ONE, is still in decline, having lost more than 12% since the attack. It was down around 5.3% on the day, trading at $0.023 during the Monday morning Asian trading session.
ONE has lost 42% over the past month and has collapsed 94% from its October all-time high of $0.379.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Ecuador to halt pumping oil within 48 hours amid protests – Bloomberg News
• WFP cuts Yemen food rations further due to funding gap, inflation
• Indonesian peace mission to Russia and Ukraine to put focus on food crisis
• European fund managers set to go all in on ESG – survey
• ECB shifts back timing of policy decisions, press conferences
• Ukraine pleads for air defence as Russia turns sights on Lysychansk || How a UFC Heavyweight Champion Became a Crypto Trailblazer: Francis Ngannou,theUltimate Fighting Championshipheavyweight champion, made more money fromnon-fungible tokens (NFTs)than he did in the octagon last year.
The UFCreportedly paid him $580,000for knocking out former heavyweight champion,Stipe Miocic, in the second round of their highly anticipated rematch. The two fought at UFC 260 in Las Vegas on March 27, 2021. Right after the victory, Ngannou droppedhis first-ever NFT collection on NFT site MakerPlace, generating over $581,000 in sales.
Mixed martial arts is thefastest-growing sport in the U.S.and one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Prize fighting has been around for millennia, but MMA in its current form can be traced back to November 1993 at UFC 1, where eight men practicing different martial arts were pitted against each other to determine which martial art would reign supreme. There were only three rules – no eye gouging, no biting and no shots to the groin.
This article is part of CoinDesk'sSports Week.
The sport has since evolved into a well-regulated multibillion-dollar industry. World-class athletes and Olympians compete against each other using striking and grappling techniques from a variety of disciplines. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the intensity and ferocity of the sport.
Ngannou, a musclebound behemoth standing at 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing 265 pounds, is uniquely built to deliver that ferocity. Ngannou has the hardest punch ever recorded on earth, registering a whopping 129,161 units on the PowerKube – a device that calculates punching power based on speed, force and accuracy. UFC President Dana Whitesaid, “That’s equal to getting hit by a Ford Escort going as fast as it can.”
Ngannou’s first job was working in a sand mine in Batié, a small village in western Cameroon. He was only 10 years old, but his grandmother couldn't’ afford to take care of him, so working in a sand mine was his only option. He worked in sand mines until his late teens. Then one day, a friend showed him a YouTube video of a Mike Tyson bout.
After watching the clip, Ngannou had an epiphany and decided boxing was his destiny. He started training in boxing and eventually decided to pursue a professional boxing career in France. To get to Europe, Ngannou had to cross the treacherous Sahara Desert. He wound up homeless on the streets of Paris before serendipitously stumbling upon a mixed martial arts gym. The gym’s owner convinced him to try MMA instead of boxing, and the rest is history.
Ngannou’s team wanted to capture his journey from the sand mines of Batié to the UFC in an NFT. They knew millions of fans would be watching him on the night of March 27, 2021. The team recruited NFT artistBossLogicto create an art collection, aptly named, “March to the Throne.” The collection featured two pieces of artwork – an exclusive piece and a limited edition piece. The exclusive piece came with a pair of signed UFC gloves and sand from the mines Ngannou had worked in as a child.
Read More:Crypto.com to Pay Bitcoin Bonuses to UFC Fighters
Ngannou’s team decided to make the NFT collection more enticing by offering it to fans only if Ngannou won his title fight, which he did, in devastating fashion.
That pivotal victory turned Ngannou into a trailblazer – the first Cameroonian UFC champion and the first UFC fighter to mint his own NFTs.Marquel Martin, Ngannou’s manager and a crypto enthusiast himself, introduced the champ to NFTs in early 2021.
“I just told him to trust me,” Martin said, and Ngannou has been on board ever since.
Earlier this year, Ngannou posted a photo of himself sporting an NFT image of his most brutal knockout to date. The piece is part of a collection calledUFC Strike– a collaboration between the UFC and NFT startup,Dapper Labs. The collection features fighters with the most impressive knockouts and pays those fighters 50% of revenue generated from NFT sales. Ngannou, a terrifying knockout artist, already has two pieces in the inaugural UFC Strike collection. The entire collection sold out the same day it went live.
The partnership between Dapper Labs and the UFC is part of a larger trend toward crypto and MMA collaborations. The Litecoin Foundation was the first crypto organization to sponsor a UFC event. The foundation paid to have the Litecoin logo placed on the octagon canvas for UFC 232 in December 2018.
There have been several other sponsorships since those early years. However, the most significant crypto sponsorship in MMA was the10-year $175 million dealbetween the UFC and popular cryptocurrency exchange,Crypto.com. The deal was announced last July, and gaveCrypto.comextensive branding rights over fighter apparel and content.
Read more:Litecoin Takes to the UFC Octagon in New Sponsorship Deal
MMA is the toughest sport in the world. It requires an incredible amount of resilience. Maybe that’s why Ngannou’s enthusiasm for crypto remains steadfast despite the current bear market. In an interview with CoinDesk, Ngannou said, “I’m still learning [about NFTs]. We have some big plans that we’ve been working on for a long time that we’re excited about.”
Ngannou’s crypto savvy extends beyond NFTs: He accepts bitcoin and ether payments. His thoughts on Bitcoin are surprisingly philosophical.
“I think Bitcoin is the best, although it’s down now. It’s like digital gold. I also think it can be a better option [than local fiat currencies] for some countries in Africa,” Ngannou said. || Alex Jones' Sandy Hook Defamation Trial Is Set To Begin. Here's How It Got To This Point.: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will face a jury of his peers for the first time next week in a defamation trial to determine how much he will have to pay the parents of a child killed in a school shooting after he spent years peddling lies that the tragic ordeal never happened. On Dec. 14, 2012, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and opened fire. He killed 20 children and six adults in a shooting that former President Barack Obama would later call the worst day of his presidency . As the families of the dead mourned, the carnival-barker host of the conspiracy and disinformation outlet Infowars was working on his next big grift: convincing his listeners that the 6- and 7-year-old children who were killed, along with the adults who died trying to protect them, were part of an elaborate hoax. It would mark the beginning of Jones’ many legal troubles to come. From Lies To Real-World Threats “Folks, we’ve got video of Anderson Cooper with clear blue-screen out there,” Jones said in a 2014 Infowars segment about the CNN anchor interviewing victims of the tragedy two years later. “He’s not there in the town square,” Jones continued. “We got people clearly coming up and laughing and then doing the fake crying. We’ve clearly got people where it’s actors playing different parts for different people, the building bulldozed, covering up everything.” In 2016, Jones repeated the lie that the parents of dead kids were acting. “I’ve watched a lot of soap operas, and I’ve seen actors before. And I know when I’m watching a movie and when I’m watching something real,” Jones said on his program. The following year, Jones was still spreading the lie that the shooting was faked. “So here are these holier than thou people, when we question CNN, who is supposedly at the site of Sandy Hook, and they got in one shot leaves blowing, and the flowers that are around it, and you see the leaves blowing, and they go [gestures]. They glitch,” Jones said, according to a transcript quoted in a lawsuit against him and reviewed by HuffPost. “They’re recycling a green-screen behind them.” Story continues Jones’ dangerous lies had real-life consequences for victims of the shooting. In 2017, Florida woman Lucy Richards was sentenced to five months in prison for sending threats to parent Lenny Pozner, whose 6-year-old son, Noah, was killed in the shooting. “You gonna die,” Richards told Pozner in one recorded voicemail message. “Death is coming to you real soon.” As part of her sentence, Richards was ordered not to access Infowars. The Families Fight Back In 2018, parents of two children killed in the shooting filed the first defamation suits against Jones and Infowars, HuffPost was the first to report at the time. Neil Heslin, the father of 6-year-old Jesse, along with 6-year-old Noah’s parents, Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, alleged that Jones’ lies had led to death threats. “I lost my son. I buried my son. I held my son with a bullet hole through his head,” Heslin told then-NBC News host Megyn Kelly in a June 2017 segment profiling Jones. With the new lawsuit, Heslin finally had the chance to hold Jones accountable. “Even after these folks had to experience this trauma, for the next five years they were tormented by Alex Jones with vicious lies about them,” attorney Mark Bankston of Houston law firm Farrar & Ball told HuffPost in 2018 . “And these lies were meant to convince his audience that the Sandy Hook parents are frauds and have perpetrated a sinister lie on the American people.” A jury will determine how much Jones will have to pay to the parents of a child who died at Sandy Hook, after Jones spent years peddling lies that the shooting was fake. (Photo: HuffPost Illustration/Reuters) A jury will determine how much Jones will have to pay to the parents of a child who died at Sandy Hook, after Jones spent years peddling lies that the shooting was fake. (Photo: HuffPost Illustration/Reuters) Later that year, six Sandy Hook families and an FBI agent filed their own defamation lawsuit against Jones in Connecticut. Josh Koskoff of the Bridgeport, Connecticut-based law firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, told HuffPost at the time that the lawsuit would seek to hold Jones and “his financial network accountable.” “He knew his claims were false but he made them anyway to further a simple but pathetic goal: to make money by tearing away at the families’ pain,” Koskoff told HuffPost at the time. “This lawsuit seeks to hold Alex Jones and his financial network accountable for those disgraceful actions.” Alex Jones Loses Every Single Case For the next several years, Jones repeatedly failed in court as he attempted to avoid accountability. Jones cycled through lawyers as if they had an expiration date, but managed to retain attorney Norm Pattis, who most recently was seen at a comedy club with his pants down and saying the N-word during a stand-up set. In a 2019 deposition about one of his several defamation lawsuits, Jones was unable to recall basic facts about the school shooting, including the date that it happened. “I talk four hours a day, and I can’t remember what I talked about sometimes a week ago,” Jones said at the time. Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson threw his boss under the bus in his own deposition when he admitted to warning Jones about the dangers of spreading lies about Sandy Hook, only to be ignored. Ultimately, it was Jones’ refusal to provide court-ordered documents that led to his already shaky defense crumbling. In September, Jones lost two of his Sandy Hook defamation cases after Texas Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled for default judgments against Jones for not turning over documents. The ruling meant he and Infowars were found liable for all damages. Later that same week, Gamble again ruled default judgment against Jones in the defamation case brought forward by Sandy Hook parent Heslin, adding to Jones’ third legal loss. And finally, just over a month after Gamble’s ruling, Connecticut Judge Barbara Bellis also ruled default judgment against Jones in the case brought forward by several Sandy Hook families. Jones had lost his cases before they could see a jury. Now it was time to pay up. Paying Up Following the rulings against Jones, the Infowars host attempted to wriggle out of his responsibility to the parents of Sandy Hook by declaring bankruptcy just days before he was set to be put on trial in Austin, Texas, in April for one of his defamation cases. The bankruptcy ploy worked in delaying the trial, but the law has once again caught up to Jones. On Monday, a jury in Austin will be selected to determine how much Jones and Infowars will ultimately have to pay to parents Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, Jesse’s mother, for the pain he inflicted on them for more than half a decade after the death of their child. Opening arguments start Tuesday at Travis County Court, and the trial will be open to the public. The jury will look at two factors: How much Jones should pay for damages, and how much additional money he should pay based on his net worth. Jones has closely guarded his financial earnings for years, but there are clues that give a glimpse into how much his empire is worth. For instance, HuffPost reported in January that the Infowars store ― which sells a hodgepodge of dietary supplements and survival gear ― sold $165 million in product from September 2015 to the end of 2018, according to court filings related to one of the defamation lawsuits Jones recently lost. And in May, the SPLC reported that Jones had received nearly $8 million in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin from an anonymous donor. Bankston, the attorney representing Heslin and Lewis, told HuffPost an expert witness will be called to testify about Jones’ finances. Whatever Jones ends up having to pay, it won’t be the end of his financial bleeding. He’ll be back in a courtroom in September , this time in Connecticut, where a jury will determine how much he should pay to Sandy Hook families in a separate defamation lawsuit. Bankston said that despite a decade of “tormenting” the Sandy Hook parents, Jones will soon face justice. “After ten years of tormenting these parents, and after four years of trying to sabotage their lawsuit, Mr. Jones will finally face the long-awaited public reckoning for committing the most vile and despicable campaign of slander in American history,” Bankston told HuffPost in a statement. “We are eager to show this jury the previously hidden details of Mr. Jones’ monstrous acts of revenge against the parents who begged him to stop peddling his lies.” Heslin is determined to get justice in court ― not just monetary compensation for the pain Jones inflicted on his family. Others seem to agree: Every Sandy Hook victim involved in the Connecticut lawsuit rejected Jones’ attempts to avoid a jury when he tried in March to settle the lawsuit by offering $120,000 per plaintiff. “With me it was never about money – it was about principle,” Heslin told the News-Times in Connecticut at the time. “I’m not surprised Jones would try to settle before this goes to trial, but I am going to trial to fight him. I am going to argue the whole thing.” This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related... Infowars Bankruptcy Tossed In Deal With Sandy Hook Parents 11 Survivors Of School Gun Violence Share How It Still Reverberates Through Their Lives Sandy Hook Families Reject Alex Jones Settlement Offer || RocketFuel Announces New B2B Cross-Border Settlements Solution: RocketFuel Blockchain San Francisco, California, July 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RocketFuel Blockchain, Inc. (OTCQB: RKFL) (“RocketFuel” or the “Company”), a global provider of payment solutions via ACH bank transfers, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, today announced that it had successfully launched its new B2B cross-border settlements solution, which facilitates settlement between B2B entities using stablecoins like USDT and USDC. The solution utilizes a combination of digital and fiat currencies to enable fast, reliable, compliant cross border settlements. Settlement is automated and done in minutes. In June 2022, RocketFuel experienced a significant increase in its B2B cross border volume from its initial customers, and the Company believes that the numbers will grow with an even higher pace the coming months. Peter Jensen, RocketFuel CEO, stated: “An important factor that is pushing crypto payments into mainstream is settlement layers using stablecoins, in particular USDT and USDC. This is not yet so visible for the retail customer but has a very important effect on the general integration of crypto-rails for financial institutions, creating stable, programmable and efficient settlement layers. Due to our newly received crypto-exchange (VASP) license in Europe, RocketFuel is now able to offer PSPs and eCommerce merchants stablecoin settlements in a completely regulated environment.” RocketFuel’s virtual currency platform comes with a variety of digital payment options for both cryptocurrency and fiat currencies in the virtual and physical world. These options are a great fit for metaverse and NFT platforms to include payments via in-game tokens, cryptocurrencies, CBDC, stable coins and fiat currencies to Web3 merchants across the world. About RocketFuel Blockchain, Inc. RocketFuel is a global payments solution company that provides online shoppers with a simple, easy-to-use, one-click checkout process that accepts payments with bank transfers, Bitcoin, and 120+ cryptocurrencies. Its new B2B cross-border settlement solutions enables businesses to send cross-border payments in an number of fiat currencies safely and efficiently. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Copenhagen, RocketFuel delivers a highly secure and efficient shopping cart experience with significantly low fees for merchants, along with the benefits of no chargebacks and daily settlements in USD. RocketFuel's solution focuses on enhanced customer privacy protection eliminating the risk of a data breach while improving speed, security, and ease of use. More information about RocketFuel is available at: www.RocketFuelBlockchain.com . Story continues Forward-Looking Statements The Company believes that this press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Terms such as “may,” “might,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “project,” “estimate,” “pro-forma,” “predict,” “potential,” “strategy,” “anticipate,” “attempt,” “develop,” “plan,” “help,” “believe,” “continue,” “intend,” “expect,” “future,” and terms of similar import (including the negative of any of these terms) may identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Actual results and the timing of certain events and circumstances may differ materially from those described by the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Factors that may influence or contribute to the accuracy of the forward-looking statements or cause actual results to differ materially from expected or desired results may include, without limitation, market acceptance of the company’s products and services; competition from existing products or new products that may emerge; the implementation of the company’s business model and strategic plans for its business and our products; estimates of the company’s future revenue, expenses, capital requirements and need for financing; current and future government regulations; and developments relating to the company’s competitors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because of the risks and uncertainties related to them. For further information on such risks and uncertainties, you are encouraged to review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments, except as required by law. COMPANY CONTACT Contact@RocketFuelBlockchain.com INVESTOR CONTACT Ben Yankowitz, CFO B.Yankowitz@RocketFuelBlockchain.com View comments || Traders betting against crypto stocks raked in over $3 billion this year: Short-sellers have been cashing in on the crypto crash. As cryptocurrency-related stocks have tanked during a deepening rout in the space, bets against companies such as Coinbase ( COIN ) and Microstrategy ( MSTR ) have proven to be a lucrative trade. Short-sellers in the crypto sector have realized mark-to-market profits of over $3.8 billion this year as of June 14, data from S3 Partners showed. Traders betting against crypto-related stocks have realized a 126% return on an average $3 billion of short interest so far this year. Bets against crypto stocks have made traders over $3 billion so far this year, with gains on June 13, crypto's "Black Monday," nearly totaling $400 million. (Source: S3 Partners) The winning streak for crypto short-sellers comes as major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) have lost more than 50% this year, and declined to nearly 5-year lows this week. Coinbase, Microstrategy, and Marathon Digital Holdings ( MARA ) had the highest short interest, per S3’s data – with bets piling up as shares of each company fell sharply Short sellers in the crypto sector were up 126% on an average short interest of $3 billion in 2022, per data from S3 Partners Research as of June 14. (S3 Partners Research) During Monday’s sell-off, MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) – the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, with more than 129,000 as of March 31 – erased roughly a quarter of its market cap, leading losses among its crypto-focused equity peers. Shares of cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase ( COIN ), which was the most shorted among this group in June, also saw a single-day plunge of as much as 15%. Shorting of these stocks has ramped up this month, with $71 million of new short selling in less than two weeks of June. But while continued downturn is expected across coins and other crypto assets, anyone looking to join in on the shorts’ party may be a little too late. “While the crypto stocks negative price momentum may not be over, the ability to short stock in size may be over,” report authors Ihor Dusaniwsky and Matthew Unterman at S3 Partners said. With stock borrow utilization at a near-maximum 91%, short sales in size will be difficult to execute and stock borrow rates will be getting more expensive for both new and existing short sales, they noted. “Shorting crypto stocks may continue to be a profitable trade, but due to stock borrow scarcity short exposure in these stocks will not increase dramatically in the future and shorting these stocks will become more expensive and take a bigger bite out of expected alpha,” the report notes. Story continues Overall, 2022 has been good to short-sellers, with US equity short-sellers up 30% for the year as of mid-June, per S3 data. The most profitable industries to short outside of crypt-related names have been automobile & components, up 54%; software and services, up 50%; and retail, up 46%. — Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Instagram , YouTube , Facebook , Flipboard , and LinkedIn || Should NFT Investors Keep or Sell Their Non-Fungible Tokens in a Bear Market?: Just asthe stock market entered a bear marketin mid-June, the crypto andNFT marketshave also taken a downturn. In fact, the crypto market has been broadly declining for the past 18 months.
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Bitcoin reached a new 18-month low on June 15, 2022, and is now 70% below its record high of $69,000 in Nov. 2021, Reuters reported.
Since many altcoins are tied to the value of bitcoin, most of the crypto market is also facing a slump. On June 12, crypto lender Celsius Network paused all withdrawals, snaps, and transfers, per The Wall Street Journal. The company said in a blog post that, “We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilize liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets.”
Unlike cryptocurrency, NFTs are not as tied to the financial cycles of the stock market or the economy, NFT Evening suggests. In a March 8 article, NFT Evening writer Theo indicated that, “NFTs are… proving to be bullet-proof against market crashes.”
However, even though NFTs aren’t strictly tied to the crypto market, they are experiencing a downturn of their own. NFT Evening reported that February saw a 40% decline in NFT sales, down from $4.4 billion in January.
Many established NFT projects, including Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, lost roughly 63% of their value in a dangerously short time span in May, The Cryptonomist reported. That much of a dip indicates a bear market for NFTs.
Experts attribute the dip not just to the overall market downturn and the crypto bear market, but also NFT scams and cyber attacks that have grown in prevalence in 2022, Yahoo reported.
Related:6 Alternative Investments to Consider for 2022
Cryptoticker advised that a bear market is the best time to invest in NFTs, writing: “Many NFTs have proven to exceed expectations after the bear market.” Further, Cryptoticker writer Owotunse Adebayo suggested that, “The low risk and prices associated with a bear market implies that, should the asset collapse, losses will be low.”Many people collect NFTs for their inherent artistic value, the same way one might accumulate fine art or other collectibles. Consumers often choose NFTs they like, from artists or companies they want to support, without too much concern about the long-term value.
See:Why Inflation Is Making Your Paycheck Worth LessNFT Art:What It Is and Where To Buy
If this describes your interest in NFTs, you may be able to find NFTs you like at a lower price than you’d expect in a bear market. Then, as the market turns, you can make a decision to sell (or not) based on the profits (or losses) you stand to make or endure.
However, even though NFTs may seem to be “on sale” in a bear market, they remain volatile assets. If you are looking atNFTs as an investment, it may be wise to refrain from spending more than you are willing to lose.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Should NFT Investors Keep or Sell Their Non-Fungible Tokens in a Bear Market? || Tesla May Take $460M Impairment Charge on Its Bitcoin Holdings for Q2, Analyst Says: Tesla, the electric car maker led by crypto proponent Elon Musk, may take a $460 million impairment charge on its sizable bitcoin holdings for the second quarter, according to a note from Barclays analyst Brian Johnson. The company is scheduled to report after the stock market closes on Wednesday.
• Johnson's calculation assumes Tesla hasn’t sold or added to its bitcoin (BTC) holdings in the quarter, something ithasn’t done since the first quarter of last year.
• Teslafirst bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoinin January 2021 when the cryptocurrency was selling for $32,000 to $33,000. Tesla sold about 10% of its holdings later in that first quarter, but hasn't bought or sold any of its bitcoin since then.
• With bitcoin ending the second quarter at $18,731, Johnson, who is bearish on Tesla, expects the company to take a noncash, impairment charge on its total holdings of about $460 million, or roughly 40 cents a share.
• According to accounting rules for digital assets, if the price of an asset falls during a quarter, a company must take an impairment charge. But if the price increases, it isn't reported as a gain unless the asset is sold.
• Overall, Johnson kept his underweight rating on Tesla, but raised his price target to $380 from $370 based on slightly higher earnings estimates overall.
• Analysts polled by FactSet expect Tesla to report adjusted earnings of $1.81 a share on $16.5 billion in sales for the second quarter.
• Tesla's stock was trading up 0.6% to $741.03 Wednesday. Shares are down almost 30% year to date. || The Bitcoin Collective and OKX to launch the UK’s first major Bitcoin conference: • The inaugural instalment of the conference will see a host of international authors, experts and visionaries assemble to address a crowd of 800 in Edinburgh
• OKX is partnering with the conference as it seeks to educate and inform on the potential of Bitcoin and its ‘sound money principles’
LONDON, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --OKX, the world-leading Bitcoin and cryptocurrency platform, today announced that it is partnering withThe Bitcoin Collectiveto launch the UK’s first global Bitcoin conference.
To be held at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on October 21 and 22 this year, the conference aims to educate and inform to help power a financial and technological revolution across the UK. Built from the result of grassroots community efforts, the conference has attracted high-profile speakers from across the globe that include Jeff Booth, Lawrence Lepard and Natalie Brunell, among others.
Haider Rafique, Chief Marketing Officer, OKX, said:“The UK has a thriving Bitcoin community, and this conference is very well timed against the backdrop of a building phase for the market. This is a time when we should all come together, share ideas, and incubate new products and services to prepare ourselves for the next chapter. We are excited to be a leading sponsor for this conference, and to participate in educating and encouraging the next generation of developers and entrepreneurs to come and build in this industry. OKX is out to create a generation of responsible, well-informed long-term traders, and the fact that The Bitcoin Collective have the same vision is what makes us so thrilled to be helping make this conference a reality.”
Topics covered at the conference will include the genesis of Bitcoin, The Bitcoin Network, blockchain, Bitcoin as sound money and the future of Bitcoin. The first in a series of annual events, the conference is designed to educate everyday people on sound money principles and relatable macroeconomics.
Jordan Walker, CEO, The Bitcoin Collective, said,“Bitcoin is for everyone. I think many are feeling the effects of rising prices and the cost of living crisis around the world—and especially in the UK—but maybe don’t completely understand why this is happening. When fancy words like macroeconomics and sound money are used, things can get confusing. But understanding how money works has never been so important.
“This conference is not about the broader term ‘cryptocurrency’, but rather solely about Bitcoin. However, it’s not about buying or investing in Bitcoin—that’s a whole different discussion. Our focus is on education, so make sure to bring a notebook and pen! Looking over the list of incredible speakers we have assembled still blows my mind, and I can’t wait to see this community of open-minded people come together later this year!”
The conference seeks to differentiate between Bitcoin and crypto to educate on the sound money principles of Bitcoin. It also aims to capture as many diverse participants as possible both on and off the stage, with Bitcoin Collective Operations Director Lucy-Rose Walker saying this is because The Bitcoin Collective believes that “Bitcoin is for all, and does not differentiate between gender, race or religion.”
OKX, a major global exchange, is harnessing its international network and expert personnel to support the grassroots Bitcoin movement in the UK. As it looks to bring better accessibility and educational resources to a global user-base, OKX will continue to empower the international Bitcoin community to deliver responsible trading principles.
Bitcoin Collective founders Jordan Walker, Jim Duffy and Lucy-Rose Walker are the Bitcoin advocates behindThe Bitcoin Collective podcast.
For further updates, follow The Bitcoin Collective onTwitter.
For further information, please contact:Media@okx.com
About OKXSince 2017, OKX has served a global community of people who share a common interest in participating in a new financial system that is designed to be a level playing field for everyone. Beyond the OKX trading app, the OKX Wallet is our latest offering for people looking to explore the world of NFTs and the metaverse while trading GameFi and DeFi tokens.
To learn more about OKX, download our app or visit:okx.com
About The Bitcoin CollectiveEvery once in a while on our planet an individual, a group or a technology creates change for good and a paradigm shift. We believe Bitcoin has that potential. But, as a technology it needs people's energy. The Bitcoin Collective, founded by Jordan Walker, Jim Duffy and Lucy-Rose Walker, is committed to creating an inclusive environment for an honest and open dialogue about the enormous potential of Bitcoin. Over the next five years we plan to deliver inspirational Bitcoin Conferences in the UK. We will support a grassroots movement with local Bitcoin groups in towns and cities across the UK educating those old and young with an aim of inspiring new Bitcoiners.
To learn more about The Bitcoin Collective, head over to ourwebsiteor contact us at:hello@bitcoincollective.co.uk
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: down || Prices: 23809.49, 23164.32, 23947.64, 23957.53, 24402.82, 24424.07, 24319.33, 24136.97, 23883.29, 23336.00
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
5 Travel Credit Cards With Annual Fees That Are Worth It (and 2 That Aren't): With so many credit cards out there that don't have anannual fee, why would you ever pay one?
Well, once all the rewards are factored in, a card with a high annual fee can actually be the most financially savvy choice.
It sounds counterintuitive: Pay more to save more? But if you plan to travel in the next year, you can save hundreds and even thousands of dollars by paying an annual fee on atravel credit cardand then using it strategically.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Of course, that doesn't mean that paying an annual fee is always a smart decision. Depending on the credit card and your travel habits, you could lose money.
Below, I've rounded up the best cards with annual fees, as well as a handful that probably aren't worth the fee.
[{"Credit Card": "Chase Sapphire Reserve", "Sign-Up Bonus": "50,000 points", "Minimum Spend to Earn Bonus": "$4,000 in 3 months", "Annual Fee": "$450", "Perks": "$300 annual travel creditTSA Precheck or Global Entry creditAirport lounge access3x points on travel"}, {"Credit Card": "The Platinum Card From American Express", "Sign-Up Bonus": "60,000 points", "Minimum Spend to Earn Bonus": "$5,000 in 3 months", "Annual Fee": "$550", "Perks": "$200 Uber credit$200 airline fee creditTSA Precheck or Global Entry creditAirport lounge access5x points on travel"}, {"Credit Card": "Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card", "Sign-Up Bonus": "Two free nights", "Minimum Spend to Earn Bonus": "$4,000 in 3 months", "Annual Fee": "$450", "Perks": "$300 travel creditTSA Precheck or Global Entry creditAirport lounge access5x points at Ritz-Carlton and Starwood Preferred Guest, 2x points on airfare and rental cars"}]
Source: Card issuers.
Even afterJPMorgan Chase(NYSE: JPM)cut this card's sign-up bonusin half last year, the Chase Sapphire Reserve's rewards still easily make up for its annual fee. Your first $300 in travel purchases -- whether that's for a flight, a couple of nights in a hotel room, or some Uber charges and a subway pass -- are credited back to you, bringing the net cost of the card down to $150. If you redeem your 50,000 points through Chase's Ultimate Rewards system, which gives Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders a 50% bonus on all redemptions, your sign-up bonus is worth at least $750. For frequent travelers, the addition of a credit for Global Entry and premium airport lounge access, plus three times the points on travel and dining, make this one of the best travel cards on the market.
American Express(NYSE: AXP)has long been known as the king of premium credit cards, although Chase is catching up quickly. While the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers much more flexibility with its award redemption and travel credits, the perks offered by the American Express Platinum Card far outweigh the annual fee if you're a frequent traveler looking for luxury. Unfortunately, the $200 travel credit applies only to certain airline fees rather than plane tickets -- and only to one airline, which you select. While this is limiting, the credit is offered once every calendar year, so you could potentially redeem it twice in your first 365 days as a cardholder, giving you $400 in statement credits. Add on the $200 annual Uber credit for rides in the United States, and you've already eclipsed the annual fee. The 60,000-point sign-up bonus adds at least $600 of value to the mix. Plus, you get Global Entry, lounge access, and elevated status with a number of hotel chains and car rental companies.
Unless you stay frequently at Ritz-Carlton or Marriott hotels and place a high value on room and club upgrades, this card's annual fee is hard to justify, especially when you compare it to the two cards mentioned above. Instead of points that can be redeemed for a variety of travel options, this card's sign-up bonus gives you two free nights at Tier 1 to Tier 4 Ritz-Carlton properties. While two nights at a Tier 4 Ritz-Carlton can easily be worth more than $450, this is not an area where most people would otherwise spend their money. The $300 travel credit is much more limited than the one offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve, as it can be used only for lounge access and airline fees such as seat upgrades and in-flight Wi-Fi. The card does come with hotel upgrades, club access, and two times the points on airline and rental car purchases, but even those perks are limited by strict terms and conditions.
[{"Credit Card": "Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card", "Sign-Up Bonus": "70,000 miles", "Minimum Spend to Earn Bonus": "$3,000 in 3 months", "Annual Fee": "$195", "Perks": "10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles$100 statement credit after first Delta purchaseAnnual companion certificateFree checked bagPriority boarding2x miles on Delta purchases"}]
Source: American Express.
Delta Air Lines(NYSE: DAL)also has a Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express with an annual fee that is waived for the first year, and that might be more worthwhile for some. However, for folks who fly Delta regularly, the Platinum is a great deal. The $100 statement credit brings the annual fee down to $95, and 70,000 SkyMiles are enough for one round-trip economy flight to London, Amsterdam, or Paris, or two round-trip economy flights to Central America. It's almost enough for three round-trip domestic flights in economy. The addition of 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles is valuable if you're on the cusp of qualifying for a higher status level, and the annual companion certificate is also worth a pretty penny.
[{"Credit Card": "JetBlue Plus Card", "Sign-Up Bonus": "40,000 miles", "Minimum Spend to Earn Bonus": "$1,000 in 90 days", "Annual Fee": "$99", "Perks": "Free checked bag10% points back with every award redemption50% off in-flight purchases6x points on JetBlue purchases2x points on restaurants and groceries"}, {"Credit Card": "British Airways Visa Signature Card", "Sign-Up Bonus": "50,000 miles + 25,000 miles", "Minimum Spend to Earn Bonus": "$3,000 in 3 months + $10,000 in one year", "Annual Fee": "$95", "Perks": "Travel Together Ticket if you spend $30,000 in a calendar year3x miles on British Airways purchases"}, {"Credit Card": "Hyatt Credit Card", "Sign-Up Bonus": "40,000 points", "Minimum Spend to Earn Bonus": "$2,000 in 3 months", "Annual Fee": "$75", "Perks": "One free night on card anniversaryHyatt \"Discoverist\" status3x points on Hyatt Hotels purchases2x points on restaurants, airlines, and rental cars"}]
Source: Card issuers.
JetBlue Airways(NASDAQ: JBLU)offers this Barclaycard credit card, as well as the JetBlue Card with no annual fee. If your airport is served by JetBlue, the Plus card is worth the $99 annual fee for the sign-up bonus alone. While 40,000 points isn't the largest sign-up bonus, JetBlue offers some incredible deals on certain routes. Recently, it has shown availability for one-way flights for as few as 4,000 points. You can fly round-trip from Las Vegas to New York for as few as 16,500 points, and you can even find deals on round-trip flights from New York to Costa Rica for as few as 10,300 points. That means you could take nearly four trips to Costa Rica with this sign-up bonus. Add the whopping six-times points bonus on all JetBlue purchases, 10% points back on all redemptions, a 50% discount on in-flight food and beverage purchases, and a free checked bag, and this credit card is a must for anyone who flies JetBlue even occasionally.
The British Airways Visa Signature Card comes with one of the biggest sign-up bonuses out there: 75,000 "Avios" (British Airways' version of "miles") if you can spend $10,000 in the first year, with $3,000 of that spending taking place in the first three months. While British Airways is infamous for charging high fuel surcharges on long-haul award flights, its short-haul flights are often a steal. One-way flights within Europe and South America start at only 4,000 Avios. You can also redeem Avios on partner airlines to avoid high surcharges, making them a great option for domestic travel on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Finally, if you're able to put $30,000 on the card in one calendar year, the Travel Together Ticket lets you take a companion with you on any flight -- domestic or international, economy or business class -- for free.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation(NYSE: H)offers the Hyatt Credit Card through Chase Bank for lovers of hotel luxury. This used to be a favorite for hotel rewards back when the sign-up bonus was two free nights at any Hyatt property, because those nights could be redeemed at hotels like the Park Hyatt New York, which costs upward of $1,000 per night. Unfortunately, the Hyatt Credit Card recently changed its sign-up bonus to 40,000 points, which are enough for only one night at its most luxurious properties. While free nights start at as low as 5,000 points for its Category 1 properties, those are few and far between -- and often in undesirable locations. Unless you have very specific plans for how you'd like to spend your Hyatt points (two nights at the Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica is a popular redemption option), this credit card is probably not worth the annual fee.
Sometimes spending money to save money makes sense, and sometimes it doesn't. But you shouldn't rule out a credit card simply because it has an annual fee. Consider first whether or not the perks and rewards might make the credit card worth it after all.
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Elizabeth Aldrichhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends American Express, Hyatt Hotels, and JetBlue Airways. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || U.S. regulator subpoenas cryptocurrency platforms Bitfinex and Tether: source: By Michelle Price and Anna Irrera WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. derivatives regulator has sent a subpoena to two of the world's largest cryptocurrency platforms, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, as watchdogs globally increase their scrutiny of the emerging asset class. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sent a subpoena on Dec. 6 to both Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange, and Tether, a company that issues a virtual currency, the person said, wishing to remain anonymous because the matter is private. Regulators send subpoenas in order to gather information into a range of inquiries. Reuters could not ascertain what information the CFTC requested from Bitfinex and Tether, or if the CFTC was formally investigating the cryptocurrency platforms. Donna Faulk White, a spokeswoman for the CFTC, declined to comment. A spokesman for Bitfinex and Tether, which are affiliated with each other, said in a statement: "We routinely receive legal process from law enforcement agents and regulators conducting investigations. It is our policy not to comment on any such requests." The subpoena was first reported by Bloomberg. Bitfinex is an online platform that enables traders to buy and sell virtual currencies such as bitcoin and ether. One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by trading volume, it is owned by a British Virgin Islands company and does not have a head office, Reuters reported in September. Bitfinex is affiliated with Tether, a company that issues virtual coins that it says are pegged to the U.S. dollar and can be used in the cryptocurrency market as a substitute for the dollar. The CFTC has been increasing its scrutiny of cryptocurrencies over the past few months, an emerging asset class that it has said is highly vulnerable to manipulation and fraudsters. Earlier this month the regulator sued three virtual currency operators for misappropriating investor funds which it said had falsely claimed to be investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In June 2016 the CFTC fined Bitfinex $75,000 for offering "illegal" cryptocurrency transactions and failing to register as a futures commission merchant. A few months later hackers stole 119,756 bitcoins from Bitfinex. Bitcoin was trading at around $10,000 on Tuesday. (Reporting by Michelle Price and Anna Irrera; Additional reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) || How Many Model X Will Tesla, Inc. Deliver This Quarter?: As 2018 progresses, Model 3 production and deliveries will undoubtedly be one of the hottest items forTesla(NASDAQ: TSLA) investors to watch -- and rightly so. The electric-car company is aiming for a ramp-up in Model 3 production to help it go from delivering just over 100,000 vehicles in 2017 to "hundreds of thousands" of vehicles in 2018.
But Tesla's Model X SUV is still relatively new and worth keeping a close eye on. In Tesla's most recent quarter, Model X deliveries hit a record high and were up 38% year over year. Can Model X deliveries climb higher again in the first quarter?
Model X. Image source: Tesla.
Launched in late 2015, the Model X was critical for Tesla at the time. The automaker had hoped the new SUV would ultimately double Tesla's sales volume as Model S sales growth tapered off.
This is almost exactly what happened. At the time of the Model X's launch, Model S annual sales were at about 50,000. In 2017, Tesla delivered about 55,000 Model S and 47,000 Model X.
Data source: Tesla quarterly SEC filings. Chart by author.
The Model X has been integral to both Tesla's continued sales growth and a surge in gross profit. Tesla's annual vehicle sales have risen from about 51,000 in 2015 to 101,000 in 2017. Meanwhile, Model X helped Tesla's annual gross profit surge from about $1 billion to $2.2 billion during this same period. This increase in gross profit has played a vital role in helping Tesla lay the groundwork for its important Model 3 launch and production ramp-up.
In 2018 and beyond, Tesla is hoping Model 3 will serve a similar role for its business as Model X did, but to an even greater degree. Investors, however, should still watch Model X deliveries. After all, the vehicle represents nearly half of Tesla's vehicle sales today.
Unless Tesla changes its 2018 production plans, investors shouldn't expect much growth in Model X deliveries during the year. Tesla management explicitly said in its fourth-quarter shareholder letter that it plans to keep Model S and X production at current levels.
"We expect Model S and Model X deliveries to be approximately 100,000 in total, constrained by the supply of cells with the old 18650 form factor," Tesla said. The move reflects Tesla's desire to focus on sales of higher-margin Model S and X as management optimizes their options mix, pushing the two vehicles' average selling prices higher.
A Model S and Model X. Image source: author.
So far, it looks like Tesla will be able to pull this off. Estimated delivery time frames for Model S and X orders placed today have been pushed all the way out until June -- and Tesla says this is simply because ofhigher demand, not slower production.
With this guidance and commentary in mind, investors should look for first-quarter Model X deliveries to be similar to the 13,000 Model X units Tesla delivered in Q4. But as Tesla optimizes its vehicles' options mix, investors should also look for Tesla's gross margin for combined Model S and X deliveries to start trending higher than the historical level of about 25% the two vehicles have achieved in the past.
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Daniel Sparksowns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Critical Mass: Will Florida Adopt a New Standard for Expert Testimony? Plus, DOJ Asks SCOTUS Not to Look at Cy Pres Payments: Welcome to Critical Mass , Law.com ’s new briefing on class actions and mass torts. I’m Amanda Bronstad in Los Angeles. All eyes are on Florida , where the state’s highest court is reviewing evidence standards , weighing whether it should shift from Frye to Daubert in evaluating expert testimony. The U.S. Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a petition to review cy pres --no matter how “regrettable” the payments may be. And AG Jeff Sessions ' announcement last week that the feds would take legal action against opioid companies came after a months-long court fight involving the DOJ's position on Drug Enforcement Agency records. Send your feedback to abronstad@alm.com , or find me on Twitter: @abronstadlaw. [caption id="attachment_25920" align="aligncenter" width="621"] Jim Ferraro of Ferraro Law Firm, left, and Elliot Scherker of Greenberg Traurig.[/caption] Will Florida Forsake Frye ? Evidentiary standards aren’t the most fascinating topics. But they often make or break a case. That’s why all eyes are on Florida , where the state’s Supreme Court is reviewing whether to change the evidentiary rules to move on from the Frye to the Daubert standard when looking at the admission of expert testimony. Here’s my colleague Celia Ampel ’s coverage of the case, which was set to go before the Florida Supreme Court Tuesday. A little background : In 2013, the Florida legislature enacted the Daubert standard, but the Supreme Court declined to adopt it until the right case come along. Enter DeLisle v. Crane , where an appeals court reversed an $8 million mesothelioma verdict after finding the judge should have excluded expert testimony under Daubert . Plaintiffs attorney Jim Ferraro of the Ferraro Law Firm is expected to argue against Richard Doran of Ausley McMullen who is representing defendant Crane Co ., and Elliot Scherker of Greenberg Traurig who is appearing for R.J. Reynolds. So what’s at stake? “Plaintiffs lawyers argue that they would have a harder time getting expert testimony accepted under Daubert , which might mean they take fewer clients or at the very least, lose more cases,” Celia told me. “Defense attorneys argue Daubert levels the playing field for corporations so they aren't facing giant verdicts that stem from what they argue is junk science. Defense lawyers also say Florida keeping Frye means plaintiffs can venue-shop, since so much of the rest of the country uses Daubert , and that affects defendants adversely, too.” Story continues DOJ on Cy Pres: 'Regrettable,' Not Reviewable The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a petition to review cy pres funds , despite previously calling the controversial payments “regrettable.” Law.com ’s Marcia Coyle wrote in this story about the DOJ’s brief opposing a petition to review a settlement between the U.S. government and Native American farmers and ranchers that included $380 million to third party nonprofits . Why is the DOJ opposing this? Because U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new policy in June (see here ) that generally prohibits government attorneys from engaging in settlements that involve cy pres payments. In the brief opposing review, SG Noel Francisco said the Justice Department’s new policy “will prevent the recurrence of circumstances like those that led to the modified cy pres provision here, in turn eliminating any need for this court’s guidance … “ But wait : The DOJ’s Rachel Brand also indicated last month that the feds would be reviewing more class action settlements (noted here) . That begs the question: Does that mean cy pres won't be under the DOJ’s microscope? Not exactly, said Joseph Sellers of Cohen Milstein , class counsel in the case before the Supreme Court. He told me there’s “an important distinction.” “Certainly, there are rules, there are statutes, in fact governing what may constitute permissible use of government funds,” he said. But that doesn't prevent the government from intervening in a cy pres case. “There are no statutory constraints on the terms that private parties may enter into.” DOJ Fought Before Deal on DEA's Opioid Data Timing is everything . In the months leading up to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ’ announcement of a Justice Department task force to prepare for potential involvement in opioid litigation , DOJ lawyers were trying to prevent a DEA drug distribution database from being disclosed. Here’s my story . Backstory : In October, when Trump formally declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, government lawyers opposed a subpoena for the database. But before that got any further, the MDL panel sent all the opioid cases to U.S. District Judge Dan Polster , who last month ordered both sides to come up with an agreement on the data. Now what happens? After much back-and-forth, the DOJ said Monday it had reached a deal. But it had one hitch : The data had to remain confidential . Who Got the Work? Southern California Edison has turned to John Hueston of Hueston Hennigan to respond to what are now 20 lawsuits filed on behalf of dozens of individuals who died, were injured or had property damages from a massive wildfire and mudslides that ravaged Southern California in December and January. Last month, plaintiffs lawyers at Lieff Cabraser and Capello Noël moved to create a Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding (JCCP) of the litigation. Hueston, the former federal prosecutor in the Enron trial, represented IMDb in its summary judgment win last month (see here ). Here's more you need to know this week: ➤ Taking Aim at Uber : Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has sued Uber for violating the state’s Breach of Personal Information Notification Act when it failed to disclose its 2016 data breach -- a $13.5 million mistake, Shapiro's office said. Here ’s the Law.com story. In a statement, Uber’s chief legal officer, Tony West , said he was surprised. Then added this not-so-conciliatory tidbit: “While we do not in any way minimize what occurred, it’s crucial to note that the information compromised did not include any sensitive consumer information such as credit card numbers or Social Security numbers, which present a higher risk of harm than driver’s license numbers.” ➤ No Contingency : The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a case challenging New Hampshire ’s hiring of outside counsel in it opioid case. According to Law.com ’s story (see here ), opioid manufacturer Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (repped by Arnold & Porter ’s Lisa Blatt ) had challenged the state’s retention of Cohen Milstein on a contingency fee basis. One side note : The firm’s lead attorney, Linda Singer , left last year for Motley Rice , which is now handling New Hampshire’s case. ➤ Money Malaise : Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase was hit with a class action that could be the first in federal court to allege insider trading claims over its announcement that it would handle Bitcoin Cash transactions. Law.com ’s story is here . But that’s not Coinbase’s only legal problem . Another class action, brought under California’s Unclaimed Property Law , alleges that Coinbase kept unclaimed crystocurrency. The complaint (see here ) acknowledges that Coinbase sent class members an email, and even included a link to create an account to redeem it. “But until 2017, most people never heard of a ‘bitcoin’ or cryptocurrency, so most of these emails were disregarded," the complaint says. || 3 Things Ford Motor Company Wants You to Know: Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) closed out 2017 on a somewhat sour note. Its pre-tax profit for the year was down 18% from its 2016 result , as rising costs and the discounts required to keep its aging product line competitive squeezed its margins . It was a stark contrast to the result from Ford's old cross-town rival, General Motors (NYSE: GM) . GM's pre-tax profit matched its record 2016 result , and GM executives spelled out an optimistic vision for the next few years. Following Ford's earnings report, CEO Jim Hackett, CFO Bob Shanks, and other senior executives held a conference call for investors in which they explained that they expect things to improve -- but not right away. Here are three highlights from that call. Hackett is seated before a white backdrop with a Ford logo. CEO Jim Hackett says Ford needs to improve its "fitness." Image source: Ford Motor Company. 1. Ford knows it has a "fitness" problem I and my team are not satisfied with this level of performance, and we see 2018 as the opportunity to prove to you that we can sharpen operational execution, dramatically improve the fitness we're talking about and continue making the big decisions strategically on where to play and how to win, and of course, properly allocate capital. -- CEO Jim Hackett Hackett, who played football in college, is fond of the "fitness" metaphor to describe a business's efficiency and profitability. Since taking Ford's top job last May, he has made it clear that he thinks Ford needs to be spending a lot more time in the financial gym. The problem in a nutshell: Ford's revenue has risen nicely over the last several years, but as Hackett points out, Ford's spending has kept pace, limiting its bottom-line gains. Reining in rising costs, focusing on higher-profit opportunities, and making the most of Ford's vast global scale are all part of his vision for making Ford a fitter company. A red 2017 Ford Escape SUV on a coastal road. While demand for compact SUVs has been soaring, U.S. sales of the Ford Escape were up just 0.4% last year. Image source: Ford Motor Company. Story continues 2. Much-needed new products are on the way The good news is that our investment in new product in recent years will really start to come to fruition in 2018. We have 23 global vehicle launches planned for this year, more than twice as many as 2017. -- Hackett In the second half [of 2018], we start a new wave of product launches in China, and we believe that freshness is going to be a really important part of our growth story in China again. -- Jim Farley, EVP and president of Global Markets Ford's profitability in 2015 and 2016 was driven largely by its "crown jewels," the F-Series pickups. Ford has lavished its huge-selling trucks with investments and updates over the last few years, and there's no question that those efforts have paid off in a big way. But in the meantime, other important Ford products that were once very competitive have fallen behind newer entries from rivals. Models like the Escape and the Explorer SUVs compete in white-hot (and very profitable) market segments, but they're dated models that have lost ground to rivals over the last year. That has been an especially big problem in China, a fast-moving market where Ford lost significant share in 2017. But as Hackett and Farley explained, that situation is set to change: Ford has a slew of new and refreshed products headed to market in 2018. Those new products should help give Ford's sagging profit margins a boost. A slide from Ford’s fourth-quarter earnings presentation showing that it has 23 new or refreshed products set to launch in 2018, up from just 11 in 2017. Image source: Ford Motor Company. 3. Hackett still isn't ready to reveal his fitness plan Two related questions have hung in the air since Hackett took over as Ford's CEO last May: How will he improve Ford's "fitness," and when will those efforts pay off? Hackett has talked generally about his goals for Ford and has said there are six initiatives under way that he expects will yield significant improvements over time: We've identified these 6 work streams. They're up and running. And the benefits, we're talking about '18 and '19, some of them. The bulk of [the benefits] from what I see comes a little later [than 2019] because some of these are substantial redesigns [of Ford's processes]. But much to the consternation of the Wall Street analysts who cover Ford, he hasn't yet said what those six initiatives are, or when (and how) they'll pay off. That'll happen soon, Hackett said, but he sees good reasons for holding off. I also want to emphasize something here, which is in the design of fitness, one of the things you have to do, in addition to having you understand where we're going and our people understanding that, is you can't disrupt the flow of the business. I can tell you legendary stories where certain enterprise systems were put in prematurely and the business was disrupted. So what you'd be witnessing now in the way that we started this work is we've long identified where we want to work. We're now in the redesign phase. We're now dimensioning the value. We've assigned responsibilities. I'm meeting with teams weekly. I just had a big meeting Friday with people in the company. And it's getting close to the point where I think we can start to bring you under the tent. But it's not tonight. -- Hackett Hackett closed out the call by saying that he is "really confident" that investors will be happy with the plan once it's announced. We'll see. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Rosevear owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Investigating Industrial ETFs – Good Time to Invest?: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR ( XLI ) , the largest exchange traded fund tracking industrial stocks, and other major cap-weighted industrial ETFs are mostly flat this year, but some market observers believe opportunity remains with this highly cyclical sector. Aerospace and defense stocks, such as Boeing Co. ( BA ), have been major drivers of the industrial sector's strength since the 2016 presidential election. Traditional industrial ETFs such as XLI feature significant aerospace and defense exposure. The allure of late-cycle sectors, including industrials, in a rising rate environment remains in place. Industrials perform well when interest rates rise because rising rates can go hand-in-hand with economic growth. Increased infrastructure spending is also seen as a catalyst for industrial stocks and ETFs. “In general, the global economic indicators that we track continue to suggest growth and stability in 2018, which should be favorable for the industrials sector,” reports ETF Daily News . “Increases in growth and output, coupled with corporate tax reforms, will likely increase demand and spending. Additional government spending on defense and infrastructure will also be a potential positive driver of performance in the industrial sector.” Potential catalysts for aerospace ETFs include include, renewed airline pricing power evidenced by higher ticket prices, and more fees paid per traveler, increased airline profitability, new aircraft program launches and continued demand for aircraft models and technology. “Fundamental indicators reflect support for the aerospace and defense industry, a key space in the industrials sector,” according to ETF Daily News. “Demand appears strong for aircraft globally. Additionally, with corporate tax-cuts in the U.S., we expect stronger demand for smaller airplanes to grow. Finally, an increase in defense spending domestically should also bode well for the industry.” Story continues Increased infrastructure spending could also boost industrial ETFs. While he was campaigning, President Donald Trump’s pledge to spend $1 trillion shoring up U.S. infrastructure needs was seen as a potential catalyst for the related exchange traded funds. Still, it could take some time for infrastructure ETFs to see the full benefit of Trump’s still nascent infrastructure plans. “Other industrial industries should also benefit from growing demand as global economies improve and stabilize. As demand and output remain stable, transports should see support. A successful infrastructure spending bill would provide a further boost to equities in the industrial sector,” according to ETF Daily News. Rivals to XLI include the Fidelity MSCI Industrials Index ETF ( FIDU ), iShares U.S. Industrials ETF ( IYJ ) and the Vanguard Industrials ETF ( VIS ) . For more information on the markets, visit our S&P 500 category . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM Index Says Bitcoin Dominance is Rising What’s Holding Back Marijuana ETFs? Keeping it Short With a Treasury ETF Tariff News Doesn’t Lift Steel ETF Should You Borrow from Your 401(k)? READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || South Korea says no plans to ban cryptocurrency exchanges, uncovers $600 million illegal trades: By Dahee Kim and Cynthia Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister said the government has no plans to shut down cryptocurrency trading, welcome news for investors worried that authorities might go as far as China's tough action in blocking virtual coin platforms. The comment by Kim Dong-yeon on Wednesday comes as traders at home and around the world have been spooked by conflicting comments from government officials in South Korea, a major hub for cryptocurrency trade, that Seoul was planning to ban local digital coin exchanges. "There is no intention to ban or suppress cryptocurrency (market)," Kim said, adding the government's immediate task is to regulate exchanges. Reinforcing Seoul's intent to tighten the screws on a market widely seen as opaque and risky by global policymakers, the country's customs earlier on Wednesday announced it had uncovered illegal cryptocurrency foreign exchange trading worth nearly $600 million. "Customs service has been closely looking at illegal foreign exchange trading using cryptocurrency as part of the governments task force," it said. South Korea has been at the forefront of pushing for broad regulatory oversight of cryptocurrency trading as many locals, including students and housewives, jumped into a frenzied market despite warnings from policy makers around the world of a bubble. Seoul previously said that it is considering shutting down local cryptocurrency exchanges, which threw the market into turmoil and hammered bitcoin prices. Officials later clarified that an outright ban is only one of the steps being considered, and a final decision was yet to be made. CRYPTO CRIMES Customs said about 637.5 billion won ($596.02 million) worth of foreign exchange crimes were detected. Illegal foreign currency trading of 472.3 billion formed the bulk of the cryptocurrency crimes, it said in a statement, but gave no details on what action authorities were taking against the rule breaches. Story continues In one case, an illegal FX agency collected a total of 1.7 billion won ($1.59 million) from local residents in a form of "electric wallet" coins to transfer it to a partner agent abroad. The partner agent then cashed them out and distributed the settlement to clients based in that country, according to the statement. In South Korea, only licensed banks and brokers can offer foreign exchange services. Local companies and residents who move more than $3,000 out of the country at a time must submit documents to tax authorities explaining reasons for the transfers. Annual overseas transfers of more than $50,000 must also be reported with similar documents. Effective from Jan. 30, authorities imposed rules which allow only real-name bank accounts to be used for cryptocurrency trading designed to stop virtual coins from being used for money laundering and other crimes. Among other breaches, Customs said there were also cases where investors in Japan sent their yen worth 53.7 billion won to their partners in South Korea for illegal currency trade. It said authorities will continue to monitor for any violations of foreign exchange rules or of money laundering activities. Bitcoin stood at $10,123.13 as of 0842 GMT on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. The heightened regulatory scrutiny around the world, however, has seen bitcoin dive about 27.1 percent so far this month, on track for its biggest monthly decline since January 2015. Cryptocurrencies got another jolt last week after Tokyo-based exchange Coincheck said hackers stole over $500 million in one of the world's biggest cyber heists. (Reporting by Dahee Kim, Cynthia Kim and Shin-hyung Lee; Editing by Sam Holmes & Shri Navaratnam) || Whitney Tilson Is Betting Big on Buffett and Tech: Investors looking to gain an edge could do worse than follow the example of renowned investor Warren Buffett. The chairman and CEO of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) has led the company to extraordinary returns, gaining 2,404,708% between 1964 and 2017 -- a compound annual return of 20.9%. Hedge fund managers have long been a target of Buffett's ire, as he urged investors to put their money into low-cost index funds, saying that the massive fees levied by professional money managers would eat into returns. In a move steeped in irony, famous former hedge manager Whitney Tilson is betting half of his children's college funds on Buffett. Warren Buffet being photographed. Would you bet your kids' college fund on the market moves of this man? Image source: The Motley Fool. A big bet on Buffet and Berkshire Tilson revealed in an email to investors that he would be investing the money he set aside for his kids' college educations and dividing it among just five stocks, according to ValueWalk -- 50% would be invested in Berkshire Hathaway, 25% in The Howard Hughes Corporation , with the remaining 25% divided roughly evenly among Amazon.com , Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) , and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) . On his decision to place the majority of the funds in Berkshire Hathaway, Tilson said that the company "has everything I look for in a stock: It's safe, cheap, and growing at a healthy rate." Buffett has repeatedly said that Berkshire Hathaway would be an enthusiastic buyer of its own stock if it fell below 1.2 times book value , a strategy that Tilson believes will provide a floor against significant drops in the stock price. Relying on hedge funds' staunchest critic? In order to fully appreciate the irony of this move, a history lesson is in order. The Oracle of Omaha famously challenged hedge fund managers, wagering $500,000 that no investment pro could aggregate the returns of five hedge funds and beat an S&P 500 index fund over a 10-year period. Only one stepped forward to accept the challenge. When the bet concluded last year, Buffett emerged victorious, with the index fund significantly outperforming the professionals. Story continues For those thinking that this might be an anomaly, consider this: While the average hedge fund returned 8.5% in 2017, the S&P 500 gained 21.8% "I was wrong about Google" In 2004, Tilson famously wrote in a column that he was "quite certain that there is only a fairly shallow, narrow moat around [Google's search] business." He also said, "I believe that it is virtually certain that Google's stock will be highly disappointing to investors foolish enough to participate in its overhyped offering -- you can hold me to that." Tilson also questioned the logic of valuing the company at "nearly 200 times trailing earnings." We all know how that turned out. Since then, Google's (now Alphabet's) stock has gained over 2,000%. More than a decade after his original pronouncement, Tilson stated that it was his "worst call ever." That decision was based primarily on valuation, he said, "in part because the stock has always appeared expensive to me, using the traditional valuation metrics with which I'm most comfortable." Tilson now says that "Google has a very powerful virtuous cycle at work," citing its large user and advertiser bases, monetization, heavy research-and-development spending, superior product, and high barriers to entry. He also lays out a case that Alphabet's stock could double over the next four years. Of both Alphabet and Facebook, Tilson wrote, "They dominate their respective industries all over the world; are growing rapidly; have enormous, sustainable competitive advantages in the form of brands, habits, and network effects; and have low-capital-intensive, high-margin business models that generate gobs of free cash flow." He now believes that Alphabet and Facebook are the "two greatest businesses on earth." A lesson learned The lesson here isn't that investors should follow Tilson blindly into the stocks mentioned, rather that investors shouldn't fall in love with long-held beliefs -- particularly if there is evidence that they are wrong. It's never too late to make the right decision. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Danny Vena owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and Facebook. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and Facebook. The Motley Fool has the following options: short March 2018 $200 calls on Facebook and long March 2018 $170 puts on Facebook. The Motley Fool recommends The Howard Hughes Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ tops the iPhone X in new leaked benchmark: There’s not much time left until Samsung officially takes the wraps off of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ — nor is there much left to unveil — but that hasn’t stopped the leaks from pouring out. In fact, just hours ago the Galaxy S9+ appeared to pass through the AnTuTu benchmarking tool, confirming some of the rumored specs. As expected, the Galaxy S9+ (codenamed SM-G9650) will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM (as opposed to 4GB for the Galaxy S9) and an Adreno 630 GPU. But the number that stands out is the score at the bottom of the listing: 265267. That’s even higher than the iPhone X has been scoring. Don't Miss : Amazon has $9.99 LED light bulbs that can be controlled by Alexa and Google Assistant Whether or not the Galaxy S9+ will actually be able to match (or even top) the iPhone X is still a mystery, but there’s little doubt that the S9 and S9+, powered by Qualcomm’s latest chipset, will be the fastest Galaxy phones ever made. Just last week, gadget leaker Ice universe shared screenshots of the Geekbench benchmarks for the Snapdragon 845, and while it crushes the S8’s numbers, it still falls well short of beating out Apple’s latest flagship. Other rumored specs for the S9+ that aren’t included on AnTuTu include a 6.2-inch display, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and, for the first time on a Galaxy S flagship, dual cameras on the back of the phone. Samsung is expected to debut the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ at MWC 2018 on February 25th. The phone has yet to be officially announced, but Samsung released a few teaser videos for the new phones on YouTube earlier today. BGR Top Deals: Amazon has $9.99 LED light bulbs that can be controlled by Alexa and Google Assistant The hottest iPhone and Android accessory we’ve covered in 2018 so far is only $37 on Amazon Trending Right Now: Samsung’s first official Galaxy S9 teaser videos show off new features Feast your eyes on the first ever photo of a single atom hovering in thin air Bitcoin is testing $9,000, but Litecoin is the one to watch See the original version of this article on BGR.com || Bitcoin Looks Above $10K, But Resistance May Await: Having hit two-week highs, bitcoin is now aiming for the $10,000 mark and beyond, but further gains may be transient, the charts indicate.
Bitcoin (BTC) picked up bid yesterday following a bullish breakout on charts and rose above $9,000 in a convincing manner. The cryptocurrency moved higher to $9,961 today - the highest level since Feb. 1, as perCoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index(BPI).
As of writing, BTC is up more than 60 percent from the Feb. 6 low below $6,000. Furthermore, in the last 24 hours, BTC has appreciated by nearly 12 percent.
The price rise should put to rest the fears that bitcoin may take a beating or move in a sideways manner during the Chinese holiday lull. Besides, asdiscussed yesterday, February has been a good month for bitcoin since 2015.
Still, the chart analysis suggests that a continued rally above $10,000 may not have legs.
Meanwhile, the broader markets are also solidly bid, currently. Litecoin has appreciated by 28 percent in the last 24 hours and is the biggest gainer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Meanwhile, ethereum's ether token, Ripple's XRP, Stellar and NEO are up at least 8 percent each.
The abovechart(prices as per Coinbase) shows:
• BTC has moved above the resistance at $9,181.48 (23.6 percent Fibonacci retracement of the sell-off from record highs).
• Momentum studies: 5-day moving average (MA) and 10-day MA are curled up in favor of the bulls.
• The relative strength index (RSI) is on the rise, indicating a potential for a further rally in prices.
So, BTC looks set to test $10,000 and may extend gains to $11,000 as suggested by theinverse head and shoulders breakout.
However, gains above $10,000 are to be viewed with caution, the weekly chart indicates.
• The bearish 5-week MA and 10-week MA crossover suggest the weekly chart outlook remains bearish.
• Also, the 5-week MA is sloping downwards in favor of the bears and is currently seen at $9,826.55.
• TheRSIremains below resistance zone of 53.00-55.00 (previous support zone), also in favor of the bears.
• While a rally to $11,000 is likely, the sustainability of gains above the $10,000 mark is under question.
• Bearish scenario: Failure to hit $10,000, followed by a daily close (as per UTC) below $7,851 (Feb. 11 low), would validate the bearish weekly chart and open the doors for a deeper sell-off to as low as $6,000.
Disclosure:CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Coinbase and Ripple.
Metro barriersimage via Shutterstock
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Toulouse : Beercoin – Bitcoin, Ethereum & cryptocurrencies http://dlvr.it/QFByhY pic.twitter.com/mhbtBQF4Mc || New market on Binance has just gone live: BLZ_BTC https://www.binance.com/trade.html?symbol=BLZ_BTC … || The rise of Bitcoin’s price after the drop is testament to the number of people banking on the get rich quick snake oil. It’s going to end in tears for many as the real money is being made by those who had BTC in single digits. They are the loudest gobs and have little to lose. || Much better if http://coins.ph accepts XLM to be converted to Philippine Peso. As things stand, it only accepts bitcoin for conversion to peso. And yes, it comes with a high fee. || Bitcoin Price LIVE: As BTC falls past $6k - 'Buttcoin' community celebrate with champagne https://trib.al/Z7dbGGk || #Srv El precio actual del #Bitcoin es u$s9250.00 pic.twitter.com/OcpbyFA6l7 || basically draw a line along the average of price for The entire age of bitcoin, the recent spikes wouldn't count, and the price would be around 2650, if the gradual gain in price maintained. || Gana $45,00 Usd Por Afiliar, Quieres ganarte dólares con Bitcoin sin tanto esfuerzo? Es solo de ···· https://goo.gl/Cdo6SQ - #España || #btc #bitcoin bakalım yukarı mı kıracak aşağı mı? Yukarı kırarsa 8500'den geri döner. Aşağı kırarsa pc kapatıp 1-2 hafta açmayın :) pic.twitter.com/jswYeC7RpV || To the Mooooooon ! #btc #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/c4rNvuO5Lw
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Trend: down || Prices: 8209.40, 7833.04, 7954.48, 7165.70, 6890.52, 6973.53, 6844.23, 7083.80, 7456.11, 6853.84
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-11-02]
BTC Price: 20159.50, BTC RSI: 53.25
Gold Price: 1645.70, Gold RSI: 44.52
Oil Price: 90.00, Oil RSI: 57.17
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
3 Chinese Tech Stocks That Will Outwit the Bear: U.S. investors have been tentative in investing in Chinese securities of late. That is mainly because of the increased volatility due to country-specific risks and a worldwide economic slowdown. Consequently, many Chinese tech stocks are now trading at a hefty bargain, offering attractive entry points for traders and investors. Over the past couple of years, fierce government-led regulatory crackdowns have dramatically declined Chinese tech companies. Nevertheless, the Chinese stock market remains a long-standing investment opportunity for traders. Though the stability of Chinese tech companies has been compromised immensely, their long-term growth runways point to a massive upside in the future; moreover, with multiple Chinese stocks taking a beating over the past couple of years, it’s perhaps the best time to add a few of them to their portfolios. BABA Alibaba $76.34 NTES NetEase $70.68 BIDU Baidu $102.29 InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Alibaba ( BABA ) baba value stocks Source: BigTunaOnline / Shutterstock.com Alibaba (NYSE: BABA ) has been in the crosshairs of the Chinese government over the past couple of years, meaningfully impacting its profits. 2022 appeared to be a fresh start for BABA, with its regulatory woes in the rearview mirror. However, the coronavirus outbreak in major cities across China further intensified problems for BABA and its peers. Though its core commerce business has slowed down considerably in the past few quarters, its weak performance has been offset by strong growth in its cloud and logistics divisions. Alibaba’s diversified business model is paying dividends in the current economic climate and is likely to be its strength for years to come. For instance, its commerce business posted a 1% decline in sales , which was more than offset by the 10% jump in sales from its cloud segment. Moreover, the company continues to post double-digit growth in its profit margins, while its free cash flow margins have held up remarkably well. It’s using these profits to invest in new businesses such as local consumer services, international expansion, and others. Also, analysts at Refinitiv state that BABA stock is trading at over a 90% discount to its consensus price target, which makes it a highly attractive bet. Story continues NetEase ( NTES ) netease (NTES) logo on a mobile phone screen representing earnings reports Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES ) is one of the top internet businesses in China, mainly focused on gaming, generating over 70% of its sales. It has recently expanded into related services covering innovative content, communication, and commerce. It’s one of the few Chinese tech stocks that did relatively well in the stock market last year, arguably the worst year for the sector. Furthermore, its business has proven resilient in the face of the current market headwinds. Its second-quarter sales shot up 12.8% from the prior-year period to $3.5 billion, an encouraging sign for its gaming unit given the economic slowdown. Moreover, the release of its highly anticipated Diablo Immortal mobile game should boost its top and bottom-line results in the upcoming quarters. It also released a healthcare-education game that could also gain strong traction. Overall it’s a rock-solid business that continues to generate double-digit growth across both lines while trading at multi-year lows. Thus, it is one of the top Chinese tech stocks to buy. Baidu ( BIDU ) A Baidu (BIDU) sign outside a company office in Shenzhen, China. Source: StreetVJ / Shutterstock.com Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ) is often referred to as the Google of China. It operates the largest search engine in the country with a market share of over 65% and is the fourth-largest cloud platform. Over the years, it’s been a remarkably consistent performer generating strong earnings and sales over the past several years. Recent results have been lackluster, to say the least, though. However, similar to BABA, BIDU’s robust cloud business helped offset the lack of growth in its core business. The company will benefit from the expansion of the cloud sector over the long term, along with a cyclical rebound in advertising spending. Furthermore, the company recently sold off its stake in its struggling streaming business in iQiyi, which should help boost bottom-line results significantly. Also, its self-driving taxi business already lives in multiple cities in China, progressing much faster than Google’s Waymo project. Therefore, it is one of the top Chinese tech stocks to buy right now. On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Muslim Farooque is a keen investor and an optimist at heart. A life-long gamer and tech enthusiast, he has a particular affinity for analyzing technology stocks. Muslim holds a bachelor’s of science degree in applied accounting from Oxford Brookes University. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade “On Air” It doesn’t matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post 3 Chinese Tech Stocks That Will Outwit the Bear appeared first on InvestorPlace . || First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Regains $20K, Bucking the Swoon in Stocks: • Price Point:Bitcoin has managed to regain the $20,000 level, remaining steady during the recent crash of fiat currencies against the U.S. dollar. Some analysts are predicting the cryptocurrency will decouple from stocks.
• Market Moves:Short-bitcoin investment products assets under management rose to $172 million last week, the highest on record, prompting some profit-taking with the first outflow in seven weeks totaling $5.1 million.
• Chart of the Day:The U.S. longer-duration Treasury notes now offer 4% yield, which makes risky assets look less attractive to investors.
This article originally appeared inFirst Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context.Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
Bitcoin (BTC) regained ground Tuesday as equities remained weak, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing down Monday. Some analysts are saying bitcoin has perhaps decoupled from broader financial markets that are on the downside, even if only briefly.
The U.K.'s pound recovered somewhat, as investors digested statements from the Bank of England. Bitcoin, after hitting lows of $18,500 over the weekend, is now trading above $20,000.
Over the last 24 hours, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market valueis up 6%, according to CoinDesk data.
“Bitcoin’s recent bouncecame a bit out of the blue and is reinforcing the decorrelation to equities we have seen very recently,” said Florian Giovannacci, head of trading at Covario AG.
“It was helped a bit by a weaker dollar, but for me, it shows the strong demand for BTC under $20k,” Giovannacci added. “This drop of correlation needs to be confirmed before speaking about decoupling.”
Unus sed leo (LEO), which is issued byiFinex, the parent company of crypto exchange Bitfinex, was up 7% on the day and is up 16% year to date. Matteo Bottacini, an analyst at Crypto Finance AG, said the year-to-date performance is “a result of great tokenomics.”
Uniswap (UNI) rallied by 17% on the day alongside gains for other altcoins.
In the news, crypto exchange FTXwonthe bidding war to buy the assets of bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital, Voyager said in apress releaselate Monday. FTX was bidding againstWave Financial, a digital-asset investment firm.
And, financial-services firm Galaxy Digital hasteamedup with Chainlink Labs to bring crypto pricing data to blockchains.
[{"Asset": "Keep3rV1", "Ticker": "KP3R", "Returns": "+11.6%", "DACS Sector": "Currency"}, {"Asset": "Uniswap", "Ticker": "UNI", "Returns": "+10.47%", "DACS Sector": "DeFi"}, {"Asset": "STEPN", "Ticker": "GMT", "Returns": "+7.21%", "DACS Sector": "Culture & Entertainment"}]
[{"Asset": "Terra Luna Classic", "Ticker": "LUNA", "Returns": "-10.71%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Terra", "Ticker": "LUNA2", "Returns": "-5.23%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Ribbon Finance", "Ticker": "RBN", "Returns": "-0.57%", "DACS Sector": "DeFi"}]
Sector classifications are provided via theDigital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. TheCoinDesk Market Index (CMI)is a broad-based index designed to measure the market capitalization weighted performance of the digital asset market subject to minimum trading and exchange eligibility requirements.
Crypto Fund Inflows Totaled $8.3M Last Week: CoinShares
By Lyllah Ledesma
Digital-asset investment products witnessed inflows of $8.3 million last week, signaling investors’ appetite for digital assets continues to be tepid, according to data fromCoinShares.
Short-bitcoin investment products assets under management rose to $172 million, the highest on record, prompting some profit-taking with the first outflow in seven weeks totaling $5.1 million.
Investors dipped into ethereum, which saw $7 million in inflows last week, the first week of net inflows for the token after the Ethereum blockchain’s software update called theMergeand following four weeks of outflows.
The recent launch of a short-ethereum investment product saw minor inflows of $1.1 million.
U.S. Long Bonds Offer 4% Yield
By Omkar Godbole
• The U.S. longer-duration Treasury notes now offer 4% yield. That has massive implications for both traditional and crypto markets.
• The 4% yield on the 10-year note makes equities less attractive. Meanwhile, investors who poured money into the dollar-pegged stablecoins early this year, may now liquidate their holdings and switch to the relatively risk-free Treasurys.
• Stablecoins are risky compared with the Treasurys and may soon fall under the regulatory hammer.
• Recently, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler reiterated that stablecoins need more regulation.
• Meanwhile, a New York court asked Tether, the company behind the world's largest stablecoin tether (USDT) to prove 1-to-1 backing of its dollar-pegged cryptocurrency.
• London-Based Asset Manager Fasanara Capital Establishes $350M Crypto VC Fund:Fasanara Capital's $350 million VC fund will invest in fintech and Web3 companies.
• Bitcoin Mining's Sustainable Electricity Mix May Be Declining, Says Cambridge University Research Organization:The CCAF uses publicly available data to run a theoretical model to estimate the environmental footprint of bitcoin mining. || Fidelity Digital Assets to allow clients to trade Ether: Fidelity Digital Assets will allow clients to trade Ether from Oct. 28, according to a company email shared by Fidelity’s customersvia Twitter.
See related article:Fidelity considers Bitcoin trading on brokerage platform: WSJ
• Institutional investors will be able to buy, sell and trade ETH, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
• “With the Ethereum Merge completed, many investors are looking at Ethereum through a new lens,” wrote Fidelity in the email, likely referring to how Ethereum became more energy-efficient after the update.
• Fidelity Digital Assets, an execution and custody services provider, is the crypto arm of asset management giant Fidelity Investments that has over US$4.5 trillion in assets under management.
• The move comes after Fidelity launched a US$5 million Ethereum Index Fund earlier this month, according to the company’sSEC filing.
• Fidelity Investments launched Fidelity Digital Assets in 2018, which offers an exchange-traded crypto fund for the metaverse and one focused on digital payments.
• Despite more institutional adoption on the horizon, Ether shed 0.8% of its value in the last 24 hours, trading at US$1,292 at 5.30 p.m. in Hong Kong, according to data fromCoinGecko.
See related article:Fidelity allows retirement investments in Bitcoin || Markets: Bitcoin price holds under US$20,000; Ether falls nearly 10%: Bitcoin continued trading below the US$20,000 support line in Friday afternoon trading in Asia. Ether fell in a “sell the news” mood after the Ethereum network completed the network Merge on Thursday. Most other coins among the top 10 by market capitalization dropped. See related article: Markets: Bitcoin dips below US$20,000; Ether, ETC fall post-Merge Fast facts Bitcoin fell 2.23% in the past 24 hours to change hands at US$19,757 as of 4 p.m. in Hong Kong. Ether (ETH) slid 9.86% to US$1,472 and saw a seven-day loss of 13.63%, according to data from CoinMarketCap . ETH was the largest loser among the top 10 coins, followed by Solana, which dropped 5.07%. XRP fell 4.32%. Ethereum Classic (ETC), the token from the original chain from which ETH was forked, lost 11.63%. Ethereum’s long-awaited “Merge” concluded on Thursday, pushing the ETH price as high as US$1,648 at one stage. In a statement shared with Forkast late Thursday, Anto Paroian, CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund ARK36, said many investors would see the Merge completion as a “sell the news” type of event. After the initial surge, “we may actually see the price of Ethereum drop within the next few days or weeks,” Paroian said, adding just like the rest of the crypto markets, ETH is still very much driven by the negative macroeconomic outlook. Asia equity markets traded down, following on Wall Street’s fall overnight. The Shanghai Composite index lost 2.3%, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index closed down 0.89%. The Nikkei 225 index fell 1.1%. The Chinese yuan weakened past 7 per U.S. dollar , the psychologically important level, for the first time in two years. China posted better-than-expected August industrial production and retail sales data on Friday. Its industrial output grew 4.2% in August from a year ago, beating the 3.8% in a Reuters poll, and August retail sales rose 5.4%, higher than the 3.5% forecast. The U.S. released higher-than-expected August retail sales figures on Thursday, with a 0.3% increase from July. Meanwhile, fewer unemployment claims in the week ended Sept. 10 suggest a robust economy that may support the Federal Reserve’s policy of aggressive interest rate increases to tame inflation. The U.S. central bank will make its latest decision on interest rates at its next meeting on Sept. 20-21. See related article: As “The Merge” succeeds, rival ETHPoW fork falters || Huobi signs agreement with city of Busan to nurture blockchain industry growth: Busan, South Korea --News Direct-- Huobi Global Huobi Global and Huobi Korea announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Busan Metropolitan City government. Under the agreement, Huobi Global and Huobi Korea will work closely with the city to develop its blockchain industry, supporting its vision to become a global digital assets hub. The partnership covers the provision of R&D, technology and financial support for the Busan Digital Currency Exchange, as well as the recruitment of global blockchain talent for the Busan local exchange. Huobi has been operating in South Korea through a local office since 2019, where it is regulated under a license issued by the Korean Financial Services Commission last year. This makes Huobi the first digital asset exchange with a physical presence in Korea to cooperate with the Busan Metropolitan City government in blockchain development. Huobi’s operational experience in Korea and its understanding of the local market, coupled with its strong track record of delivering premium services to users in the region, will give it a distinct advantage in helping Busan build a sound blockchain ecosystem. It has cultivated strong relationships with major local groups in the development of its own blockchain business, with close ties to the Korean blockchain industry. Huobi Korea has also explored innovative business ventures with other companies in Korea, under an approach that emphasizes mutual benefits. As a pioneer and industry leader in the application of blockchain technology, Huobi has had a longstanding commitment to building blockchain infrastructure since its inception. It has invested in several prominent blockchain projects, and is willing to actively partner with high-potential project teams to address key challenges in the digital economy. As a one-stop platform which offers blockchain applications and services targeted at various industries, Huobi focuses on driving the development of the blockchain industry, leveraging the combined expertise of the Huobi Research Institute and Huobi Academy to deliver professional services for the entire life cycle of the blockchain industry. Story continues Huobi Korea CEO Junyong Choi said, "We’re excited to be working with the city of Busan to transform it into a global digital assets hub. We believe that Busan has strong attributes for fostering innovation and growth, and share their belief that blockchain technologies can transform and benefit traditional industries. We look forward to leveraging our expertise and experience to grow blockchain adoption in the city and across the region." Heong-Joon Park, Mayor of Busan, said, “The City of Busan is pleased to partner with Huobi to foster the growth of our blockchain ecosystem. As a blockchain regulation-free zone, Busan offers a conducive environment to develop the latest digital financial technologies, which has attracted many blockchain companies from across the world. I hope Huobi will spread the word on Busan’s strong environment and support for digital finance, so that we can draw more blockchain talent to our city.” To reinforce its commitment, Huobi will also be the main sponsor for Busan Blockchain Week 2022, which will begin on October 27. Huobi invites potential partners to connect with it at its booth. Interested co-investors can also contact IR-kr@hb.co.kr, and project parties interested in listing their tokens can contact listing-kr@hb.co.kr for more information. About Huobi Korea Established in 2018, Huobi Korea is part of Huobi Group, one of the world's leading blockchain companies. Huobi Korea is dedicated to providing reliable and secure services as an exchange, with plans to develop a more comprehensive blockchain ecosystem, including a blockchain research institute, portal businesses and financial services. For more info, visit www.hb.co.kr About Huobi Global Founded in 2013, Huobi Global is one of the world's leading cryptocurrency exchanges, with tens of millions of users across five continents and 160 different countries and regions. We are dedicated to empowering financial freedom and creating new global wealth, having led the cryptocurrency industry in spot, derivatives, and Bitcoin transactions for many years. Our infrastructure, operations and offerings are built on processes and standards that prioritize user safety and industry compliance, backed by strong global customer support underpinned by local expertise. It offers a unique trading environment that is truly customer-first, safe and sustainable for all users, enabling their long-term success. For more information, visit www.huobi.com Contact Details Huobi PR team +1 401-244-8310 intlpr@huobi.com Company Website https://www.huobi.com/ View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/huobi-signs-agreement-with-city-of-busan-to-nurture-blockchain-industry-growth-929474207 || Women in Crypto Q&A: Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald Focuses on Underserved: Leah Wald is the co-founder and CEO of digital asset fund manager Valkyrie Investments. She spoke to us about how her experience working in Africa for the World Bank and working at Veterati, a technology company that aims to help unemployed and transitioning veterans find employment through mentorship, helped her shape her work at Valkyrie. The Future of Finances: Gen Z & How They Relate to Money See Why: This Credit Score Mistake Could Be Costing Millions of Americans Wald also spoke about how focusing on the idea that helping underserved populations rise up is fundamental to a functioning society and how, in that vein, decentralized financial applications have the potential “to fundamentally change access to banking services for unbanked and under-banked individuals is unprecedented in our lifetimes.” She also explained why the crypto space needs more regulatory clarity , as it would “open the floodgates to broader adoption across all kinds of investors,” and the fact that crypto matters because it is a perfect form of money that is for everyone, “a completely democratic asset.” How did you come to the crypto industry? LW : Back in 2010, while working in Africa for the World Bank, I learned about M-PESA, a micro-payments platform that works via text message to expand banking services to rural communities, and saw how a permissionless system could help change people’s lives. A few years later, when I first learned about Bitcoin, that was the ah-hah moment and, by 2017, I [had] joined Lucid Investment Strategies, which was founded by the brilliant Tyler Jenks. We built one of the first Bitcoin-focused asset managers and also wrote the book “Hyperwave Theory: The Rogue Waves of Financial Markets.” Check Out: 6 Alternative Investments To Consider for Diversification in 2022 Can you describe what you are doing at Valkyrie? LW : At Valkyrie, we are building the next generation of fund manager, focused on digital assets for both the retail and accredited/institutional audiences. We have three Bitcoin-adjacent ETFs on Nasdaq, where we recently rang the opening bell, two hedge funds, two actively managed SMA strategies, a VC fund and six protocol trusts. Story continues This year we also focused on building internal infrastructure technology to help better enable institutions to adopt digital assets — from tax and P&L reporting and additional data to other functions we soon plan to announce. Bear markets are for building, and we are excited to share what we’ve created. Can you talk about how your previous experience is shaping what you’re currently doing? LW : Prior to working in asset management, I worked for the World Bank on monetary policy and also co-founded Veterati, a technology company that aims to help unemployed and transitioning veterans find meaningful employment through mentorship. Most of my life has been focused on the idea that helping underserved populations rise up is fundamental to a functioning society. Though we are approaching digital assets from a different angle in this instance, our efforts to help educate and offer more access will help even people who don’t buy our products to learn about the space and take advantage of the benefits of owning Bitcoin and other tokens. What excites you the most in the space? LW : Bitcoin and digital assets are the future of finance. Being here, at the ground floor, and getting to work with all the projects building these platforms is among the most exciting things I’ve ever been a part of. We talk to founders and entrepreneurs with visions for platforms and products that simply weren’t possible even a few years ago. The potential for decentralized financial applications to fundamentally change access to banking services for unbanked and under-banked individuals is unprecedented in our lifetimes. What do you think should change in the space? LW : The best thing that can happen to this space is regulatory clarity. Once authorities enact rules and regulations, that should open the floodgates to broader adoption across all kinds of investors. Additionally, this industry has historically worked together rather than competed like Wall Street does. Given where we are at in the growth cycle and how none of us are really competing against each other yet, it would make more sense to collaborate to educate the broader public and authorities, to bring more people into the fold and hopefully foster regulations that encourage innovation rather than hamper it — while also providing the investor protections found in traditional assets. Can you talk about how the industry is male-dominated and what could be done to change this? LW : Most industries are male-dominated, and there is not really an overnight fix. In fact, male CEOs outnumber female chief executives on a magnitude of 17 to one, according to a recent Morningstar study — though those ranks are beginning to close in senior management ranks and should hopefully translate to more women in the C-suite. Studies have shown that women-led companies tend to be more profitable, and investors always follow the upside. Additionally, the women have outnumbered men among college attendees for many years; this is a long game where it is only a matter of time before many of the brilliant female founders and executives I speak with on a weekly basis gain larger platforms and broader influence. Who are the women you admire in the space? LW : I admire many female developers and executives in this industry. There are a number of powerful women — including Cathie Wood, Daniela Brozzoni, Gloria Zhao, Talia Klein, Giang Bui, Jaime Leverton and Ciara Sun — that are blazing a trail and showing girls and young women that you can achieve anything, regardless of your gender or background, and they are laying the groundwork for future generations to surpass even our achievements. Crypto isn’t an easy industry to navigate, and these women are charting a course with purpose and grace. What could be done for the industry to be more inclusive? LW : Many companies are working to be more inclusive, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to maternity and paternity leave policies, childcare reimbursement, internal mentorship programs, diversity hiring practices and investment policies, education reimbursement and more. Until the past few decades, women were largely expected to stay at home and raise children while men worked, and the legacy of that dynamic still exists in many ways, even if only subtly. It’s going to take time for women to reach equality, but I think we are much closer than ever before. Why do you think crypto matters? LW : Crypto matters because it is a perfect form of money that is for everyone, a completely democratic asset. It is a permissionless value transfer that is immutable, “unconfiscatable” and fungible around the globe. This creates true equality because the trustless nature of all transactions removes bias from the equation, placing everyone on a level playing field. More From GOBankingRates The Safest Places To Retire Outside the US Check Out Readers' Favorite Small Businesses in Our 2022 Small Business Spotlight This Credit Score Mistake Could Be Costing Millions Of Americans 13 Ways To Invest That Don't Involve the Stock Market This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Women in Crypto Q&A: Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald Focuses on Underserved || The 7 Best Commodity Stocks for Rising Inflation: Is inflation rising? The answer depends upon how you look at the most recent Consumer Price Index data that was released on Sept. 13. Year-over-year, headline inflation reached 8.3% in August. That was better than the 8.5% YOY jump in July. That fact will placate very few. But investors can still make money by buying commodity stocks. Last month, YOY inflation, excluding food and energy, or core inflation, reached 6.3%, while core inflation rose by 0.6% versus July. The markets interpreted the core inflation data very negatively, as the report was widely viewed as increasing the likelihood that the Fed will continue to implement large interest rate hikes. In my view, additional rate increases will likely make a soft landing for the economy impossible. =Just as skyrocketing energy prices benefited oil and firms earlier in 2022, the makers of other commodities will also get a lift from continued, elevated inflation. Lets look at seven of those names. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips LAC Lithium Americas Company $29 ALB Albemarle $294.60 SBSW Sibayne-Stillwater $8.81 BG Bunge $90.64 ARCH Arch Resources $128.35 RIO Rio Tinto $55.87 LNG Cheniere Energy $169.60 Lithium Americas Company (LAC) smartphone with logo of Canadian company Lithium Americas Corp on screen Source: Wirestock Creators / Shutterstock.com Lithium Americas Company (NYSE: LAC ) stock is benefitting from the burgeoning electric-vehicle industry. Investors are well aware that lithium is a key component of most EV batteries. As a result, several lithium stocks appear to be strong buys moving forward. Lithium Americas Company is especially attractive because of the assets it controls and the potential for those assets to be split. Heres what I mean: The company owns and operates two, pre-production lithium mines. One of the mines is in Argentina, while the other is in Nevada. Its Nevada mine, called Thacker Pass, is expected to access the largest lithium deposit in the United States. Production at the site is expected to begin this year and continue for 46 years . Story continues Further, Lithium Americas Company has expressed its openness to splitting its stock into a U.S. operations-based stock and one for foreign operations. That could lead to Thacker Pass and its associated shares soaring in value. Albemarle (ALB) Albemarle (ALB) logo on a mobile phone screen Source: IgorGolovniov/Shutterstock.com Albemarle (NYSE: ALB ) is another lithium producer that investors should consider. It is much more established than Lithium Americas Company and is a safer play on lithium and the EV revolution. Additionally, buying ALB stock is safer than attempting to identify winning EV manufacturers at this relatively early stage of the EV transition. All EV firms are going to need lithium whether those firms soar or go belly up in the future. For its part, Albemarle has invested heavily in lithium. And following Q2, during which its lithium sales increased 178% YOY , the company enacted a strategic pivot. ALB has realigned its bromine and lithium operations into a new corporate global business unit that, according to the firm, is designed to better meet customer needs and foster talent required to deliver in a competitive global environment. Investors should look for Albemarle to remain a leading name in the EV sector and to be one of the more reliable and predictable investments within the space. Sibayne-Stillwater (SBSW) Close-up of a gold-ingot on top of a troy ounce silver and palladium bar. Precious metals. Gold, silver, palladium. Source: corlaffra / Shutterstock Sibanye-Stillwater (NYSE: SBSW ) is a precious metals mining firm. SBSW stock can climb meaningfully, and the shares provide investors with a very good buy-the-dip opportunity. SBSW currently trades for just over $9 per share, while analysts average price target on the name is nearly $13.50. The name is a buy-the-dip opportunity due to its strong profitability and value metrics. Despite the fact that deteriorating economic conditions negatively affected its business, SBSW remains very profitable. Specifically, its operating margin and return on equity are above the 80th and 90th percentiles, respectively, of its sector. Sibanye-Stillwater is also underpriced based on its P/E ratio of 5.5. If many investors recognize its value, the shares will surge. Bunge (BG) October 18, 2020, Brazil. In this photo illustration the B&G Foods logo seen displayed on a smartphone. BGS stock Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.com The outlook of Bunge (NYSE: BG ) stock is somewhat unpredictable following the release of the August inflation numbers. On the one hand, as a producer of agricultural commodities, BG should be in prime position. Food prices surged 11.4% YOY in August, giving Bunge a strong catalyst. Further, the prices of the food -at-home category increased by a staggering 13.5% YOY in the same period. So the companys businesses, which span the gamut of food production, remain very well-positioned. However, Bunge stock is also subject to the whims of institutional investors who own over 50% of the shares. In other words, their sentiment can make or break BG stock in short order. There is no clear-cut answer as to what institutional investors will do with BG stock. But its safe to say that BG is very well- positioned. Food costs appear to still be rising. Thus, buying BGs shares simply makes sense. Arch Resources (ARCH) A top aerial view of an open pit mine industry, with a big yellow mining truck for coal Source: Shutterstock Another InvestorPlace columnist, Steve Booyens, recently made a very important point about Arch Resources (NYSE: ARCH ).He noted that coal is still a very important energy source., even though renewable energy is becoming increasingly important as the world embraces it more and more. The obvious truth is that the use of coal wont be discontinued overnight. In fact, coal consumption is expected to increase 7% in 2022 in Europe. Arch Resources is one of the largest coal producers in the world and will benefit from that growth. Further, coal energy will be utilized to create the infrastructure for renewable energy production. No matter how you look at it, coal will remain important for some time. Rio Tinto (RIO) Copper ingots in a stack on a white background. Copper stocks. Source: ppart / Shutterstock Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) stock has had a tumultuous 2022. Early in 2022, its shares rose, partly due to the rising prices of uranium in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine. RIO mines uranium. But those high prices have come back down since mid-July. So, why should investors consider buying RIO stock now? The answer lies partly in the fact that commodities stocks tend to perform well when inflation is high. The U.S. economy remains mired in such an environment despite a series of interest rate hikes by the Fed. The other reason to consider RIO stock is its massive dividend. Investors want the security of reliable dividend payments. Few stocks have higher dividend yields than Rio Tintos 12.3%. Cheniere Energy (LNG) LNG stock: the Cheniere logo displayed on a phone Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com Cheniere Energy (NYSEAMERICAN: LNG ) is the largest U.S. exporter of liquefied gas. The company has generated very strong financial results in 2022. Thats why LNGs share price has jumped from $100 to $170 this year. Natural gas prices have rocketed as European supply has decreased due to Russias moves in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. The company raised its forecast for its fiscal 2022 on Sept. 13. The firm did so after early departures of several of its gas shipments bolstered its confidence in its outlook. For investors, that means the chance to capitalize on future gains by LNG stock likely has not passed. Cheniere Energy anticipates that its EBITDA this year will come in between $11 billion and $11.5 billion. On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Alex Sirois is a freelance contributor to InvestorPlace whose personal stock investing style is focused on long-term, buy-and-hold, wealth-building stock picks.Having worked in several industries from e-commerce to translation to education and utilizing his MBA from George Washington University, he brings a diverse set of skills through which he filters his writing. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air It doesnt matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post The 7 Best Commodity Stocks for Rising Inflation appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Toon Finance is Creating #1 Ethereum DEX That You Must Check Out: Toon Finance #1 Searched Meme coin Decentralized finance is certainly the future. And, decentralized exchanges are just one small step in that direction. If you are active in this space, you must have heard a lot about decentralized exchanges or DEXs in recent times. Over the past few years, a large number of DEXs (or, decentralized exchanges) have come up and if you want to stay in the know then you should take notice of the rapidly developing DEX space. There is a lot of value to be unlocked here and if you can get on it before everyone else, you stand to gain a lot more than those that are late to the party. We have tried to put together a short guide about the DEX space and the best DEXs that you should check out. Plus, there is a special DEX that we are quite looking forward to in the coming year. It is still in the works but we cannot stop listening, reading or, or even, speaking about it. Chances are, you must have heard about it earlier as well. What is a decentralized exchange? A decentralized exchange allows people (namely users, traders, and investors in crypto tokens) to trade their cryptocurrencies directly with each other without the interference of a middleman. It helps create a safe, unregulated environment to execute a trade. Usually, an exchange operates in a centralized manner which means that some authority (or, middle man) takes care of every order through an ‘order book.’ Assets (like fiat currency and cryptocurrency) are first transferred to the exchange which then transfers it further to the buyer or seller, as the case may be. A decentralized exchange eliminates the middleman and opens the market to everyone. In the course of its operation, it can provide multiple benefits like – Since there is no middleman, people need not incur any deposit or withdrawal fees. And, if they do incur any such fees, it is comparably lower than the fees they would have incurred in a centralized exchange. They can quickly find the best price possible for every trade; especially, if they use a decentralized exchange aggregator. Traders can trade without creating an account or proving their identity. They do not need to complete elaborate KYC and other norms to start trading. People can trade in a safer environment and with a reduced risk of hacking. Story continues These are just a few benefits of using a decentralized platform. And, it is these benefits only that are pulling people into the DEX environment and away from traditional exchanges where they incur high costs, transaction fees, and a lot of regulatory restrictions. Top 5 DEXs That You Should Look At So, if you are planning to check out a decentralized exchange and understand how it works then we recommend the following 5 DEXs to check out in the coming times – 1Inch Well, we can obviously not create a list of the best DEXs and miss out on 1Inch, can we? It is one of the most popular ones out there and primarily because it is a kind of DEX aggregator instead of a simple decentralized exchange on its own. In short, it aggregates rates from some of the industry-leading DEXs and provides you with the best possible price quickly and effectively. It helps avoid spillage and saves costs on every transaction. If you want to check out a DEX and understand how it works – well, 1Inch is probably one of the best options. It is an Ethereum-based DEX and one of the biggest ones in the space. You can trade in a safe environment without any middleman or regulatory interference. PancakeSwap PancakeSwap, built on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) was launched in September 2022. Using BSC has given PancakeSwap an edge over the DEXs that are Ethereum-based like it since most of them have expensive fees and network issues. However, by using BSC, PancakeSwap can bypass a lot of those issues effectively. Another interesting thing that you can do with PancakeSwap is that you get access to new businesses and can invest in them way before everyone else. If you are looking for an innovative DEX with a high level of efficiency then PancakeSwap is a good option to choose, no doubt about it. SushiSwap SushiSwap has been developed on the Ethereum blockchain and has evolved from UniSwap, another popular Ethereum-based decentralized exchange. The most exciting thing about SushiSwap is the fact that much of the costs are returned to the users and liquidity providers are also compensated for their efforts. Anyone can trade on the platform and increase liquidity for the pools. The fees that you would incur are quite less on the SushiSwap platform. You can choose this DEX for a smooth, low-cost experience. UniSwap UniSwap is a decentralized exchange known for its ability to simply go on the platform and trade without clearing elaborate checks and all. In fact, you do not even need to create an account for the same. Through the various liquidity pools that the exchange has, you can also earn a decent income on your crypto investments. For ETH users, the ETH swap feature is exciting as well. You can swap the ETH assets without performing any identity checks (no need to even create an account). What is the Toon Finance DEX? The Toon Finance DEX is going to be a game changer not just for the Toon Finance Coin but for the industry as a whole. The Toon Finance Coin, starting out as a meme coin, will be able to establish credibility and authority with a robust DEX of its own. It will also – Allow users to trade TFT Coins in a safe environment. It will eliminate the need for a middle man in every transaction. Traders will be able to execute a trade directly with each other. Traders will not require validation, permissions, or account creation to trade. It will be able to offer the cheapest price possible to its users, traders, and more. The Toon Finance DEX is being awaited by people across the board. And, people expect it to bring forward innovative solutions in the DEX space and change things for good. Toon Finance – Offering a lot more than just a DEX We cannot stop talking about how the Toon Finance ecosystem is a lot more than just a DEX. They have a crypto token, NFTs, a cross-chain bridge, a metaverse, games, and lots more in the works. There is so much to explore in the Toon Finance ecosystem. Also, as the ecosystem grows and new technologies get onboarded, there will, naturally, be phenomenal returns for investors, users, and traders that remain active in the space. That is why we are so excited to see the Toon Finance space develop and bring some revolution to the industry. Currently, some of the elements that have already been announced (or, launched) by them include a crypto token called Toon Finance Coin or a TFT Coin. The Initial Coin Offering (ICO) was launched recently in October itself and found massive support from the crypto community with over 3 million dollars worth of coins getting sold out in just under a week. It was a massive success. The DEX that we saw is also a great feature of the Toon Finance ecosystem since it allows traders, users, and enthusiasts to safely trade their favorite Toon Coins without any worry. One of the exciting features is the cross-chain bridge, developed by Toon Finance (called the Space Bridge) which helps to exchange data between two blockchains. It will allow its users to connect different apps, protocols, and assets with ease. So, you can transact using two tokens by connecting them through the bridge. Lots of people have entered the metaverse play and Toon Finance is also one among them. They are developing a metaverse that will enable gamers to play games and engage in player vs player battles. Lastly, there are various NFTs in the pipeline that are going to go live anytime soon. These represent cute, Toonie characters and, hence, people are going crazy behind them as they wait for their launch. These NFTs will be functional gameplay items that will be essential for players participating in the games that you can play in the Toon Finance metaverse. There are lots of other exciting things in store as well in the Toon Finance world which is why people are keeping a watch on this coin every day. And, they cannot stop talking about it anytime soon. How to Buy Toon Finance Coins from their website? If you want to purchase some TFT coins directly from the Toon Finance website then you can do so in some simple steps as follows – Firstly, you will need a multi-chain crypto wallet like MetaMask and TrustWallet are some of the well-known multi-chain crypto wallets currently. Download your preferred multi-chain crypto wallet and load it with Ethereum. Now head over to the Toon Finance website and go to their BUY page and connect your wallet to the website. Once you have connected the wallet, you are ready to buy TFT Coins. Simply enter an amount in ETH that you would like to swap for TFT Coins. Complete the transaction and get TFT Coins to use as you please. The presale is still live. So, if you want to grab some Toon Finance Coins at a bargain, then consider buying some right away. Get on the crypto ride (now is the time) Experts have been stressing for quite some time now that the year 2023 is going to be a game-changing year for the crypto industry; especially, after the slow (quite bearish) run it had in the year 2022. The last year or so was a tumultuous time as most tokens, including BTC slumped; however, things seem to look quite green (if the technical and fundamental analysis are anything to go by) in the coming year or so. Time also seems good for stable coins like BTC and ETH. There also seems to be a nice run in store for meme coins like DOGE, SHIB, and the upcoming Toon Finance Coin in the coming year. Many new technologies and innovations are happening in the space as well which will certainly make the coming year quite exciting. As interest in the crypto industry is rising (and, set to rise further in 2023), there will be a general uptrend in the market as a whole. Strong, fundamentally sound coins are bound to benefit a lot from the general market rally. So, if you are planning to join the wagon anytime soon, then now would be the best time. You can get your share of the pie before the rally begins. Toonie Take Over || Billionaire Harvard Alum Aims to Make Office Work More Efficient: (Bloomberg) -- Rohan Murty saw his father build Infosys Ltd. into one of India’s national champions by pioneering a novel strategy of outsourcing technology services. Now the 39-year-old is attempting a no less daunting task of using data to make white-collar workers more efficient.
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The billionaire Harvard alum’s Soroco works with global corporations to streamline office tasks, using techniques similar to Toyota Motor Corp.’s pioneering efforts decades ago to eliminate waste in manufacturing. The company collects data to study patterns of how workers use software across teams and suggests fixes to iron out kinks, boost productivity and reduce costs. The solutions can be better technology, automation, standardization and preventing repetition of tasks.
The startup, based both in Boston and Bangalore, gets a real-time view of how people in teams get work done by using machine learning. Customers include drugmaker Bayer AG, engineering giant Robert Bosch GmbH, candy and petfood maker Mars Inc. as well as some Wall Street banks and global online retailers.
“The manufacturing industry built and refined processes to make blue-collar work more efficient but the digital age has no parallel,” founder and Chief Technology Officer Murty said in an interview recently in Bangalore. “Soroco has built the white-collar equivalent.”
He’s hardly the first one to come up with the concept, which is dubbed task mining in industry parlance. Giants such as Microsoft Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and SAP SE all have similar offerings and have struggled to make much of a dent in the daily inefficiencies of white-collar work.
Murty thinks he’s found a more effective approach. Soroco’s software can collect data and map patterns across entire teams, uncovering inefficiencies and waste that top executives can’t see, he said.
“It’s common to see the management pitted against the team doing the work,” said Murty, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a doctorate from Harvard University, both in computer science,. “Soroco helps align both toward a common goal.”
In one example, a global pharmaceutical firm faced complaints from customers about delays in handling orders, rebates and returns. Soroco says its machine-learning software detected steps along the way that required a significant amount of manual work and recommended automation across multiple locations. That cut the processing time by 75%, resulting in a steep reduction in complaints, according to the startup.
Murty teamed up with Arjun Narayan, a computer scientist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and George Nychis, a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University to create Soroco in 2014. The startup is seeking to expand at a time when the pandemic has hastened the proliferation of digital devices and apps used by more than half-a-billion office workers around the world. Murty estimates that people interact with work-related software roughly 70 times as often as they do with leading social networks.
Besides formidable competition, Soroco could also face internal resistance from employees who feel threatened by the scrutiny of how they work, according to Amardeep Modi, a vice president at researcher Everest Group. Addressing such concerns, Soroco says the whole exercise is anonymous and carried out without compromising the privacy of individuals. It is also transparent, allowing users to pick only those applications they want analyzed, according to the company.
Most companies obsess over the wrong kind of workplace questions -- like the number of days employees work from home or office -- said Sandeep Dadlani, who was until last month the chief digital officer at Mars.
“Any technology capability that allows enterprises to empathize with and understand how employees work, can help frame the productivity problem better, make life better for teams and at scale,” said Dadlani, now the chief digital and technology officer at health-care conglomerate UnitedHealth Group Inc.
Infosys Stake
Murty owns 1.45% of Infosys, whose market value is about $79 billion, making him the second-largest individual shareholder of the outsourcing giant founded by his father Narayana Murthy. Murty’s sister Akshata, a billionaire herself, is married to the newly elected British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Soroco, with about 250 employees and 40 patents, isn’t in a hurry to seek external funding yet, Murty said, adding its customer base tripled in the past year.
--With assistance from Ben Stupples.
(Updates with tool’s transparency in 10th paragraph.)
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©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || Crypto Investors Yanked Money From ETH Products Despite a Smooth Ethereum Merge: Amid all the hype surrounding last week’smajor Ethereum overhaul known as the Merge, investors remained cautious on the blockchain’s native tokenETH– and their caution was vindicated as the cryptocurrency tumbled following the event.
Investment products tied to ETH saw a fourth straight week of outflows in the period ended Sept. 16, with the amount removed exceeding new money added by $15.4 million, according to CoinShares. This was not an across-the-board trend in crypto. Funds that invest in ETH’s bigger rival, bitcoin (BTC), broke a five-week streak of outflows as investors added a net $17.4 million.
ETH’s price has fallen significantly since the Merge – which has been heralded as an event that could lure more large investors to the ecosystem – even though the perilous upgrade went smoothly. About five days before the transition took place on Sept. 15, ETH approached $1,800. It sank below $1,300 today.
Investors who rode ETH’s rally going into the Merge may have sold their positions.
“Large liquidations of leveraged long positions across derivatives markets exacerbated the drop in spot prices,” according to a report from crypto data firm Kaiko that attempted to explain why ETH has fallen so much after the Merge.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: down || Prices: 20209.99, 21147.23, 21282.69, 20926.49, 20602.82, 18541.27, 15880.78, 17586.77, 17034.29, 16799.19
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-08-31]
BTC Price: 575.47, BTC RSI: 42.24
Gold Price: 1306.90, Gold RSI: 36.97
Oil Price: 44.70, Oil RSI: 46.13
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY EXPLAINED: The trends creating new winners and losers in the card-processing ecosystem: (BI Intelligence)
The way we pay is changing dramatically. For example, people are beginning to use their smartphones for every kind of formal and informal transaction — to shop at stores, buy songs online, and even split their rent.
At the heart of these changes in how we pay are thousands of companies competing and collaborating to facilitate transactions.
To understand why the payments industry has faced so much disruption in such a short time, there's just one key thing to understand: Payments is about transferring information from one party to another, and nearly every stakeholder in the industry benefits when that process runs on digital rails.
But payments is also an extremely complex industry that few fully understand.
In BI Intelligence's 2016 Payments Ecosystem report, we make it simple, explaining how it works, who the key players are, and where it's headed.
In this latest edition of the report, BI Intelligence drills even further into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.
In full, the report:
• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.
The Payments Ecosystem Report: Everything You Need to Know About The Next Era of Payment Processingis the only place you can get the full story on the rapidly-evolving world of payments.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the payments industry, choose one of these options:
1. BEST VALUE: Join our BI Intelligence INSIGHTS service level and gain immediate access to this report PLUS much more.>>START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >>BUY THE REPORT
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• The fintech ecosystem explained || Cable & Wireless partners with Ericsson and Cisco to enhance its Caribbean IP networks: • C&W Communications invests in new network that will serve as backbone for IPTV services, fixed operations and part of business-to-business services
• Ericsson and Cisco will deliver an IP/MPLS network for C&W in three markets: the Bahamas, Jamaica and Barbados
• An IP backbone network in the Bahamas will be upgraded to support traffic growth and improve performance on the fixed network
MIAMI, FL - August 30, 2016Ericsson (ERIC) and Cisco (CSCO) today announced an agreement to supply and install IP networks forC&W Communications, which operates the retail brand Flow, in three Caribbean markets. The plans include an upgrade to the IP backbone network in the Bahamas to improve performance and support an increase of traffic, and a new business-to-business IP/MPLS network in Jamaica and Barbados.
The partnership is part of C&W`s investment plan for the region to continue transforming its customer experience. As part of the partnership, Cisco will provide the necessary hardware while Ericsson will provide project management services.
"We needed a powerful and intelligent solution to bring IP networking to both Jamaica and Barbados, while at the same time improving the IP network in the Bahamas," says Carlo Alloni, Executive Vice-president and CTIO, C&W. "This partnership will allow us to offer even more value-added services including our world class IPTV services as well as introduce more innovative solutions to our customers."
"Our teams complemented each other with the right approach, from network analysis and planning to systems integration and customer support from Ericsson, to selecting the right routers and switches from Cisco, and finally ensuring the right flow along every step with Ericsson services," says Clayton Cruz, Vice President Ericsson Latin America and Caribbean. "The partnership has delivered real value to Cable & Wireless in terms of accelerating their IP transformation by combining end-to-end business transformation competence and experience with deep product and domain expertise."
The deal includes Cisco® routers and switches (ASR9000, ASR900 and WR4500 families), supply and installation of NMS system (EPN-M), overall project management, and customer support.
"Cisco and Ericsson working together have the combined breadth, depth and lifecycle engagement required to help operators like Cable & Wireless succeed in their transformation to an IP-centric network," says Jordi Botifoll, Cisco President Latin America & Senior Vice President in the Americas. "Working together on this project will lead Cable & Wireless to a standardized approach across other markets, so that all their business-to-business and IP fixed networks will be supported by IP/MPLS, helping them do things better and faster."
Ericsson and Cisco - two industry leaders in the development and delivery of networking, mobility, and cloud - formed a global business and technology partnership in November 2015 to create the networks of the future. The partnership offers customers the best of both companies: routing, data center, networking, cloud, mobility, management and control, and global services capabilities. The next-generation strategic partnership will drive growth, accelerate innovation, and speed digital transformation demanded by customers across industries. The first product from the partnership, Ericsson Dynamic Service Manager, was announced in February 2016. To date, over 200 active customer engagements have now started to turn into won deals. Multiple deals, spread around the world, are in IP (routing and transport) and services. The companies announced deals with 3 Italy, Vodafone Portugal and Aster Dominican Republic earlier this year.
The Cisco-Ericsson partnership has been cleared by Brazilian regulatory authorities and will be implemented there under local agreements.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Ericsson and Cisco team up for next generation Network Service Management
For media kits, backgrounders and high-resolution photos, please visitwww.ericsson.com/press
Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society - a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, business and society to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future.
Our services, software and infrastructure - especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud- are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.
With approximately 115,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries,we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world`s mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions - and our customers - stay in front.
Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in2015 were SEK 246.9 billion (USD 29.4 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.
www.ericsson.comwww.ericsson.com/newswww.twitter.com/ericssonpresswww.facebook.com/ericssonwww.youtube.com/ericsson
About CiscoCisco (CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that has been making the Internet work since 1984. Our people, products, and partners help society securely connect and seize tomorrow`s digital opportunity today. Discover more at newsroom.cisco.com and follow us on Twitter at @Cisco.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco`s trademarks can be found atwww.cisco.com/go/trademarks.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Ericsson Corporate CommunicationsPhone: +46 10 719 69 92E-mail:media.relations@ericsson.com
Ericsson Investor RelationsPhone: +46 10 719 00 00E-mail:investor.relations@ericsson.com
Cisco PR ContactSara CiceroCisco Service Provider Public RelationsE-Mail:stutzes@cisco.com
CWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network - the most extensive in the region - in over 30 markets.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world`s largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points.
Liberty Global`s businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link: LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com.
C&W Communications
Investor Relations:Kunal Patel+1 (786) 376 9294
Media Relations:Claudia Restrepo+1 (786) 218 0407
Ericsson-Cisco CW deal_Press Release_final
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.Source: Ericsson via GlobeNewswireHUG#2038210 || Tim Cook's five-year run as Apple's CEO: Wall Street is in a wait-and-see mode. Stocks ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) were mostly lower in early trading as investors remain cautious ahead of Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech later this week. Pfizer ( PFE ) shares remain in the spotlight. The US drug maker that bought cancer drug firm Medivation ( MDVN) just a couple of days ago is now buying part of AstraZeneca’s ( AZN ) antibiotics business. The deal could be valued at more than $1.5 billion. FitBit ( FIT ) shares got a healthy pop ahead of the open after a US trade judge ruled late Tuesday that the maker of wearable fitness trackers did not steal trade secrets from rival Jawbone. However, a final decision on the verdict will happen by the end of the year. Express ( EXPR ) shares fell to a 52-week low in early trading. The retailer cut its earnings outlook for the year after delivering a miss on both its top and bottom lines for its fiscal second quarter. Revenue fell nearly 6% from a year ago as sales in existing stores came in much weaker than analysts expected. The company said the results reflected challenging store traffic. Intuit ( INTU ) shares fell in early trading. The maker of TurboTax software provided a weak outlook for its current quarter, even though earnings and revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter came in above expectations. Tesla’s better batteries Tesla ( TSLA ) unveiled improved batteries that will extend the range of its vehicles. Tesla’s Model S Sedan will now go 315 miles on a single charge, up from about 200. The car — with a speed option called “Ludicrous mode” — will go from zero to 60 miles an hour in just 2.5 seconds. Tesla boss Elon Musk claims that makes it the fastest car in the world. Banks bet on blockchain Four big banks are reportedly teaming up to develop a system to use digital currency to clear and settle financial transactions. The system will use the same so-called blockchain technology behind Bitcoin. The banks are Switzerland’s UBS ( UBS ), Deutsche Bank ( DB ), Santander ( SAN ) and BNY Mellon ( BK ). Blockchain technology can make payments faster, cheaper and easier to audit. Tim Cook’s anniversary On this date in 2011 Cook took over as Apple’s ( AAPL ) CE0 from the gravely sick Steve Jobs. While Apple is still the largest company by market value, many worry the company’s best days are in the rear view mirror. Since Cook took, over Apple’s stock has doubled. || How Apple And Facebook Helped Take Down The Largest Torrent-Sharing Site In The World: Thirty-year-old Ukrainian national Artem Vaulin, the alleged owner of the world’s largest torrent-sharing site, Kickass Torrents, was arrested Wednesday in Poland, accused of criminal copyright infringement and money laundering. After years on the run, the man, known over the Internet as "Tirm," was found due to a series of really dumb mistakes — for a complete review of the process that led to this outcome,click here.
The king of online piracy was also operating a Kickass TorrentsFacebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) fan page — apparently without even using an IP blocker or a disposable email. After the U.S. government presented a warrant requesting the social network to hand over the log data, which they did, they weren't even faced with a difficult task.
Related Link:The Crucial Role Twitter Played In Finding The Center Of Our Galaxy
Supposedly, Vaulin had been using anApple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)-owned @me.com email address to log into the site. Moreover, when U.S. authorities went over his emails, they found several messages related to the administration of the Kickass Torrents site.
To makes things even worse, Tirm decided to use the same email account to make a legal iTunes purchase. Again, he didn't use an IP blocker, so his IP address was registered.
Instead of locating and arresting Vaulin immediately, U.S. officials used the IP addresses to find his online Bitcoin account.
“Vaulin is charged with running today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell voiced in astatement. “In an effort to evade law enforcement, Vaulin allegedly relied on servers located in countries around the world and moved his domains due to repeated seizures and civil lawsuits. His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice,” she concluded.
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Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Big Banks Team Up to Develop Blockchain Settlement System: Wall Street's increasing focus on digital currency technology has been affirmed yet again with the recent teaming up of a group of financial giants for the development of Utility Settlement Coin (USC). It is a digital cash model based on blockchain that aims to facilitate payment and settlement for global institutional financial markets. Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG UBS and London-based Clearmatics initiated USC last September to validate the potential benefits of USC for capital efficiency, settlement and systemic risk reduction in global financial markets. The successful conclusion of the first phase of this project led to the joining of Deutsche Bank AG DB, The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. BK, Banco Santander, S.A. SAN and brokerage ICAP to develop the concept further. The group also plans to undertake test in a real market environment. USC is a series of cash assets implemented on distributed ledger technology and is entirely backed by cash assets held at a central bank. With a version for each of the main currencies including USD, EUR, GBP and CHF, USC would be convertible at parity with a bank deposit in the related currency. According to a joint release, spending a USC will be equivalent to spending its real-world currency. The group of financial institutions will focus on the financial structuring of the USC and its implications in the broader market. Alongside they will remain engaged in discussions with central banks and regulators to ensure a regulation compliant and efficient framework within which the USC can be implemented. Hyder Jaffrey, Head of Strategic Investment & FinTech Innovation at UBS Investment Bank stated, "Digital cash is a core component of a future financial market fabric based on blockchain technologies. He further added, "There are several digital cash models being explored across the Street. The Utility Settlement Coin is focused on facilitating a new model for digital central bank cash." Paul Maley, Managing Director, Institutional Client Group, Deutsche Bank noted, "As today's settlement and clearing is a process involving many institutions, it's vital that we collaborate with our peers to develop viable alternatives to current models, creating new digital capabilities for the financial services industry. Blockchain Buzz Blockchain, the digital ledger or the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, has gained attraction for its significant potential to revamp the extensive and complex network of bank payments as well as settlements. While Bitcoin was one of the first cryptographic currencies that drew attention in 2009, several other cryptographic currencies are currently available including Novacoin, Namecoin and Dogecoin. Last December The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS filed a patent application with the US Patent & Trademark Office for a new cryptocurrency called SETLcoin. While Citigroup Inc. C is currently working on the development of its own digital currency Citicoin, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM partnered with start-up firm Digital Asset Holdings earlier this year to launch a trial project that utilizes the blockchain technology. Bottom line The latest development tied with Blockchain platform crops up as banks are embracing technology and are continuously looking out for ways to restructure daily operations, update back-office functions and making huge investments for auto execution of transactions. While banks and regulators continue to explore prospects and benefits of digital currencies, concerns including security and impact on the broader financial system still lingers. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days . Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report BANK OF NY MELL (BK): Free Stock Analysis Report CITIGROUP INC (C): Free Stock Analysis Report UBS GROUP AG (UBS): Free Stock Analysis Report DEUTSCHE BK AG (DB): Free Stock Analysis Report BANCO SANTAN SA (SAN): Free Stock Analysis Report GOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Bitcoin value plummets after Hong Kong exchange hack: There has been another big bitcoin hack, and it looks like the biggest one since the infamous hack of Mount Gox back in 2011. This time, $65 million worth of bitcoins were stolen from the exchange Bitfinex. The price of bitcoin fell more than 8% after the hack. Here’s exactly what happened. || Your first trade for Wednesday, July 27: The "Fast Money" traders shared their first moves for the market open.
Dan Nathan was a seller of Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL). The iPhone maker had reported an earnings beat after Tuesday's close.
Brian Kelly was a seller of the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF(NYSE Arca: XME).
Karen Finerman was a buyer of Facebook(NASDAQ: FB)which is due to report quarterly numbers after Wednesday's close.
Guy Adami was a buyer of Valero(NYSE: VLO).
Trader disclosure: On July 26, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, GLD, MOS, POT, SLV, US Dollar UUP; he is short CHF=, EUR=, JPY=. Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, DRII, DRII calls, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, DRII, DRII calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Dan Nathan is Long JD Aug call spread, Long TWTR, IWM long Sept put, XLF long Aug put spread, XLK long Sept Put spread, FXI long Aug put spread, SMH long Aug put spread, long PYPL call calendar, long C Aug put spread, XOP Sept put spread, TGT long Aug calls, TSLA long Aug put, BAC long Sept put, Long FEZ Nov put spread.Guy Adamiis long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
BGC Financial's Colin Gillis: No disclosures.
SunTrust's Robert Peck:An affiliate of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. has received compensation for non-securities servicesfrom Twitter (TWTR) within the last 12 months.
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• Personal Finance || 'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft: By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers. The Hong Kong-based exchange said on Aug. 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin. It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex. Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said. Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law. The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach. "The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book. The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specializes in U.S. securities and trading laws. The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licenses in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have. "If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment. Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue. "ROBBED" Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being. "I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters. He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token. "Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry. Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses. Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing. "People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut. He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back. But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. "It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court. "It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up,” he said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman) || NetCents Offers France Currency Alternatives: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 18, 2016 /NetCents Technology Inc.(CSE:NC) ("NetCents" or the "Company") is pleased to announce and extension to its' European delivery footprint. NetCents users in France will now have the flexibility to make consumer and credit card deposits to their NetCents account.
"We want NetCents to be a global provider of digital currencies and payment services and this announcement is another step towards achieving that," said Clayton Moore, NetCents Founder and CEO. He further added, "According to 2015 data, the best performing currency against the US Dollar was Bitcoin, which appreciated by 35% compared to the US Dollar. We think that in the long run, digital currencies will be a viable alternative safe haven for consumers who want to avoid currency fluctuations." He closed off by saying, "Bitcoin, and digital currencies in general, have the ability to become an appreciating asset for investment purposes."
The expansion of services to France, enhances NetCents' market reach and processing capabilities, allowing users more efficient ways to pay. The integration allows NetCents users in France to receive deposits from consumers using major credit cards, including: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Apple Pay. NetCents offers consumers more options, flexibility, security, and ease of use, all in one place.
AboutNetCents
NetCents is an online payments platform, offering consumers and merchants online services for managing electronic payments. The Company is focused on capturing the migration from cash to digital currency by utilizing innovative Blockchain Technology to provide payment solutions that are simple to use, secure and worry free. NetCents works with its financial partners, mobile operators, exchanges, etc., to streamline the user experience of transacting online. NetCents technology is integrated into the Automated Clearing House ("ACH"), which ensures our consumer's security and privacy. This services agreement allows the Company to accept and transfer deposits from users in 24 countries, enhancing the users online experience, granting them the freedom and convenience to Pay. Your Way.™
For the latest information on Blockchain, Bitcoin or Fintech we urge our readers to visit our Blog on our website (www.netcents.biz) or visit industry websites such as CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com) a world leader in news, prices and information on bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Further information about the Company it is available under its profile on the SEDAR website,www.sedar.com, on the CSE websitewww.thecse.com, on our websitewww.netcents.bizor contact Robert Meister, Capital Markets at Ph: 604.676.5248 or email:Robert.meister@net-cents.com.
On Behalf of the Board of DirectorsNetCents Technology Inc.
"Clayton Moore"Clayton Moore, CEO, Founder and Director
NetCents Technology Inc.Suite 1500, 885 West Georgia StreetVancouver, British Columbia V6C 3E8
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
SOURCE:NetCents Technology Inc. || Traders say it might be time to buy into tech after NASDAQ hits 2016 highs: The " Fast Money " traders are keeping an eye on the big tech names, after the technology-heavy NASDAQ (NASDAQ: .IXIC) saw its highest levels of the year on Tuesday. Trader Pete Najarian said that technology and biotechnology companies could help drive the NASDAQ higher, especially if giants like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) start participating in the rally. Trader Dan Nathan said he likes PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) because of "interesting secular things going on in e-payments." Another stock he likes is JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) , even though the "fundamentals haven't been fantastic." Nathan said that JD is a company is well-positioned. Trader Brian Kelly said that he is less confident in tech's potential. "If you're buying into tech and you're buying into dividend stocks, you just need to know that you're buying into a bubble. That doesn't mean that it can't go higher. Bubbles go on for a long time, a lot longer than most people can stay short them," Kelly said. He said he would rather look at securities outside the United States, especially in Japan. "To me, what happened in Japan over the last couple days could be game changing, so I would look towards Japan," Kelly said, adding that in particular he would look at the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSE Arca: DXJ) . Disclosures: PETE NAJARIAN Long stock: AAPL, BAC, BMY, CSCO, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB, ZIOP Long Calls: AAL, AKS, AMJ, CHK, CLF, CNX, CSX, DAL, EGO, GSAT, HBAN, HOG, INTC, KGC, LLY, MT, MU, NLNK, P, SBUX, SLV, SLW, SVU, TMUS, WLL, XLE, YELP. Long Puts: BID, CS,GM, NAV, NLY TIM SEYMOUR Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM Story continues BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, GLD, MOS, POT, SLV, XME, US Dollar UUP; he is short WTI crude, Swiss franc, euro and Japanese yen. DAN NATHAN Dan Nathan is Long JD Aug call spread, Long PFE, Long TWTR, BABA Aug put spread, IWM long Sept put, XLF long Aug put spread, XLK long Sept Put spread, FXI long Aug put spread, SMH long Aug put spread, long PYPL call calendar, long C Aug put spread, XOP Sept put spread, TGT long Aug calls, TSLA long Aug put, SPY long Sept put spread, BAC long Sept puts. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 KOBO = 0.00000759 BTC
= 0.0044 USD
= 1.4080 NGN
= 0.0612 ZAR
= 0.4459 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-08-04 04:00 pic.twitter.com/A2PTzmgcYA || 1 DOGE Price: Bter 0.00000038 BTC #doge #dogecoin 2016-08-23 19:31pic.twitter.com/6pHEmVV34i || BTCTurk 1836 TL BTCe 613.859 $ CampBx $ BitStamp 621.00 $ Cavirtex $ CEXIO 626.05 $ Bitcoin.de 558.81 € #Bitcoin #btc || #UFOCoin #UFO $ 0.000017 (1.67 %) 0.00000003 BTC (-0.00 %) || #TrinityCoin #TTY $ 0.000006 (4.33 %) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00 %) || $651.30 at 23:00 UTC [24h Range: $626.00 - $665.99 Volume: 6447 BTC] || 1 KOBO = 0.00000000 BTC
= 0.0000 USD
= 0.0000 NGN
= 0.0000 ZAR
= 0.0000 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-07-09 08:00 pic.twitter.com/1Mg6jQyUez || $664.99 #itBit;
$665.26 #bitfinex;
$665.99 #GDAX;
$652.00 #btce;
$664.85 #bitstamp;
$663.96 #OKCoin;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || El precio del Bitcoin $573.00 dólares #bitcoin || #MARYJ 0.00000240 BTC(0.12 %) | Market Cap 125 BTC | Volume(24h) 0.00 BTC | Available Supply 51,887,669 MARYJ
|
Trend: up || Prices: 572.30, 575.54, 598.21, 608.63, 606.59, 610.44, 614.54, 626.32, 622.86, 623.51
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-08-04]
BTC Price: 285.22, BTC RSI: 54.92
Gold Price: 1090.70, Gold RSI: 30.33
Oil Price: 45.74, Oil RSI: 27.09
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Are Data Centers Worsening California's Drought?: In California, water has become scarce and residents have begun cutting back on their usage in order to conserve the resource and end a four-year drought. However, while most look to shorter showers and strategic plant watering in order to cut down on waste, another industry has been under the microscope for its water usage —data centers.
Environmentally Unfriendly
With San Francisco being home to several large tech names, California has a large population of massive data centers. The facilities have been criticized in the past for their energy usage, but now the centers are being forced to take a look at their cooling systems, which require a substantial amount of water.
Related Link:California's Drought Turns Traders Attention To Water Plays
Major Drain
In order to keep rooms full of servers from overheating, many data centers use cooling towers that take water in, use it to cool the air and expel it. In this way, data centers are a major contributor to California's drought, as they rid the state of its water supply through evaporation. The facilities require a great deal of water to maintain the cooling systems as well; Utah's NSA Data Center uses up to 1.7 million gallons of water per day to keep its servers cool.
New Designs
Now that water usage has become a concern, many tech companies are rethinking their cooling systems in order to make their operations more sustainable in times of drought.Google Inc(NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has explored using non-potable water in its cooling process, whileFacebook Inc(NASDAQ:FB) has tried using a system that cools outside air using a water mist, which requires much less water than traditional cooling.
Image Credit: Public Domain
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Best And Worst ETFs Of The Week Amid Independence Day Celebration: The holiday shortened week came to a close on light volume and unenthusiastic price action. Sellers managed to push the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY ) over 1 percent lower this week, as Greek default worries led to marked declines in broad-based exchange-traded funds. Nevertheless, hope remains that this embattled nation will come to a truce with its creditors to restore fiscal order in the European continent. The end of the quarter and mid-point of 2015 served as a reminder that very little progress has been made so far this year. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE: DIA ) is trading near the flat line, while the iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (NYSE: IWM ) notched the strongest gain of all the major indices with a total year-to-date return of 4.68 percent through June 30. Related Link: Bitcoin: The Best Currency For Greece And Other Debt-Ridden Countries? The following ETFs represent a sample of the best- and worst-performing funds over the last five trading sessions. BEST: Volatility Futures On Monday, SPY experienced its largest single day decline of 2015 with a drop of more than 2 percent. This sent volatility futures flying higher as traders scrambled to hedge their positions with options. The iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN (NYSE: VXX ) gained 15 percent this week after recent falling near its lows of the year. This exchange-traded note is the largest dedicated VIX futures fund, with over $1 billion in total assets. VXX is designed to capitalize on swings in investor fear. Heightened selling and uncertainty in the market generally leads to a spike in the CBOE VIX Volatility Index. WORST: Greek Stocks The catalyst for a jump in VXX was spurred by headlines that Greece would be unable to meet an IMF debt repayment deadline and had closed the Athens Stock Exchange . This news led to a steep weekly decline of 10 percent in the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF ( Global X Funds (NYSE: GREK )). GREK tracks the 20 largest stocks on the Athens Stock Exchange, and prior to this announcement, had been taking in a tremendous wave of new assets, as global investors bet on a turn around. While GREK did manage to claw back some of its hefty losses this week, the fund remains a question mark for investors until the Greek stock market reopens and prices can adjust accordingly. Story continues Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Home Construction, Treasury And Automobile ETFs To Watch This Week Best And Worst ETFs Of The Week Amid Agriculture Rally 3 Core ETFs For Growth Investors © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Online Casino 4Grinz.com Celebrates Global Grand Opening With Super Launch Giveaway: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA --(Marketwired - June 30, 2015) - Today's players are looking for the most immersive online casino games that are interactive, sophisticated, and very polished. They want the fun of playing for free with the option of gambling and games should be optimized for tablets and smartphones. 4Grinz.com achieves this and more, offering hundreds of state-of-the-art games with 3d cinematic visuals and provocative audio. "These aren't your grandmother's casino slots," exclaims Wise Walrus PR Manager Sandy Luna. "Today's cutting-edge developers are turning the iGaming industry on its head." Combine these features with a unique rewards program, and the 4Grinz.com online casino entertainment experience becomes extraordinary. Players will also appreciate the ease and freedom of using Bitcoin, making transactions instantaneous and the tedious process of delayed withdrawals and high fees associated with real money seem obsolete. Bitcoin online casino 4Grinz.com will celebrate its grand opening to players around the world with its Super Launch by giving away 10 free mBTCs to 50 registrants each week. Participants can register any time and there's no obligation. The one-step process is completed in seconds with just an email address and there's no need to divulge personal information. "What sets 4Grinz apart from the competition is its seasoned team of professionals with a gift for innovation," says Luna. "Since 1998, they've served and operated both live and online casinos, then taken an already successful model and brought it into the future with Bitcoin. Frankly, the industry hasn't experienced this level of enthusiasm and innovation in more than a decade." Registration for Super Launch starts now and drawings will continue throughout summer. For a limited time, Bitcoin players can take advantage of 4Grinz.com's 110% Welcome Bonus, a 55% Welcome Back Bonus, and a 35% Member Bonus on reloads. Results of Super Launch drawings will be announced each Tuesday at 12 PM (noon) CST on Facebook.com/4Grinz and winners will receive a congratulatory email with simple instructions on how to claim their 10 free mBTCs. The Super Launch is one of many promotions 4Grinz will be rolling out over the next few seasons, and for exciting announcements on this and others, Like 4Grinz on facebook.com/4Grinz and Follow on twitter.com/4Grinzcasino . About 4Grinz.com -- A Bitcoin online casino that allows for free play and legal gambling, 4Grinz.com offers the latest HD movie-quality games, video poker, blackjack, and slots designed by the industry's most innovative cinematic developers, plus a unique and intimate 24/7 live casino with elegant and attentive dealers in real-time. No download necessary, players can enjoy live and online casinos on-the-go with mobile. Payouts are fast and withdrawals completed in minutes. 4Grinz.com has the richest reward programs , including lavish bonuses, progressive jackpots, and Grinz Points that can be redeemed for merchandise and gift cards or donated to a favorite charity. The seasoned professionals behind 4Grinz.com are Bitcoin people too, serving and operating live and online casinos since 1998. 4Grinz.com is powered by Coingaming. Its fair gaming platform complies with product and service GLI Standards for the ultimate entertainment experience. Changing minds and habits, building trust with smiles, we are 4Grinz.com. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/6/29/11G046214/Images/Superlaunch-1411332149755.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/6/29/11G046214/Images/AboutUs-1427420557171.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/6/29/11G046214/Images/Screen_Shot_2015-06-27_at_21.48.06-476512181192.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/6/29/11G046214/Images/PlayOnTheGo-446146912309.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2015/6/29/11G046214/Images/Screen_Shot_2015-06-27_at_22.38.37-1187105050718.jpg Embedded Video Available: https://youtu.be/RQMUfo47g_s || The thrilling life of a Kleiner Perkins fellow, where you go to sailboat parties and hear presentations by Silicon Valleys power players: 994866_586226841415626_1124324708_n (Kleiner Perkins) The KPCB fellows on a boat in San Francisco Bay. Roneil Rumburg, 22, is one of the youngest partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), the iconic Silicon Valley VC firm founded in 1972. He joined the firm in April 2015, and now runs the Edge Fund, a seed-stage fund focused on emerging technologies like drones and virtual reality. But for Rumburg, a Stanford computer science grad, being a full-time VC was never part of his career plan, until just recently. If you had asked me 6 months ago if I would be here right now, I would have never guessed, Rumburg told Business Insider. So how did he get there? Rumburg took a rather uncommon, roundabout path which involved founding a not-so-successful bitcoin startup along the way. But he says a big reason for it is KPCB's summer fellowship program he took two years ago, where he was able to get his feet wet in the tech startup world and build strong relationships with KPCBs management team. My pre-existing relationship with Kleiner made it a lot easier for me to fit into this role, Rumburg said. The KPCB fellowship program gives college students a chance to intern at one of its portfolio companies, while providing a string of exclusive events and unfettered access to the firms leadership team. Its also one of the countrys most competitive fellowship/internship programs to get into: Only 84 fellows out of roughly 2,500 applicants were accepted this year. KPCB's fellowship isn't intended to nurture the next VCs of the world Rumburgs case is a rare one, as the program is designed for students pursuing careers in engineering, design, or product management. But in any case, the value of the program is clear: a unique opportunity to experience Silicon Valley's thriving tech culture and learn from some of the most powerful tech leaders in the world. Not just an internship Being a KPCB fellow doesnt mean you get to work at the firm. Instead, you become an intern at one of Kleiners portfolio companies, such as Uber, Flipboard, or Square (Slack will also be available from next year). Story continues The best part about it is all the exclusive events you get invited to. KPCB puts together a long-list of events only offered to the fellows throughout the three month program, such as a special dinner with its general partner John Doerr or a presentation by Nest cofounder Matt Rogers. There are also weekend excursions to a nearby island or kayak trips. "We probably had 2-3 events a week, and a weekend event which tended to be the fun, sailing trips. During the week, we'd visit Kleiner portfolio companies or go to dinners with partners like Mike Abbott," Rumburg said. The fellowship also helps KPCB's own portfolio companies. By putting the KPCB brand behind it, the fellowship program can help recruit some of the country's most talented students for startups that may not necessarily have the brand recognition of its bigger competitors. "If you're a student deciding between Google versus one of our portfolio companies, it's not that comparison anymore. It's Google versus KPCB's fellowship program," KPCB's partner Andy Chen, who leads the fellowship program told us. How to get in RRumburgHighRes (Kleiner Perkins) Roneil Rumburg was a 2013 fellow, and now runs the Edge Fund at KPCB. The fellowship offers three different tracks: engineering, design, or product management. Depending on which program you apply for, you get asked a different set of questions. Rumburg, who was an engineering fellow, said the application process was pretty standard with some questions about an engineering problem. Chen said product management fellows have to upload a video explaining a product that they like. Once you get past the first round, you do a more technical interview with a team leader of a KPCB portfolio company. Those who make it past this second round are the finalists, which usually amount to about 100 people, Chen told us. The finalists are then given a choice to pick from five Kleiner portfolio companies they'd like to work for. They go through a round of interview with each of those companies, and only the ones given an offer from them get into the fellowship program. The fellows don't get paid by KPCB, but the companies they end up interning at. That means the terms of compensation differ for each fellow depending on who they work for. In most cases, KPCB says they're individually negotiated. John Doerr (Michael Seto/Business Insider) Kleiner Perkins General Partner John Doerr Meeting John Doerr and Mary Meeker John Doerr and Mary Meeker, two of the most powerful KPCB partners, also make sure they get connected to the fellows. Doerr, for example, does an intimate Q&A session over dinner with the fellows, where he answers all kinds of questions, from investment and stock tips to even some personal ones. "He puts all the questions on the board and answers them one-by-one, all 84 fellows," Chen says. Meeker also gives a special presentation of her famous "Internet Trends" report, and spends hours afterwards to answer questions individually. "She stayed past 10PM just chatting with us. Getting her kind of off the record and hearing the unfiltered stuff, that was really cool," Rumburg said. Other presenters include Uber's Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden, Facebook's VP of Product Chris Cox, and Flipboard's VP of Design Marcos Weskamp. Star CEOs like Slack's Stewart Butterfield and Sportify's Daniel Ek were also available during this year's welcome reception. "One of the big things I took away from the fellowship was it kind of humanized all of these people you read and hear about," Rumburg says. "It was kind of surreal to be there, chatting with Mary Meeker, but she's actually just a super normal person." Stephanie He, a Princeton computer science grad, who interned at Square as part of the fellowship program last year, echoed the same sentiment. "People like John Doerr can seem intimidating at first, because theyre legendary in Silicon Valley, but theyre all very accessible, engaging with the fellows," she tells us. Life after the fellowship AChenHighRes (Kleiner Perkins) KPCB partner Andy Chen runs the fellowship program Rumburg, the KPCB partner, was an engineering intern at a cloud infrastructure startup called Nebula during his fellowship in 2013. Although Nebula went out of business earlier this year, Rumburg says the whole fellowship experience was so inspiring that it convinced him to finish college a year early and start his own Bitcoin startup called Backslash. Backslash didn't pan out the way he'd expected, but Rumberg's experience as an engineer and founder led KPCB to reach out to him with a VC position. "Roneil [Rumburg] was part of the program, and he kept in close touch with the team here, and that relationship enabled him to bounce into Edge," Chen says. "The Edge Fund team immediately thought of Roneil because they had that long-standing relationship." For Stephanie He, the 2014 fellow who interned at Square, it was about getting that startup experience and gaining the confidence to join a young company. She will start working at an early stage startup called Flux Factory this year. "I never had a chance to work at a startup before KPCB. If youre interested in exploring startups, then I highly recommend the fellowship program." Chen says 90% of the fellows end up receiving job offers from the companies they interned at. In some cases, like Rumberg, the fellows go on to become VCs or even launch their own startup. If you want to have the best bang for the buck, where you can meet the best people, work at the best company, and have the best experience, I think the fellowship program offers all of that, Chen said. NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants More From Business Insider Microsoft has a strange new mission statement 11 impossible tech interview questions you don't want to be asked How Mark Zuckerberg helps his friend, the CEO of $10 billion Dropbox || MarilynJean Media Interactive (MJMI.QB) Announces Plans to Enter Multi-Billion Dollar Remittance Market Using Bitcoin to Effect Transfers: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2015 /MarilynJean Media Interactive (MJMI) announced today its plans to enter the multi-billion dollar remittance market using Bitcoin to effect transfers.
According to the World Bank, sending money internationally, or remittance transactions, were valued at over $580 Billion in 2014 and are expected to exceed $608 Billion in 2015. The World Bank estimates transaction fees to average 7.99% of money sent, making for a staggering $50 Billion in potential fees for participants in this year's remittance business.
Most remittance transfers are from developed countries to developing ones, sent primarily by migrant workers. Currently, most transactions are done through brick and mortar institutions like Western Union (NYSE:WU) and Moneygram (NASDAQ:MGI). These type of companies make money by charging an often invisible fee on the currency exchange portion of the transaction and high transfer fees to send and receive the money.
Within the existing financial system, Bitcoin's most disrupting feature is its decentralized architecture. A vaster international network of P2P computers provides multiple layers of verification for each transaction using cryptography. All transactions are registered in the publicly viewable blockchain so that users can’t transact with bitcoins they don’t own. This final level of security previously required a third party, typically a bank.
In a Bitcoin remittance transaction, a user would purchase Bitcoins via a Bitcoin exchange then send the Bitcoins to a Bitcoin remittance company who would then send the money to the receiver. Each step would be completed electronically within minutes.
The bitcoin network has the potential to effectively replace financial institutions and banks in the remittance market. Transfers are virtually in real time, often completing in less than 10 minutes, with ultra-low costs, typically limited to the fee for using a Bitcoin exchange, which averages 2%. In addition, Bitcoin remittance transactions can be easily completed using mobile devices which are now widely available in developing countries.
Challenges for Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies in the remittance market include the differing ways such currencies are regulated internationally and the costs associated with compliance in multiple jurisdictions. As a fully reporting, publicly traded company, management believes both regulators and users will be comparatively more confident with MJMI's participation in any regulated markets.
MJMI is currently exploring partnering with several existing Bitcoin exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of Bitcoin ATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution and potentially capture a share of this lucrative market just as it is poised to undergo a massive shift into the digital realm.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "With legacy remittance companies and traditional banks continuing to charge high fees while hiding other fees via poor exchange rates, it's hard to see a future where they will continue to be relevant."
About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies
Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting."
Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK).
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB.
Website:www.marilynjeancom
Press Contact:bonnie@marilynjean.com
SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive || 3D Printer And A Latte, Please: In Europe, 3D printing cafes are popping up in major cities across the bloc as the technology gains traction among average consumers. Cities like Barcelona and Madrid are home to the cafes, which boast 3D printers that customers can use to design whatever they like. Trying It Out The rise of 3D printers for home use has made the cafes a success, as it gives customer the opportunity to use the technology without paying upwards of $1,000 to buy their own. After submitting their designs, customers can order food and beverages while they wait for their item to print. Everything from cellphone holders to action figures can be made in the cafe. Related Link: Analyst Calls 3D Printing 'Massive Clash Of Hype Vs. Reality' Too Complicated For The Masses Companies like 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE: DDD ) and Stratasys, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS ) have developed desktop 3D printers for use in people's homes. Many saw the printers expanding in popularity and eventually becoming a household staple, but critics say there is a long way to go before the technology becomes usable for the average consumer. At the moment, complicated designs must be fed into the printer in order to make an object and the skills needed to create such drawings requires time and effort as it isn't easily picked up. Making 3D More Accessible However, 3D printing cafes have filled the gap between average consumers and complicated technology by giving people a cost-effective way to learn how to use the printers. Many of the cafes offer instruction for beginners or tools to help them understand the process. See more from Benzinga Overstock Loses Big On Bitcoin The Cost Of A 'Rocky Mountain High' Is Getting Lower Greece's Final Proposal Draws Criticism From Syriza © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || All the 'Silicon Valley' cameos that only tech geeks will notice: The season two finale of Silicon Valley aired last night on HBO. In honor of the show completing its sophomore year, heres a list of some of its most notable cameos: Evan Spiegel The Snapchat co-founder and CEO makes a not-so-subtle appearance in this seasons first episode. While eulogizing the eccentric billionaire Peter Gregory, Spiegel quips: Thats just the kind of guy he waswarm, generous, and not disappointed in Snapchat. The remark is likely a reference to a comment made by Peter Thiel ( the real life entrepreneur the Gregory is based on ) who called Snapchats 2013 photo hack especially problematic ." Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss One of the more amusing cameos from the second seasons premiere, Sand Hill Shuffle, involved the Winklevoss twins of Facebook/Bitcoin fame. Erlich, the shows resident Silicon Valley know-it-all, spots the Winklevi at a swanky party. Theyre like two genetically enhanced Ken dolls, he says running after them. Drew Houston The Dropbox CEO makes an appearance at the same party, which, in the show, is thrown by a venture capital firm at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Though in the presence of Giants draft picks Tyler Beede and Skyler Ewing (more cameos!) the Pied Piper guys are more interested in (tech) giants like Houston. Justin Rosenstein We in technology have a greater capacity to change the world than the kings and presidents of even 100 years ago. Unfortunately, thats not a line from Rosensteins Silicon Valley cameo. Its actually from his infamous 2014 TechCrunch talk, dubbed the worst tech speech ever by the tech news site BGR. Rosenstein has worked as an engineer at Google and Facebook, and created the communication app Asana. In the show he plays himself as a mourner at Peter Gregorys funeral. The cameo-heavy episode is said to mirror Steve Jobs star-studded memorial service in 2011 . Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg The co-executive editors of Re/Code, a news site that covers all things Silicon Valley, appear as themselves in the episode, Bad Money. Set at the Re/Code Code Conference, they interview the fictional bad guy Hooli CEO, Gavin Belson, as he compares the plight of Jews in Nazi Germany to the plight of billionaires in America. Jason Kincaid Another real tech journalist appears in episodes seven and eight of season one, at the TechCrunch Disrupt startup competition (also a real thing). Howard L. Morgan A venture capitalist famous for his early participation in the technology boom also appears at the fictional version of the conference. Michael Arrington The founder of TechCrunch pops up in the season one finale at the Disrupt conference. Arrington has spoken in favor of dropping out of college , kind of like Peter Gregory does in the shows pilot episode (Gregory's real life counterpart does this too through his Thiel Fellowship ). Eric Schmidt The Google exec makes a brief cameo in the first episode where he throws a party albeit a dull one to celebrate an acquisition. That brings us to
Kid Rock No, it wasnt a geeky tech CEO or super-successful venture capitalist who made the first cameo in the series, but a bona fide rock star. Kid Rock performed at Schmidts fete... and no one actually cared. Kid Rock is the poorest person here, apart from you guys! Erlich tells his friends at the party. Whats more, the Kids proclamation before walking off stage, f*** these people, could arguably serve as a thesis statement for the entire show. || Fed Meeting Suggests One Or Two Rate Hikes This Year: This week's Federal Reserve meeting served as confirmation for investors that the bank is still planning to raise interest rates some time before the end of this year.
Although the bank has promised to take a slow-and-steady approach to policy tightening, investors are beginning to batten down the hatches for fear that the hike will have a dramatic effect on markets.
Labor Key
On Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen remarked that the rate increase would be closely tied to labor market data, saying that improvement in that area of the economy was the number one driver of the bank's decision making.
Weak economic data at the start of the year had many questioning whether or not the economy would be strong enough for a rate hike, but Yellen suggested in the press conference following the meeting that data shows the nation is on track for one or two rate increases before the year is out.
When?
Most investors have placed their bets on aSeptember rate increase, though upcoming jobs data will likely play a role in analysts' predictions.
Although the bank is likely to tighten before the end of the year, Yellen has promised that the bank will move slowly and gradually so as not to upset markets.
Related Link:Fed Rate Hike Predictions All Over The Board
How To Prepare
Many worry that a rate rise will push stock values lower and wreak havoc on the bond market. While itsdifficult to tellwho the winners and losers will be when markets absorb the Fed's next move, many investors are rushing toward commodities as they are historically unaffected by policy changes.
Another good bet for investors looking to avoid a slide in their portfolio is foreign assets. As the dollar rises following policy tightening, foreign goods gain popularity which will be that will beneficial to companies in Europe and Asia.
On the other side will be US companies who have borrowed large sums to conduct share buybacks and increase dividends. The age of improving returns for shareholders is likely nearing its end as borrowing costs rise.
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin May Not Go Mainstream, But Blockchain Will
• Insurers Caught In 5-Way Courtship Competition
• The Video Streaming Space Is Getting Crowded
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || A bitcoin start-up has made exchanging currency free: A bitcoin (:BTC=) start-up has launched a service that will allow people to carry out foreign exchange transactions for free, dodging the expensive commission often charged by major financial institutions. Bitreserve, a company founded last year by CNET and salesforce.com co-founder Halsey Minor, allows people to convert bitcoin into normal currencies and precious metals. The start-up used to charge a 0.45 percent commission for bitcoin-to-dollar transactions, but has now cut its fees entirely. The move is likely to give it an edge in the hotly contested "fintech" market where a number of companies such as U.K.-based Transferwise are contesting the currency transfer and mobile payments space. Users of the platform will be able to make currency exchanges in eight major currencies: euros, dollars, pounds, yuan, yen, pesos, rupees, swiss francs. People will also have the ability to convert the currencies into gold, silver, platinum and palladium, depending on the market price. Bitreserve offers the mid-market rate for currencies. "Those in society who can least afford it have to spend so much for things that are so commonplace," Anthony Watson, president and chief operating officer of Bitreserve, told CNBC by phone. "If you look at a Mexican immigrants, they send approximately $30 billion home every year and they pay just under $3 billion for the privilege of sending that money home. That is 10 percent and that is disgusting." Bitreserve's service comes with a catch however - you have to own bitcoin to use the service in order to make an initial deposit and then convert it to another asset. Plus, when users receive money, they can only spend it in bitcoin. This could put it at a disadvantage to other companies that allow people to sign up with bank accounts and send money for still a small commission. One use case of such a technology is remittances, which reached $436 billion in 2014, according to the World Bank. Since its inception in October 2014, Bitrserve has been responsible for $14.5 million worth of transactions globally, according to its website. Story continues But not all experts agree that a free model is sustainable in the currency exchange business. "No business that offers its services for free can do so sustainably over a long period of time without other revenue sources," Stan Stalnaker, board member of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority, a self-regulating body for digital currencies, told CNBC by email. Read More This is why bitcoin won't go away anytime soon "The real question, in an age of free transactions, is about business models - what other products and services can Bitreserve launch that it will charge for, and how successful will that be on the back of very low cost remittances?" Watson said the company was looking to partner with traditional financial institutions to allow people to move the money into traditional bank accounts, as well as retailers so people can buy items using regular currencies. "We are in conversation across the world with not only banks but different financial services providers. We are talking to a myriad of companies. We don't see ourselves as a threat to banks we see ourselves as complimenting what they do," Watson, the former Nike CIO, said. Another use of Bitreserve's technology is to store bitcoin in a stable currency like the U.S. dollar. "A lot of people are putting money on reserve and moving it into currency and moving bitcoin into a stable form of currency. Bticoin bounces around like a jack rabbit," Watson added. A number of companies such as Coincove and ArtaBit are offering similar services, but only allowing people to send bitcoin to converted to one currency. More From CNBC CNBC.com News Page CNBC.com Blogs Page CNBC.com Earnings Central || Is Iran's Nuclear Agreement A Done Deal?: While it may seem like the hardest negotiations are over, the nuclear agreement made between Iranian officials and Western diplomats was only the beginning.
Now the deal will be scrutinized around the world as the U.S. and its allies debate whether or not the agreement's benefits outweigh the risks.
Republican Majority
One arena where the deal islikely to face a lot of oppositionis U.S. Congress. As Republicans represent the majority in both the Senate and the House, there could be a lot of pushback against the nuclear deal during Congress' 60 day review period.
However, in order to completely overturn the deal and ensure that it is not passed, Republicans would need to gain support from many of Congress' Democrats.
Since the bill represents a major policy aim for Obama, who is backed by the Democrats, Republicans are unlikely to get the votes they need to kill the deal.
Related Link:Is Russia Next To Adopt Bitcoin?
Middle Eastern Worries
The U.S. isn't the only place the deal faces opposition. In the Middle East, many of the U.S.' allies worry that the deal will give Iran too much power.
While Iranian officials have promised to curb the nation's nuclear activities in accordance with new restrictions laid out in the agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the financial power that relaxed sanctions will give Iran will spell disaster for the region.
Netanyahu said he plans to lobby against the deal as he believes it will allow Iran to provide financial support to its allies, namely Syria.
See more from Benzinga
• Greece Receives Bailout Deal: Now What?
• Can Greece's Latest Reform Proposal Be Trusted?
• Greece To Plead Its Case At A Last-Chance Summit
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 18424.00 INR Sell : 17853.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || Current price: 219.91€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-06-17 08:00:04 CEST || LIVE: Profit = $640.67 (0.75 %). BUY B306.68 @ $279.30 (#Bitfinex). SELL @ $280.00 (#HitBTC) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #Bitcoin last trade
@bleutrade $272.00
@btcecom $272.60
@cryptsy $280.00
Set #crypto #price #alerts at http://AlertCo.in || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 16450.00 INR Sell : 15940.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || #Bitcoin #Giveaway! Happy Birthday Shapeshift! Giveaway up to 1.00 $BTC! http://bitcoingarden.tk/forum/index.php?topic=4301.0 … tnx @Jawad_ID @CryptoOz @ShapeShift_io || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000005
Bittrex: 0.00000006
Average $1.2E-5 per #reddcoin
15:00:01 || 現在の価格は 36602円(http://blockchain.info )です。前回比は0円(0.00%)です。http://konvert.in/currency/1-bitcoin-to-japanese-yen … #ビットコイン #bitcoin via @konvertin || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 18115.00 INR Sell : 17556.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 20 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $2,296.46 #bitcoin #btc
|
Trend: down || Prices: 281.88, 278.58, 279.58, 261.00, 265.08, 264.47, 270.39, 266.38, 264.08, 265.68
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
This student-loan startup says it has the killer feature to beat big lenders: As you've followed the 2016 presidential campaign cycle, you've no doubt heard mention of the student debt crisis.Earnest, a lending startup that refinances student loans and originates personal loans, thinks it can help.
Loan-refinancing may not seem like the sexiest corner of fintech, but it has very recently become very hot:SoFi(Social Finance), which provides student loans, mortgages and other kinds of loans, scored a $1 billion investment from Softbank in September. The startup advertised during the Super Bowl in February. Smaller startups like Zest Finance use big data to aid underwriting for big lenders, while CommonBond focuses on re-financing. Marketplaces like Lending Club (LC) and Lending Tree (TREE) still advertise heavily as the best places to shop for loans. And all of these newer players claim they have the technology to compete with massive incumbents like Sallie Mae (SLM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan (JPM).
Earnest CEO Louis Beryl says his company has the best strategic advantage of all: its recently launched precision pricing. The tool allows an Earnest customer to select any monthly payment on a loan and change it on the fly; the interest rate will adjust to match. That might sound like the kind of simple function that anyone with a student loan should have been able to do already, but no other lenders yet offer it. A traditional lender provides limited choices for the repayment period—typically five, 10, or 15 years' time. An Earnest customer, using a slider on Earnest's web site, can tweak the monthly payment they want to make to, say, $1,000 a month, and Earnest will react accordingly. "$1,000 a month might mean a 10-and-a-half year loan, not a 10-year loan or a 15-year loan," Beryl says. "We'll give that person the interest rate that corresponds to a 10-and-a-half-year loan."
Beryl launched Earnest in 2013. He got the idea for the company after experiencing his own frustrations when he was denied loans in grad school. "I remember thinking, 'Why weren't financial institutions taking the time to understand me more deeply?' And we had a massive technology disruption where all of our accounts were online now." He jumped on the opportunity. Now Earnest is growing so fast that it originated 50 times as many loans in 2015 as it did in 2014. More than 40 million Americans have at least one student loan.
It wasn't so long ago that if you were a student with a loan who wanted to pay more this month than usual, you had to fill out an elaborate form and snail-mail it to the lender just to have the privilege of paying. Behavior has shifted, Beryl says. In an era of mobile banking, young people are attuned to doing their banking without the face-to-face interaction that traditionally would have been involved in something as weighty as refinancing a loan. Earnest, for now, has no app, but will launch one this year.
Earnest says that with its precision pricing tool, clients have saved an average $17,936 after refinancing. But eager fintech-savvy student borrowers, beware: Refinancing isn't for everyone. As Yahoo Finance's Mandi Woodruffhas warned, refinancing a student loan can be the wrong move in some cases. Remember that if you lower your monthly payment, it will give you more flexibility -- which is especially helpful if you're having trouble repaying the debt -- but you'll also be extending your loan term and end up paying more over thelife of the loan.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.Read more:
This app wants to be the social network of the future-- literally
Here's how you can invest in the blockchain
Facebook, Amazon, and Google all want to stream NFL games
Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || Earningspalooza: 6 trades to make right now: Several companies reported disappointing earnings after the bell Thursday. The "Fast Money" traders debated the names they would buy or sell on the news.
Trader Brian Kelly said that Starbucks(NASDAQ: SBUX), which posted a miss on same-store sales, isn't exactly his favorite name, but he has a lot of respect for its CEO.
"I would never, ever, ever bet againstHoward Schultz. The guy's amazing. Look at what he's done with the company," Kelly said.
"But what I would bet against in this space, based on this news, is Dunkin' Brands(NASDAQ: DNKN), because it seems to me if you can translate that weak economy to the other places, Dunkin' Brands hasn't executed," Kelly said.
Guy Adami also isn't convinced on Starbucks, though he said it's been a good stock to buy on dips.
"Yes, the comps are concerning, but again on every pullback, the stock's been a buying opportunity. My sense is that this one is as well," he said.
Another stock that did not perform well after hours Thursday was Visa(NYSE: V), after the company amended the terms of its deal so that it would be required to pay, roughly, an additional $1.98 billion.
Adami noted Visa is trading at close to 26 times forward earnings, which makes it expensive enough that anything less than stellar reports "get the stock whacked."
While many of these stocks rallied ahead of earnings, Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN)is dipping before it reports April 28. Adami thinks it's time to take money off the table with the online retail giant. Trader Karen Finerman agreed and thinks that in general the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google), will also begin to show signs of weakness the way Google(NASDAQ: GOOGL)-owner Alphabet did on Thursday.
Disclosures:
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
Karen Finerman
Karen is long BAC, C, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, BOKF, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
Dan Nathan
Dan is long XLF may/ sept put spread. Dan is long AAPL April Put Fly, long PFE, long TWTR, long GE May 28 puts, long JPM April puts, long INTC April puts , long QCOM April put spreads, long HYG June puts, long IWM May and September puts, long XHB June put spread, long XLE April/June put spread. QCOM long May put spread. FXI Long Aug Puts, SMH Long Aug puts
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• Personal Finance || 7 Signs Americas Super-Rich Are Finally Losing Power: With billionaire Donald Trump the Republican frontrunner, it may seem like the impact of the ultra-rich on our public life is reaching new heights. A self-proclaimed billionaire (Trump still hasnt released his tax records ), Trumps anti-establishment, anti-Wall Street, anti-free-trade rhetoric has him running as a traitor to his class, though. A loose affiliation of the super rich has been scheming to halt his rise most recently, Mitt Romney but so far, without any success. In fact, there are plenty of signs that plutocrats are losing their grip on the levers of power and influence. Yes, income inequality continues to rage . But plenty of people with ten-figure net worths simply arent getting the satisfaction to which they have become accustomed. We may have reached Peak Plutocrat. The phenomenon can best be seen in politics, where the kings of private enterprise are having a tough time playing kingmaker this time around. Bloomberg for President Remember that? If you blinked, you missed it. In late January, the former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, proprietor of the eponymous company, whose fortune is estimated at $36 billion to $48 billion , briefly considered jumping into the race. Never mind that third-party candidacies dont do well in the U.S., or that Bloomberg's constituency (coastal rich people who are socially liberal) are generally in the Hillary Clinton camp already. The candidacy of Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire candidate beloved by billionaires (hedge fund giant Bill Ackman wrote a passionate pro-Mike op-ed in the Financial Times), failed to launch. And then there was Jeb! Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush blew through $100 million of the establishments money before bowing out. Stanley Druckenmiller, the retired hedge fund billionaire, is backing. . . . John Kasich. The dealmakers from 2012 In 2012, Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate, played an immensely influential role in the Republican primary and general election. In 2016? Not so much. The Las Vegas Review Journal, the newspaper (!) Adelson recently purchased, has endorsed Marco Rubio , a victor in precisely one caucus. And Adelson has yet to put his card on the table. Story continues The Koch brothers feel disenfranchised For their part, the Koch brothers, who have used their billions to build a highly effective political operation that runs in parallel to the Republican party, are feeling disenfranchised. Far from adopting the Koch Brothers line on free trade, or immigration, the Republican field is running in the opposite direction. "You'd think we could have more influence," Charles Koch groused to the Financial Times . On March 3, Reuters reported the Koch brothers had decided not to use any of their war chest to fight Trumps candidacy. As Reuters notes, the brothers made the decision because they were concerned that spending millions of dollars attacking Trump would be money wasted , since they had not yet seen any attack on Trump stick. No longer minting money, either Billionaires are not doing so hot in the stock market, either. Bill Ackman, the proprietor of Pershing Square, shot the lights out in 2013 and 2014; Ackmans brand of dramatic activism and willingness to go all-in on high-profile stocks gave his fund a impressive returns. But last year , his main fund was off 20.5 percent, net of returns; its off more than 15 percent so far in 2016. Whoops! John Paulson, the hedge fund manger who shot to prominence on the backs of bearish bets on the housing market and was thus elevated into the market sage, is literally half the asset manager he used to be . As air comes out of the markets that Plutocrats rely on and love the stock market, yes, but also junk bonds, tech start-ups, natural resources their spending power and public influence are starting to deflate. (The egos, not so much.) Real estate values wane High-end real estate in London, which has functioned as a sort of safety deposit box for the globes ultra wealthy, is starting to fall . In Manhattan last year, the number of contracts signed on condos worth more than $10 million fell 16 percent, from 270 to 227. So if you're in the business of selling trophy properties to ultra-rich people, you may be struggling. Christie's reported that its sales of fine art were down 11 percent in 2015 and Sotheby's said that so far this quarter, sales are off 33 percent . TV, the lagging indicator Don't get me wrong. While signs are everywhere that their influence on our culture and economy are declining, the Plutocrats like the poor will always be with us. And they will often be unavoidable. One of the better new shows to debut this TV season is Showtime's Billions , featuring Damian Lewis as Bobby Axelrod, a Steve Cohen-esque hedge fund manager. Billions has been picked up for a second season. But even a show that humanizes and dramatizes plutocrats is a sign of their peak. When it comes to business trends, television shows are always an extremely lagging indicator. In the fall of 2000, the debut of a show about the bull market, The$treet, presaged the impending market crash. In October 2005, ABC aired Hot Properties, a sitcom starring Sofia Vergara about a group of realtors in California. The housing market began to crash the following year. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com The Crisis in Bitcoin and the Rise of Blockchain 3 Ways to Win Over Your Boss Here's Why China Laying Off 1.8 Million Workers Is Actually Good News Your Great Idea Will Fail Without This These Are the Super-Rich People Shaping China || Barclays-Circle Partnership to Facilitate App Launch in UK: After obtaining an electronic money license from U.K.’s top financial regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, the social payment app Circle is all set to foray into the nation on Wednesday. The move will be further facilitated by the Boston-based start-up’s tie-up with London-basedBarclays PLCBCS, which is the first global bank to join hands with a Bitcoin company.The license granted by the U.K., another first for a virtual currency firm, indicates the government’s efforts to attract virtual currency start-ups and make London a hub for the development of financial technology or fintech."Circle's decision to launch in the UK, and the firm's new partnership with Barclays are major milestones," said Britain's Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin in an email. "They prove our decision to introduce the most progressive, forward-looking regulatory regime is paying off and cements our status as the world's FinTech capital," he added.Founded in 2013, Circle uses Bitcoin, the virtual currency, to allow users to make payments to other customers using a mobile app. The process is termed as “social payments” by the company and its investors list includes The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS and IDG Capital Partners.Circle users can hold dollars and also pay any merchant that accepts Bitcoin anywhere in the world. Circle will instantly convert the dollars into Bitcoin at the time of payment and its users can accept Bitcoin payments, which will be immediately converted into dollars.The British license will enable Circle users in the U.K. to do the same. Consumers will be able to instantly transfer money between dollars and British pounds, thus facilitating domestic and international payments.“For the first time any consumer in the U.S. and the U.K. will be able to beam sterling and dollars back and forth, instantly for free,” said Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder of Circle. “That’s just never been possible.”Apart from money transfers, Circle users can also send emojis and animated "GIF" videos, along with written messages, at no charge, similar to China's WeChat Pay and AliPay.Moreover, Circle is expected to allow transfers in and out of euros soon, when it launches in the rest of Europe later this year.The affiliation with Barclays will provide Circle with the required infrastructure to enable transfers from any U.K. bank account. Further, Barclays Corporate Banking will provide the account needed by Circle to store sterling for consumers.While Bitcoin remains in a negative light owing to its standing as a black-market currency, the failure of a massive Bitcoin exchange and extreme price fluctuations, partnership with a global bank like Barclays will prove to be an accomplishment for Circle, which uses Bitcoin to transfer central bank currencies.Also, banks like Goldman, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM and Credit Suisse Group AG CS have been increasingly showing interest in Blockchain, the “digital ledger” or the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, given its significant potential to revamp the extensive and complex network of bank payments as well as settlements.Currently, Barclays holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportJPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis ReportCREDIT SUISSE (CS): Free Stock Analysis ReportBARCLAY PLC-ADR (BCS): Free Stock Analysis ReportGOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || The Crisis in Bitcoin and the Rise of Blockchain: Remember the hype over bitcoin? The crypto-currency that so tantalized techies and excited investors is today in a sorry state: Its core supporters are at war with each other and ordinary consumers still don’t care about this supposedly revolutionary form of money. But that’s only half of the story. The other half is about the remarkable rise of blockchain, the core technology underlying bitcoin that is enjoying unprecedented adoption by banks and big business. This development--the fall of bitcoin and the rise of blockchain--has accelerated in recent months, and it has big implications for those who have sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into these technologies. Here’s the latest on the story of bitcoin, which has turned out far differently than many imagined. How We Got Here Flash back five years, the bitcoin scene was an exciting place to be. A motley mix of coders, libertarians, and get-rich-quick hucksters latched onto the promise of bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s new distributed, tamper-proof money system and ledger run from millions of computers. The ledger provided an indelible record of near-anonymous financial transactions in offering a global payment platform to ordinary merchants, drug dealers, and everyone in between. The early bitcoin buzz soon exploded, and the currency’s value briefly soared to $1,200 . The mainstream news media caught onto the story while venture capitalists lined up to fund any business with “bit” in its name. Meanwhile, businesses from Virgin Galactic to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings realized they could get a heap of free press just by announcing they would accept bitcoin. The currency never caught on, however. Despite all the startups offering wallets and other tools to popularize the payment technology, average consumers never took to bitcoin--even as they did adopt another person-to-person mobile payment platform, known as Venmo , in droves. So what happened? One problem is that bitcoin never shook its sordid side. While there is nothing intrinsically evil about bitcoin, its most famous adopters have always been a rogue’s gallery of fraudsters, prostitutes, dark web drug lords , and Ponzi schemers . Even some members of bitcoin’s governing foundation, who sought to make the currency respectable, are on the lam or in jail . Story continues This rogue reputation certainly didn’t help bitcoin. But it wasn’t the crypto-currency’s biggest problem. Instead, the main reason bitcoin didn’t catch on is because it’s just not practical. Even if you can find merchants who accept it, the process involves exotic apps, currency transactions, and a verification process that takes minutes to get the okay. Compare that to swiping a credit card, and you see the problem. In recent months, bitcoin’s adoption problem has suddenly worsened. Meanwhile, big banks are finding they can use bitcoin’s best feature and leave the currency itself behind. Get Data Sheet , Fortune 's technology newsletter. The Current Crisis and the Rise of Blockchain “Bitcoin’s nightmare scenario has come to pass,” read a headline this week from tech site, The Verge. That’s a pretty fair way to describe a recent schism within the bitcoin developer community--the collection of gnomes who decide on the protocols and computer code under the hood. The Verge report offers a good run-down of the technical specifics but, for present purposes, they can be summed up like this: the bitcoin community failed to agree on a system upgrade, which means the ledger’s infrastructure faces a growing backlog, and it now takes over 40 minutes to confirm a transaction. As a result, bitcoin is less practical than ever and merchants (the few who accepted it in the first place) are bolting. This schism deals a further blow to bitcoin’s hopes of ever becoming a mainstream currency. This is a setback for the bitcoin community, but here’s the kicker: it doesn’t really matter. That’s because the true value of bitcoin is not the currency itself. Instead, it’s the blockchain technology underneath it. Banks and other big businesses have already reaped the benefit of this technology. As Fortune reported in December, IBM , Intel , JP Morgan , and several other big banks are betting on the blockchain’s ledger system. As with bitcoin, the system requires a set of diffuse computers to prove that a transaction has occurred. Once a confirmation occurs, it’s recorded in a common ledger and cannot be reversed. Why is this such a big deal? It has to do with record keeping. The idea of a tamper-proof ledger created by computers is so significant because it could let a number of industries--especially banking, brokerages, and law firms--overhaul the way they do business. Instead of relying on slow and cumbersome settlement systems to notarize and record documents, they can let a blockchain do it for them. “The clearing and settlement will be done in a matter of seconds. An efficiency comes with this that is a pretty significant force multiplier,” explains Jeff Garzick, a former bitcoin developer who recently launched a consultancy called Bloq that advises banks and others how to deploy blockchain technology. Garzick and his partner Matt Rosack expect the financial industry will begin using the blockchain for stock and loan settlements as soon as the end of this year. Likewise, they think banks’ transactions at the discount window of the Federal Reserve will soon be recorded on a blockchain. And that’s just the beginning. Garzick and Rosack say the Big Four auditing firms will soon have a blockchain-based transaction feed that will be visible to regulators, who have been studying the potential of blockchain technology for years. The Future: Blockchain Without Bitcoin Even for those familiar with crypto-currency, it can be hard to get one’s head around just how the blockchain can operate without bitcoin. The reason is that bitcoin supplies the financial incentive for people around the world, known as miners, to operate the ledger in the first place. For more about bitcoin, watch our video : In return for devoting their computers to running the blockchain (which publishes the ledger), they receive a reward in the form of a bitcoin that can be spent online or exchanged for traditional currency. In the absence of such an incentive, how do the banks plan to develop the blockchain? The answer is they are building their own version of blockchain and running it themselves. As Garzick explains, this process involves taking the core protocol underlying bitcoin and then stripping off all the “mining” and compensation functions. He says the miners are an interesting way to creating a ledger, but they are not essential in the case of a “private chain,” like the one the banks are developing. “The mining is a really elegant software solution that equally distributes who is going to validate the next set of bitcoin transactions,” Garzick says. “ A private chain replaces the entire trust-less aspect with a more private closed network of participants.” In practice, this will involve the banks rejecting a global federation of miners in favor of a handful of trusted verification partners within their own network--a process already underway . For instance, a group of 15 banks might agree that the ledger becomes official once computers from seven group members agree to record a set of transactions. So what happens to bitcoin in this scenario? As The Economist noted in a recent feature , it may become no more than a novelty or a historical curiosity. If this is the case, the venture capitalists who made big bets on consumer bitcoin startups like Coinbase and Xapo could see a pool of wealth vanish. Ditto the U.S. government, which has seized a large pile of bitcoins in high-profile drug investigations. For now, that worst case scenario for bitcoin hasn’t come to pass yet. Despite the recent convulsions in the developer community, its price has held fairly steady around $400 for months. It may find niche roles as a currency, such as for foreign remittances. Meanwhile, bitcoin still has defenders such as Jeremy Allaire, a successful entrepreneur who raised over $60 million for his startup, Circle, a money transfer service for consumers using bitcoin behind the scenes. Allaire says there is still time for bitcoin to break through in place of services like Venmo. “Venmo is another AOL--I don't want another walled garden. I want the Google of money,” Allaire said in a recent interview. “We've gone from a world where everyone is in denial about the tech and its usefulness. Now traditional financial institutes say, ‘We love the technology but we want to control it with our own private technology.’ That's not practical.” Other defenders include my former colleague at Fortune , Dan Roberts, who said the bull case outstrips the bear case for bitcoin in 2016. Still, based on recent developments, a bitcoin resurgence looks like a long shot. When the final history of bitcoin is written, the currency itself is likely to be just a colorful footnote in the tale of the emergence of a powerful new blockchain technology. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com This Could Kill the World's Most Popular Cryptocurrency Securing the City of the Future with Bitcoin Global Regulators Now Eyeing Fintech Through Machine Learning, IBM Braintrust Sees Better Days Ahead Here's Why Europe Is About to Crack Down on Bitcoin Anonymity || Former regulator turns Bitcoin tech advocate: By Mike Kentz
NEW YORK, April 13 (IFR) - Former New York state financial services chief Benjamin Lawsky may have taken a harsh view of virtual currency as a regulator, but he has begun to stump for the technology behind it.
The man accused of implementing tough regulations on Bitcoins and other online currency now heads a consultancy that is acting as an adviser and media liaison for one of the sector's major new players.
The Lawsky Group, which provides legal and strategic counsel for clients on financial regulation issues, was the press contact last week for Axoni, a blockchain technology firm.
Axoni was promoting its successful test of blockchain technology into the back office settlement process for derivatives transactions.
"We'll be doing a broad range of financial consultancy ... and some financial technology public relations," said Lawsky Group spokesman Matthew Anderson.
Anderson was spokesman for the Department of Financial Services, the state regulator where Lawsky was accused of slowing the development of virtual currencies.
Lawsky said last June he wanted to "put in place guard rails that protect consumers and root out illicit activity without stifling beneficial innovation".
Though some Bitcoin proponents welcomed the safeguards, Lawsky's about-face now that he is profiting from the technology in the private sector has miffed more than a few observers.
"I think the most interesting thing about Mr Lawsky's newest venture is that it highlights the cozy relationship between regulators and the regulated industry," Pamela Morgan, CEO of Third Key Solutions, told IFR.
Morgan, whose company consults for other companies that use digital currencies such as Bitcoin, called Lawsky's new role "crony capitalism at its finest".
Lawsky's spokesman did not respond to two requests for further detail about his work, though others saw no problem with it.
"I think it is fantastic that he has entered the private sector and continued to support the Bitcoin/blockchain space," said Adam Draper, CEO of Boost VC, a venture capital firm focused on blockchain and other virtual technologies.
Some suggest the addition of public relations brings out a strength that helped raise Lawsky's profile in the first place - his ability to interact with the media.
(Reporting by Mike Kentz; Editing by Jack Doran and Marc Carnegie) || Can you Pick the 2016 Election Winners Without TV Analysts? Here’s a Better Bet: Watch the video of ‘Can you Pick the 2016 Election Winners Without TV Analysts? Here’s a Better Bet’ on MoneyTalksNews.com.
If you want a quick glimpse at who’s likeliest to be our next president, don’t listen to pollsters and pundits. Follow the money.
We don’t mean the big bucks of super PACs or even the millions from small-money donors.
We’re talking about real money people who wager on election outcomes. It turns out that the collective wisdom of bettors has a better record of predicting winners than the talking heads.
One place that bettors congregate online is theIowa Electronic Markets, or the IEM, at the University of Iowa.
“If you look at polls run during the election, in about 75 percent of the cases, Iowa’s market prices predict the outcome of elections better than the polls,” says Joyce Berg, a University of Iowa accounting professor who oversees the IEM.
Frederick Boehmke, University of Iowa political science professor and faculty adviser to the Hawkeye Poll, recently explained why to theQuad City Times newspaper.
“A poll asks a person’s preference, what they want to happen,” Boehmke said. People investing in the IEM, however, “are trying to make money, so they pick the candidate or party they think will win. They typically set aside personal preferences to make money.”
Also, a poll is a snapshot at a moment in time, Boehmke said. The market “is about who will win in the end.”
The IEM and another exchange,PredictIt, which is set up in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, say the predictions work because the “wisdom of crowds” aggregates the expectations of thousands of bettors who have skin in the game.
A now-defunct exchange calledIntradein 2012 “predicted” the electoral outcome in 49 of the 50 states.
People who put up real money are more likely to consider all the available information than people who just offer their opinions, says Money Talks News financial expert Stacy Johnson.
That information could include economic and business conditions, stock market performance, inflation and employment rates as well as other factors that could sway voters’ moods. Once invested in the outcome, bettors follow campaigns closely. As on a stock exchange and similar to fantasy sports leagues, bettors can make or lose money buying and selling their shares in the outcomes in which they invested.
You can get in on the action.
In exchanges, bettors actually are traders who buy and sell real-money contracts based on their beliefs about “yes or no” election outcomes. Unlike a casino sports book, the exchange does not set odds. The prices reflect the probabilities of various candidate winning a given political race.
PredictIt explains it this way:
You make predictions on future events by buying shares in an outcome, Yes or No. Each outcome has a probability between 1 and 99 percent, which is converted into U.S. cents.
“For example, Trader A thinks an event has at least a 60 percent chance of taking place so she offers 60 cents for a Yes share. PredictIt matches her offer with that of Trader B, who is willing to pay 40 cents for a No share. Each trader now owns a share in the market for this event on opposite sides. … If an event does take place, all Yes shares are redeemed at $1. Shares in No become worthless. If the event does not take place before the market closes, traders holding shares in No will be paid $1, while Yes shares will be worthless.
At the IEM, you can open an account for $5 to $200.
If you just want to look, check who’s leading the popular bets.
For the moment, according to the exchanges and other betting venues, the odds-on favorite is Hillary Clinton. That doesn’t mean bettors favor Hillary’s politics over those of Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic nomination, or Republican front-runner Donald Trump. It just means they bet she wins. The likelihood of a Trump presidency, according to bettors, is less than 20 percent.
Both the IEM and PredictIt offer markets in who will be the GOP and Democratic presidential nominees. IEM has a market in which party will win the 2016 election as well as one in which you can bet on how the parties will share the popular vote. As of March 11, it was Democrats, about 55 percent, leading Republicans, 45 percent.
The IEM also has a market on who will control Congress (“Republican House, Democratic Senate” is leading).
PredictIt also has bets on upcoming party primaries, including Ohio (Kasich beating Trump, Clinton beating Sanders) and Illinois (Trump trouncing Cruz, Clinton trouncing Sanders) as well as topics such as whether the GOP will have a brokered convention (No is beating Yes) and will Marco Rubio drop out by March 18 (Yes is beating No).
• Election Betting Odds: Run byFox Business reporterJohn Stossel and his producer, Maxim Lott, Election Betting Odds features odds derived from an exchange,Betfair.com, which does not accept American traders due to regulations. It recently showed Clinton with a 64 percent probability of winning the White House and Trump with a 19 percent chance.
• FiveThirtyEight: This site is run by Nate Silver, known for calling the results in 49 out of 50 states in 2008 and all 50 states in 2012, FiveThirtyEight is predicting outcomes from primaries and caucuses based on data from polls and endorsements.
• PredictWise:Run by David Rothschild, an economist at Microsoft Research in New York City, PredictWise aggregates data on politics as well as sports, finance and entertainment. The site says it is does not favor gambling. It does indicate the Democratic nominee has a 69 percent chance of winning the White House compared with the Republican candidate’s 31 percent chance of winning. It also predicts Clinton will be the Democratic nominee by a better than 9-1 ratio over Sanders, and that Trump has a 76 percent probability of winning the GOP nomination.
• Pinnacle Sports: At the Curacao-licensed online betting site, Clinton has the best odds.
• Paddy Power: An online gambling site that mainly features sports, Paddy Power takes bets (not from the United States) onU.S. politics, too. It has Clinton as favored to win; Trump has the second-best odds.
• Predictious: Established after the demise of Intrade, Ireland-based Predictious exchange allows you to buy and sell contracts using Bitcoins, the virtual currency.
Despite all these predictions, they could be dead wrong, Johnson points out.
Ahead of the March 1 Super Tuesday elections,PredictItbettors andPredictWisesaid Trump would win 10 of 11 states and would lose only to Ted Cruz in Cruz’s home state, Texas. Cruz did win in Texas, but he also took Oklahoma and Alaska while Rubio won Minnesota; Trump won in seven states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.
So, while you might want to get a handle on the odds for your favorite candidate — and bettors can help — in the voting booth, you need to weigh that with your political convictions.
“You need to do your own research, pick your own candidate and then back that candidate with your vote, no matter what gamblers, polls or pundits say,” he said.
If you were betting on the election, where would you put your money? Does that pick line up with your politics? Share with us in comments below or on ourFacebook page.
This article was originally published onMoneyTalksNews.comas'Can you Pick the 2016 Election Winners Without TV Analysts? Here’s a Better Bet'.
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• Could These 12 Weird Tax Deductions Save You Money? || Murray Stahl Talks Investments Made Through FRMO: - By Bram de Haas
GuruMurray Stahl(Trades,Portfolio) is the CEO and chairman of FRMO Corp. (FRMO). Together with CFO Steven Bregman, they report on the investments made through FRMO on a quarterly basis. There is no transcript available yet for the most recent call, but you can listen to the archived call.
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• The intrinsic value of FRMO
• Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO
The call can be a little bit chaotic if you are a new shareholder, but they are absolutely worth listening too. Stahl and Bregman are full of valuable insights into the markets and readily share wisdom related to their unconventional approach to value investing.
Balance sheet
The call starts out with them commenting on the balance sheet. Equity went down by a meaningful amount and the duo got several questions from shareholders about why it went down and whether the decline would be permanent. A meaningful part of the reduction in book value is due to current assets decreasing by $–– million. A deferred tax liability was decreased and the securities sold, not yet purchased program was expanded a little bit. This is a post where they account for short positions in path dependent ETFs. The way I understand it, they had to take their gains in these positions, which triggered a tax. Afterward they initiated the positions again with a new cost basis.
The HK multistrategy fund declined in value. Over the calendar year, the fund didn’t do so bad (-–—%), but throughout the reporting period the fund went down by —5%. There were also some redemptions, although they were quick to point out March had been a very good month.
Digital Currency Group
Stahl talked a little bit about a new investment in the Digital Currency Group. DCG is a corporation devoted to crypto currencies. Stahl expects cryptocurrencies will become a legitimate asset class. DCG owns various venture investments in technologies involved with digital currencies. They own equity in Coinbase (an exchange), Ripple (utilizes blockchain for cross-border transactions) and Grayscale (a money manager of crypto currencies). Governments around the world historically had the tendency to inflate asset prices or currency. Little by little you are purchasing power, a constant threat in history. Being on a metallic standard has historically also caused inflation.�
The blockchain is a ledger and the coins can’t be counterfeited. If more transactions are done in a currency it raises its value.
If Bitcoin were to become the new gold (Stahl doesn’t necessarily agree, but raises it as a possibility suggested by others), Bitcoin would appreciate by –………x in value.
If it were to become currency for the world, you would make —…………x your money.
Even though it is a very small investment, Stahl views it as a really important strategic investment. It's possible the stake would be expanded.
Market outlook
If oil went to $45 by end of the year, CPI would go to —.‘% and the Fed would have its hand forced and would need to raise rates. This would cause problems in the market.
You have to diversify away from stocks. Over the last ‘5 years, interest rates came down and stocks were successful. FRMO is now operating on the premise that two guys picking stocks isn’t going to cut it going forward.
The firm keeps a lot of cash on the balance sheet and views it as optionality. When the next crash (Stahl doesn’t actually use the word crash) comes, the firm will profit by having lots of liquidity.
One of the reasons they like small exchanges so much is that the optionality embedded in them is huge. If big mergers go through like the one between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borsche, these players raise prices and clients are angry and want to move business. Meanwhile there are few licensed exchanges and the small ones are suddenly very well positioned.
ETFs
Stahl views it as very dangerous to be invested in big dominating companies. Big liquid companies pay out a little bit of dividend and throw the rest at buybacks. These companies have defined benefit pension plans, but the stock has to rise or the company has to put extra money into these plans. This means that when the flows into large cap liquid companies is starting to slow, the effect can be dramatic. Big liquid stocks make up huge allocations in focused ETFs. What’s wrong with that? You take a lot of individual security risk by buying this ETF. At some point an event will make that apparent to lots of people invested in these type of securities.
Something else he doesn’t like is the typical dividend ETF. Earnings of the constituents of these products are ever so slightly declining. They have record margins right now, and can’t go up or down by much. These companies are currently saving a lot on the commodity side and not passing this on to the consumer.
The risks in ETF land are exacerbated because ETF providers aren’t making money and can’t make a lot of money on these products because the fees are too low. This structure of the industry leads to only a few companies being a major part of all ETFs.
An index was supposed to take out risk, and now you are taking on risk by buying into them. Everyone owns the same companies.�
Indexation is not in the early innings, it’s in the late innings. It will possibly go into extra innings.
This article first appeared onGuruFocus.
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• Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO || For Mac Users, The Security Bubble Has Burst: Apple's Mac operating systems are known for their resistance to malware, viruses, hackers and ransomware, which is one reason many people opt for Mac computers.
Still, they're not invincible, and as a security company recently reported, Mac users should be aware of potential threats. Researchers atPalo Alto Networksreported finding "the first fully functional ransomware seen on the OS X platform," according to a March 6 post on their site.
What Is Ransomware?
Ransomware is what it sounds like: Cyber criminals infiltrate your computer and hold it (or more specifically, its data) hostage. They demand you pay them if you ever want your files back. They often want payment in digital currency like Bitcoin, because these transactions are difficult to trace — and it's a hassle for the victim to acquire and transfer.
Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment on the reported attack. However, Palo Alto said in its blog post that, after it reported the occurrence to Apple, the Mac maker shut down the infiltration and updated its anti-virus system.
How to Protect Yourself
Ransomware attacks can be particularly stressful for consumers if the stolen data includes personal information, work data or irreplaceable files (think photos). Not only is this a case to back up your hard drive, it's also a reminder that you may want to install anti-virus software or malware protection on your computer, no matter how secure you think it is.
Guarding your personal information is no joke. Losing your sensitive information to a criminal puts you at risk foridentity theft. It can take a lot of time and money to recover from identity theft, not to mention the credit damage you might suffer. On top of that, if someone gets access to your Social Security number, the risk of fraud never goes away, because the Social Security Administration rarely changes numbers.
Protecting your devices goes hand-in-hand with habits like reviewing your financial accounts for unauthorized activity andmonitoring your creditforsigns of fraud. (You can see afree summary of your credit report, updated each month,on Credit.com.)
Taking steps to prevent cyberattacks is important, but so is having a plan for how to deal with one if it happens. Ideally, such planning will make the incident less stressful and less costly. You can report cyber crime to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and gohere to learn what to do if you are a victim of identity theft.
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• What Is a FICO Score? || 'BLATANTLY ILLEGAL': 17 newspapers slam ex-Mozilla CEO's new ad-blocking browser: brendan eich ceo mozilla brave (Brave) Brendan Eich, CEO of Brave. A group of the biggest US newspaper publishers — including Dow Jones, The Washington Post, and The New York Times Co. — have cosigned what they are calling a "cease and desist" letter (read it in full below) sent to the former Mozilla CEO's new browser company. Brendan Eich's new browser, Brave, announced its launch early this year . The browser — available on iOS, Android, OS X, Windows, and Linux — has ad-blocking software baked into it, which blocks all ads by default and replaces them with its own ads that it says load quicker and "protect data sovereignty [and] anonymity" of users by blocking tracking pixels and cookies. With Brave, publishers get around 55% of revenues: 15% go to Brave, 15% go to the partner that serves the ads, and 10% to 15% goes back to the user, who can choose to make bitcoin donations to their favorite publishers in order to get an ad-free experience on their websites, Eich told Business Insider in January . 'Blatantly illegal' But the 17 newspaper-publishing companies that cosigned the letter sent to Eich on Thursday say that this business model is "blatantly illegal" because they claim Brave is profiting from the "$5 billion" a year the industry spends on funding journalism. The publishers argue that Brave's advertising-replacement plan would constitute copyright infringement, a violation of the publishers' terms of use, unfair competition, unauthorized access to their sites, and a breach of contract. The letter compares Brave's business model to a company simply stealing their articles and pasting them on their own websites for profit. Eich provided a lengthy statement in response to the letter (which you can read in full below.) In it, he said: "The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy." Seeking damages of up to $150,000 per work Not only do the publishers "expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave's supposed business model," but they threaten that they are "ready to enforce all legal rights" to protect their trademarks and copyrighted content. Story continues The publishers, all of which are members of the Newspaper Association of America and together represent more than 1,200 newspapers in the US, threaten that they will seek damages of up to "$150,000 per work" that Brave monetizes. This isn't the first time Brave has drawn ire from the media and advertising community. In January, the CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Randall Rothenberg, ripped into Brave and other ad blockers in a speech at the US internet-advertising trade body's annual leadership conference. Of Brave, he said : The latest ad-blocking company is a Web browser startup called “Brave.” It was launched by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, whose last major investment was in banning gay marriage in California. His business model not only strips advertisements from publishers’ pages — it replaces them with his own for-profit ads. THIS is the true face of ad blocking. It is the rich and self-righteous, who want to tell everyone else what they can and cannot read and watch and hear — self-proclaimed libertarians whose liberty involves denying freedom to everyone else. The ad-block profiteers are building for-profit companies whose business models are premised on impeding the movement of commercial, political, and public-service communication between and among producers and consumers. They offer to lift their toll gates for those wealthy enough to pay them off, or who submit to their demands that they constrict their freedom of speech to fit the shackles of their revenue schemes. They may attempt to dignify their practices with such politically correct phrases as “reasonable advertising,” “responsible advertising,” and “acceptable ads”; and they can claim as loudly as they want that they seek “constructive rapport” with other stakeholders. But in fact, they are engaged in the techniques of The Big Lie, declaring themselves the friends of those whose livelihoods they would destroy, and allies to those whose freedoms they would subvert. A Medianomics survey of 42 "high traffic" websites in the US published earlier this month found that 48% of respondents were "somewhat likely" and 36% were "definitely/very likely" to support taking collective legal action against ad-blocking companies. Here's the full letter sent to Brave — you can also download it by clicking here . Brave's response is below. Dear Mr. Eich: Brave Software, Inc. (“Brave”), a company you founded, has announced that it intends to launch a browser and mobile applications that will display publishers’ content but replace publishers’ advertising with advertising that Brave sells for its own profit. You are hereby notified that Brave’s plan to replace our clients’ paid advertising content with its own advertising violates the law, and the undersigned publishers intend to fully enforce their rights. Your plan to use our content to sell your advertising is indistinguishable from a plan to steal our content to publish on your own website. Your public statements demonstrate clearly that you intend to harness and exploit the content of all the publishers on the Web to sell your own advertising. “We can provide access to all of the top publishers through a single channel with guaranteed ‘share of voice,’” Brave’s website claims. “This combination of better targeting and first-look access to all of the premium placements our users browse is something that no one else can provide.” There’s a simple reason “no one else” is purporting to “provide” all the content on the Web in one place for its own profit, without investing a penny in creating that content: everyone else has recognized that it would be blatantly illegal for one company to hijack all the content on the Web for its own benefit. We publish some of the most highly valued and widely read sites on the Web. Our sites and mobile applications provide news reporting, photojournalism, video content and feature writing that is researched, reported, edited, and produced at extraordinary cost. Our industry spends more than $5 billion per year on reporting in the United States alone. We distribute that reporting online for free or at highly subsidized rates, in no small part due to revenue from online ads. Your apparent plan to permit your customers to make Bitcoin “donations” to us, and for you to donate to us some unspecified percentage of revenue you receive from the sale of your ads on our sites, cannot begin to compensate us for the loss of our ability to fund our work by displaying our own advertising. We expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave’s supposed business model. We explicitly reject any compensation or consideration Brave plans to offer to us as part of its ad-blocking and ad-replacing scheme, and we refuse to accept any “site wallet” that you propose to create for our supposed benefit. In addition, you are not authorized to use our names, trademarks and logos in any way in connection with the promotion or operation of your business. We stand ready to enforce all legal rights to protect our trademarks and copyrighted content and to prevent you from deceiving consumers and unlawfully appropriating our work in the service of your business. Unauthorized republication of our copyrighted content to support Brave’s illegal advertising model violates protected rights of publishers under the Copyright Act and other laws. We reserve the right to seek all remedies for this infringement, including but not limited to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504. Brave’s use of publishers’ trademarks to sell its own advertising will confuse consumers, infringe upon publishers’ exclusive rights in their brands, and dilute our highly distinctive marks. We believe your planned activities will also constitute unfair competition and misappropriation under relevant federal, state and common law. Brave’s unauthorized activities involving our content and websites also violates our terms of use. By engaging in Brave’s plan of advertising replacement, Brave is liable for breach of contract, unauthorized access to our websites, unfair competition, and other causes of action. Very truly yours, ADVANCE LOCAL Vincent LaSpisa, Esq., Sabin, Bermant & Gould LLP, One World Trade Center, 44th Floor New York, New York 10007-2915 BH MEDIA GROUP Scott Searl, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, BH Media Group, 1314 Douglas Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 CALKINS MEDIA INCORPORATED Sally A. Buckman, Esq., LermanSenter PLLC, 2001 L Street, N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20036 DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Marshall W. Anstandig, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Digital First Media, 4 North 2nd Street, Suite 800 San Jose, California 95113 DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC., Jason P. Conti, Esq., Senior Vice President and Interim General Counsel, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 1211 Ave of the Americas New York, New York 10036 GANNETT CO., INC., Barbara W. Wall, Esq., Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gannett Co., Inc., 7950 Jones Branch Drive McLean, Virginia 22107 GATEHOUSE MEDIA/NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP, Polly Grunfeld Sack, Esq., Senior Vice President, General Counsel, GateHouse Media, 175 Sully’s Trail, 3rd Floor Pittsford, New York 14534 JOURNAL MEDIA GROUP, Hillary Ebach, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Journal Media Group, Inc., 333 W State Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 LANDMARK MEDIA ENTERPRISES, LLC, Guy R. Friddell, III, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC, 150 Granby Street Norfolk, VA 23510 LEE ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED, Astrid Garcia, Esq., Lee Enterprises Incorporated, 201 N. Harrison St., Suite 600 Davenport, Iowa 52801 THE MCCLATCHY COMPANY, Juan Cornejo, Esq., Assistant General Counsel, The McClatchy Company, 2100 Q Street Sacramento, California 95816-6899 MORRIS PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC, J. Noel Schweers III, Esq., General Counsel, Morris Publishing Group, LLC, 725 Broad Street Augusta, Georgia 30901 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, Ken Richieri, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel The New York Times Company, New York, New York 10018 NEWSDAY, LLC, Karen Au Claro, Esq., Senior Vice President, Law, Newsday, LLC, 235 Pinelawn Road Melville, New York 11747  SCHURZ COMMUNICATIONS, INC., John Smarrella, Esq., Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, 100 North Michigan Street South Bend, Indiana 46601-1632 TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Karen Flax, Esq., Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tribune Publishing Company, 435 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611 THE WASHINGTON POST, Jay Kennedy, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, The Washington Post, 1301 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20071 Here is Brave's full response: The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy. The NAA's letter to Brave Software asserts that any browser that blocks and replaces ads on the browser user's device performs "unauthorized republication" of Web content. This is false on its face, since browsers do not "republish", serve, syndicate, or distribute content across the Internet or to any computer other than the one on which they run. Browsers are the end-point for secure connections, the user agent that actually mediates and combines all the pieces of content, including third-party ads and first-party publisher news stories. Browsers can block, rearrange, mash-up and otherwise make use of any content from any source. If it were the case that Brave's browsers perform "republication", then so too does Safari's Reader mode, and the same goes for any ad-blocker-equipped browser, or the Links text-only browser, or screen readers for the visually impaired. The NAA letter also falsely asserts that Brave will share an "unspecified percentage of revenue", when our revenue share pie chart has been public and fixed from our first preview release in January . We give the lion's share (pun intended), up to 70% of ad revenue, to websites, keeping only 15% for ourselves and paying 15% to our users. We sympathize with publishers concerned about the damage that pure ad blockers do to their ability to pay their bills via advertising revenue. However, this problem long pre-dates Brave. We categorically reject the claim that browsers perform "republication", and we repeat that Brave has a sound and systematic plan to financially reward publishers. We aim to outperform the invasive third-party ads that we block, with our better, fewer, and privacy-preserving ads. Finally, we note that malvertisement has gotten onto the websites of the New York Times and the BBC recently through the ill-designed, unregulated, and poorly-delegated third-party advertising technology ecosystem. Truly, this tracker-based ad-tech ecosystem is what is damaging the brand value of content publishers and driving users to adopt ad-blocking software. Brave blocks and replaces only third-party ads and trackers. Our system thus actually repairs the damage that publishers have carelessly allowed their ad partners (and partners' partners, to the seventh degree of separation) do to their trademarked brands and names. Make no mistake: this NAA letter is the first shot in a war on all ad-blockers, not just on Brave. Though the NAA never reached out to us, we would be happy to sit down with them for an opportunity to discuss how the Brave solution can be a win win. We will fight alongside all citizens of the Internet who deserve and demand a better deal than they are getting from today's increasingly abusive approach to Web advertising. More From Business Insider Another ad blocker claims Adblock Plus used a trademark complaint to force it offline A bunch of big US websites say they're likely to support legal action against ad blockers 1 in 10 people in the US uses an ad blocker
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Our wealth through this wonderful platform to achieve an increase of 100% http://WWW.MMMGlobal.BZ #MMMExtra #Bitcoin https://twitter.com/MMMGlobal/status/701428366021414912 … || LIVE: Profit = $1,120.85 (0.60 %). BUY B422.23 @ $439.68 (#BTCe). SELL @ $444.00 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || One Bitcoin now worth $427.98@bitstamp. High $431.75. Low $427.00. Market Cap $6.609 Billion #bitcoin || Current price: 425.07$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2016-02-27 23:20:18 EST || Spending your way to Total Bitcoin Adoption with Purse.io https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwKYYcn97Fg … || 1 INFX Price: Bittrex 0.00001375 BTC #infx #infxprice 2016-03-02 06:00 pic.twitter.com/mECdrDlk9N || LIVE: Profit = $672.97 (8.35 %). BUY B19.53 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $447.81 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || @NEOSolves Really digging some these FREE BITCOIN FAUCETS!
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Trend: down || Prices: 458.55, 461.43, 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88, 444.67, 450.30
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2017-09-08]
BTC Price: 4228.75, BTC RSI: 49.87
Gold Price: 1346.00, Gold RSI: 76.76
Oil Price: 47.48, Oil RSI: 48.47
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
3 Reasons Uber’s New CEO Can Help: This article first appeared in Data Sheet, Fortune's daily newsletter on the top tech news. Sign up here . A horrible hurricane named Harvey messed with Texas this weekend. Our hopes and prayers are with the good souls there caught in nature's wrath. Turbulence of a commercial nature elsewhere might be passing, according to multiple reports that the Uber board has settled on Expedia's Dara Khosrowshahi as its new CEO. Those same reports earlier on Sunday pegged HPE's Meg Whitman as the likely choice, and there remains the matter of Khosrowshahi negotiating and accepting an offer to join the troubled company. Some notable things about the presumed CEO-to-be: He can keep a secret. His name appeared on no one's list of candidates. If not the most popular choice of all the board, he seems to bring with him the potential for unifying the company behind him and the board above him. Khosrowshahi is an ex-banker (Allen & Co.), a grownup (he's 48), and grounded in the making-money-matters ethos of media titan Barry Diller, for whom he has worked for years. (Diller controls .) As well, and this is a subtle but important point, as part of the Seattle/old Internet world, Khosrowshahi comes from outside Silicon Valley and its strangely entitled ways. In other words, he can walk the digital walk, but he's not part of the oddly constricting mentality that makes it hard for denizens of Silicon Valley to communicate with real people. He is well connected. In addition to being on the board of The New York Times, whose reporters have done some of the finest reporting of late on Uber, Khosrowshahi is on the board of Fanatics, the sports apparel retailer that recently attracted an investment from SoftBank's Masayoshi Son. SoftBank reportedly wants to become an investor in Uber too. If so, the new CEO has Son's number. *** After I wrote about Fortune's blockchain coverage last week a reader scolded me thusly: Story continues "Don't worry, you're not the only one who ‘doesn't get it.’ We've seen this movie before in the dot-com days. I wonder how many people were involved then. If they were they would probably be following a 'maximal exploitation' strategy before it all gets blown to smithereens. It also feels like the kickstarter 'revolution' or the holacracy movement: an innovation in social (monetary) constructs that is very attractive to techies. By the way, those movements eventually succumbed to the laws of social gravity and came back down to earth." My response: "True. And we also got , , and so on." Incidentally, the always astute Andy Kessler has a trenchant takedown of cryptocurrencies in Monday's Wall Street Journal . Read it carefully, though, and you'll see that Kessler sees more promise in the blockchain than in Bitcoin. *** When I was a senior in college I attended an inspiring conference at West Point called the Student Conference on U.S. Affairs, which paired political science majors with cadets in the hopes of building future civilian-military relationships. A speaker at that conference was Jack Rosenthal, editor of the editorial pages at The New York Times . I introduced myself and told Rosenthal I wanted to be a journalist, and he advised me to pick a specialty and stick with it. Eventually I took his advice. Rosenthal died last week . I'm grateful I met him, and I honor his memory. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com 5 Things to Know About Uber's CEO Pick Dara Khosrowshahi Expedia's CEO Is Poised to Accept Top Uber Job Data Sheet--3 Reasons Uber's New CEO Can Help Uber Finally Has a New CEO After Months of Drama Immelt Backs Out of Chaotic Uber CEO Search || Weekly outlook: July 24 - 28: Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell to its lowest level in more than a year against a basket of the other major currencies on Friday, pressured lower by the stronger euro and persistent concerns over U.S. political uncertainty.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, ended down 0.32% at 93.78, the lowest close since June 22, 2016.
The index ended the week down 1.32%, marking its second straight weekly decline.
The euro rose to its highest level in nearly two years against the dollar, with EUR/USD hitting highs of 1.1683, the most since September 2015. It was last at 1.1663, having gained 1.65% for the week.
The euro was propelled higher by expectations that the European Central Bank is moving closer to tapering its bond-buying program.
On Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi saidthe bank will discuss when to trim its asset purchase programin the fall.
The dollar was also hit by fresh political turmoil in Washington.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported thatthe investigation into alleged links between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russiain last year’s election is extending into his business.
Earlier in the week, Republican lawmakers pulled the plug on the latest version of a contentious bill to replace Obamacare, delivering a major policy blow to the Trump administration.
Thefailure to deliver on healthcare reformindicated that Trump’s other legislative efforts, such as overhauling the tax code and implementing fiscal stimulus could face difficulties.
Hopes for tax reforms and fiscal stimulus under the Trump administration helped drive the dollar to a 14-year high after the November election. The dollar has now given up all of its post-election gains.
Doubts over the Federal Reserve’s plans for a third rate hike this year have also fed into dollar weakness. The Fed is to hold itsnext meetingon Wednesday and is widely expected to hold policy steady.
Against the yen, the dollar fell to a more than one-month low of 111.02. USD/JPY was last at 111.12.
Sterling was a touch higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.15% to 1.2993 late Friday.
In the week ahead, investors will be awaiting the outcome of Wednesday’s Fed meeting, ahead of data on Friday which will give the first look at U.S. second quarter growth.
Survey data from the euro zone on Monday will help gauge the strength of the ongoing recovery in the euro area. The UK is to release data on second quarter growth on Wednesday.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets.
Monday, July 24
The euro zone is to publish survey data on private sector business activity.
Canada is to report on wholesale sales.
The U.S. is to release figures on existing home sales.
Tuesday, July 25
The Ifo Institute is to report on German business climate.
The U.S. is to release data on consumer confidence.
Wednesday, July 26
Australia is to release data on consumer price inflation.
The UK is to release preliminary data on second quarter economic growth.
The U.S. is to report on new home sales.
The Fed is to announce its benchmark interest rate and publish a rate statement which outlines economic conditions and the factors affecting the monetary policy decision.
Thursday, July 27
The U.S. is to release data on jobless claims and durable goods orders.
Friday, July 28
In the euro zone, Germany is to release preliminary inflation data.
Canada is to release monthly data on economic growth.
The U.S. is to round up the week with advance data on second quarter growth.
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Dollar falls to 13-month low amid renewed US political uncertainty || People who owned the Galaxy Note 7 are excited for the Note 8 — despite last year's battery debacle: Owners of the Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 had the phone taken out of their hands thanks to a worldwide recall. Despite that, they're the consumers most excited about the device's successor.
Samsung unveiled theGalaxy Note 8on Wednesday, less than a year after it was forced to discontinue and recall the device's predecessor due to exploding batteries. Samsung's reputation took a big hit with the Note 7, and the new phone, which is due in stores on September 15 and will start at $960, is tasked with winning back consumers.
As indicated by this chart fromStatista— which is based on a recent survey of US consumers conducted byCreative StrategiesandSurveyMonkey— it's already heading in the right direction. Although most consumers surveyed are skeptical of the new phone, Note 7 owners — i.e., the ones most affected by the recall — appear more than willing to forgive Samsung.
(Mike Nudelman/Business Insider)
NOW WATCH:Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8
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• Bitcoin is more valuable than gold — but nowhere near as stable || Fidelity allows clients to see digital currencies on its website: By Anna Irrera NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fidelity Investments has started allowing clients to use its website to view their holdings of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies held through digital wallet provider Coinbase, the company said on Wednesday. The initiative, previously tested with the Boston-based money manager's employees, is a rare example of an established financial services company warming up to cryptocurrencies. Starting Wednesday, most Fidelity clients will be able to authorize Coinbase, one of the largest crypto-currency exchanges in the United States, to provide the fund manager with data on their holdings. Through the experiment, the company said it aims to learn more about digital currencies, which have been proliferating since the creation of Bitcoin, the oldest and most valuable of these assets. Coinbase enables users to buy and trade Bitcoin as well as competitor virtual currencies Ethereum and Litecoin. "This is an experiment in the spirit of learning what these crypto assets are like and how our customers may want to interact with them," Hadley Stern, senior vice president and managing director at Fidelity Labs, the company's innovation unit, said in an interview. Bitcoin hit a record high on Tuesday, with one unit of bitcoin trading at above $3,400 on Coinbase. The currency's rise in value is not a driving force behind the initiative, Stern said, noting that the integration is part of Fidelity's wider efforts around cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology blockchain. Many large financial institutions around the world have been investing in blockchain over the past two years, in the hopes that it can help them slash costs and simplify some processes. Blockchain is a shared ledger of transactions maintained by a network of computers on the internet rather than a central authority. However, most established financial firms have shied away from associating themselves with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, because the sector remains largely unregulated. Story continues Fidelity's Chief Executive Officer Abigail Johnson announced the company's intention to launch the Coinbase integration at an industry conference in May. At the time Johnson also revealed that Fidelity had been accepting bitcoin payments in its cafeteria, but said the experiment had highlighted the technology's flaws as a means of payments. "But I am still a believer – and it's no accident that I'm one of the few standing before you today from a large financial services firm that hasn't given up on digital currencies," Johnson said at the time. (This version of the story has been refiled to remove "Inc" from Fidelity Inc's name) (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by David Gregorio) || GOLDMAN SACHS: Here's when we'll know bitcoin's top is in: FILE PHOTO - A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window in Toronto, May 8, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo (A bitcoin sign in a window in Toronto.Thomson Reuters) Bitcoin is experiencing a monster rally. It has gained more than 15% since Friday's close , topping $4,000, $4,100, and $4,200 for the first time before putting in a high of $4,216 a coin on Monday morning. But that's only part of bitcoin's recent success. The cryptocurrency has seen huge gains since the August 1 fork that split it in two. Since bottoming at $2,643 a coin the day of the split, bitcoin has exploded by 57%, and it is now up 335% in 2017. Sheba Jafari, the head of technical strategy at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note sent to clients on Sunday that because bitcoin was approaching her target of $3,691 (which it has since passed), an extension wave five of this move could take bitcoin all the way up $4,827 before a correction pushes it all the way down to about $2,221. Jafari isn't the only one who sees bitcoin approaching the $5,000 level. Arthur Hayes, the CEO of BitMEX , a bitcoin derivative exchange, expressed that view to Business Insider after last week's implementation of Segregated Witness, or SegWit, a software update designed to improve the coin's scalability and make it faster to process more transactions. "With Segwit implemented, I believe $5,000 bitcoin is within striking distance," he said. Bitcoin enthusiasts, however, shouldn't get too excited about the big move up. Jafari warns that the gains are unlikely to last. She sees a drop of as much as 38.2% once the fifth wave is completed. That would mean a move back below $3,000. "At this point, Bitcoin would have to move back under 2,935 (Jul. 21st high/top of wave 1/V) to signal that a top is already in place," Jafari wrote. Bitcoin (Goldman Sachs) NOW WATCH: Wells Fargo Funds equity chief: Companies were being rendered obsolete long before Amazon emerged More From Business Insider Bitcoin can get to $100,000 if it keeps following one of tech's golden rules Bitcoin just hit an all-time high — here's how you buy and sell it One of the stock market's biggest opportunities is being ignored || Bitcoin tumbles on report China to shutter digital currency exchanges: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin fell sharply on Friday after a report from a Chinese news outlet said China was planning to shut down local crypto-currency exchanges, although analysts said this was just a temporary setback. Sources close to a cross regulators committee that oversees online finance activities told Chinese financial publication Caixin that authorities plan to shut key bitcoin exchanges in China. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report. But two sources in direct contact with officials at three Chinese bitcoin exchanges - Beijing-based OKCoin, Shanghai-based BTC China, and Beijing-based Huobi - said the platforms told them that they have not heard anything from the Chinese government. The news follows China's move earlier this week to ban so-called "initial coin offerings," or the practice of creating and selling digital currencies or tokens to investors in order to finance start-up projects. Greg Dwyer, business development manager at crypto-currency trading platform BitMEX, said there was confusion over whether China would close bitcoin exchanges following the ICO ban. "If this turns out to be true, then this sell-off is substantiated, and we could see further downside over the weekend, as it could mean the large bitcoin/Chinese yuan exchanges will need to halt trading," he added. Bitcoin dropped to a low of $4,227 (BTC=BTSP) on the BitStamp platform and last traded at $4,309.80, down 6.6 percent. On Sept 2, it hit a record high of nearly $5,000. Sharp losses such as Friday's are par for the course for an asset like bitcoin, analysts said. Over the course of its eight-year history, bitcoin has on a daily basis risen as much as 18 percent and fallen as much as 13 percent. Still, bitcoin was still up nearly 346 percent this year. John Spallanzani, chief macro strategist at GFI Group, said Friday's losses could be short-lived. "Bitcoin is here to stay," he said. Story continues Jehan Chu, a partner at Jen Advisors, a Hong Kong-based early-stage blockchain venture capital firm, noted that should China shut down bitcoin exchanges, it will not be the end of the crypto-currency world in the country. Blockchain, a digital ledger of transactions underpinning bitcoin, has leapt to prominence as it enable users to track and record assets across all industries. "This is just China pressing the 'Pause button," said Chu. A big part of bitcoin's recent surge was the ICO craze, which exploded this year. Bitcoins and ether, another digital currency, are used to purchase tokens for ICOs. By mid-July, tech firms had raised about $1.1 billion in 89 coin sales this year, roughly 10 times more than in all of 2016, data from crypto-currency research firm Smith + Crown showed. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Angela Moon; Editing by Dan Grebler and Chizu Nomiyama) || Bitcoin dips another $300 after Chinas cryptocurrency crackdown: Bitcoin fell by another $300 on Tuesday after the fallout of a Chinese ban on cryptocurrency crowdfunding methods saw the price of the digital coin slump earlier this week. The virtual currency fell from $4,584 to $4,350 on Monday following the announcement of a regulatory clampdown on initial coin offerings (ICOs). Many start-ups rely on ICOs as a means to raise funds by selling off new digital tokens to the market. Total ICO investments peaked above $1.2 billion this year. Although analysts contend that the price of bitcoin shouldn't necessarily be linked with China's ICO crackdown, the cryptocurrency (Exchange: BTC=-USS) hit a low of $4,037 on Tuesday, according to Coindesk's price index. This follows an all-time high of more than $5,000 over the weekend, meaning the currency fell by almost 20 percent in the space of a few days. "The price action has certainly been led by this Chinese salvo - but healthy profits and moving traders to take gains off the table too until the panic calms," Charles Hayter, chief executive and founder of digital currency comparison website CryptoCompare, told CNBC via email. The bitcoin analyst said that the cryptocurrency crackdown was expected due to "irrational excesses" in the Chinese market. "The Chinese market has been perhaps the most virulently exuberant in terms of its irrational excesses and across the world regulators are looking to gradually turn up the regulatory heat on this ICO phenomenon," he added. "This is certainly the Chinese state laying down the law and threatening all and sundry." The People's Bank of China (PBOC) was among the number of government authorities to deem ICOs as an unauthorized fundraising method. Ethereum also sees price dip Meanwhile, the second largest cryptocurrency Ethereum also saw a fall in value following the clampdown. The currency fell by as much as 15 percent on Monday, according to Coindesk. Bitcoin was trading at $4,265 and Ethereum at $297 at around 11am London time. ICOs surprisingly popular Initial coin offerings have found favor with the unlikeliest of supporters. Celebrity and entrepreneur Paris Hilton said on Sunday she would be participating in an ICO run by LydianCoin Ltd, the self-described "first AI big data marketing cloud for blockchain". Tweet CryptoCompare's Hayter said that a ruling by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in July indicating a regulatory framework for ICOs could be a reason for the fund raising initiatives going mainstream. "The SEC rumblings are perhaps fortuitous too as Paris Hilton seems to toe into ICO territory," he said. More From CNBC Bitcoin price drops $200 after new ruling from Chinese regulators SpaceX says the worlds most powerful rocket has completed first-stage testing Huawei launches its first A.I. mobile chip with Apple reportedly set to enter market || Bitcoin Services Inc. Launches www.bitcoinservicescorp.com and Provides Corporate Update: DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / August 10, 2017 /Bitcoin Services Inc. (OTC PINK: BTSC) announced today that it launched a new corporate websitewww.bitcoinservicescorp.com. The company is also pleased to announce their earnings on August 14, 2017. Bitcoin Services Inc began the mining of Dash in the 1stquarter of 17. Dash is Digital Cash You Can Spend Anywhere. Dash can be used to make instant, private payments online or in-store using our secure open-source platform hosted by thousands of users around the world. In addition, Bitcoin Services Inc. has created a new subsidiary Crypto Capital Corp (www.cryptocapitalcorp.com) that will develop a new Crypto currency wallet. The wallet will let users safely store multiple digital currencies in one wallet. Bitcoin Services Inc. would also like to congratulate all Bitcoin users for reaching a historic all-time high on August of 2017.
About Bitcoin Services Inc.:
Our business operations are Internet based to the consumer and consist of two separate streams, as follows: (1) bitcoin mining, and (2) blockchain software development. The principal products and services are the mining of bitcoins, and the development and sale of blockchain software. The market for these services and products is worldwide, and sold and marketed on the Internet.
Safe Harbor Statement:
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and section 21e of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those statements include the intent, belief, or current expectations of the company and its management team. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accomplishing the strategy described herein is significantly dependent upon numerous factors, many that are not in management's control. Some of these factors include the ability of the company to raise sufficient capital, attract qualified management, attract new customers, and effectively compete against similar companies.
CONTACT:
info@bitcoinservicescorp.com
SOURCE:Bitcoin Services Inc. || The Magomedov Brothers—Oligarchs Via Cronyism?: Brothers Ziyavudin and Magomed Magmedov are among the top 50 wealthiest people in Russia. Though well-connected and established, they remain a mystery to the greater public. The family name made waves most recently when it was rumored that Ziyavudin had shown interest in buying shares in the UFC . This was a departure from his normal interests in logistical investments, raising eyebrows as to what other obscure plans he has made for the future. The Magomedovs are co-owners of the Summa Group, a giant multi-faceted holding company. The Summa Group has massive investments across various fields including port logistics, engineering, construction, telecommunications, and oil and gas. Their huge business successes have earned them vast political and financial power. Their lofty status is also partially due to talk of the Hyperloop One creating a “New Silk Road”, connecting the Far East to European countries and drastically increasing trade transportation possibilities. The Magomedovs are major investors in the project. But their rise has not come without a cost. The Summa Group and the Magomedovs, especially Ziyavudin, are far from having a clean slate, and their dubious past dealings overshadow their current ventures. Ziyavudin himself has a reputation burdened with failed contracts , political cronyism, extortion and even bribery . Questions have been raised as to the Magomedovs’ ultimate motives in both their recent Hyperloop One and rumored UFC ventures. Shady Associations Ziyavudin and Magomed are not your typical billionaires. Having grown up in Dagestan, a rough and impoverished Northern Caucasus province, the Magomedov brothers have taken their street smarts into the world of politics and business. Ziyavudin has used his associations, no matter how suspect, for his personal benefit. In a short matter of time he has transformed himself from the owner of a little-known pipeline company to a major player and a member of the Russian oligarchy. Story continues The Magomedov brothers’ business partners are not always squeaky clean either, which raises eyebrows from critics regarding their dealings. The brothers have been on advisory boards for multiple corporations and banks in Russia. Most significantly, Ziyavudin sat on the board of Diamond Bank, as well as others which were headed by Aleksei Frenkel. Diamond’s license would eventually be revoked by the Central Bank of Russia for repeated illegal activities, and suspected money laundering for criminal rings. The story of Diamond Bank would deepen in controversy when a co-owner, Aleksander Slesare, his family, and the deputy chairman of the Central Bank Adrei Kozlov, who ordered the license revoked, were found murdered. Aleksei, Zivayudin’s partner and confidante on the Diamond board, would eventually be arrested for ordering the murder of Kozlov. Though not directly guilty, Zivayudin’s critics question whether his openness to shady dealers has an impact on his own private ventures. Ziyavudin’s main ascent was launched under the Medvedev presidency, and he has maintained close ties in the government. Medvedev had issued a call to increase development in the Northern Caucasus region to boost tourism, which Magomedov answered with vigor. This led directly to state contracts with Ziyavudin, who consequently shared a direct peer in Medvedev’s government. Arkady Dvorkovich, the former Deputy Prime Minister to Medvedev, was an old friend of Magomedov. They became acquainted in their younger years while studying together at Moscow State University. This precarious connection is widely rumored by many to be the sole catalyst for Ziyavudin’s rise to oligarchy. Under Medvedev and Dvorkovich’s watch, Magomedov’s net worth soared to a nearly .1 billion in just a few years. Though he denies that cronyism played a part in his rise, questions remain as to how a relatively unknown businessman in the Dagestan province could turn into a multi-billionaire oligarch in such a short period of time without the help of friends. Bouncing Back During Putin’s return as the unmatched leader of Russia, Magomedov suffered a huge loss, both financially and politically. In an effort to secure his position of authority, Putin removed several Medvedev allies, including industry tycoons who flourished under Medvedev, which greatly affected Magomedov. Ziyavudin initially suffered a net loss of over a billion dollars, and has slowly been trying to build his way back into Putin’s good graces. Critics and those hesitant of Magomedov warn that any new venture put on by the mysterious billionaire are simply an attempt to regain footing and become politically relevant. It is rumored that his attempt at buying UFC share was his shot at sports diplomacy, a typically successful tactic in Russia. Furthermore, his interest in bringing the Hyperloop One concept to create a “New Silk Road” is questionable in its sincerity. Critics question his motives as simply a push for political expedience. Moreover, his past contractual failures and controversies are cited, such as the Kaliningrad stadium, the oil terminal in the port of Rotterdam, as well as other failed projects and bankruptcy rumors. They argue Magomedov’s oversight in such a project would not only inevitably fail, but waste government taxes in the process, only to line Magomedov’s wallet. Overall, the Megomadov brother’s suspicious allies and shady dealings do not paint a pretty picture for future ventures. Photo credit: public domain See more from Benzinga Investing in Education: Entrepreneurs Place Human Capital at the Top Why the Sudden Surge In Bitcoin And What Do The Professionals Think? Is Revenue Generation On Blockchain The Wave Of The Future? © 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Dollar adds to gains after solid U.S. data: Dollar adds to gains after solid U.S. data Investing.com - The dollar extended gains against a basket of the other major currencies on Wednesday as upbeat U.S. economic reports revived expectations for a third interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.52% at 92.75 by 10:49 AM ET (14:49 GMT). The index plumbed a low of 91.55 on Tuesday, the weakest since January 2015. The dollar was boosted after the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew by an annualized 3% in the second quarter , up from an initial estimate of 2.6%. Another report showed that the U.S. private sector added a larger-than-forecast 237,000 jobs in August, the largest monthly increase in five months. The dollar traded higher against the safe haven yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.5% to 110.24, having recovered from the previous session’s four-and-a-half month lows of 108.26. The greenback had risen earlier in the day as markets recovered after Monday’s slide in the wake of North Korea’s missile launch over Japan. Investors took some reassurance from President Trump’s relatively measured response. The dollar pushed higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.46% to 0.9598, well above Tuesday’s two-year trough of 0.9428. The yen and the Swissy are often sought in times of geopolitical tension or market turbulence because both countries have large current account surpluses. The euro extended losses against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.55% to 1.1906, having pulled away from Tuesday’s highs of 1.2069, the strongest level since Jan. 2 2015. Hopes that the European Central Bank will soon announce plans to taper its bond-buying stimulus program have driven the euro up around 13% against the dollar so far this year. Related Articles Forex - USD/CAD moves higher after strong U.S. data Forex - Dollar extends gains on upbeat U.S. data Bitcoin eases after hitting all-time high, Bitcoin Cash rises View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$2778.91 at 14:30 UTC [24h Range: $2611.39 - $2882.00 Volume: 14843 BTC] || Bitcoinビットコインを購入するにはどうするの？どこの取引所を利用するのがいいのか徹底比較！ 日本語で対応可能なところは11か所 ⇒ http://bit.ly/2oF3mfe || #Monacoin 45.4円↑[Zaif] -円→[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 27.6102円↓[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 454,245円↓[Zaif]
08/24 10:00
口座開設はこちらで！ https://goo.gl/31dyoO || CoinExchangeio #14 Market(0.29%) DOGE/BTC - Dogecoin Vol(24h):2.08989 BTC / $8,576 - Price: $0.001765 / 4.3e-07 BTC || REMINDER OF THE PUMP
LAST 0 DAY (s), HOUR (S) 50 MINUTES (S) FOR THE PUMP
POSSIBLE INVEST BTC 0.0050
DATE: 2017-08-13
EXCHANGE: BITTREX || "Where were you when Bitcoin hit $____.00 ?"
- An ABC Special in 2030
$crypto $bitcoin || 2017-08-01 2:00~3:00のBitcoin市場は上げ一服だったのかな。
変化率は0.4784%
4:00までは反騰になる?
直近の市場の平均Bitcoinの価格は317352.0円
#ビットコイン
#bitcoin
#AI || @missbitcoin_mai kan't buy Line Stickers with BTC yet tho.. I tried || (I didn't even notice the knots in my stomach were gone all week until I got back on this website.) || $BTCUSD bitcoin just exited this steep channel after reaching a new high at $4969.00 earlier https://www.tradingview.com/x/J6rjP7EQ/ via @tradingview
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Trend: down || Prices: 4226.06, 4122.94, 4161.27, 4130.81, 3882.59, 3154.95, 3637.52, 3625.04, 3582.88, 4065.20
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Why Bitcoin accounting rules make it better to invest in 'a stack of comic books': Bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) arrival into the mainstream has seen companies like Microstrategy ( MSTR ), Block ( SQ ) and Tesla ( TSLA ) add the digital coin to their balance sheets and spawned a new class of investors drawing all or part of their salaries in cryptocurrency . But with Bitcoin slumping by nearly half since hitting a November high under $69,000 in the midst of crypto's grim winter , the strategy is not without risk especially for companies bound by strict corporate accounting rules that some argue are in need of updating. It can also put pressure on the results of firms with crypto on their balance sheets, like Microstrategy a business intelligence firm turned publicly-traded Bitcoin whale, and make accounting more difficult. Although crypto is back on the rise, for now at least , some observers argue the whipsawing and accounting rules can make valuing cryptocurrencies more onerous for companies and investors, and may dissuade other firms from getting direct exposure to crypto. You can only mark [Bitcoin] down, you can never mark it up, and in truth Id be better off, from an accounting point of view, to buy a stack of comic books or baseball cards, Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor told Yahoo Finance last week. Based on Generally Accepted Accounting Rules (GAAP) and Securities and Exchanges Commission guidance , digital assets must be recorded as indefinite intangible assets. That means they must be marked down for impairment losses but cannot be marked up for value gains, until the asset is sold. Given crypto volatility, there can be wide swings between the carrying value of Bitcoin and its market value for the same period. For Microstrategy, that equated to a whopping $1.6 billion difference in June , according to the company, which has only gotten worse. As of this week, Microstrategy owns a total of 125,000 Bitcoins, In the companys fourth quarter earnings, $110.5 million in gross profit got wiped out by a $147 million impairment loss from holding BTC. Given Bitcoins rough start to 2022, the next quarter isnt expected to look much better. Story continues But while it reported a carrying value of $2.85 billion in BTC for the last period, its same bitcoin holdings were worth $5.7 billion at market value. A battle brews over accounting rules MIAMI, FLORIDA - JUNE 04: MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor speaks at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention, a crypto-currency conference held at the Mana Convention Center in Wynwood on June 04, 2021 in Miami, Florida. The crypto conference is expected to draw 50,000 people and runs from Friday, June 4 through June 6th. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle via Getty Images) Arcane accounting rules are far from the only reason why corporates holding crypto havent had a great couple of months. Yet the policy is a barrier to more firms dipping into digital coin. Industry participants have recognized the problem. Between the summer and early fall, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) - the standard setting body for corporate accounting and GAAP guardian, received hundreds of letters from companies including Microstrategy and Coinbase ( COIN ) asking the organization to consider revising its accounting rules for digital assets. Robert Sledge, a partner with the accounting firm KPMG who specializes in auditing and other financial services for crypto-focused companies, is among those in favor of a revising the accounting rule. In an interview with Yahoo Finance last fall, Sledge pointed to a letter KPMG filed about the rule, explaining that the current accounting standard may hide important financial information about a companys value. Sledge suggested that the most "meaningful change" FASB could quickly implement would be to permit digital assets with a readily determinable fair value (market price) to be measured by their fair value. At a later point, FASB could also address broader issues around whether fair value should be applied more widely to certain types of assets and business models. The organization's decision about whether to change Bitcoin accounting rules is expected to be a slow moving process. For instance, BTC is considered a commodity in the U.S., and changing its accounting rules may potentially change how other certain commodities, such as gold, are recorded. Historically, these projects take months to years sometimes, Sledge added. On December 15, the FASB added a digital asset project to its research agenda that explores accounting and disclosure of exchange traded digital assets and commodities. In the coming months, it will discuss the research project at a public meeting on a date not yet determined, according to a FASB spokesperson. Clearly it would be better if there were fair value accounting for a publicly traded company. If we ever see a transition from indefinite intangible to fair value accounting, that would be a catalyst for more corporate adoption of Bitcoin, Microstrategy's Saylor added. David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers . Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Instagram , YouTube , Facebook , Flipboard , and LinkedIn || Bitcoin Network Hash Rate Reached a New All-Time High: Security is one of the most important things when it comes to a network. With higher security, it becomes more resilient, and it is harder to attack it. This is where the Hash Rate comes in the crypto world. It means the sum of all computing power of a network through crypto mining, such as the Bitcoin network. Crypto mining is the process through which miners (computational power) verify transactions and secure the network. That is why if more computing power is contributed, it will be more secure. On February 12, the Bitcoin network Hash Rate reached a new all-time high of 248.11 million terahashes per second (TH/s). In the last hours, the Bitcoin Hash Rate has been around 209.6M TH/s, according to Blockchain.com data. Does the Bitcoin Hash Rate Reflect on BTC Price? The next chart shows the BTCs price and the Bitcoins Hash Rate since January 2021, according to the Bitcoin on-chain analyst Willy Woo. In April 2021, the BTC Hash Rate dropped from 198.514M TH/s to 106.676M TH/s, a 46% decline, and the BTC price fell by 23% from $63,600 to $49,040. In May 2021, China banned crypto mining and the BTC Hash Rate fell from 190.552M TH/s to 58.461M TH/s, a 69.3% decline, and the BTC price fell by 49.3% from $58,770 to $29,780, as you can see below: BTC Hash Rate and Price Chart. Source: Willy Woo. After Chinas news, BTCs price recovered and reached a new all-time high in November 2021 of almost $68k and started declining until late January 2022. But, when it comes to BTC Hash Rate, it keeps rising reaching new all-time highs as you see above. Since late January, both price and Hash rate has been on the rise. Whats Been Happening With the Crypto Mining Industry? Last month, Intel , the giant manufacturer of semiconductor computer circuits, entered the BTC mining space with the release of a new mining equipment named Bonanza Mine. Erik Thedeen, the vice-chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), made a call to ban crypto mining in the European Union (EU). A number of countries are experiencing energy crises, such as Kazakhstan and Kosovo , which are affecting cryptocurrency mining. Story continues It looks like European countries are not in favor of crypto mining. As of August 2021, University of Cambridge data showed the U.S. controlled 35.40% of the total Bitcoin Hash Rate, being the largest after the China news. The BTC Hash Rate and BTCs price are not always correlated, but the Hash Rate gives important metrics as well as network strength. Lets see what the price of BTC will do, based on its fundamentals. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Cardano Founder Expresses Reservations on Bitcoin Future as Worlds Reserve Currency April Gold Traders May Be Waiting for Pullback into Support British Pound Bounces From Big Figure Marriott Is Well Worth Watching Ahead of Q4 Earnings Preview: What to Expect From ViacomCBS Earnings on Tuesday Daily Gold News: Monday, Feb. 14 Gold Trades Above the $1,850 Price Level || Nasdaq falls into correction territory as US stocks finish lower in volatile trade: • US stocks finished lower Wednesday after an up-and-down session that began higher.
• The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back from a two-year high but continues to put pressure on tech stocks.
• Procter & Gamble, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America reported strong earnings.
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
The Nasdaq's slump extended into correction territory Wednesday as US stocks closed lower after an up-and-down session.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq led stocks lower and is now 10% below its previous high, signaling a correction. The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back a bit after hitting a two-year high Tuesday. But it continues to put pressure on tech stocks as investors brace for aggressive monetary policy tightening from the Federal Reserve later this year.
So far in 2022, traders have sold off shares of big tech companies, in addition to cryptocurrencies, and opted instead for steadier investments in anticipation of rising interest rates.
Here's where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday:
• S&P 500:4,532.76, down 0.96%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average:35,028.65, down 0.97% (339.82 points)
• Nasdaq Composite:14,340.25, down 1.15%
US stock began the session higher Wednesday on strong earnings reports.Bank of AmericaandMorgan Stanleystocks gained after each firm posted better-than-expected four-quarter earnings. Consumer giant Procter & Gamble also delivered solid earnings.
"It was an impressive quarter of strong top-line growth despite surging commodity and transport costs," said OANDA analyst Edward Moya. "Executives signaled more price increases are on the way and that should suggest 7% (inflation) is here to stay a little while longer."
The crypto bear market pulled its total value below $2 trillion, and billionaire investor Mike Novogratz expectssurging bond yields to keep cryptocurrencies and altcoins under pressure.
SoFi was conditionally approved as a bank as long as it doesn't do any business in cryptocurrency, andits stock jumped 19% following the news.
JPMorgan analyzed a broad set of 1,000 thematic funds and found thatthey do not perform as well as global equities.
Oil prices continued to rally after hitting a seven-year high Tuesday.West Texas Intermediate crudesettled 1.79% higher at $86.96 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose by 0.65% to about $88.08.
Goldrose by 1.69% to $1,843.2 per ounce. The10-year yielddipped nearly 2 basis points to to 1.849%.
Bitcoinfell 1.33% to $41, 796.05.
Read the original article onBusiness Insider || Binance to Accept Deposits from SEPA Amid Paysafe Partnership: After months of suspension, Binance is finally looking to accept deposits from the European Unions Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) as per a recent Bloomberg report. What was the Tussle About? In July 2021, Binance, the worlds top spot exchange by trade volume had temporarily halted payments from SEPA. At the time, the company cited via email to customers that the suspension was due to events beyond our control and that it was working hard to find a solution with our partners. The SEPA network was designed to simplify bank transfers among 27 EU member countries. The scheme was set up by the European Union in conjunction with the European Payments Council to simplify making international payments in Euros. The process of reinstating payments from EUs SEPA will begin with an initial phased rollout in Belgium and Bulgaria before potentially expanding to other users in the weeks ahead, though the UK isnt currently in scope, the report revealed. The company also revealed that it is set to partner with London-based Paysafe to ensure that it can keep offering SEPA for the foreseeable future. Binances move to end the freeze will come as a boost to the network which has faced considerable probes and consumer warnings in several countries, including the US, UK, Japan, and Germany. Binances Tug-o-war Could Continue Over the last year, Binance faced several European headwinds including Barclays blocking customers from using their debit and credit cards to make payments to the crypto exchange. Further, in June 2021, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that Binance was not allowed to conduct any regulated activities in the country. Launched in 2017, Binance is now the worlds top crypto exchange by volume and offers a high average liquidity of 814. At the time of writing, Binances 24-hour volume was down 17.32% and stood just over $17 billion. A few reasons behind the declined spot volumes could be the volatile market as well as Bitcoins rangebound movement under the $40K mark. That said, Binance Coin (BNB) traded at $394.77 noting a 5.69% rise in price over the last day. Story continues In the last week, Binance saw considerable media attention after a 5-year sponsorship deal with Argentinas national soccer team. While the exchange has had a bitter-sweet year as reports about Binance failing to live up to its anti-money laundering obligations came up, the exchange still tops in terms of global trade volumes. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Gold Markets Continue Consolidation Ahead of the FOMC S&P 500 Attempts to Recover Gold Prices Fall as the Fed Points to Rate Hikes E-Mini Dow Faces Wall of Resistance between 34711 35380 Heres How $2 Million Worth Of Theta Was Recovered From A Trezor Wallet Binance to Accept Deposits from SEPA Amid Paysafe Partnership || Stock Market Today: Russian Invasion Sparks Roller-Coaster Day for Stocks: Ukrainian Military Forces servicemen block a road in Kyiv Getty Images News of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine sent stocks plummeting out of the gate today. SEE MORE 10 Biggest Losers in the S&P 500 This Year "We're clearly in risk-off mode in the market right now given the uncertainty regarding the military operations in Ukraine," says Brian Price, head of investment management for Commonwealth Financial Network. "There seems to be some element of surprise that the events have escalated so quickly and I would expect that we'll continue to see volatility in the near term." Indeed, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average flirted with correction territory and the Nasdaq Composite slipped below its bear-market level on an intraday basis, the major market indexes reversed course as President Joe Biden announced a new round of sanctions against Russia, including freezing trillions of dollars in Russian assets, and said he is sending additional U.S. troops to Eastern European countries that are in NATO. Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. By the close, the Nasdaq – which was down 3.4% at its session low – was up 3.3% at 13,473. The S&P 500 Index also finished in positive territory, gaining 1.5% to end at 4,288. The Dow , meanwhile, ended with a 0.3% gain at 33,223, after trading as low as 32,272 earlier. stock price chart 022422 YCharts Other news in the stock market today: The small-cap Russell 2000 joined in on the roller-coaster ride, ending the day up 2.6% at 1,995, after being down as much as 2.6% in intraday trading. Gold futures gained 0.8% to settle at $1,926.30 an ounce, their highest finish in 17 months. Bitcoin rose 2% to $38,466.10. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.) Moderna ( MRNA ) was a big winner today, jumping 15.1% after earnings. In its fourth quarter, the drugmaker reported adjusted earnings of $11.29 per share on $7.2 billion in revenue, exceeding the $9.90 per share and $6.8 billion expected by analysts. The company also said it sold $17.7 billion of its COVID-19 vaccine and expects to sell at least $19 billion in fiscal 2022. Booking Holdings ( BKNG ), on the other hand, slumped 7.1% after its quarterly results. The online travel reservation company reported adjusted earnings of $15.83 per share and revenue of $3.0 billion in its fourth quarter, beating out analysts' expectations for earnings of $13.30 per share on $$2.9 billion in sales. The company also said gross travel bookings for the three-month period were up 160% year-over-year to $19.0 billion. Still, Booking CEO David Goulden warned of "a potentially volatile environment with high COVID infection rates in some part of the world and geopolitical uncertainty that could impact our business, especially in Europe," in the company's earnings call. UBS Research analyst Lloyd Walmsley maintained a Buy rating on BKNG. "Looking ahead, we see scope for a stronger-than-expected recovery in 2022 and into 2023 in terms of room nights and bookings which we think would flow through at attractive incremental margins," he writes in a note. Story continues One Way to Hedge Geopolitical Risk One way to hedge international turmoil: commodities. This is according to a team of Goldman Sachs Commodities Research strategists. "With news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine emerging, commodity markets have rallied aggressively, acting as the clear geopolitical hedge of first resort," they write. This was seen in the price action for several commodities today, most notably U.S. crude oil futures, which topped the $100 per-barrel mark in intraday trading – their first move above this level since 2014 – before settling up 0.8% at $92.81 per barrel. SEE MORE 6 Sturdy Defensive Stocks to Buy for 2022 And prices are likely going to head even higher, with many experts predicting oil could hit the $125 per-barrel mark. "Uncertainty around potential sanctions is beginning to create a potential supply shock," the team says. "In our view, until the uncertainty around the rapidly escalating situation is resolved, commodity price risk remains skewed to the upside." Not only would a continued rise in oil prices spell good news for traditional energy stocks and energy exchange-traded funds , but also master limited partnerships (MLPs) . These firms, which are largely responsible for pipeline infrastructure and storage facilities, offer both exposure to the booming energy market and high dividend yields to boot. SEE MORE 2022's Best Mutual Funds in 401(k) Retirement Plans You may also like Which Tax Documents Should I Save, Which Should I Shred? Your Guide to Roth Conversions How Could the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Affect Your Investments? || CEOs of UBER, BITF, OGGFF, BBIG Discuss Next Billion Dollar Market Opportunities in Bitcoin Mining, Plant-Based Foods, Mobility, and Digital Media: NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wall Street Reporter, the trusted name in financial news since 1843, has published reports on the latest comments and insights from CEOs of: Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), Organic Garage (OTC: OGGFF) (TSX.V: OG), Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) (TSX.V: BITF) and Vinco Ventures (NASDAQ: BBIG).
Today’s emerging technologies and lifestyle megatrends are creating billion dollar opportunities for disruptive innovation in how we live, work and play. Wall Street Reporter highlights the latest comments from industry thought leaders shaping our world today, and in the decades ahead:
Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) (TSX.V: BITF) CEO Emiliano Grodzki: “Bitcoin Miner Consolidation Is Coming - We’re Shopping for Acquisitions”“...Today, we have a combined total of 10 farms in operation and development, with planed capacity of 404 megawatts and 48,000 miners slated for delivery in 2022. With our strengthened balance sheet and flexible capital plan, we are well positioned to reach our targeted exahash rate of 3 by March 31, 2022, and 8 by December 31, 2022….We've been actively looking at opportunities to buy companies and assets going back to last December. We only closed one of those transactions, and that was Washington for 24 megawatts. In terms of size, we wouldn't be interested in looking at anything less than 10 to 20 megawatts of size, because that's about the size that makes sense to make it worthwhile for us. We certainly are more attracted to the bigger opportunities where there’s scale...Because of our team and our expertise deploying new facilities, I think we're an attractive partner for anybody that wants to come to us, particularly given our growing international expertise…”Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) (TSX.V: BITF) Earning Highlights:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2021/11/18/bitfarms-ltd-nasdaq-bitf-q3-2021-earnings-highlights/
Organic Garage (OTC: OGGFF) (TSX.V: OG) CEO Matt Lurie: “Ready to Scale with Plant-Based Brands and Next Gen Organic Retailing”Organic Garage (OTC: OGGFF) a featured presenter at Wall Street Reporter’s NEXT SUPER STOCK investor conference, is capitalizing on twin megatrends in the booming plant-based foods space and specialty organic retailing. In his recent presentation, OGGFF CEO Matt Lurie shared with investors how OGGFF is positioned for explosive growth in the coming months, as it scales its “Organic Garage” specialty retail stores and launches its “Future of Cheese” brand which targets multi-billion dollar opportunities in the global plant-based dairy alternatives sector.
Watch Organic Garage (OTC: OGGFF)(TSX.V: OG)Next Super Stock livestream video:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/01/19/organic-garage-otc-oggff-tsx-og-explosive-growth-potential-in-22-next-super-stock-1-14-22-livestream/OGGFF’s “Organic Garage” specialty retail stores have built up a cult following among millennial shoppers in Toronto, Canada through a fun experiential retail concept and discount pricing - “Healthier Food For Less”. OGGFF currently has four stores generating over $30 million in revenue, at strong gross margins - and is now at an inflection point - ready to scale rapidly with new locations. In his interview with Wall Street Reporter, OGGFF CEO Matt Lurie discusses the possibilities for scaling the Organic Garage brand globally, whether through company owned stores, partnerships, and or franchises.
OGGFF is further leveraging its retailing domain expertise into the plant-based foods space. With a strong knowledge of what sells on retail shelves and what today’s consumers want, OGGFF is developing its owned plant-based CPG brands. OGGFF has just launched the “Future of Cheese” brand targeting the dairy alternatives space. Developed by the world’s leading cheese experts, Future of Cheese is rolling out a full line of cheese, butter and other exciting plant-based dairy products. The brand is a hit with consumers and products are selling out on shelves weekly. OGGFF is now expanding its product portfolio to 8-10 SKU’s in coming months which will help drive market penetration with international retailers. In his interview with Wall Street Reporter, Matt Lurie discusses OGGFF’s growth strategy for global sales expansion of Future of Cheese in retail and restaurants.Watch Organic Garage (OTC: OGGFF)(TSX.V: OG)Next Super Stock livestream video:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/01/19/organic-garage-otc-oggff-tsx-og-explosive-growth-potential-in-22-next-super-stock-1-14-22-livestream/
Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO: “People Eager to Move Around as Pandemic Eases”“...Our results continued to demonstrate both how eager people are to move around their cities as restrictions ease up, and how Delivery has become an important day -- important part of their daily lives. Gross bookings of $25.9 billion came in at the high end of our guidance range, with MAPCs of 118 million, reaching an all-time high. Continued strong execution by our team delivered $86 million of adjusted EBITDA, nicely above our guidance range…A couple of our growth initiatives across the Company: Our advertising business ended the year with around $225 million in run rate revenue, well above the $100 million target we laid out earlier this year. While much of the attention has sponsor listing for Uber Eats, we have a road map to build a much broader business, including in Mobility. We also closed the acquisition of Drizly during the quarter, which will be a nice addition to our advertising efforts. Our new verticals businesses, which includes grocery, alcohol, convenience and other non-restaurant efforts, grew nearly 10% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 on an organic basis, reaching a best month ever in December. We continue to make progress in improving non-restaurant merchant selection in the U.S. And as a result, the U.S. grew at 3x the rate of our global new verticals business during the quarter…”Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) Earnings Highlights:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/02/10/uber-technologies-inc-nyse-uber-q4-2021-results/
Vinco Ventures (NASDAQ: BBIG) CEO Lisa King: “Transforming Vinco to Digital Media Company”“...We completed the acquisition of an 80% interest in Lomotif, one of the fastest growing video-sharing social networking platforms in its category over the last three years, with over 225 million installations of the Lomotif app globally since launch…Over 10 billion atomic clips of user generated content have been used to create more than 750 million videos on the platform since its launch. We view Lomotif as the centerpiece of our strategies to become a pure play media and entertainment company…We intend to monetize the platform to our planned acquisition of AdRizer through ZVV Media Partners LLC, our joint venture with ZASH Global Media, the planned acquisition we announced in early October. AdRizer runs both real-time programmatic ad transactions and has direct agreements with agencies and advertisers on its own proprietary AI-focused platform….We believe that Lomotif and AdRizer will be complemented by our Honey Badger Media and Edison Nation brands, which will remain with Vinco. Honey Badger is a digital commerce company that designs digital campaigns and leverages its network of millions of followers and an impressive catalogue of celebrities and influencers to grow advertising revenue…Honey Badger brings a proprietary monetization process that converts traffic to dollars, employs content arbitrage to capitalize on network traffic and leverages a powerful ad stack. Edison Nation allows inventors to create, distribute, market and monetize their products to licensing agreements….What I've described above is the vision we have for the transformation of Vinco to a media and entertainment company.”Vinco Ventures (NASDAQ: BBIG) Earnings Highlights:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/01/30/vinco-ventures-nasdaq-bbig-q3-2021-earnings-highlights/
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www.WallStreetReporter.com || WTI Crude Oil Forming Potentially Bearish Reversal Top: U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are trading lower late in the session on Thursday after giving back earlier gains. The price action suggests traders are trying to balance concerns about tight worldwide supply with expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon tighten monetary policy.
At 20:37 GMT,March WTI crude oilis trading $86.53, down $0.82 or -0.94%. TheUnited States Oil Fund ETFis at $61.62, down $0.06 or -0.10%. The high of the session is $62.70.
Weighing on prices, the U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it was likely to raise interest rates in March and planned to end its bond purchases that month to tame inflation. The U.S. Dollar climbed after the announcement, making oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Traders are starting to turn their attention to a February 2 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+. OPEC+ is likely to stick with a planned rise in its oil output target for March, several sources in the group told Reuters.
The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. A trade through the intraday high at $88.54 will signal a resumption of the uptrend. A move through $81.90 will change the main trend to down.
The minor range is $81.90 to $88.54. Its 50% level at $85.22 is the first target.
The second minor range is $77.34 to $88.54. Its pivot at $82.94 is the next potential target. The third 50% retracement zone target level is $81.28.
The direction of the March WTI crude oil market into the close on Thursday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to $87.35.
A sustained move under $87.35 will indicate the presence of sellers. If the move creates enough downside momentum then look for a break into $85.22.
A failure to hold $85.22 will indicate the selling pressure is getting stronger. This could trigger a break into the pivot at $82.94. If this fails, then look for the selling to possibly extend into the main bottom at $81.90 and the 50% level at $81.28.
A sustained move over $87.35 will signal the presence of buyers. This could trigger a surge into the intraday high into $88.54. This price is a potential trigger point for an acceleration to the upside with the long-term Fibonacci level at $92.38 the next major target.
A close under $87.35 on Thursday will form a potentially bearish closing price reversal top. If confirmed, this could trigger the start of a 2 to 3 day correction. If this correction is strong enough to take out $81.90 then the main trend will change to down on the daily chart.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Silver Breaks Through Support Declining for 5th Consecutive Day || iMining Launches Metaverse Advisory Group and Further Establishes Itself as a Web 3.0 Company: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2022) - iMining Technologies Inc. (TSXV: IMIN) (the "Company" or "iMining") is pleased to announce it has launched Metaverse Advisory Group Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary focused on investing, developing and managing Metaverse Properties and NFTs. Metaverse Advisory Group provides direct exposure to Metaverse and NFT sectors for BitBit Financial Inc. customers and iMining shareholders. Metaverse Advisory Group will be led by iMining's CTO, Dwain Pereira, along with an experienced Virtual Reality and technology development team. With this launch, iMining has developed an infrastructure to become a Web3.0 technology company. Web3.0 is the next evolution in computing and information technology, after the transition from Web1.0 to Web2.0, as early-stage applications of this technology are already here. Web3.0 will bring together the convergence of Augmented and Virtual Reality technology, IOT devices, distributed ledger technology (blockchain), Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning. Metaverse Advisory Group is a virtual NFT based real estate company that will develop and manage a portfolio of Virtual properties in major blockchain-based Metaverses including Decentraland and The Sandbox. "The Metaverse is a game-changer for how advertisers and brands market their products. Physical and virtual real estate are extremely similar and as more people congregate in these virtual cities, the land becomes more sought after for its ability to reach a new global demographic. Brands like Sotheby's 1 , Samsung 2 , Carrefour 3 , Australian Open 4 , are launching in the Metaverse," commented CTO, Dwain Pereira of iMining. "Firms such as Goldman Sachs 5 , Morgan Stanley 6 and Grayscale 7 are all seeing Metaverse as a Multi-Trillion Dollar Opportunity." "We are on the cusp of a major technological transformation with the advent of new technology and the evolution of existing technologies, which changes how people interact with no clear future impact. iMining is working with strategic partners to provide our investors and clients with an end-to-end solution so they can easily participate in the growth of Web3.0 and benefit from it," said Khurram Shroff, President and CEO of the Company. "Web3.0 will entirely change how people interact with technology and with each other. This is an exciting time and I remain confident that iMining is positioned as thought leaders to assist this entire industry grow. iMining has established itself to provide public market investors exposure to Web3.0, the next evolution of Internet." Story continues 1 https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/next-stop-the-metaverse 2 https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/129380/samsung-metaverse-flagship-837-store-decentraland 3 https://nftevening.com/french-supermarket-carrefour-enters-the-metaverse/ 4 https://ausopen.com/articles/news/ao-launches-metaverse-serves-world-first-nft-art-collection-linked-live-match-data 5 https://news.bitcoin.com/goldman-sachs-metaverse-8-trillion-opportunity/ 6 https://blockworks.co/morgan-stanley-sees-8-trillion-metaverse-market-eventually/ 7 https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-metaverse-is-a-1t-opportunity-after-users-increase-10x-grayscale-report Acquisition of Metaverse assets The Company also announces that further to its news release of December 15, 2021, a Definitive Agreement has now been executed with 1850142 Ontario Inc. for the acquisition of certain Metaverse assets, including digital land in the Decentraland Metaverse and a collection of 16 NFT assets of Crypto Kitties and NBA Top Shots. The Definitive Agreement reflects an amended consideration for the acquisition, such that full payment will now consist of 2,500,000 common shares at a deemed price of $0.12 per share, with no cash payments being required. The Company will be filing its application for TSXV approval of the proposed transaction. About Metaverse Advisory Group: Metaverse Advisory Group is a virtual NFT based real estate company that develops and manages a portfolio of Virtual properties in major blockchain-based Metaverses including Decentraland and The Sandbox. It operates unique services including virtual property development, property management, and assisting companies with future of work, virtual events and meetings, marketing and advertising in the Metaverse. About iMining Technologies Inc. iMining is a publicly listed Web3.0 technology company developing technology for Crypto Mining, Decentralized Finance ("DeFi") and Non-Fungible Tokens ("NFT"). iMining also owns BitBit Financial Inc., an ATM Network and crypto OTC Trading Platform for individual and institutions., You may onboard with BitBit Financial https://bitbitfinancial.com/open-an-account/ iMining investments are directly linked to the Bitcoin Mining, Crypto Trading, Decentralized Finance ("DeFI") and Metaverse Non-Fungible Tokens ("NFTs"). With diverse blockchain investment and infrastructure solutions, iMining will be a leader in accelerating the growth of Web3.0 for the enterprise market. The Company's operations include secure and sustainable cryptocurrency payments, staking, mining and digital asset investment designed for the scale and compliance requirements of institutional clients. iMining is committed to building strong global blockchain ecosystems and supporting inclusive access to digital tools and technologies. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Signed " Khurram Shroff " Khurram Shroff, President & CEO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, please contact: iMining Corporate Offices: Saleem Moosa, Director Email: investor@imining.com Telephone: 1-604-602-4935 Toll Free: 1-866-602-4935 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance, and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions, and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, actual results of activities, future cryptocurrency prices, operating risks, and other risks in the cryptocurrency industry. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113325 View comments || StormX to stage first invitational tournament with PokerGO: Crypto cashback provider StormX will host its first invitational poker tournament at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas on March 3. The tournament is expected to have a prize pool of $500,000 and it will feature a range of professional poker players, cryptocurrency founders, influencers and several NBA players. Some of the names attending include NASCAR driver Landon Cassill, NBA stars Paul Pierce and Michael Carter-Williams, and decorated poker pros Tom Dwan and Maria Ho. The tournament, which is the first between StormX and PokerGO, will be live-streamed on YouTube, Twitter and other social media platforms. As part of our partnership with @PokerGO , we will be hosting our first invitational poker tournament on March 3rd in Las Vegas. Guests will include @landoncassill , @paulpierce34 , @mcarterwilliams , @TomDwan , @MariaHo , and more. https://t.co/mDFY2ZARlb — StormX (@stormxio) January 25, 2022 So far, 81 entrants are registered with a buy-in of $5,000. One rebuy is allowed per player, meaning the prize pool is expected to exceed $500,000. “We’re excited to host the first of many events that bring together a wide range of entrepreneurs, investors, poker pros, and celebrities to create an enjoyable event that will be streamed globally,” said Simon Yu, CEO and Co-Founder of StormX. StormX has been named as the official cryptocurrency partner of PokerGO in a deal that will see it receive branding and commercial involvements over several years. For more poker and iGaming content, click here . To buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Litecoin Ethereum and USDC, click here . || GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks fall further as U.S. yield climb unnerves investors: * World stocks tumble as more aggressive Fed tightening eyed
* U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touches 1.8%
* Dollar stuck in range despite rising yields
* Traders prepare for U.S. inflation data, company earnings
By Koh Gui Qing and Tommy Wilkes
NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - World stocks stumbled again on Monday while the 10-year Treasury yield hit a two-year high as bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as soon as March led investors to pare risky assets.
Monday's drop follows a bruising first week of the year when a strong signal from the Fed that it would tighten policy faster to tackle inflation and then data showing a strong U.S. labor market, unnerved investors who had pushed equities to record highs over the holiday period.
Technology stocks, which have soared in the past two years thanks in part to very low interest rates, led the falls while investors bought into lower-valued energy and financial shares.
By 1523 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had shed 1.4%, the S&P 500 had lost 1.80%, and the Nasdaq Composite had slumped 2.4%.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index sagged 1.51% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 1.40%.
"The big story of the first week of the new year has been the steady march higher in US treasury yields," said Arthur Hogan, chief market strategist at National Holdings Corp. Hogan recommended investors put more money in financial, industrial and energy stocks as they will likely benefit from strong economic growth expected in the months ahead.
Goldman Sachs now expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates four times this year and begin the process of reducing its balance sheet size as soon as July, joining other big banks in forecasting an aggressive tightening of U.S. monetary policy.
A busy week sees U.S. inflation data due on Wednesday, which analysts say could show core inflation climbing to its highest in decades at 5.4%, a level that would all but confirm a U.S. rate rise is coming in March. The season of corporate earnings also kicks off this week with the big U.S. banks reporting from Friday onwards.
"The persistent rise in consumer inflation could further boost the Fed hawks, bring them to price a steeper normalization path, and more importantly fuel the expectation that the Fed should rapidly reduce the size of its balance sheet to avoid flattening the yield curve while fighting back inflation," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote.
Ozkardeskaya added that there was "plenty of hawkishness" yet to be priced into assets.
While the December payrolls number released last week did miss forecasts, the drop in the jobless rate to just 3.9% and strength in wages suggested the economy was running short of workers.
Markets quickly shifted to reflect the risks with futures implying a greater than 70% chance of a rise to 0.25% in March and at least two more hikes by year end.
FURTHER TO RUN?
Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes hit a high of 1.8080% in early trading, levels last seen in January 2020, having shot up 25 basis points last week in their biggest move since late 2019. The yield later retreated to 1.7958%.
"We think that the increase in long-dated Treasury yields has further to run," said Nicholas Farr, an economist at Capital Economics.
"Markets may still be underestimating how far the federal funds rate will rise in the next few years, so our forecast is for the 10-year yield to rise by around another 50bp, to 2.25%, by the end of 2023."
The dollar index edged up 0.28% to 96.06. The greenback has failed to find significant support from rising Treasury yields.
The euro stood at $1.1320, down 0.3% on the day, while the Japanese yen got a brief break from its recent bear run to trade up at 115.2.
In commodity markets, spot gold dropped 0.1% to $1,793.80 an ounce.
Oil prices dipped but held onto to recent gains, having climbed 5% last week helped in part by supply disruptions from the unrest in Kazakhstan and outages in Libya.
U.S. crude fell 0.35% to $78.62 per barrel and Brent was at $81.34, down 0.5% on the day.
The shift from risk weighed on cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin fell 2.24% to $40,936.62.
(Additional reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney, Editing by William Maclean and Alexander Smith)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 43193.23, 44354.64, 43924.12, 42451.79, 39137.61, 39400.59, 38419.98, 38062.04, 38737.27, 41982.93
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2016-06-20]
BTC Price: 737.23, BTC RSI: 74.01
Gold Price: 1290.00, Gold RSI: 65.05
Oil Price: 49.37, Oil RSI: 56.64
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
'I'm sorry': Craig Wright on lack of evidence he created bitcoin: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright, who earlier this week said he would provide "extraordinary proof" that he was the creator of digital currency bitcoin, will not provide any further evidence, according to a post on his blog on Thursday. Although Wright did not renege on his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto - the name, assumed to be pseudonymous, of the person or group who created the web-based currency in 2008 - the U-turn was taken by many bitcoin experts as confirmation of their suspicions that the claims were false. "I believed that I could do this. I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me," Wright wrote. "But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot." Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" that enables users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously without the need for third-party verification. Various attempts have been made to identify its elusive creator, but Wright's claims stood out due to the high-profile endorsements they received. Lead bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen and bitcoin consultant Jon Matonis both wrote blogs on Monday endorsing Wright's claims, saying they had been shown proof by Wright that he was Nakamoto. Wright said on Thursday that Andresen and Matonis had not been deceived, but "that the world will never believe that now". "I think he's significantly less likely to be Satoshi than any other person that's been suggested," another lead bitcoin developer, Peter Todd, told Reuters, referring to others who have been suspected of being bitcoin's creator. "PLAIN FISHY" After coming under pressure to provide more credible evidence that he was bitcoin's creator, Wright had blogged on Monday that he would provide "independently verifiable documents and evidence" that would back up his claims. The post could no longer be found on his blog site. Story continues "The possibility that Wright is Satoshi will always exist, but given the amount of evidence calling that into doubt, I think one would be foolish to give that possibility much weight," said Jerry Brito, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based digital currency advocacy group Coin Center. "He's provided no cryptographic evidence verifiable by the public, and many of his answers sound plain fishy... Today's statement on his blog only further tarnishes his credibility." Wright's representatives declined to give any comments on his decision to back away from providing further evidence, but said he was still their client. They believed he was still in London, where he has been living for the past few months. Interviews with some who had done business with Wright in Australia in December, when reports by Wired and Gizmodo that he could be Nakamoto first emerged, and an inspection of documents published by the two tech news websites, painted a complex picture of Wright. They pointed to a smart but sometimes abrasive figure facing growing legal and financial problems at least in part caused by his involvement with bitcoin. Each bitcoin is currently worth around $447 (BTC=ITBT) , making the 15 million or so in circulation worth a total of around $7 billion. Wright said his failure to produce better evidence would cause "great damage to those that had supported" him, in particular Matonis and Andresen. "I can only say I'm sorry. And goodbye," Wright wrote. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Toby Chopra) || Traders: How to play stumbles by Apple, Twitter: Two big-name technology stocks have stumbled recently, and "Fast Money" traders on Tuesday debated whether they could recover. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares climbed Tuesday, breaking an eight-day slide driven by disappointing quarterly earnings , iPhone sales and guidance. Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) 's stock, meanwhile, fell 2.7 percent on the day, touching an all-time low during the session. The social media company also gave a weak outlook when it posted quarterly results. Apple shareholder Pete Najarian said he bought more of the stock last week despite the company's struggles. "I believe in the company, I believe in where the direction is," he said, adding that long-term investors may benefit from eventual expansion in places like India. While he noted that India offers "an amazing long-term growth opportunity," trader Dan Nathan believes Apple has more pain ahead. He contended it could slide even more from its current levels. Turning to Twitter, Nathan said he has been long and "wrong" in the stock. He said the company has had trouble growing its audience but added it could still be a takeover target. Najarian argued he would stay away from the stock altogether. "It just is not showing us any life at all," he said. Trader Brian Kelly acknowledged that Twitter has unique value. He said the company should focus on engaging with the users it has now rather than adding new users. Disclosures: Karen Finerman Karen is long BAC, C, DRII, DRII calls, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, DRII, DRII calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, US Dollar; he is short Australian Dollar, BLK, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures Story continues Pete Najarian Long AAPL, BAC, BMY, CSCO, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB, ZIOP Long Calls: AAL, AGN, AKS, AMJ, COP, EGO, EWZ, HAIN, HBAN, KATE, KBH, KMI, LLY, MSFT, MT, NLNK, SBUX, SLV, SPG, TCK, UAL, YHOO Long Puts: FCX, NOV, PBR, VLO Dan Nathan Long PFE Long TWTR, sept risk reversal WMT long May 65 puts GE long May 28 puts XHB long June put spread IWM long Sept 100 put XLB long June put spread XRT long June 45/38 put spread XLF long May/ Sept Put spread HYG long June put spread XLK long Sept Put spread More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Banks, tech companies move on from bitcoin to blockchain: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - As a debate raged across the internet Monday over whether the mysterious founder of the bitcoin digital currency had finally been identified, executives at a major bitcoin conference in New York had a simple message: we've moved on. That's because bitcoin, the digital currency, has largely been supplanted by blockchain, the technology that underlies it, as the main interest of investors, technology companies and financial institutions. "If there is a 100 percent opportunity in the blockchain, bitcoin, or the currency, is only 1 percent of it," said Jerry Cuomo, vice president, Blockchain Technologies at International Business Machines Corp. "So there is a whole 99 percent that has broad applications across the broad industries." Over the past year numerous Wall Street firms, led by Goldman Sachs, have declared their commitment to pursuing blockchain as a potential revolutionary technology for tracking and clearing financial transactions. The blockchain technology works by creating permanent, public "ledgers" of all transactions that could potentially replace complicated clearing and settlement systems with one simple ledger. Still, bitcoin is by far the largest implementation of blockchain technology and there is considerable debate as to whether one can truly develop without the other. "Bitcoin is still the only blockchain-enabled, cross-border large scale, provable application that's actually in production," said Joseph Guastella, a principal at Deloitte Consulting in New York. "Bitcoin as a currency may not be as relevant as it was in many ways, but it actually is relevant as a proof case for the blockchain technology." Bitcoins are created through a "mining" process, in which specialized computers solve complex math problems in exchange for bitcoins. One bitcoin is equivalent to $444.75 late on Monday and trade on various exchanges around the world. But bitcoin transaction volume has been in decline over the past six months amid a bitter split over technical changes in the protocol that are needed to increase the capacity of the system that produces them. Because the cryptocurrency has no formal governance, it relies on a core group of developers for direction - and they are sharply divided over the changes. But that debate was of relatively little concern to the Blockchain enthusiasts gathered in New York. Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright identified himself on Monday as the creator of controversial digital currency bitcoin. "It's irrelevant because his announcement doesn't solve a problem or resolve a conflict," said Bharat Solanki, managing director at Cambrian Consulting in New York. Story continues "It probably helps to determine the origins of bitcoin but only for recognition," Solanki said. For Naoki Taniguchi, a global innovation expert at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd in San Francisco, he does not really care about who created bitcoin. "It's all about the blockchain," he said. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Bernard Orr) View comments || Winklevoss digital currency exchange expands into Canada: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Gemini Trust Co, the U.S.-based bitcoin exchange founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has opened trading in Canada, marking the start of an international expansion program. In an interview late on Friday, Gemini Chief Executive Officer Tyler Winklevoss said Canadian citizens would only be able to trade bitcoin and ether on the exchange for now. Trading bitcoin and ether against fiat currencies such as the dollar will take a few weeks, Winklevoss said, adding that no regulatory approval was needed to operate in Canada. Winklevoss said Gemini would open another international location over the next two weeks. Digital currencies have gained popularity among investors as major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc and global technology companies such as International Business Machines Corp try to unlock the potential uses and applications of these assets' underlying technology, the blockchain. The blockchain is a database that enables a network of computers to validate, clear, settle, track, and record the ownership of assets as they are traded. Ether, an alternative currency that differs from bitcoin, is a token or digital asset of the Ethereum platform, a public blockchain. "We decided to open first with the bitcoin and ether order book," said Winklevoss. "We think there's great demand for that; there are a lot of people who own bitcoin, and they don't have a safe place to store them." He added that most bitcoin and ether investors were trading on unregulated and unlicensed exchanges. Gemini last month became the first and so far only exchange that New York state allows to trade ether, Winklevoss said. Volume on Gemini since ether started trading on the exchange has grown steadily, he said. "Over the last 30 days, we have traded approximately $30 million in notional value of both bitcoin and ether." Bitcoin on Monday traded at $582.79 on the Bitstamp platform, with a market capitalization of $9.1 billion, according to crypto-currency data website coinmarketcap.com. Ether, the second-largest digital currency behind bitcoin, last changed hands at $13.92 and had a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) || Leon Cooperman Thinks The Hedge Fund Industry Is Under Attack: Hedge fund titan and CEO of Omega Advisors, Leon Cooperman, is concerned about the hedge fund industry's current environment. He is quoted as having warned, "The hedge-fund model is under challenge. It's under assault," according to a report on the Wall Street Journal. The report said Cooperman was even considering whether it was worth running hedge funds at all. The report recalled the March announcement from Omega Advisors that "U.S. regulators intend to recommend civil charges against the firm for alleged violations of securities law." Cooperman has denied any misconduct, saying he "would defend himself and the firm." Many investors are withdrawing money from the hedge funds, as the tepid market environment makes it tough for them to deliver desired returns that don't commensurate with the high service fees charged. Related Link: Is The Hedge Fund Industry's "Midas Touch" Dwindling? The WSJ report said hedge funds typically charge higher fees than other money managers, usually 2 percent of assets under management and 20 percent of profits. "[F]ees are too high. I'm surprised they've stayed this high for this long," the report said quoting James Chanos, a prominent manager. Meanwhile, the report added that big investors are pulling money from hedge-fund bets and investing into other non-traditional assets such as private equity, real estate, toll roads and bridges. "Others are migrating to cheaper alternatives that mimic the strategies of hedge funds but at significantly lower cost," the report highlighted. "Total global hedge fund capital declined to $2.86 trillion in the first quarter, including investor outflows of $15.1 billion marking not only the largest quarterly outflow since the second quarter of 2009, but also the first consecutive quarters of outflows since 2009," according to a press release from Hedge Fund Research. See more from Benzinga Richmond Fed Describes Its Role In Designing New Bill Can Bitcoin Resolve Central Bank Woes? Feel The Bern Burn? Analyst Says Sanders Presidency Would Add Trillion To National Deficit © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Your first trade for Thursday, May 26: The " Fast Money " traders shared which moves they'd make at the U.S. market open. Tim Seymour was a buyer of Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) . Steve Grasso was a buyer of the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca: GDX) . Brian Kelly was a buyer of the iShares Silver Trust. (NYSE Arca: SLV) Guy Adami was a buyer of Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) . Trader disclosure: On May 25, 2016 , the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. Steve Grasso is long BA, CC, DD, DIS, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX firm long AAPL, CVX, OXY, RIG Steve's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, US Dollar; he is short Australian Dollar, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, IWM, Yuan Short: SPY and S&P 500 Futures. Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, GLNCY, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, WYNN, XRT More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said late Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
With the launch of ether trading next week, Coinbase is also changing the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said Adam White, vice president of business development and head of GDAX.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Disney, Apple may not stop the bleeding: Traders: Dow(Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI)titans Walt Disney(NYSE: DIS)and Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL)have lost momentum recently, and "Fast Money" traders debated whether their stocks had any pop left.
Disney shares slid 4 percent Wednesday after the media giantmissed estimates for quarterly profit and sales. Apple, meanwhile, has shed 12 percent of its value this year, partly afterdisappointing earnings and guidance.
Traders discussed the stocks' merit.
Disney
Trader Guy Adami said he would not sell Disney, yet. Trader Karen Finerman added she does not "like the Disney risk-reward here," citing uncertainty about its ESPN sports network and who will succeed CEO Bob Iger when his contract expires in 2018.
Apple
Apple has struggled lately, and concerns about sales of its flagship iPhone have weighed on shares. The stock has fallen nearly 27 percent in the last year.
"Why not short it here?" Adami asked.
Trader Tim Seymour, though, said he bought Apple shares last week amid weakness. He highlighted the company's services revenue as a "small but bright spot."
Finerman added she preferred both Facebook(NASDAQ: FB)and Alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOGL)to either stock. She owns shares of both technology companies.
Disclosures:
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
Karen Finerman
Karen is long BAC, C, DRII, DRII calls, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, DRII, DRII calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, US Dollar; he is short Australian Dollar, BLK, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
Tim Seymour
Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, GLNCY, INTC, LQD, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, WYNN
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• Personal Finance || This Is The Hacker Taking The Fight To ISIS: A hacker by the name of WauchulaGhost is doing his/her part in battling the terrorist group ISIS where it has a dominant presence: online. Terrorist groups like ISIS are notorious for maintaining a strong social media presence to spread their propaganda and recruit new members. Over the past month, WauchulaGhost has hacked over 250 accounts on Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR ) that have been linked with ISIS members. Related Link: Orlando Shooting: How Past Acts Of Terror Affected Stock Markets The hacker replaces ISIS' terrorist ideology and content with pornography and gay pride messages an act that is even more meaningful following the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, in which a gunman pledged allegiance to ISIS and massacred 49 people at a gay club. hacker2.jpg Once an account is hacked, ISIS' black flags are replaced with rainbows and gay couples embracing. The hacker has a network of people across the world willing to help him however possible, including translating conversations to and from Arabic. hacker4.jpg "There was a few of us... that discovered a vulnerability," the hacker told CNNMoney. "We thought, 'Hey let's go start taking their accounts ... and [start] humiliating them.'" The hacker also criticized social media companies, including Twitter, for not doing enough to shut down the accounts linked to Terrorist groups. For its part, Twitter told CNN Money it has suspended over 125,000 accounts related to ISIS sine the middle of 2015. hacker1.jpg "Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe in," he told CNNMoney. "If you want change, you have to make that change, even if it means doing something illegal." See more from Benzinga Reaction To Criticism Of 'Chef Curry' Shoe Cooking Up Buying Opportunity For Under Armour London's Tech Sector Thinks Brexit Will Be A Disaster Bitcoin Is Up 30% This Week And 200% This Year: Here Is What You Need To Know © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || "I'm sorry" - Craig Wright on lack of evidence he created bitcoin: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright, who earlier this week said he would provide "extraordinary proof" that he was the creator of digital currency bitcoin, will not provide any further evidence, according to a post on his blog on Thursday. Although Wright did not renege on his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto - the name, assumed to be pseudonymous, of the person or group who created the web-based currency in 2008 - the U-turn was taken by many bitcoin experts as confirmation of their suspicions that the claims were false. "I believed that I could do this. I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me," Wright wrote. "But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot." Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" that enables users to move money across the world quickly and anonymously without the need for third-party verification. Various attempts have been made to identify its elusive creator, but Wright's claims stood out due to the high-profile endorsements they received. Lead bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen and bitcoin consultant Jon Matonis both wrote blogs on Monday endorsing Wright's claims, saying they had been shown proof by Wright that he was Nakamoto. Wright said on Thursday that Andresen and Matonis had not been deceived, but "that the world will never believe that now". "I think he's significantly less likely to be Satoshi than any other person that's been suggested," another lead bitcoin developer, Peter Todd, told Reuters, referring to others who have been suspected of being bitcoin's creator. "PLAIN FISHY" After coming under pressure to provide more credible evidence that he was bitcoin's creator, Wright had blogged on Monday that he would provide "independently verifiable documents and evidence" that would back up his claims. The post could no longer be found on his blog site. "The possibility that Wright is Satoshi will always exist, but given the amount of evidence calling that into doubt, I think one would be foolish to give that possibility much weight," said Jerry Brito, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based digital currency advocacy group Coin Center. "He's provided no cryptographic evidence verifiable by the public, and many of his answers sound plain fishy... Today's statement on his blog only further tarnishes his credibility." Wright's representatives declined to give any comments on his decision to back away from providing further evidence, but said he was still their client. They believed he was still in London, where he has been living for the past few months. Interviews with some who had done business with Wright in Australia in December, when reports by Wired and Gizmodo that he could be Nakamoto first emerged, and an inspection of documents published by the two tech news websites, painted a complex picture of Wright. They pointed to a smart but sometimes abrasive figure facing growing legal and financial problems at least in part caused by his involvement with bitcoin. Each bitcoin is currently worth around $447 , making the 15 million or so in circulation worth a total of around $7 billion. Wright said his failure to produce better evidence would cause "great damage to those that had supported" him, in particular Matonis and Andresen. "I can only say I'm sorry. And goodbye," Wright wrote. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Toby Chopra)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
My robot has 475 hp left! I've earned a total of 517,970 free satoshis from http://www.robotcoingame.com/?id=6245773 #robotcoingame #Bitcoin || One Bitcoin now worth $453.74@bitstamp. High $454.88. Low $452.00. Market Cap $ 7.059 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/vTAbG3wms4 || #UFOCoin #UFO $ 0.000023 (2.17 %) 0.00000005 BTC (0.00 %) || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 18 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $1.96 and $1,095.00 #bitcoin #btc || #bitcoin Ethereum Price Technical Analysis – $10.00 Target Hit, ETH In Uptrend http://bit.ly/1Nj8C0K?utm_campaign=twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter … || #bitcoin #miner Bitmain Antminer S4 2TH/s 2,000GH/s Bitcoin Miner $350.00 http://cur.lv/ysva7
http://cur.lv/ysva8 || The current price of a #bitcoin is $439.00. Have a nice day! || #MARYJ 0.00000236 BTC(0.00 %) | Market Cap 122 BTC | Volume(24h) 0.00 BTC | Available Supply 51,887,209 MARYJ || #8BitCoin #8BIT $ 0.011921 (-2.00 %) 0.00002612 BTC (-2.07 %) || $733.14 at 23:45 UTC [24h Range: $725.00 - $763.99 Volume: 7858 BTC]
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Trend: up || Prices: 666.65, 596.12, 623.98, 665.30, 665.12, 629.37, 655.28, 647.00, 639.89, 673.34
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-11-10]
BTC Price: 17586.77, BTC RSI: 38.13
Gold Price: 1750.30, Gold RSI: 68.88
Oil Price: 86.47, Oil RSI: 47.84
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Core Scientific Again Raises Bitcoin Mining Hosting Rates: The world's largest bitcoin miner, Core Scientific (CORZ), raised its rates for hosting other companies' machines to just under 10 cents per kilowatt hour, two people familiar with the matter told CoinDesk.
It's the latest price hike for Core Scientific, which hadpreviously raised its ratesby 20%-25% in recent months because of soaring energy costs. With the price of bitcoin stubbornly hanging around in the $20,000 area, the boosted costs make it even more difficult for miners to break even.
Hosting is a service that data centers provide to crypto miners so that customers can store their mining rigs and mine digital assets for a fee without having to build the infrastructure themselves. Core Scientific has both a hosting and mining business, with22.5 exahash/second (EH/s)of its own and others' computing power in its data centers across the U.S. The company is actually losing money of late on hosting operations, according to its most recentearnings report.
A Core Scientific spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics, but said that "increased power costs are passed through" to customers ... While the cost of power has been on the rise, we do expect power costs to decline again in the future, which would be reflected in our future rates."
"All units outside of the [Bitmain Antminer] S19 XP [go] into negative gross margin territory," at above 9 cents per kilowatt hour, said Ethan Vera, chief operating officer at mining services firm Luxor Technologies. "If hashprice [the value of 1 terahash/second of computing power per day] trends down we expect it to hit some resistance points as the high-cost operators and low-efficiency miners turn off," he added.
Analyst Chris Brendler at investment bank DA Davidsondowngraded CORZfrom buy to neutral in a note earlier today, saying it was a tough decision given it is the "best-in-class in many ways." However. the miner is at a "significantly more stressed liquidity position than expected" and its hosting business is under stress due to unhedged power and "uneconomic hosting contracts," Brendler wrote.
Cheap hosting has become next to impossible to find in the U.S. as electricity prices have increased significantly along with the price of natural gas. Meanwhile, miners in Europe have either powered off or aremoving to the northern parts of the continentin search of cheap power to stay afloat.
Read more:A Huge Glut of Bitcoin Mining Rigs Is Sitting Unused in Boxes || pax.world’s token ($PAXW) is being listed on MEXC: pax.world Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The metaverse pax.world is excited to announce that it is listing its token, $PAXW, on MEXC. The $PAXW token is a native cryptocurrency built on the blockchain technology of Polygon, as part of its Green Manifesto. The exchange has set aside $20 million for various community initiatives to utilise Web3 technology to build a sustainable future for all which includes focusing on new solutions for on-chain carbon credit retirement. pax.world is currently running its pre-listing airdrop until 1st November 2022, with distributions to take place within one week of the token listing. During this period, the team will distribute $10,000 worth of $PAXW. The $PAXW token derives many kinds of utility from its relationship with the pax.world metaverse platform. Users are rewarded for their contributions, interactions and commitment to the platform in myriad ways, including completing in-world achievements, the creation of engaging content or bringing other active users to share in the experience. Holding $PAXW tokens also allows users to participate in the platform's governance, including votes and consultations to determine the general direction of pax.world, allocate content rewards, and rule on the deployment of DAO-owned resources. Staking $PAXW allows community members to support the project and receive exclusive rewards, as well as enhancing their experience by boosting the level of rewards they earn from their achievements and content. The token and its complex interplay with individual and community objectives and the infrastructure of the platform empowers users to “SHAPE” the world around them, through STAKING, HOLDING, ACHIEVEMENTS, PURCHASES, and ENGAGEMENT. $PAXW will help to support in-world social and commercial activities, such as virtual business offices, educational establishments, art galleries, gaming platforms, and arenas. These activities are expected to expand as the metaverse takes root in mainstream culture. Complementary economic activity such as advertising in virtual spaces and concerts will be revolutionary both in terms of the utility to businesses and the power and agency afforded to users to choose and own their own experience. Story continues $PAXW will also be used to pay for land purchases, in-world services, enhancements and as part of a vibrant metaverse marketplace for real and virtual goods and services. Although other cryptocurrencies, such as BTC, ETH and REEF, can be accepted in the blockchain-based platform, the underlying transaction will remain in $PAXW. pax.world’s most prominent metaverse feature, and the future DAO’s most significant source of treasury, is its land, consisting of around 28K tiles of virtual real estate. Roughly a third of these are available for purchase. Ownership of a land tile is underwritten by an NFT. Land ownership has multi-dimensional utility, providing an outlet for architectural creativity, the hosting of engaging artistic and brand-oriented experiences, or as a jumping-off point for innovation both on- and off-world. Landowners can access the creation of one or more metanovas or metanovae, which are both standalone virtual environments and offshoots of pax.world built on the same technological innovation. With the infinite possibilities afforded by the combination of pax.world - a community hub made up of serene spaces and futuristic metropoles - and the minute customizability of the metanova, every user can envisage the creation of a unique community, economy, and world. Landowners are also in prime position to earn rewards in $PAXW for engaging content, voted on by the community and boosted through staking. About pax.world pax.world pax.world is an open multi-purpose metaverse, aiming to provide the widest possible user experience, maximizing opportunities to learn, socialize, play, discover and earn, and connecting communities around the world. pax.world allows users and brands to host and attend educational learning classes, business headquarters, live shows, concerts, team building events, private functions, gallery exhibitions and so much more. At the AIBC Summit in Dubai, it was named the best metaverse ahead of more established projects like Decentraland and the Sandbox. You can get more information on pax.world on its pages below: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube | LinkedIn | Telegram | Discord | CONTACT: Brian McClafferty Head of Marketing pax.world marketing (at) pax.world || 5 Investors Betting Big on DraftKings, And Why You Should Too: Who’s investing in sports wagering companyDraftKings(NASDAQ:DKNG)? Plenty of retail traders, sure, but also some big banks and even a firm led by the one and only Cathie Wood. This, along with a current deal withAmazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) and a potential deal withDisney(NYSE:DIS), should make DKNG stock investors all the more confident in their positions.
DraftKings, and the sports betting market generally, received a great deal of attention on Wall Street after the onset of Covid-19. Lately, however, it might feel as if investors have abandoned DraftKings altogether.
Yet, there’s more support for DraftKings among big-money investors than you might think. Perhaps they’re willing to spin the wheel and wager their capital on a sports betting revival — and they surely know that DraftKings has at least one headline-grabbing deal on its books.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Sure, plenty of small-scale traders are wagering on DraftKings’ future growth. However, you might be surprised to discover that some big spenders are also rolling the dice and putting their chips on DKNG stock. So, here’s a quick rundown of some topinstitutional investorsas of June 29, 2022.
• Vanguard: a jaw-dropping 32.51 million DKNG shares, which represents 7.25% of the outstanding shares.
• ARK Investment Management: 25.28 million shares, meaning that Cathie Wood’s firm held 5.64% of the outstanding shares.
• BlackRock(NYSE:BLK): 14.73 million shares, or 3.28% of DraftKings’ outstanding shares.
• Capital Research Global Investors: an impressive stake of 13.37 million shares, which translates to 2.98% of the outstanding shares.
• T Rowe Price(NASDAQ:TROW): 9 million DraftKings shares, or 2.01% of the outstanding shares.
It’s encouraging to know that Wood, a respected investor, favored DKNG stock. Nevertheless, there are other reasons to consider an investment in DraftKings now. Among them is DraftKings’ current deal with Amazon, and a potential one with Disney-owned ESPN.
DraftKings has already established amulti-year collaborationwith Amazon. The two companies intend to provide pregame content and betting offers “every Thursday throughout the NFL season,” and this should provide massive exposure for DraftKings.
Meanwhile, DraftKingsmay soon collaborate withthe almighty Disney — or at least, with Disney’s sports network, ESPN. Reportedly, sources say DraftKings and ESPN are “on the cusp of signing an exclusive partnership … that [would] have shows and perhaps odds integrated into game broadcasts.”
Despite all of this, DKNG stock was recently beaten down to just $12 and change. Bear in mind that the stock’s 52-week high is $50.48.
In other words, the selling looks overdone as DraftKings is currently working with an e-commerce giant. Plus, DraftKings could have a tie-in with ESPN soon. No guarantees here, but it’s possible.
Additionally, Wood’s stake and the investments of other big-name firms should make DraftKing’s value proposition all the more evident. So, don’t be afraid to press your luck and wager a few dollars on DKNG stock.
On the date of publication, David Moadeldid not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
David Moadel has provided compelling content – and crossed the occasional line – on behalf of Motley Fool, Crush the Street, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, TipRanks, Benzinga, and (of course) InvestorPlace.com. He also serves as the chief analyst and market researcher for Portfolio Wealth Global and hosts the popular financial YouTube channel Looking at the Markets.
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The post5 Investors Betting Big on DraftKings, And Why You Should Tooappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Asian shares mixed as market await vote results, price data: BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections and a major inflation update due later in the week. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.2% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong also shed 0.2%, to 16,517.04. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher to 3,066.99, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney climbed 0.7% to 7,006.70. The Kospi in Seoul surged 1% to 2,424.02. All eyes were on the elections, which could determine how much is done in the next several years in Washington, and possibly beyond. Markets tend to abhor uncertainty. With Americans heading to the polls across the country amid high inflation and worries about a possible recession, analysts say investors appear to be betting that Republicans will gain control of at least one house of Congress. That combined with a Democratic White House could lead to little getting done in Washington, which may be bad for society but could also keep the status quo on economic policy. On Wall Street, trading was tentative through the day, and Wall Street’s benchmark index flipped between an even bigger gain and a modest loss during the afternoon. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 3,828.11, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1% to 33,160.83 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.5%, to 10,616.20. If Republicans do end up wining control of at least the House of Representatives, the ensuing reaction in financial markets could be modest, according to economists at Goldman Sachs. Stocks have already rallied in anticipation of it, with two straight gains of at least 1% before Election Day. But a surprise win by Democrats could upset the market if it leads investors to expect higher corporate taxes and other policy changes. But a Republican win could also mean less help from Congress during a possible recession than under a Congress controlled by Democrats. And economists are forecasting a sharp downturn in coming months as interest rate hikes meant to tame inflation put the brakes on business activity and spending. Story continues The important milestone for markets this week than U.S. Election Day may be Thursday’s report on inflation, which will affect the swift interest-rate hikes the Federal Reserve is pushing through to get it under control. By raising rates, the Fed is intentionally slowing the economy by making it more expensive to borrow money. High rates also tend to drag down prices for stocks and other investments while raising the risk of a recession. The Fed has already hiked its key overnight rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%, up from virtually zero in March, and more investors are expecting it to top 5% next year. A softer reading than expected on Thursday could give the Fed leeway to loosen up a bit. Economists expect the report to show a continued, slight moderation from a peak set during the summer. But a worse-than-expected reading could have the opposite effect. Stocks are also moving on corporate profit reports, as earnings season enters its tail end. Take-Two Interactive sank 13.7% after reporting weaker results for the latest quarter than expected. Shares of companies entwined with the cryptocurrency economy also fell sharply, with Coinbase Global losing 10.8% and Robinhood Markets falling 19%. They dropped with crypto prices after the world’s biggest crypto exchange by daily volume, Binance, said it intends to buy one of its bigger rivals, FTX. Binance is making the purchase to help FTX manage a crunch where users have been pulling money out amid fears about its financial strength. It's the latest crisis of confidence to slam the crypto industry this year, as prices have tumbled in part on worries about higher interest rates. Bitcoin at one point sank below $17,500 before pulling back to $18,267, down 12.2% from a day earlier, according to CoinDesk. In other trading Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gave up 19 cents to $88.72 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international pricing standard, lost 9 cents to $95.27 per barrel in London. The dollar slipped to 145.31 Japanese yen from 145.34 yen. The euro rose to $1.0082 from $1.0074. || 7 Growth Stocks Smart Investors Shouldn’t Touch With a 10-Foot Pole: For years, investing in growth stocks was the key to building an incredible long-term portfolio. Investing in such stocks resulted in oversized returns, which enabled investors to build a robust portfolio. However, given the wild market gyrations, growth stocks have dipped to multi-year lows. Though this may seem like an excellent opportunity, it’s more prudent to look at growth stocks to avoid.
To put things into perspective, companies that are likely to grow remarkably quicker than an average company in the stock market are called growth stocks. These include some of the hottest tech stocks, which have taken a massive beating this year. Things are expected to get more painful for the tech-driven stock market, which has tumbled into bear-market territory. Therefore, investors must reevaluate their strategies and look at growth stocks in their portfolios which should be discarded now.
[{"Symbol": "ZM", "Company": "Zoom Video", "Price": "$79.61"}, {"Symbol": "META", "Company": "Meta Platforms", "Price": "$96.72"}, {"Symbol": "PTON", "Company": "Peloton", "Price": "$9.41"}, {"Symbol": "NFLX", "Company": "Netflix", "Price": "$258.60"}, {"Symbol": "RBLX", "Company": "Roblox", "Price": "$39.82"}, {"Symbol": "AVAV", "Company": "AeroVironment", "Price": "$85.12"}, {"Symbol": "VRM", "Company": "Vroom", "Price": "$0.91"}]
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Source: Girts Ragelis / Shutterstock.com
Zoom Video(NASDAQ:ZM) is a video-first communications platform that won big during the pandemic. Its service was tailor-made for the work-from-home environment, resulting in incredible gains for its stock and business. However, with the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, Zoom has been experiencing sluggish demand and intense competition from alternate platforms. Without a meaningful moat, the firm is struggling to maintain its customer base, which is shrinking considerably each quarter.
Consequently, ZM stock has shed over 70% of its value in the past 12 months and is poised for more losses. Its seemingly attractive valuation is due to the substantial downside risks ahead. Therefore, it is best to avoid the stock before it sheds more value in the coming months.
Source: Blue Planet Studio / Shutterstock.com
Meta Platforms(NASDAQ:META), formerly known as Facebook, is a fundamentally different business than it once was. It’s a company with a new vision that aims to revolutionize communication withits investments in the metaverse. It continues to invest billions of dollars for its plans to come to fruition but has yet to see much traction. Therefore, META faces an uncertain future, and even if its plans work in the long term, it will take a while before its business starts generating meaningful revenues from its new segment.
On the flip side, Meta’s core social media business is growing more slowly than before. Moreover, its advertising business faces stiff competition from the likes ofTikTokandApple(NASDAQ:AAPL). Therefore, its cushioning to support its metaverse idea is fading at an alarming pace, which bodes horribly for META stock.
Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com
Peloton(NASDAQ:PTON) is a home fitness equipment provider that caught lightning in a bottle with its business in the past couple of years. With gyms closed down across the globe, it saw incredible demand for its products posting triple-digit growth in sales. However, its business is crippling under the pressures exerted by pandemic forces and is likely to continue losing more money for the foreseeable future.
The firm recently removed its co-founders to bring in a fresh pair of eyes to salvage its business. Its newCEO Barry McCarthyhas his work cut out in stopping the business from burning more cash and start generating robust top-line growth. However, to say the least, it seems like an arduous task with the company’s liquidity position in horrible shape. Hence, it will continue to lose more money for the foreseeable future.
Source: xalien / Shutterstock
Netflix(NASDAQ:NFLX) is a household name and a pioneer in the streaming space. It’s been a high-growth stock over the past several years, growing its subscriber count by healthy quarterly margins. However, that trend was bucked when it reported a drop in subscriber count for the first time in what seemed like forever earlier this year.
It reported 1.2 million cumulative subscriber losses for the first two quartersbefore adding 2.4 million subscriptionsin its third quarter. Before we get too excited about its third-quarter performance, it’s important to note that the bump was mainly attributable to its new crime series,Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Therefore, Netflix relies on a few high-impact shows leaving it vulnerable to subscribers only resubscribing before major releases. Moreover, its competitors are going full-steam ahead with producing new content, while Netflix is focusing on profitability.
Source: Miguel Lagoa / Shutterstock.com
Roblox(NYSE:RBLX) is arguably the biggest name in the metaverse gaming sector. Its users and creators can effectively develop immersive games through the platform. Moreover, the firm makes the most of its money through in-gaming currency sales, royalties, licensing, and advertising. The platform surged in popularity during the pandemic when most people were stuck indoors and were faced with a shortage of entertainment options. Recent quarterly reports show that its revenues skyrocketed during the pandemic, but the situation was unsustainable.
Growth rates have been dropping incredibly, with some believing that advertisers could save the day. However, this is remarkably speculative with the decline in daily active users. Despite its troubles, RBLX stock trades at a nosebleed valuationof over 59 times forward cash flow estimates.
Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com
AeroVironment(NASDAQ:AVAV) operates in an industry that is essentially evergreen; aerospace and defense. However, its stock has taken its investors on a roller-coaster ride over the past few years. It is far from being the best wealth compounder in the sector, with its business being consistently unprofitable despite posting double-digit growth rates for a sustained period.
Moreover, its cash flows are in negative territory, with operating cash flow growthfor the year at a negative 51%. On top of that, it doesn’t offer a dividend that most defense businesses have been offering with an unblemished track record. To further complicate matters, its stock price is highly volatile and currently overvalued, adding to its unattractiveness. Therefore, a lot should keep investors away from AVAV stock.
Source: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com
Vroom’s(NASDAQ:VRM) e-commerce platform for buying and selling used vehicles experienced massive growth in sales during the pandemic years. Its top-line growth shot to new heights due to shortages of used vehicles during the pandemic. However, its top-line expansion has experienced an incredible slowdown in the past few quarters.
Its stock price has tanked to record lows, and investors may want to load up on the stock for the long haul. However, there needs to be more evidence that Vroom could carve out a path to profitability. Its business model has inherently low gross profits than other dealers, which weighs down its long-term investment case. Until it limits its operational expenses and develops a new strategy to grow its top-line results, its business and stock price will remain in shambles.
On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
Muslim Farooque is a keen investor and an optimist at heart. A life-long gamer and tech enthusiast, he has a particular affinity for analyzing technology stocks. Muslim holds a bachelor’s of science degree in applied accounting from Oxford Brookes University.
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The post7 Growth Stocks Smart Investors Shouldn’t Touch With a 10-Foot Poleappeared first onInvestorPlace. || US Government May Liquidate Around $4.4B In Bitcoin When The Time Is Right: • Over the last couple of years, the U.S. government has become one of the largest whales of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC/USD), with over 214,046 bitcoins at minimum.
• The Department of Justice (DOJ) seized around 50,676.17 bitcoins (roughly $1 billion at today’s prices) in November 2021 from a Bitcoin trader named James Zhong, who defrauded darknet marketplace Silk Road.
• The seizure is notable—it’s the third largest in cryptocurrency history byCrypto Briefing’scount—especially considering the amount of Bitcoin the U.S. government already has under control.
• In addition to the 50,676 bitcoins seized from Zhong, the U.S. government has acquired at least 163,370 bitcoins over the last two years, totaling 214,046 bitcoins, or about $4.43 billion, minimum.
• According to BitInfoCharts, only one bitcoin wallet, Binance’s cold storage wallet, contains 252,597 bitcoins, mostly belonging to Binance customers, not the exchange itself.
• The U.S. government generally liquidates its Bitcoin holdings through the U.S. Marshalls Service through public auctions. Most likely, the seized bitcoins by the DOJ will be similarly offered to the public.
• In November 2021, DOJ auctioned off $56 million worth of cryptocurrencies seized from a BitConnect promoter at the height of the bull market.
• It is yet to be seen if DOJ will wait for bitcoin prices to bounce back before liquidating. So far, it has restrained itself from liquidating the proceeds from the Individual X and Razzlekhan confiscations.
• The agency seized 69,370 bitcoins (worth $1.4 billion) from Individual X in 2020 and 94,000 bitcoins from Razzlekhan (worth $1.9 billion).
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© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 7 Stocks Billionaires are Buying Now: It isnt easy to figure out which stocks billionaires are buying right now. With sky-high inflation, fears of recession, weak economic growth, Russias invasion of Ukraine, and a weaker consumer, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 12% on the year. The S&P 500 is down 21%, with the NASDAQ down about 32%. Its been a terrible year. Yet, even as markets plunged, billionaire heavyweights have been buying beaten-down names. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Thats because they know every pullback has proven itself to be a long-term buy opportunity. Heres a quick list of stocks billionaires are buying now. CL Colgate-Palmolive $73.84 AGNC AGNC Investment $8.22 MPW Medical Properties $11.45 OXY Occidental Petroleum $72.60 PYPL PayPal $83.58 NVDA Nvidia $83.58 DXCM DexCom $120.78 Colgate-Palmolive ( CL ) Colgate toothpaste and mouthwash in a cup with a toothbrush Source: monticello / Shutterstock.com Billionaire Dan Loebs Third Point just bought about $1 billion worth of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL ). Thats because the firm sees value in a potential spinoff of its Hills Pet Nutrition segment. According to Barron, if the company were to spin it off, that side of the business could see a valuation of about $20 billion. Colgate-Palmolives Hills Pet Nutrition segment brought in about $909 million in the second quarter or about 20% of company sales. The company also plans to invest about $700 million in three dry pet food manufacturing plants in the U.S. from Red Collar Pet Foods. Better, Colgate-Palmolive is just starting to pivot from a recent 52-week low. In addition, as investors wait for the stock to recover, they can collect a yield of 2.58% in the process. AGNC Investment ( AGNC ) Image of a man holding a key chain with a key and house attached to the key ring over a office desk in the background Source: Shutterstock With a yield of 18.2%, its no surprise billionaire investors are backing up the truck on mortgage real estate investment trust ( REIT ) AGNC Investment (NASDAQ: AGNC ). Billionaire Ken Griffins Citadel Advisors picked up just over 4.2 million shares of AGNC in the second quarter. Even Millennium Managements Israel Englander bought about 2.8 million shares, as well. Story continues Better, as I noted on Oct. 24, This particular REIT focuses on mortgage-backed securities that are guaranteed by the U.S. government. While these securities are considered to have very little risk of default, they are susceptible to interest rate hikes. However, if the Fed signals it may soon hit pause on interest rate hikes, AGNC could run. Medical Properties ( MPW ) Blurred hospital images, Patient bed in the hospital, Hospital cleaning, Hospital disinfection cleaning, Patient bed cleaning for emergency patients. Medical Properties Trust (MPW) Source: venusvi / Shutterstock.com Israel Englanders Millennium Management firm picked up about 1.5 million shares of Medical Properties (NYSE: MPW ), a down-and-out medical REIT thats just starting to rebound. It carries a dividend yield of 10.69% at the moment and is another one of the top stocks billionaires are buying because of its current dividend yield. The REIT, which has invested in 447 medical properties is now one of the worlds biggest hospital owners. Its also been able to raise its dividend payments for the last eight years and may be able to raise them even more going forward. Healthcare REITs are viewed as a defensive investment against stock market declines, James Milam, associate director, and lead analyst for healthcare REITs for Sandler ONeill and Partners said. Demand for health care facilities is based more on need and demographics than on business cycles. Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) In the field, the oil pump in the evening, the evening silhouette of the pumping unit, the silhouette of the oil pump. Oil stocks and energy stocks Source: zhengzaishuru / Shutterstock.com Warren Buffett loves Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY ). In late September his Berkshire Hathaway firm invested another $350 million into the oil stock. That now raises the firms holdings to 194 million shares or 20.8% of the company. Buffett and his team, who last added to their Occidental position on Aug. 8, likely resumed buying this week because they saw the energy stock as a bargain once again, Business Insider reported. From the looks of a one-year OXY chart, the billionaire could get an opportunity to buy even more on the cheap. Thats because the stock now appears overbought at triple-top resistance dating back to early June. Its also over-extended on RSI, MACD, and Williams %R. From a current price, I wouldnt be shocked to see it drop to support around $63 shortly. Its one of the top stocks billionaires are buying. PayPal ( PYPL ) PayPal logo and front of headquarters. PYPL stock Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL ) has been beaten silly. Since mid-2021, the stock fell from about $300 to $87.35. All after the company was forced to cut its guidance on concerns sky-high inflation could put a dent in consumer spending. Around that time, the company also said it only expected about 15 million to 20 million new accounts in 2022 from 48.9 million in 2021. However, investors arent writing off the stock just yet. Not only does PYPL now trade at 3.7x sales, which is below its average of 9.5x sales, but billionaire Ray Dalios Bridgewater Associates also picked up another 1.15 million shares in the second quarter. Better, PayPal got a boost with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ) allowing customers to use Venmo at checkout. Nvidia ( NVDA ) Nvidia (NVDA) logo and sign on headquarters. Blurred foreground with green trees Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA ) is another one of the top stocks billionaires are buying. In the second quarter, billionaires John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Investments bought just over 1.2 million shares of NVDA. While the stock plummeted in recent months, its starting to show big signs of life again. Most recently, the stock jumped on news M eta Platforms (NASDAQ: META ) said it would invest more in infrastructure to support its push into digitally immersive experiences. As noted by Bloomberg contributor Jeran Wittenstein , Meta Platforms projected capital spending of $34 billion to $39 billion in 2023, up from $30 billion to $34 billion this year. Remember, NVDA could be one of the top companies that could help with metaverse infrastructure, especially with a lead position in artificial intelligence and semiconductors. NVDA is also getting a jump on the Industrial Omniverse, which is being used by Lowes (NYSE: LOW ), BMW (OTC: BMWYY ), Siemens (OTC: SIEGY ), and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ). DexCom ( DXCM ) Doctor or physician calculating a patients medical bills at a desk. Medical bills, health costs, health expenses. Source: THICHA SATAPITANON / Shutterstock After falling off a cliff, shares of DexCom (NASDAQ: DXCM ) are also showing signs of life again. Since the start of the year, the DXCM sipped from about $140 to a low of just under $70, before recovering to $101.25. Helping, billionaire Steven Cohen and Point72 Asset Management bought more than 900,000 shares of DXCM in the second quarter. The company, which markets continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, should continue to grow. After all, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention , 37.3 million Americans (one in 10) have diabetes. About 20% of the population has it but has no clue they have it. On top of that, about 96 million Americans are pre-diabetic. While thats terrible news for many Americans, its helping to drive demand for CGM devices. Plus, according to Precedence Research , the global CGM market was estimated to be worth $4.7 billion in 2021. By 2030, the market could be worth just over $10 billion. The company also just rolled out its DexCom G7 system for those aged two years and older in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Hong Kong. Since Dexcom G6 came to market, weve eliminated over 15 billion finger pricks and helped improve the lives of more than 1.25 million people with diabetes around the world. Were thrilled to begin the global rollout of Dexcom G7, our next-generation CGM technology, that vastly improves upon what everyone loves about G6, Kevin Sayer, chairman, president and CEO, was quoted in a company press release . On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Ian Cooper, a contributor to InvestorPlace.com, has been analyzing stocks and options for web-based advisories since 1999. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air It doesnt matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post 7 Stocks Billionaires are Buying Now appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Skype Co-Founder Leads $13M Investment in Liquid-Cooled Bitcoin Mining Tech: Cryptography hardware technology company Fabric Systems raised $13 million in a seed round from investors to build energy-efficient Bitcoinmininghardware.
The money came from early stage investment firm Metaplanet, run by Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, crypto exchange Blockchain.com, and venture firm 8090 Partners.
The investment from Metaplanet is not Tallinn’s first foray into crypto: a keenBitcoinenthusiast, the Estonian engineer previouslyadmittedhe holds most of his wealth in cryptocurrency, and hasdonateddigital assets to companies before.
Silicon Valley-based Fabric Systems will use the money to build an “immersion-native”Bitcoinminer and a general purpose accelerator for cryptographic algorithms.
The cryptographic accelerator is intended to make calculations faster and more efficient on the blockchain, allowing for advanced cryptographic algorithms such aszero knowledge proofs—a cryptography method to prove that something is known without revealing the known information directly. The tech was first used by the privacy coinZcashbut Fabric Systems said the plan is for the accelerator to be used by other industries outside of crypto—such as real estate.
“Immersion-native” machines refers to Bitcoin miners which are dunked in a thermally-conductive liquid to cool them down and make them more energy efficient, because the process allows for more BTC to be mined with fewer machines.
Bitcoin mining—the process of using lots of computers to process transactions on the blockchain’s network and mint new coins—has been criticized for the huge amount of energy it uses.
To process transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, mining machines have to solve complex mathematical puzzles which takes time and a lot of electricity—as much as entire countries.
This has regulators stressed: The U.S. governmentsaidlast month that Bitcoin mining companies should use “environmentally responsible crypto-asset technologies” or be banned from mining altogether.
Using immersion native machines is just one of the ways to make the process more energy-efficient. Such machines are a must for the industry, Fabric Systems founder and CEO Michael Gao toldDecrypt. “If the industry doesn't wake up and pursue ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance] as a goal, there’s going to be regulatory action,” he said.
“Immersion has benefits for noise and noise pollution and also from a water usage perspective. We want to be at the forefront of making this industry more friendly to local communities,” said Gao. || JPMorgan: Lessons Learned From the Crypto Crash: Despite the recent crash in cryptocurrency markets, the technology behind stablecoins – a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold – will continue to play an important part in the evolution of the monetary system, JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Thursday. The technologies, tokenization of securities and assets, smart contracts and cryptography, will “transform the future of financial systems,” the report said. As with any new development, “the challenge is to find the right balance between fostering innovation and maintaining financial stability and protection for consumers and investors,” JPMorgan said. The roles of the public and private sector still need to be clearly defined, according to the note. Policymakers will need to address financial stability risks by improving investor and consumer protection, and by enhancing know-your-customer (KYC) and “identity issue regulation” to stop money laundering and terrorist financing. “A blue sky regulatory framework is hard to achieve in light of political and technological realities,” the note said. The recent crypto market crash highlights the risks originating from such regulatory shortcomings, it added. An investor survey conducted by the bank showed that 28% of respondents said crypto would be the worst-performing asset class in 2023, and that 74% expected the bitcoin (BTC) price to be below $25,000 in six months. Since mid-June bitcoin has mainly been trading between $25,000 and $18,000. Read more: Crypto Venture Capital Investment Slowed Further in October: JPMorgan View comments || South African Non-Profit Bitcoin Ekasi Opens Education Center: Bitcoin Ekasi, a nonprofit organization seeking to establish a bitcoin economy in Mossel Bay, South Africa, has opened the Bitcoin Ekasi Center. The center will provide financial literacy education to local residents, with a focus on the area’s younger generation and business community.
The center was co-founded by Hermann Vivier, who also co-foundedThe Surfer Kids, a non-profit that teaches surfing and life skills to disadvantaged kids from the same locale. Bitcoin Ekasi has already enrolled 20 kids into its program and set up 10 stores to accept bitcoin for payment.
“Ekasi” is South African for “township.” Bitcoin Ekasi is Vivier’s attempt to create a circular bitcoin economy in Mossel Bay’s JCC Camp township – a poverty-stricken community overlooking the Indian Ocean. A circular bitcoin economy is one where individuals receive and make payments in bitcoin as they would with a traditional fiat currency.
“We recently celebrated Bitcoin Ekasi’s first anniversary and it's a surreal feeling to officially open the center. In that time I have witnessed financial empowerment through bitcoin – affecting seemingly unrelated social issues in positive ways,” Vivier said in a press release. “Through the Bitcoin Ekasi Center, I am honored that our team will be able to grow this movement and inspire other communities to think differently about money.”
The center will provide basic math and English training to younger residents. Adults will receive training on foundational bitcoin topics with a focus on three key questions: one, what is bitcoin; two, how does it work; and three, why is it important?
“Our society is based around money: who has it, how to get it, ways to grow it, what to do with it. For the millions of people who are unable to access banks and credit, bitcoin is a real solution for them to be able to join those conversations. That’s why local education is vital and why Paxful is committed to bitcoin’s purpose over price,” said Ray Youssef, founder and CEO ofPaxful, a popular peer-to-peer exchange that operates in several key African markets, in the press release.
Read more:South Africa's Central Bank Greenlights Financial Institutions to Serve Crypto Clients
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 17034.29, 16799.19, 16353.37, 16618.20, 16884.61, 16669.44, 16687.52, 16697.78, 16711.55, 16291.83
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-10-18]
BTC Price: 7973.21, BTC RSI: 33.34
Gold Price: 1488.20, Gold RSI: 47.06
Oil Price: 53.78, Oil RSI: 46.49
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
5 Top Stock Trades for Thursday: WMT, BABA, LOW, XLNX, Bitcoin: Global stock markets are still trading violently but the U.S. equities are still battling close to the all-time highs. So the upside potential is still viable. Wednesday we saw strong earnings reports. This confirm that there are still stock trades to hunt in spite of the geopolitical risks and rhetoric. Our five stock trade to watch for Thursday include: Walmart (NYSE: WMT ), Lowes (NYSE: LOW ), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA ), Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX ), and Bitcoin Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 1: WMT InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips WMT stock is near all time highs and for good reason. The company has taken the fight to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ) head on and its doing well against this formidable opponent. Investors loved the earnings report last week and WMT stock rallied 8% on the headline. From here, there could be better entry points for the short term. WMT stock is vulnerable to fade and a retest of $110 per share. Maybe even fill the gap $2 lower. But for the long term, this company will continue to deliver and adapt to the market demands. If I am long WMT already, then I stay long. Otherwise I would buy the dips for the long term. The 10 Best Marijuana Stocks to Buy Now Wednesday, Target (NYSE: TGT ) stock soared as they reported a strong quarter. This confirms the strength of the U.S. consumer spending and operational success. Both companies are winners because of strong execution. WMT is employing technology trend to better compete with AMZN one to one and beat it. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 2: LOW LOW stock spiked today after a strong earnings report. The investor expectations were tepid going into the event so it made for an easy hurdle. This however is not the time to pile into LOW stock and chase this rally. The reason the expectations were low is because it has a long history of trailing its competition Home Depot (NASDAQ: HD ). I believe this continues until we get several reports to prove otherwise. Case in point, HD stock is up 26% year-to-date which 60% better than LOW. This is also true for the last five year stats. Story continues So if I took in profits from the LOW stock reaction to earnings, I would book it for now. From here, it carries the risk of a fade to fill the gap below especially if markets in general correct. This is not the same as shorting the stock. So if I want to remain constructive on the segment, I would rotate my risk into HD stock instead. This one is sitting at another breakout line. Even though the LOW report shows domestic comparable sales beat those of HD, over the long term HD stock has performed better thanks to more consistent management execution. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 3: BABA BABA stock has an interesting setup brewing. It will be tough to trigger but the reward if they do so is great. If the BABA stock bulls can break above $180, they can target $192 per share or higher. It wont be easy and there will be resistance at the neckline and at $185. For a while, BABA stock has been lurking just under this breakout level and doing it from higher lows. But this is a steep rising wedge which leaves the stock vulnerable to pullbacks. If the general markets cooperate then BABA will make this happen; its a matter of time. This would then fill an old gap and also places it at a was prior fail. The interesting part is that was also a neckline that if bulls can break could carry it to $200 per share or higher. On pullbacks, BABA stock could fade to $170 which is just above its yearly point of control where bulls and bears loved to fight. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 4: XLNX XLNX stock is no stranger to headlines. The whole chip sector has been in the line of fire in the economic war between the US and China. XLNX stock moves more on headlines extrinsic to its own execution than not. But Tuesday XLNX fell on headlines of possible unpatchable security flaw in its equipment. So this is a rare dump from intrinsic problems. Nevertheless, this dip places XLNX sock at a place with it makes sense that it mounts a rally soon. XLNX stock bulls defended the $100 mark hard on the May correction and yesterdays scare didnt even come near it. So as long as the support band below holds, it is likely that XLNX makes another run at $120 per share. There will be resistance at $109 and $113, but if the general markets rally then XLNX can slice through them and reach it major accident scene from the end of July. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow No. 5: Bitcoin Since the love-fest with bitcoin of 2017 the interest in the digital coin has not abated. While its not hogging the headline it is still a hot debate. Skepticism is high so Bitcoin has a questionable reputation on main street and Wall Street. Both extremes are wrong when it comes to bitcoin. It has value because people say so. This is no different than gold. Bitcoin and gold are rare and people want them so they will continue to be valuable on that assumption. Critics say that its used for illicit activities and to that I say that so is cash. At least with bitcoin, they always leave an electronic trace. Furthermore, FIAT cash only has value because the people say so. So in essence cash and bitcoin are more similar than we think. Whats the best place to buy bitcoin? This depends on time frame. If I am buying it like gold as a long term investment then timing really doesnt matter much. But there are clues on the charts to offer some guidance. Bitcoin price here is falling into support. So in theory it should bounce back up to 10,200. But it moves so fast that by the time you read this note, the landscape would have probably change a lot. 10 Undervalued Stocks With Breakout Potential So, its best to get the general feel for the zones that matter and know whats at stake. For that here is a free video from this week that does a great job of that. It sheds light on whats in store for Bitcoin price. Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com . As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Join his live chat room for free here . More From InvestorPlace 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid 10 Marijuana Stocks to Ride High on the Farm Bill 8 Biotech Stocks to Watch After the Q2 Earnings Season 7 Unusual, Growth-Oriented REITs to Buy for Your Portfolio The post 5 Top Stock Trades for Thursday: WMT, BABA, LOW, XLNX, Bitcoin appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Why Tether Volume Is at All-Time Highs: A year after China banned local fiat on-ramps for crypto exchanges, Chinese traders continue to drive the market forward by using the dollar-pegged stablecoin tether (USDT). “Crypto trading businesses are restricted from accessing banking services in China, but they are thriving nonetheless,” Dragonfly Capital Partners co-founder Alexander Pack told CoinDesk. Traders generally work around such banking restrictions by using stablecoins. According to CoinMarketCap , USDT activity reached an all-time high this month with a global market cap exceeding $4 billion. Tether is reportedly used in between 40-80 percent of all transactions on the exchanges Huobi and Binance, the latter of which now offers loans based on USDT collateral . Related: Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Now Trading Below 200-Day Price Averages But since this asset is favored among over-the-counter (OTC) traders, official exchange volumes hardly paint a complete picture. Blockchain data from CoinMetrics tallying a full year of transactions detected an annual peak in activity on Aug. 7, with 78,100 active wallets for USDT and nearly 21,300 for the ethereum-based counterpart USDTe. In fact, according to data site ETH Gas Station , Tether paid nearly $261,000 in fees to ethereum mines just to run this secondary version of the stablecoin. (Another Tether-issued stablecoin is on the way, this time pegged to the Chinese yuan.) All things considered, USDT brokers have carved out a lucrative niche in 2019, especially brokers that provide fiat liquidity. “Tether has truly good liquidity in China,” a Chinese investor speaking on the condition of anonymity told CoinDesk. “One of the primary use-cases is a fiat on- and off-ramp for crypto trading. I did also see some people using tether for legit business use-cases like cross-border trading .” Related: Bitcoin Price Faces Third Monthly Loss of 2019 On the other hand, two different Asian OTC traders, who requested anonymity to protect their businesses, told CoinDesk a significant portion of their traction comes from Chinese clients using USDT to move assets beyond their homeland’s strict capital controls. Story continues “This has always been a significant part of OTC flows in crypto,” one Hong Kong-based trader said. For example, his desk conducted $45 million worth of trades on Aug. 6, with UDST representing more than half the volume. Chinese bulls Experts believe this surge in USDT usage may be driven by enthusiasm for a potential bull market return, rather than any changes in capital flight patterns. “Tether is the easiest way to hold a relatively stable volume of value at an exchange that doesn’t accept dollars,” the U.S.-based trader said. “It’s much more about that [USDT] network effect than any technology, infrastructure or other advantage.” In short, OTC traders provide fiat on-ramps to USDT, although this is a gray market within Chinese borders. Then Chinese traders use USDT to liquidate their broader portfolios on global exchanges like Binance, Huobi or OkCoin. This affects the bitcoin market because traders and exchanges generally use the godfather cryptocurrency for fiat liquidity beyond OTC. Exchanges like Kraken and Bitfinex offer such bitcoin trading pairs. However, the anonymous trader in Hong Kong noted this isn’t the only way Chinese traders are influencing the broader market, adding: “There are billions of dollars coming out of China that have nothing to do with capital controls.” For example, the Antigua-based FTX crypto futures market that launched in April now facilitates between $50 million to $300 million in daily volume, according to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. He told CoinDesk the bulk of those 10,000 FTX users hail from China and are served out of an office in Hong Kong. (Consequently, USDT futures contracts are among the top performers.) The asset’s relative stability in 2019, oscillating only a few cents in August despite spikes in demand, may seem remarkable given the legal counsel for its namesake issuance company admitted this stablecoin is not backed one-for-one by U.S. dollars. Plus, the issuer’s sister company, Bitfinex, faces legal scrutiny in New York over allegedly misusing USDT to cover company losses. Yet the anonymous Chinese investor said many traders saw the Bitfinex initial exchange offering this summer as a “bank bailout” to the tune of $1 billion, one which insured the continued reliability of USDT. “Many users understand that Bitfinex is behind Tether and that’s incredibly important in the industry,” she said. “[Bitfinex] is one of the most non-compliant exchanges out there, but the nature of that tends to attract a lot of support from hardcore bitcoiners.” Tether image via Shutterstock Related Stories Bitcoin Eyes $9K Price Support After Drop to One-Month Lows Crypto Market Sees Red as Bitcoin Price Drops $600 in 30 Minutes || Craig Wright ‘in Discussions’ to Settle Multi-Billion-Dollar Court Case: Craig Wright, the Australian entrepreneur who controversially claims he is Satoshi Nakamoto, is moving to settle a case that looks set to cost him billions in bitcoin. The case has been ongoing since 2018, when Ira Kleiman – the brother of Wright’s late business partner Dave Kleiman – sued for $10 billion, claiming that Wright was trying to seize Dave’s bitcoin holdings. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ruled in late August that Wright must turn over half of his bitcoin holdings and intellectual property from before 2014 to Kleiman’s estate. Related: Craig Wright Aims to Challenge Court Decision That Cost Half His Bitcoins Now, before that decision is finalized, Wright has lodged a filing with the Southern Florida district court requesting more time to negotiate a settlement with the Kleiman estate. Filed on Sept. 17, the document states: “The parties are currently engaged in good faith settlement discussions. To that end, Dr. Wright and Plaintiffs respectfully request a 30-day extension of all discovery and case deadlines to facilitate these discussions.” It goes on to elaborate that “extensive settlement negotiations” have been carried out and that the parties have come to a “non-binding agreement in principle to settle this matter.” The negotiation of the agreement is ongoing, and the two sides are currently hashing out the terms and details. Related: Judge Confirms Ruling: Craig Wright to Forfeit 50% of Bitcoin Holdings Saying that a settlement is in the interest of both parties, Wright’s legal representative requested that the court allow the 30-day extension. It would also allow Wright to cut off further deadlines in the case, such as expert witness disclosures. He further plans to oppose Judge Reinhart’s sanctions order on Sept. 24. The Kleiman estate supported the request for more time to finalize the settlement. During the case, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart did not find Wright to be credible, and did not make a finding on whether or not Wright is indeed Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s creator. Story continues Craig Wright image via CoinDesk archives Related Stories Judge Recommends Ruling in Favor of Kleiman in Craig Wright Case Craig Wright Again Claims Authorship of Bitcoin White Paper || Stock Market News: Boeing Faces New Delays; Bitcoin ETF Coming: Tuesday morning brought a holiday hangover to the stock market, with significant losses to start the shortened week on Wall Street. Concerns about new tariffs that took effect over the weekend continue to hurt sentiment, and fears about past seasonal trends that have included substantial sell-offs in the months of September and October aren't helping investors feel more confident. As of 10:30 a.m. EDT, theDow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI)was down 382 points to 26,021. TheS&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC)fell 29 points to 2,898, and theNasdaq Composite(NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC)declined 84 points to 7,878.
Hurting the Dow this morning wasBoeing(NYSE: BA), which saw its stock lose ground amid more bad news for the beleaguered aircraft manufacturer. Meanwhile, on the cryptocurrency front, a long-awaited announcement concerning a possible exchange-traded fund for investing in bitcoin could open up the market to a new group of institutional investors -- but not necessarily to individuals.
Shares of Boeing were down 3% after the aerospace giant reportedly ran into more resistance concerning the grounding of its 737 MAX aircraft lines. Boeing has been working with federal regulators to get approval to get the planes flying again, but according toThe Wall Street Journal, those talks aren't going well. Many fear that the tension could lead to an extended delay in the 737 MAX's return to service at least into early 2020.
Image source: Boeing.
Already,Boeing's customers have had to dealwith the complications stemming from the grounding.American Airlines Group(NASDAQ: AAL)andUnited Continental Holdings(NASDAQ: UAL)recently canceled their planned 737 MAX flights through early to mid-December, taking the key Thanksgiving travel season off the table but still leaving open the hope that the planes might be available for the Christmas and New Year's holidays.
Boeing also faces the prospect of seeing customers start to shuffle orders. RivalAirbushas seen its business pick up as a result of Boeing's woes, and that trend could continue if the 737 MAX stays grounded indefinitely. It takes a long time for order shuffling to result in actual delivery changes, but investors have counted on Boeing being able to get the 737 MAX back in the air quickly to regain customer confidence. If that doesn't happen, then further declines in the stock could lie ahead.
Bitcoin prices were up about 3% ascryptocurrency investorsresponded to news that an ETF granting access to the bitcoin market will open soon. Yet for those individuals who had hoped to take advantage, there'll be a longer wait.
ETF providers VanEck Securities and SolidX Management announced that they would make shares of their VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust available to a select set of investors on Thursday. However, the companies expect to open the ETF using a rule from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that allows for certain offerings to avoid the extensive regulatory requirements that haveprevented bitcoin ETFsfrom coming onto the market before now.
Under that rule, VanEck and SolidX will do a private placement of bitcoin ETF shares to qualified institutional buyers. That will allow investment without going through the SEC registration process. Unfortunately, it also means that ordinary investors won't have access to shares of VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust.
Bitcoin's rise in 2019 has been impressive, and it's gotten a lot more investors interested in cryptocurrencies again. Yet at least for now, the ease of investing in bitcoin through an ETF still won't be available to individual investors -- even if some hope that VanEck and SolidX's move could push things in the right direction in the future.
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Dan Caplingerowns shares of Boeing. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
This article was originally published onFool.com || Next Bitcoin Halving Could Squeeze out Retail Miners, But Jury’s Split on Price: Related:Bitcoin Sees Little Price Boost From Long-Term Bull Cross
• Bitcoin Faces Drop Below $8,000 Despite Beating Price Resistance
• Bitcoin Fails at Key Price Hurdle, Risks Return to $8,000 || XRP Soars 97% In Rally: Investing.com - XRP was trading at $9.35560 by 02:20 (06:20 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Friday, up 97.17% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since August 23. The move upwards pushed XRP's market cap up to $11.61358B, or 4.32% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, XRP's market cap was $79.53400B. XRP had traded in a range of $0.26774 to $9.36570 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, XRP has seen a rise in value, as it gained 3.55%. The volume of XRP traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $1.02776B or 1.89% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.2581 to $9.3657 in the past 7 days. At its current price, XRP is still down 0.11% from its all-time high of $9.37 set on August 23. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $10,107.0 on the Investing.com Index, up 1.28% on the day. Ethereum was trading at $189.86 on the Investing.com Index, a gain of 2.11%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $181.50092B or 67.55% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $20.54830B or 7.65% of the total cryptocurrency market value. Related Articles Stellar Climbs Above 15.84462 Level, Up 100% Stellar Soars 100% In Rally Litecoin Tumbles 21% In Bearish Trade || Could Inverse ETFs Thrive In September?: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. If history is any indication of what the market holds for us, September is likely to be a rough ride for stocks once again, with volatility rising as investor fears are broadening. August was a brutal month for markets, as stocks dropped precipitously from their all-time highs, beginning with six consecutive down days in the market, amid turmoil from a trade war with China, unsatisfying resolutions from the Federal Reserve, and global economic stability. “August has a reputation as a volatile month, and it sure delivered this year,” wrote Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist for LPL Financial, in a Friday note “Over the past month, we’ve not only seen the worst three days of the year but many 1% swings in both directions.” While markets were eventually simply oversold from the precipitous six-day decline, China’s central bank pegged the yuan’s official reference point at more robust level than the key 7 yuan-to-the-dollar point, a move that assuaged the currency markets, which were at first terrified by fears that the U.S.-China trade war was devolving into a currency war. However, downdrafts renewed in the second half of August, as investors continued to fear a swift resolution to the trade war. The Key Is Stabilization “Going forward, stabilization in the U.S./China trade war is now the most important key to broader market stabilization,” said Tom Essaye, founder of The Sevens Report, in a note. “If the escalation continues, that will cause a further pull-back, regardless of what the [Federal Reserve] is going to do. And, I say that because another 25 or 50 basis points of easing by the Fed won’t materially offset a protracted and escalating trade war.” Throughout the last 100 years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has averaged a substantial slump during September. “Unfortunately, we’re finally at the worst month of the year from a seasonality perspective,” wrote Justin Walters of Bespoke Investment Group in a Friday note. Story continues While a 15% U.S. tariff on roughly $112 billion in Chinese goods took effect this weekend, essentially adding a tax on about two-thirds of consumer goods coming from China, successive tariffs were also instituted on U.S. goods entering China. Analysts see continued weakness in the global economy as well. “The global macroeconomic picture continues to show fragility,” Katie Nixon, CIO at Northern Trust Wealth Management, wrote in a note. “We expect overall growth to trend lower under the weight of growing trade uncertainty.” Related: Experts See The Market Holding Up Well Given News It's not all bad news however, as volatility offers the opportunity for the bold. This resurgence in volatility can certainly spark a continued market downturn that could give the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF ( SPXS ) a boost. SPXS seeks daily investment results equal to 300 percent of the inverse of the daily performance of the S&P 500 Index. The fund, under normal circumstances, invests in swap agreements, futures contracts, short positions or other financial instruments that, in combination, provide inverse (opposite) or short leveraged exposure to the index equal to at least 80 percent of the fund’s net assets (plus borrowing for investment purposes). Meanwhile, those investors who see contracting volatility could look at a more traditional bullish stock allocation with ETFs like the UltraPro Long S&P 500 ETF (UPRO) or the Direxion S&P 500 Bull 2x ETF (SPUU) . For more market trends, visit ETF Trends . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs VanEck And SolidX Take First Steps For Bitcoin-Related ETF Approvals Could Inverse ETFs Thrive In September? Social Media Stock SNAP Gets An Upgrade Gold, Precious Metals ETFs Surge on Geopolitical Uncertainty Q&A With Barry Ritholtz on New WealthStack Conference READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -06/10/19: Bitcoin slipped by 0.09% on Saturday. Following on from a 1.10% decline on Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $8,162.5. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning high $8,184.9 before hitting reverse. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $8,279.03, Bitcoin fell to an early afternoon intraday low $8,040. Finding support at the first major support level at $8,046.83, Bitcoin rallied to a late intraday high $8,210.8. Bitcoin came up short of the first major resistance level at $8,279.03 before sliding back to sub-$8,200 levels. For the week, a 3 rd consecutive day in the red left Bitcoin down by 2.1% going into Sunday. For the bulls, the extended bullish trend remained intact in spite of the slide to sub-$9,000 levels. While falling back through the 38.2% FIB, Bitcoin continued to steer clear of the 62% FIB of 7,245. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a mixed day for the majors on Saturday. Litecoin (+0.69%), Binance Coin (+0.45%), Ethereum (+0.43%) and Ripple’s XRP (+0.36%) closed out the day in the green. The rest of the pack joined Bitcoin in the red, with EOS leading the way, falling by 0.55%. For the current week, it was also a mixed bag. Litecoin and EOS rose by 1.35% and by 0.74% respectively, while the rest of the pack saw red. Bitcoin Cash SV and Stellar’s Lumen led the way down, with losses of 5.61% and 4.81% respectively. Through the week, the total crypto market cap recovered from a Monday low $208.5 to a Tuesday high $226.12bn before easing back. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $217.32bn. In spite of Bitcoin’s pullback in the week, Bitcoin’s dominance continued to hover at 67% levels. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.88% to $8,090.9. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin slide from an early morning high $8,183.2 to a low $8,050.2. The early sell-off saw Bitcoin slide through the first major support level at $8,064.73 before finding support. Story continues Things were no better elsewhere, with the rest of the major also seeing red in the early hours. Binance Coin, EOS, and Litecoin led the way down. Litecoin was down by 1.18%, with EOS and Binance Coin down by 1.15% and 1.02% respectively. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move back through to $8,140 levels to support a run at $8,200 levels later in the day. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break through the first major resistance level at $8,235.53. Barring a broad-based crypto rebound, Saturday’s high $8,210.8 and the first major resistance level would cap any upside. Failure to move back through to $8,140 levels could see Bitcoin see red for a 4 th consecutive day. A fall back through the first major resistance level at $8,064.73 would bring the second major resistance level at $7,966.97 into play. Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$7,900 levels on the day. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: GBP/USD Weekly Price Forecast – British pound forms neutral candle EUR/USD Weekly Price Forecast – the Euro continues to drift lower Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Run into Resistance but Momentum Remains Positive Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 05/10/19 US Stock Market Overview – Stock Surge Following US Employment Report; Sentiment Turns Positive European Equities: A Week in Review – 04/10/19 || Bear Trap? Bitcoin Price Dips Below $10K on Low Volumes: View Bitcoin’s drop from $10,949 to $9,855 (Wednesday low) may be a bear trap, as selling volumes have dropped throughout the price pullback. A widely-tracked 4-hour chart indicator is reporting a bullish divergence and the daily candlesticks are signaling seller exhaustion. BTC could rise above $10,270, confirming a falling wedge breakout on the 4-hour chart. A wedge breakout, if confirmed, would open the doors to $10,956 (Aug. 20 high). A UTC close above that level would confirm bull revival. On the lower side, a high-volume drop below $9,855 could pave way for a deeper drop toward $9,500. Currently, that looks unlikely. Bitcoin (BTC) has recovered from nine-day lows hit earlier on Wednesday and may pick up a strong bid during the day ahead. The leading cryptocurrency by market value fell to $9,855 on Bitstamp during the Asian trading hours, the lowest level since Sept. 2. At that level, prices were down 11 percent from Friday’s high of $10,950. At time of writing, BTC is changing hands around $10,000, representing a 1.9 percent drop on a 24-hour basis. Related: New Data Gives Unprecedented Insight Into How Iranians Are Using Bitcoin BTC’s drop into four figures seen earlier today validated the bearish view put forward by BTC’s failed breakout on the hourly chart on Monday. Further, the daily chart is reporting bearish conditions with a lower-highs setup. The cryptocurrency has also found acceptance below key hourly chart support of $10,060. Even so, the sellers need to observe caution, as the recent pullback lacks volume support and may prove a bear trap, as seen in the chart below. 4-hour chart Related: You Can Now Buy Lightning-Powered Bitcoin With a Credit Card Selling volumes (red bars) have been consistently higher than buying volumes (green bars) through the price pullback from $10,950 to $9,855. However, the red bars have produced lower highs, meaning the selling volume, or pressure, has eased along with the price. A low-volume decline is often short-lived and ends up trapping the bears on the wrong side of the market. Story continues Also, the pullback has taken the shape of a falling wedge on the 4-hour chart. A falling wedge comprises of converging trendlines connecting lower highs and lower lows and is widely considered a bullish reversal pattern. A break above the upper edge of the falling wedge, currently at $10,270, would confirm a breakout and open the doors for re-test of the recent high of $10,949. The breakout looks likely as the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) histogram, a widely-tracked trend following indicator, is reporting a bullish divergence – higher lows contradicting lower lows on price. The bullish case would weaken if prices drop below the previous long-tailed candle’s low of $9,855 with a solid rise in selling volumes (red bar breaches falling trendline). Daily chart The long tails attached to the previous three candles indicate dip demand near the daily lows or bearish exhaustion – in effect, the sellers fought to keep prices lower, but lost as the buyers pushed the price up. The daily chart also shows a steady drop in selling volumes in the last five days. So, BTC may move higher, possibly to levels above $10,270 during the next 24 hours, confirming a breakout on the 4-hour chart. The outlook as per the daily chart would turn bullish if prices invalidate the bearish lower highs setup with a UTC close above $10,956 (Aug. 20 high). Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing. Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; charts by Trading View Related Stories Bitcoin Consolidates Above $10.2K After Failed Price Breakout Bitcoin Price Faces Drop to Support Levels Below $10K || Apple CEO “not comfortable” with companies issuing their own money: Tim Cook, CEO ofApple, said the tech giant would not be producing its owncryptocurrency. In an interview published Thursday, he endedspeculationthat Apple might join the crypto party, adding that it was wrong for private companies to start creating their own forms of money.
In theinterview withLes Echos, Cookcondemned projects that take fiscal power away from the state, saying that, “A currency should stay in the hands of countries. I’m not comfortable with the idea of a private group setting up a competing currency. A private company shouldn’t be looking to gain power this way.”
Cook’s comments come as Facebook continues todraw the ireof central banking officials over its ambitiousLibra cryptocurrency. Libra is a basket of fiat currencies, including the US dollar, the British Pound and the Euro. If Libra goes mainstream, that means that a group of private companies, amongst them industry giants such as Visa and Uber, would have some measure of control over a significant part of the global monetary supply. Politicians and regulators haveraised concernsthat Libra will undermine the sovereignty of states to decide monetary policy.
“Money, like defence, ought to remain in the hands of the state—it is at the heart of its mission. We elect our representatives to assume the responsibilities of government. Companies are not elected, they should not tread this ground,” said Cook.
Cook’s not the only Silicon Valley CEO to shoot down the idea of creating his own cryptocurrency. In September, Twitter CEO Jack DorseytoldtheSydney Morning Heraldthat he has no interest in creating a digital currency, adding that Bitcoin—not a commercial alternative—is the internet’s “best bet” for a native currency.
So with Apple and Twitter cryptos out of the picture, what’ll it be, folks: Libra or Bitcoin?
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
@APompliano @_ConnerBrown_ @JWilliamsFstmed @MarkYusko Checkmate maybe? I’d have to see the stats if they are visible. Why not front run BTC dominance and also educate new investors as to why Bitcoin either works or the whole expire they is over? || 💻 #Bitcoin $10543 vs 🇲🇽 #MXX Mex$39862
-15.5% 🔻 1 week 🚀 +1.3%
+164.9% 🚀 YTD 🔻 -4.3%
+61.5% 🚀 1 year 🔻 -19.7%
+142.1% 🚀 2 years 🔻 -22.4%
+1961.6% 🚀 5 years 🔻 -12.4% || PNXBET a Curacao Cyprus registered company is inviting you to join our Bitcoin betting site! #pnxbet #bitcoincasino https://t.co/b4G0GDmIXx || system maintenance. || The Power of Technical Analysis $BTC.X $XBTUSD https://t.co/RAf6EKWGvz || Jfc || $DIRV company tweet https://t.co/20CCMuG3WU || 例えが素晴らしいです！
／Bitcoinの価格も操作していた信用創造のパワー【ZOZO】【前澤友作】【アマゾン】【アリババ】【仮想通貨Tether】【MMT】 https://t.co/Ws6w5V0PAn @YouTubeさんから || Listening to @RaoulGMI on Bitcoin as a Global Recession Hedge while made my breakfast for tomorrow -purple sweet potato roll
https://t.co/05y96Nz1Yr via @YouTube https://t.co/pb6USJjyq1 || Daily Mail, still scrambling around in the gutter long after they've been busted.
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Trend: up || Prices: 7988.56, 8222.08, 8243.72, 8078.20, 7514.67, 7493.49, 8660.70, 9244.97, 9551.71, 9256.15
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-11-27]
BTC Price: 17108.40, BTC RSI: 55.41
Gold Price: 1781.90, Gold RSI: 31.35
Oil Price: 45.53, Oil RSI: 68.94
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
First Mover: Bitcoin Falls as COVID-19 Surges, ECB’s Lagarde Steps Up, US GDP Hits 33%: Bitcoin was lower for a second day, even as traditional markets showed signs of stabilization following Wednesday’s sell-off. Cryptocurrency analysts looked for solace in bitcoin ‘s October-to-date return, still at an impressive 22%, during a month when the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of U.S. stocks has declined by 2.7%. “The sell-off in equities and gold due to rising COVID infections and restrictive lockdowns had only a limited impact on the digital asset,” Lennard Neo, head of research for the cryptocurrency-focused firm Stack Funds, wrote Thursday in a report . Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $13.6K; 500K ETH Options Pile Up for December In traditional markets , European stocks rose as traders awaited a decision from the European Central Bank, headed by President Christine Lagarde, on whether further monetary support is needed amid a resurgence in coronavirus cases. U.S. equity futures pointed toward a higher open, as a key government report showed that the world’s largest economy grew at a 33% pace in the third quarter – a somewhat context-less data point that’s likely to do little beyond serving as an easy talking point for President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign . Market moves Just as bitcoin bulls were starting to salivate over the cryptocurrency’s powerful rally over the past week toward $14,000, a sell-off in traditional markets has dragged prices back down. Investors globally were rattled by reports of a resurgence in coronavirus cases. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the country would implement tough new business restrictions , and French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to impose a national lockdown. Related: Mirage Recovery: What ‘Record’ GDP Growth Tells Us About the Economy Such restrictions could crimp economic growth, theoretically a deflationary development, which could reduce demand for bitcoin in the short term as a hedge against higher consumer prices. There’s also the possibility that some investors, seeing further turmoil ahead, decided to bulk up on cash. One of the easiest things to sell is bitcoin, which is still up 84% year-to-date, even after Wednesday’s sell-off. Story continues “It seems the pressure was too much,” Mati Greenspan, founder of the foreign-exchange and cryptocurrency research firm Quantum Economics, told clients Wednesday. As detailed in First Mover on Wednesday, analysts relying on price-chart patterns have identified few points of resistance along bitcoin’s path from the hitherto rarely breached $14,000 psychological level to the all-time-high around $20,000, reached in 2017. According to Greenspan, “$14,000 is a huge psychological barrier, and I would be delightedly flabbergasted if we were able to pass through it without first seeing a significant pullback.” And as reported Thursday by CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole , bitcoin options traders are assigning a low probability that the cryptocurrency will end 2020 above $20,000. The implied chances of prices above that level currently stand around 6%, according to the cryptocurrency data firm Skew. “A below-10% probability of record highs by the year end means the market is unconcerned with that outcome,” Vishal Shah, an options trader and founder of Polychain Capital-backed derivatives exchange Alpha5 told Godbole in a Telegram chat. Despite the sincerest wishes of bitcoin bulls, it would take a rally of more than 60% in the next eight weeks for prices to set a new record. It wouldn’t be unprecedented: There have been eight times in the 11-year old cryptocurrency’s recorded history where prices have rallied more than 50% or more in a two-month span. It could be that traders are just being realistic. “The options market is seemingly not getting carried away with the recent strong price momentum,” Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, said in a statement to CoinDesk. “If we extrapolate bitcoin’s price action and volatility of the past 90 days till December expiry, then bitcoin appears set to end the year between $14,000 to $15,000.” Read More: Bitcoin’s Options Market Sees Just 6% Chance of $20K Before Year’s End Bitcoin watch Bitcoin’s price rally has paused, with the top cryptocurrency by market value near $13,100, having reached 16-month highs above $13,800 during Wednesday’s Asian trading hours. Investors are rotating money out of stocks and into safe havens like the U.S. dollar and Treasurys on concerns that Germany and France’s new lockdown restrictions would torpedo Eurozone’s fragile economic recovery. Not just bitcoin, but almost every asset denominated in U.S. dollars has taken a beating in the past 24 hours or so. Markets saw similar but more violent action in March when recession fears triggered a global dash for cash. Should the virus figures continue to rise, risk aversion will likely intensify, fueling a more profound decline in the cryptocurrency. However, it’s possible investors could buy the dips, with rising institutional adoption boosting the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects. Besides, stock markets will likely stabilize, helping bitcoin regain poise if the ECB announces more monetary stimulus later Thursday. While the central bank is expected to maintain the status quo, it could lay the groundwork for additional stimulus in December. Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs said the central bank could boost its pandemic bond-buying program by 400 billion euros ($470 billion) in December to counter deflationary pressures. From a technical analysis standpoint, the immediate bias will remain bullish as long as prices are held above $12,500. On the higher side, the June 2019 high of $13,880 is the level to beat for the bulls. – Omkar Godbole Token watch Bitcoin ( BTC ): Winklevosses’ Gemini cryptocurrency exchange allows purchasing and trading with euros . Ripple ( XRP ) : San Francisco-based payments firm plans to invest in blockchain money-transfer app MoneyTap, a joint venture with Japan’s SBI Holdings. Crypto.com Coin ( CRO ): Cryptocurrency-focused credit-card lender expands in Latin American market, hires former Visa exec Filomena Ruffa as general manager. What’s hot Fidelity’s digital-asset division expands crypto custody service to Asia ( CoinDesk ) Blockchain pioneer Caitlin Long’s Avanti wins approval from Wyoming regulators for new banking charter ( CoinDesk ) Bank of Canada Governor Macklem says digital currency initiative is progressing beyond proof-of-concept stage toward launchable product ( CoinDesk ) FTX crypto exchange launches bitcoin pairs for tokenized versions of top stocks Amazon, Apple, Tesla ( CoinDesk ) Coinbase crypto exchange to launch Visa debit card in U.S. early next year ( CoinDesk ) Former regulator who oversaw New York State’s BitLicense development and more recently led New York Stock Exchange’s regulatory division will now join crypto-friendly venture-capital firm Andreesen Horowitz ( CoinDesk ) Analogs The latest on the economy and traditional finance Federal Reserve might be running low on ammunition to juice market and the economy ( CNBC ) Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO who also oversees payments-firm-turned-cryptocurrency-investor Square, grilled by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz over tweet platform’s content controls ( WSJ ) Lenders now telling U.S. mall owners to pay up on past-due mortgage bills ( WSJ ) Chinese Communist Party set to detail 15-year economic growth plan ( Bloomberg ) Tweet of the Day Related Stories First Mover: Bitcoin Falls as COVID-19 Surges, ECB’s Lagarde Steps Up, US GDP Hits 33% First Mover: Bitcoin Falls as COVID-19 Surges, ECB’s Lagarde Steps Up, US GDP Hits 33% || Fintech Focus For October 15, 2020: Fintech Header Quote Of The Day: There needs to be a sweet spot between the brand and your community. - Danny Cortenraede Fintech Movers: [W]e think that over the next five years, Bitcoin presents a multi trillion dollar opportunity. - ARK Invest M1 Finance closes on $45M Series C round. Deutsche to introduce solutions with Google. JPM seeing growth in BTC payment options. Singapore approved a DLT bond exchange. Linux Foundation and FINOS intro speakers. RBC launches AI-powered trading platform. Fed is seeking pilot participants for FedNow. BlackRock plans launch of Aladdin Climate. Morgan Stanley’s AI chatbot to launch soon. Fed, 6 other central banks eye crypto guide. Singapore Exchange added Baton Systems. Brex taps former Spotify executive for CMO. SoFi has launched a social trading network. Benzinga Global Fintech Awards Spotlight: Every year Benzinga, a leading news and data platform, holds the Global Fintech Awards, a day of dealmaking, networking, and recognition in the fintech space. Ahead of the November 10, 2020 event, this newsletter highlights disruptive innovators working to create positive and diverse change in financial services. Today's disruptive innovator is Sigma Ratings , an AI-powered rating agency focused on quantifying company-level non-credit risks. For a chance to make your mark on the future of innovation and be featured in this newsletter, check out our Global Fintech Awards ! To meet the biggest names in fintech and discover emerging trends, get tickets here . Watch For This: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that he was disappointed there had not been more progress in Brexit trade talks, his office said on Wednesday. - Reuters 433 founder talks brands, entrepreneurship. JPM’s Kolanovic warns all Biden supporters. Real-estate influencer hit $500M milestone. We should rethink growth to save capitalism. Building an 8-figure business by saying no. Early voting opened up in 3 more US states. Fauci: Trump no longer contagious to others. Story continues Amazon_Revenue-1 Market Moving Headline: Net income for the five biggest U.S. firms totaled $23.2 billion in the quarter, more than triple that of the second quarter and just 12% below the level reported a year earlier. - Bloomberg Trump to transform America’s manufacturing. PNC saw bump in revenue, reserve stability. Goldman bank push brings $96B in deposits. United Airlines cuts costs, preps for rebound. Zoom launches events platform and market. Apple added four iPhone 12 models, 5G tech. Oil rises as OPEC complies with production. Why Slack looks to Instagram for inspiration. Mnuchin says Trump told him to keep at aid. EU to hold off on US tariffs til Nov. 3 election. See more from Benzinga Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas Fintech Focus For October 14, 2020 © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 13, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.comALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$16,182.33", "$0.01", "$0.05", "$32,130 M", "$299,994 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$468.30", "$0.03", "$0.06", "$12,856 M", "$53,111 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.26", "$0.04", "$0.02", "$2,964 M", "$11,940 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$257.97", "-$0.01", "$0.01", "$1,917 M", "$4,791 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$64.97", "$0.10", "$0.07", "$4,261 M", "$4,280 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$160.58", "$0.03", "-$0.03", "$733 M", "$2,982 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.59", "$0.06", "$0.03", "$2,153 M", "$2,427 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$113.24", "$0.02", "-$0.05", "$855 M", "$2,011 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.08", "$0.03", "-$0.01", "$139 M", "$1,715 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$76.76", "-$0.03", "$0.11", "$375 M", "$753 M"]]
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. 1-800-204-6203info@alt5sigma.com
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/616649/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || Latest Ripple price and analysis (XRP to USD): Ripple’s XRP token is currently trading at $0.241 after bouncing by 5.92% off the $0.227 level of support this morning. As noted in last week’s XRP analysis, the world’s fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap remains confined in a relatively tight trading range, with $0.26 providing a stubborn level of resistance. XRP has now been trading within the range since early September following a breakdown in price from a local high of $0.33. It’s also worth pointing out that the daily 200 exponential moving average (EMA) appears to be another level of support despite being resistance since the bear market reversal at the start of 2018. XRPUSD chart by TradingView Moving forwards, volatility is expected this week in light of the US presidential election and Bitcoin’s impending push above $14,000. While altcoins like XRP will initially sell-off in the event of a Bitcoin breakout, they will most likely rally into a new bullish phase when Bitcoin begins to consolidate at a higher price. In terms of XRP, its price action will not only depend on retail participation but also investment from institutional clients, many of whom typically buy XRP tokens over-the-counter from the Ripple Foundation. Although token sales have been lamented by XRP supporters, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that token sales are “vital” to the company’s survival. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . Latest Ripple price Current live XRP price information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest Ripple price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – XRPtoUSD British Pound Sterling – XRPtoGBP Japanese Yen – XRPtoJPY Euro – XRPtoEUR Australian Dollar – XRPtoAUD Russian Rouble – XRPtoRUB Bitcoin – XRPtoBTC About Ripple (XRP) Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) developed by the Ripple company. It is also referred to as the Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP) or Ripple protocol. It can trace its roots to 2004 when a web developer called Ryan Fugger had the idea to create a monetary system that was decentralised and could effectively allow individuals to create their own money. Story continues Ripple is one of the largest cryptocurrencies and is one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation. More Ripple news and information If you want to find out more information about Ripple or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s a recent article to get you started: https://coinrivet.com/ripple-ceo-brad-garlinghouse-hits-back-at-critics-xrp-is-not-a-security/ As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. || Skycoin's Skywire Launches VPN Beta: The World's Most Secure Network Gets an Upgrade
SHANGHAI, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / October 25, 2020 /The Skycoin Project is leveraging its global Skywire network to introduce a Virtual Private Network (VPN) app that gives its users the unparalleled privacy, security, and anonymity benefits of Skywire on their devices. Launching in beta, the VPN is just one component of a huge upgrade to the world's most secure network.
Users can get started with the Skywire upgrade athttps://github.com/skycoin/skywire/wiki/Setting-up-Skywire-VPN.
Skywire is a revolutionary new decentralized and distributed network from the Skycoin Project. With Skywire, the Skycoin Project is building the foundation for an entirely new internet that values the principles of privacy and security, including end-to-end encryption.
Skywire Mainnet was launched in April 2020, and the latest update brings substantial improvements and bugfixes. The enhancements include:
• A Skywire VPN app
• Hypervisor Enhancements
• New transport types
Skywire VPN
The Skywire dev team is excited to release the Skywire VPN client in beta. This greatly anticipated feature will simplify the ability to make use of the privacy, security, and end-to-end encryption of Skywire. Users will connect to Skyminer operators and select from VPN servers all over the globe. Skyminer operators can decide to advertise their own VPN server to other participants in the network to make the VPN service even stronger.
One of the key features of Skywire is its complete anonymity. There is no equivalent to an I.P. address that can tie a given Skywire access point to a specific person or geographical location. When registering visors on Skywire Mainnet, Skyminer operators have an option to indicate their country of origin, and based on this voluntary data, people may now choose to connect to a VPN and proxy server based on location.
Hypervisor Enhancements
A number of diagnostic tools have been added to the control panel called Hypervisor to allow users to better understand the status of their nodes. In addition, the Hypervisor theme has been updated with a sleek new dark motif.
Transport Types
Two new transport types have been introduced, making life that much easier for users of Skywire.
1. Holepunch Transport: This allows users to connect two visors directly to one another, even if those visors are behind firewalls.
2. TCP-Resolver Transport: This transport allows a user to establish an automatic setup of transports to remote nodes on public IPs.
Learn more about the revolutionary Skywire network
As headlines around the world continue to demonstrate the shortcomings of the existing Internet, including privacy violations, censorship, net neutrality concerns, and economic limitations, Skywire provides a definitive solution. Skywire is intended to become a scalable peer-to-peer wireless mesh network, where all traffic is anonymous and end-to-end encrypted.
Skywire uses a software-defined networking protocol (SDN) to route traffic in a unique and efficient manner.
The network consists of Skyminers; custom-built hardware devices that serve as nodes providing processing power, bandwidth, and storage space for the Skywire network. Anyone can contribute to the network and get compensated for doing so. One may purchase Skycoin's official hardware (called "Skyminers"), or build one themselves using common off-the-shelf components. Eventually, the plan is to have a completely decentralized and distributed new Internet that cannot be censored or destroyed, with low-cost antennas forming a mesh network where individuals act as ISPs for their own communities.
There are already over five thousand active nodes, or "visors", deployed around the world, with more coming online every day. Those who choose to operate these nodes are rewarded for their service to the Skywire network through cryptocurrency micropayments executed on Skycoin's third-generation blockchain.
Media who wish to schedule interviews may reach out to:Tiffanymktcn@skycoin.com0085263533831
About Skycoin:
Skycoin is bringing people what they want: a truly decentralized network without any central authority. Founded in 2011 by early developers of Bitcoin and Ethereum, Skycoin quickly grew into an ecosystem of exciting and ambitious projects, including Skywire, the new decentralized Internet; CX, a revolutionary full-featured blockchain application programming language; and the cryptocurrency itself, Skycoin - simple to use, with virtually-free transactions that execute almost instantly.
In November 2019, Skycoin became the only cryptocurrency project to launch their own hardware cryptocurrency wallet, called Skywallet.
Skycoin plans to release a superior "web-of-trust" blockchain consensus algorithm called Obelisk, which solves the problems inherent to "proof-of-work" and "proof-of-stake" protocols, both of which are slowing down and compromising the integrity of other major cryptocurrencies.
For more background on this groundbreaking project, please visithttps://www.skycoin.com.
SOURCE:Skycoin
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/612180/Skycoins-Skywire-Launches-VPN-Beta || MicroStrategy CEO Explains Why Bitcoin Is ‘a Million Times Better’ Than ‘Antiquated’ Gold: MicroStrategy’s headline-grabbing bitcoin bet was a rational response to a macroeconomy in chaos, said Chief Executive Michael Saylor.
Appearing Tuesday at CoinDesk’s Bitcoin for Advisors virtual conference, Saylor shed new light on one of this year’s biggest cryptocurrency stories: his software company’s recent purchases of $425 million inbitcoin.
That surprise September move by Nasdaq-listed MicroStrategy marked one of the first – and largest – embraces of bitcoin by a mainstream corporation.
Related:First Mover: Bitcoin Pause, Ethereum Snafu, 1,000% Returns Put Focus on Exchange Tokens
In a prerecorded fireside chat with CoinDesk Chief Content Officer Michael Casey, Saylor unpacked MicroStrategy’s bitcoin thought process, why it decided to eschew cash as a treasury reserve and whether gold can reclaim its spot as the marquee store of value in an increasingly digital world.
Saylor’s short answer: Gold can’t. He thinks bitcoin has seized the lead.
Hoarding gold is “an antiquated approach to storing value,” he said. Bitcoin is “a million times better.”
In Saylor’s telling, MicroStrategy’s bitcoin journey began with the realization its $500 million cash pile was being eaten alive by government money printers. With recent emergency stimulus inflating the U.S. money supply faster than a Thanksgiving parade balloon, company executives felt compelled to move the treasury reserves away from the dollar.
Related:Number of Bitcoin ATMs Up 85% This Year as Coronavirus Drives Adoption
“What we’re trying to do is preserve our treasury,” he said. “The purchasing power of the cash is debasing rapidly.”
Read more:‘I Didn’t Buy It to Sell It. Ever.’ MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor on His $425M Bitcoin Bet
For the last decade or so, theM2 money supply– the sum of physical cash, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market funds – grew a modest 5.5%, Saylor noted. “A rational view of business treasury strategy would be, you had to get more than five and a half percent as your cost of capital in order to hold your purchasing power from 2011 to 2020,” he said.
But when COVID-19 hit this year, tanking the economy, the measures taken to contain the damage swelled M2 by 20%, raising the hurdles for corporate treasurers to preserve that purchasing power. “The cost of capital of every cash treasury or every treasury in the world is now 20%,” Saylor said.
To be sure, U.S. inflation, as measured by the core Consumer Price Index (which excludes food and energy) declined briefly in 2020. But to Saylor, that measure is “irrelevant.”
“If inflation only means a market basket of things with no food and energy in them, then almost by definition I’ve defined a metric which will never go up,” he said.
He pointed to cash holders in inflation-prone countries like Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. They know all too well their purchasing power takes a hit when money supply expands.
“What if you live in Europe and the United States? It wasn’t obvious. But it needs to become obvious,” Saylor said. “I think people will figure it out.”
Convinced the dollar was no place for MicroStrategy’s excess capital, Saylor said he and his executives began trawling around for a “tangible” asset alternative. “We had to cycle through real estate, bonds, equity, precious metal, derivatives or crypto,” Saylor said.
Of that group, precious metals, particularly gold, has long stood as an enticing store of value, a scarce, safe-haven asset recognized around the world. Not to Saylor. For starters, he balked at the notion that gold is scarce. “Gold is the least abundant of the commodities, but you can still produce gold,” he said.
But he’s also acutely concerned with what he describes as the clashing interests of gold miners and gold bugs. One is trying to capitalize on the market by mining replenishable supply while the other is hoping that access remains scarce, pushing prices up.
Read more:Square Puts 1% of Total Assets in Bitcoin in Surprise $50M Investment
“The gold miners are the enemies of the gold holders,” said Saylor. “The gold miners are trying to destroy your value, right? They’re not trying to help you.”
He predicts an even bigger problem with the gold market: Investors fleeing to bitcoin. Even if they don’t know it yet, Saylor thinks gold investors will eagerly dump the commodity for what he calls a superior store of value. It’s not an if. It’s a when.
“Not a good bet to bet against ingenuity and assume that people will be lazy and ignorant for the next decade, because it’s not likely,” Saylor said.
Citing one analyst’s prediction that Federal Reserve action will keep equities moving upward regardless of the recent election’s outcome, Saylor said the “most aggressive monetary expansion” is probably ahead.
Investors will therefore likely continue treating blue-chip juggernauts from Apple to Amazon as a new kind of safe haven. “They’re desperately grasping at straws,” Saylor said. All those assets are reliant on the fiat currency he sees as crumbling away.
Read more:Billionaire Hedge Fund Investor Druckenmiller Says He Owns Bitcoin in CNBC Interview
“Equities don’t make a good store of value over the long term, unless the company can raise its prices faster than the rate of monetary expansion, or raise its gross margins faster than the rate of monetary expansion,” he said.
Saylor predicts monopolistic corporations will be the only ones positioned to achieve that kind of price pump. But the politicians won’t let those corporations exercise such power indefinitely, he said. So, back to square one.
“Ultimately you have to find something which you can’t print more of that doesn’t have its fundamental underpinnings tied to a fiat currency, and the only thing that I can find right now is bitcoin,” he said.
• MicroStrategy CEO Explains Why Bitcoin Is ‘a Million Times Better’ Than ‘Antiquated’ Gold
• MicroStrategy CEO Explains Why Bitcoin Is ‘a Million Times Better’ Than ‘Antiquated’ Gold || US Bitcoin Mining Firm Layer1 in Legal Tussle Over Power Facility Ownership: Bitcoin miner Layer1 Technologies has been dragged into a lawsuit from a co-founder who claims he invested millions of dollars and was then forced out of the firm. In a complaint filed in the District Court in the Western District of Texas Pecos Division, the plaintiff, Jakov Dolic, sets out that he co-founded Layer1 with its CEO Alexander Liegl, having developed a liquid cooling system that would allow the company to make use of Texas’ cheap wind power, despite the high summer temperatures in the state. Dolic, a German citizen residing in Switzerland, alleges that Liegl “falsely promised” that he would be able to raise $50 million from investors for a “large bitcoin mining operation.” Related: Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Sees Largest Percentage Drop in 9 Years However, the investments didn’t arrive, per the complaint, so Dolic claims he spent $16.24 million of his own funds to purchase of a Ward County, Texas, power substation from a firm called Hodl Ranch, as well as a further $3.5 million to expand the power facility. Dolic claims he had an agreement with Leigl that Layer1 would refund him the money. Per the allegations, Dolic didn’t receive anything for his investment, while Liegl “took legal title to the properties.” Further, the plaintiff claims, after he confronted Liegl over “unauthorized and wasteful spending of Layer1’s funds,” he was “pressured” out of the company. The complaint alleges Liegl had been “paying himself significant ‘consulting’ fees without Dolic’s knowledge or authorization.” Further, the plaintiff claims Layer1 faced a funding crunch, having failed to garner sufficient investment and had decided to sell the substation at a “fire sale price,” and “before Dolic can protect his rights.” Related: Bitcoin Mining Firm Hut 8 Appoints Jaime Leverton as CEO “”The complaint is completely meritless and contains numerous allegations that are demonstrably and categorically false,” Liegl told CoinDesk. “The company will be responding quickly to seek legal sanctions against Dolic and his counsel for making false allegations that lack a reasonable basis.” Story continues With the lawsuit, Dolic – who founded Genesis Mining in 2013 – aims to assert his “rights to the properties that he bought directly from the seller,” even though Layer1 “technically” has ownership of the title. Also read: Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Sees Largest Percentage Drop in 9 Years “There are simply no plans, and there never were any, to sell the substation,” he added. Layer1 is a Delaware Corporation working out of California that sets out to mine bitcoin using wind power. The firm has seen investment from Peter Thiel, Shasta Ventures and CoinDesk’s parent firm Digital Currency Group. As CoinDesk reported in August, Layer1 was accused by a team member of misdescribing the role of a supposed core team member in a pitch deck for investors. Edit: Corrected location of substation to Ward County, Texas. See the full complaint below: Related Stories US Bitcoin Mining Firm Layer1 in Legal Tussle Over Power Facility Ownership US Bitcoin Mining Firm Layer1 in Legal Tussle Over Power Facility Ownership || Flaw in Bitcoin SV Multisig Wallet Puts Funds at Risk: When Bitcoin SV (BSV) forked from Bitcoin Cash, its mandate to create a faster, payments-focused blockchain required gutting some of Bitcoin’s key technical features.
In doing so, it gutted some of Bitcoin’s key features; now, it’s worse off for it.
One of these features, the so-called pay-to-script hash (P2SH) function, allows a user to send a transaction by signing it to a “script” rather than a public key address. These scripts create special conditions that must be met in order to access thebitcoinssent to them, and they are most often used in multisignature transactions – or, transactions that require more than one party to approve.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Drops as Low as $14.8K; ETH Options Open Interest at Record High
Before P2SH transactions came to Bitcoin in 2012, Bitcoin’s only transaction type would send payments to a public key address through the pay-to-public-key-hash (P2PKH) function.
Bitcoin Core developer and former Blockstream CTOGregory Maxwellpostedon Reddit’s r/bsvthat BSV developers removed the P2SH feature some time ago from the BSV blockchain’s code. In the ElectrumSV wallet (“and presumably elsewhere,” Maxwell says in the post), developers replaced the feature with a bootleg, BSV-specific version called“accumulator multisig”that utilized P2PKH transactions instead.
There’s a reason Bitcoin uses P2SH for multisig and not P2PKH, because the latter is not ideal for multisignature transactions.
It’s so insecure, in fact, that BSV holders are losing funds, Maxwell says in the post.
Related:Buggy Code in This Compound Finance Fork Just Froze $1M in Ethereum Tokens
“These scripts had no security at all,” he explains.
According to Maxwell, the code’s architects only checked to see if the multisig transactions would work with the exact number of private keys needed to send the transaction (a multisig wallet requires more than one private key to authorize a transaction). They did not test transactions if more or fewer keys than necessary are present.
In his testing, Maxwell found two significant problems: first, that multisig spends fail if more than the minimum number of keys sign a transaction. Second, anyone could tap the multisig funds “with too few signatures (such as none at all).”
Read more:In Big Block Hard Fork, Craig Wright’s Bitcoin Has Left Nodes Behind
One BSV user, Aaron Zhou,lost600BSVto anattack exploiting this weaknesson his multisignature wallet. When enquiring about the loss to a developer in a BSV chatroom, Zhou said that he trusted “it was safe enough” because “it was introduced by CoinGeek,” a pro-BSV media outlet bankrolled by Calvin Ayre, a close friend of BSV creator Craig Wright. By way of response, a developer in the chat chastised Zhou by saying he should only have committed “small amounts” to the wallet.
With a tone of frustration in his post, Maxwell said that “the error could have been avoided with even the most basic testing or review.”
The fiasco is a reminder that cryptocurrency development comes with trade-offs and requires diligence. BSV’s founders and proponents have marketed it as payments-focused coin with massive block sizes and blisteringly fast transaction times. To achieve these properties, BSV developers chose to strip Bitcoin’s code of key features. As evidenced by the multisig fiasco, this can come at the expense of security.
When money is on the line, you can’t move fast and break things. Often criticized as a slow-grinding, too-conservative process, Bitcoin development often proceeds with the principles of caution and precision in mind.
Unsurprisingly, as a Bitcoin Core developer Maxwell favors this methodical approach over the perfunctory one.
“This situation would have been avoided entirely had BSV not ripped out the competent, time-tested and highly peer-reviewed mechanisms for multisig by Bitcoin in favor of far less efficient home-brew crypto,” said Maxwell.
“Kinda makes you wonder what amazing bugs are lurking in their node software or wallets. I can say for sure: I’m not going to run any of it and risk finding out.”
Developers at ElectrumSV have not yet returned answers to questions from CoinDesk.
• Flaw in Bitcoin SV Multisig Wallet Puts Funds at Risk
• Flaw in Bitcoin SV Multisig Wallet Puts Funds at Risk || Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper: Was it an allusion to the Reformation or something to do with the ancient pagan tradition of Samhain? For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com , Nexo.io and Elliptic . Related: By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before One of the most powerful aspects of bitcoin is its mythology. In this episode, NLW explores the 12th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper and the choices that went into its release date. Whether it was something to do with the Reformation or an allusion to the longstanding pagan tradition of Samhain, the one thing that’s clear is the choice adds all the more mystique to bitcoin’s incredible origins. See also: Money Reimagined: Who Are the Real Monsters? Related: Crypto Is Less Scary Than Halloween For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . Related Stories Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper || Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Moderna, Palantir, Tesla And More: Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week. The bullish calls this past week included a struggling retailer and a Warren Buffett pick. A COVID-19 vaccine frontrunner and a pot stock were featured among the week's bearish calls. Investors and analysts had plenty to mull over last week, from good news on the COVID-19 vaccine front, to tension between the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury , to earnings season winding down with results from big retailers ahead of the holiday shopping season. Despite all that, the big U.S. indexes ended the week essentially flat. Also in the past week, big tech CEOs were in front of U.S. Congress again, a long-awaited new S&P 500 member was announced, an e-commerce colossus expanded its empire again, and an aerospace giant finally got the nod it wanted. Investors read the latest tea leaves from the Oracle of Omaha , and rumors suggested that the iPhone maker may have yet one more surprise. Through it all, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look. Bulls " Morgan Stanley Upgrades Tesla On Growth Potential In Embedded Businesses " by Aditya Raghunath examines how a "profound model shift" could lead to increased revenue generation at Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ) beyond the sale of its renowned electric vehicles. In " How Bank Of America Has Become One Of Warren Buffett's Best Investments ," Wayne Duggan discusses why Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC ) is the only large U.S. bank that Buffett is buying, according to the latest 13F form. How much upside in the bank stock do analysts see in the next 12 months? DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG ) could see strong growth from a growing market and growing share in existing markets, according to Chris Katje's " DraftKings Gets New 0 Price Target With Strong Market Share, Brand ." In addition, one other online sports betting pick is also included. Story continues Priya Nigam's " Kohl's Analyst Drops Bear Stance On Vaccine Tailwinds, Activist Presence " is focused on the tailwinds that should propel department store operator Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS ) stock, beyond the better-than-expected quarterly results just posted. For additional bullish calls in the past week, also have a look at the following: 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For Under As Bitcoin Nears K, A Citibank Analyst Projects 0K Levels Next Year Will Ford Or General Motors Stock Grow More By 2025? Bears Shanthi Rexaline's " Why This Moderna Analyst Downgraded Biopharma Despite Positive COVID-19 Vaccine News " shows why one key Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA ) analyst was not impressed by the latest positive developments. Is the best-case scenario reflected in the share price? Soros Fund Management would not be a buyer of Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR ) today as it does not approve of the big data company's business practices. Read more about this in " George Soros Regrets Buying Palantir, Will Sell Stake " by Chris Katje. In fact, the firm has sold all shares it was allowed to sell and says it will continue to do so. In Mohit Manghnani's " Activist Investor Elliott Exits AT&T, Buys Uniti, Boosts Dell ," see what other stakes Elliott Management eliminated in the third quarter besides AT&T Inc (NYSE: T ) and what stakes it has trimmed. The Paul Singer-founded activist hedge fund also initiated positions and increased stakes in the period as well, of course. " Why Jefferies Is Losing Its Tilray Buzz " by Jayson Derrick makes the case that the bullish view on Tilray Inc (NASDAQ: TLRY ) can no longer be justified after its third-quarter earnings report. Are the cannabis company's projections "overly bullish"? The featured analyst points out that it has a history of getting its outlook wrong. Be sure to check out these additional bearish calls: BofA Cautions Auto Investors After 'Too Fast And Furious Recovery' and WHO Advises Against Gilead's Remdesivir For COVID-19 Despite FDA Approval . At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities. Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Barron's Picks And Pans: Alibaba, Intel, Target, Visa And More Last Week's Notable Insider Buys: Kraft, IBM, Vertex And More © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00, 19201.09, 19445.40, 18699.77, 19154.23, 19345.12, 19191.63
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-08-12]
BTC Price: 24402.82, BTC RSI: 61.75
Gold Price: 1798.60, Gold RSI: 60.61
Oil Price: 92.09, Oil RSI: 42.49
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Ethereum Classic Almost Triples, MATIC and UNI Surge as July Brings Relief to Crypto Market: July has brought relief to the crypto market, with ethereum classic (ETC), the supposedlydead coinand not-so-similar clone of Ethereum's ether (ETH) token, and other out-of-favor coins like UNI and MATIC leading the recovery in digital assets with at least $1 billion market value.
ETC has added 184% this month, while scaling systemPolygon's MATIC and decentralized exchange Uniswap's UNI have gained 102% and 86% respectively, CoinDesk data show. Industry leader bitcoin (BTC) had added 20% and ether 60% at press time. The total crypto market capitalization has rebounded to $1.14 trillion from last month's $762.82 billion low.
Analysts said coin-specific factors are at play alongside the broader market risk reset.
"ETC is being driven by speculation that ETH miners will go to ETC and potentially, there could be another hard fork benefitting them," Lucas Outumuro, head of research at IntoTheBlock, said. The driver for the move is Ethereum's impending Merge to shift from the network's proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain to a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain. Ethereum'sBeacon Chainhas been running since 2020 as part of that process.
After theMerge, likely to happen onSept. 19, Ethereum willstart operating as a PoS chain, requiring market participants known as validators to stake, or hold, a minimum number of coins to confirm transactions in return for rewards. In a PoW system miners solve a computational problem to verify transactions.
The merge means Ethereum miners will have to find a new home, most likely Ethereum Classic, which is supposedly the only chain compatible with the Ethereum mining machinery.
"Ethereum's mining network is made up of two types of hardware: ASICs and GPUs,"Messari's Sami Kasab saidin a research report. "The problem with ASICs is that they can't be repurposed for different applications besides mining ETH. Ethereum Classic is the only other PoW coin that can be mined with an ETH ASIC, since its hashing algorithm is compatible with ETH's algorithm."
Recently, AntPool, the Bitmain-affiliated mining pool,invested $10 millionto support the Ethereum Classic ecosystem. Ethereum Classic is a hard-forked version of Ethereum, born from ahack of The DAO, a smart contract operating on the Ethereum blockchain, in 2016.
ETC's July gain is consistent with a history of rallying around the time of major Ethereum upgrades.
"ETC's April 2021 rally coincided with Ethereum's Berlin upgrade. Similarly, ETC seems to be rallying on the back of expectations related to the Merge," Toronto-based crypto platform FRNT Financial said in an email, adding that investors may see ETC as a hedge against potential difficulties in the change.
ETC was priced at a 3 1/2-month high of $45 on major exchanges early today.
MATIC seems to be reaping rewards from Polygon's expansion plans and partnership announcements.
The scaling systemearmarked $20 millionto help projects migrating to its platform from the Terra blockchain.Disney (DIS) saidearlier this month that Polygon was one of the six companies selected for a business-development accelerator program. Furthermore, Polygon said it wasbuilding a zkEVM, or zero-knowledge system, in a bid to slash transaction fees by 90% in comparison with Ethereum.
According to FRNT Financial, the zkEVM plan has added to enthusiasm in the ecosystem.
Polygon facilitates faster and cheaper transactions by running sidechains, or tangential networks, alongside the main Ethereum blockchain. Scaling refers to increasing the system's throughput, as measured by transactions per second.
MATIC neared $1 early Friday, the highest since May 9.
While UNI is not the onlydecentralized finance(DeFi)-associated token to rally, its outperformance may result from the Uniswap community's decision to approve a "fee switch" proposal that directs a portion of trading fees to the UNI holders.
Once the proposal is implemented, about 10% of trading fees could go to UNI holders, according to Ilan Solot, a partner at crypto hedge fund TagusCapital. Currently, they do not get any share in the protocol's revenue, contrary to SUSHI token and CRV token holders. The entire amount collected from the exchange's 0.3% trading cost goes to liquidity providers.
"UNI holders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal; now it's a question of implementation. It looks like it would be 10% of trading fees, estimated at $20K-40K per day for the treasury. Obviously, this had a positive impact on the UNI token," Solot wrote in Thursday's daily market update.
UNI was changing hands at $8.90 at the time of writing, having touched a 3 1/2-month high of $9.84 on Thursday. || US stocks rise and bond yields and oil prices fall as Senate passes Biden's climate and healthcare bill: Getty Images Stocks opened higher Monday while oil prices slipped and bond yields fell. Senate Democrats passed legislation late Sunday that delivers on climate, healthcare and taxes. Wall Street is awaiting key inflation data due out on Wednesday. US stocks opened higher Monday as bond yields and oil prices fell, while Wall Street braces for an important inflation report midweek. Traders were also weighing the impact of a key piece of President Biden's economic agenda, which Senate Democrats passed in vote late Sunday along party lines. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the tie-breaking vote to send the bill to the House and then to Biden's desk. The legislation is a far cry away from its original shape that consisted of $3.5 trillion in new spending on climate change, healthcare and taxes. The new bill includes roughly $700 billion in spending, which was only agreed upon after extended negotiations with holdouts Senators Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema. Meanwhile, a stronger than expected jobs report on Friday has Wall Street rethinking recession risks while also weighing another benchmark interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve to further cool inflation. Consumer Price Index data for July will be released on Wednesday. Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET opening bell on Monday: S&P 500 : 4,169.08, up 0.58% Dow Jones Industrial Average : 33,000.04, up 0.6% (196.57 points) Nasdaq Composite : 12,739.97, up 0.75% Gas prices could tick back up after falling from $5 a gallon in June, according to a report from Goldman Sachs , highlighting supply constraints creating upward pressure on prices. Economist Mohamed El-Erian thinks that the Fed's slow response to scorching inflation will cause "collateral damage" to the economy. The central bank raised benchmark rates 75-basis points in June and July meetings while chair Jerome Powell says the Fed's next moves will be data-dependent. And investors could feel the brunt of that pain, as stocks will react negatively to more rate increases, says Mark Mobius . The famed emerging markets investor previously asserted he sees rates climbing to as much as 7%. Story continues West Texas Intermediate crude oil ticked down 1.30% to $88 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.92% to $94.02. Gold climbed 0.39% to $1,781,62. The yield on 10-year Treasury note fell 4.6 basis points to 2.794%. Bitcoin climbed to $24,080.57. Read the original article on Business Insider || Morning Crypto Briefing: Bitcoin Price Under Pressure Pre-Fed, Bears Eye Break Below $20K: Key Points Despite stabilization in traditional assets classes ahead of key risk events, crypto prices remain under heavy selling pressure. The Bitcoin price was last in the mid-$20Ks and the Ethereum price in the mid-$1,000s. Both could break lower if Wednesday’s US data triggers recession fears and the Fed is hawkish. State Of The Market Stabilization is being seen in global equity, bond and currency markets in wake of recent risk-off moves/bond yield upside. Investors keeping their powder dry as they wait to hear from the European Central Bank, for the release of May US Retail Sales data and then the Fed’s policy announcement later in the evening. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by 75 bps, after data last Friday showed price pressures unexpectedly building once again in the US in May. Despite the more consolidative macro feel, cryptocurrency markets remain under heavy selling pressure. Total cryptocurrency market capitalization has now slid to just above $880 billion, down a further near 4.0% on the day, taking its losses in the last six days to over $330 billion or just shy of 27.5%. Traders are warnings that further downside might well be instore for crypto if 1) the ECB’s ad-hoc meeting results in a hawkish intra-day change in policy, 2) US Retail Sales data signals rising US recession risk and 3) the Fed surprises markets with a more hawkish than expected rate outlook. Bitcoin was last trading just above $21,000, down a further nearly 5.0% on the day and taking its losses in the past six days to just under 30%, during which time it has fallen to fresh annual lows from above $30,000 and shed $170 billion in market cap. Alternative.me’s Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index is currently sitting just above record lows at 7. It has only been lower in August of 2019 and there is increased chatter amongst crypto market participants of HODLer capitulation. According to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the number of Bitcoin whales just hit a 22-month low of just 1,734. Story continues Turning to major altcoins, Ethereum was last trading lower by more than 10% on Wednesday and recently printed fresh lows since January 2021 in the mid-$1,000s. ETH/USD has lost 40% of its value in the last six days, with the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency having shed over $85 billion in market cap during that time. A break below $1,000 would open the door to a run towards the next area of support (the May 2018 highs) in the low $800s. Binance’s BNB , meanwhile, was last down by around 6% in the last 24 hours according to CoinMarketCap, with BNB/USD briefly dipping $200 for the first time since February 2021. Cardano’s ADA was last down around 4% over the same time period, and trading just under $0.50, while Ripples XRP continues to trade close to $0.30 and Solana’s SOL a tad lower on the day just under $30 per token. Crypto Markets In Turmoil: Lido’s Staked Ether Discount Widens, USDD Depeg Deepens, Coinbase To Lay Off 1000 Staff Decentralized Finance ( DeFi ) platform Lido’s Ethereum derivative “staked ether” discount to actual ETH hit record highs on Monday above 8.0%, data from Dune Analytics showed. According to crypto market commentators, this is because big DeFi players including beleaguered crypto lending platform Celsius Network and struggling crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital are dumping holdings. Speaking of Celsius Network, withdrawals from the platform have now been frozen for more than 48 hours. Reportedly the firm has hired lawyers who specialize in business restructuring to help it navigate its current financial difficulties. The firm’s CEL token, which offers holders the benefit of improved lending/borrowing rates on the platform, has been all ove the place in recent days. In what traders called a short-squeeze, CEL/USD surged by as much as 800% on Tuesday, from under $0.30 to intra-day highs above $2.50, but has since fall back 80% to trade just above the $0.50 mark. Regarding Three Arrows Capital, the Dubai-based crypto hedge fund is rumored to be facing insolvency, various crypto media outlets have reported this week, having incurred seen positions worth at least $400 million liquidated. Much of this has likely happened in the last few days. According to crypto derivative analytics website CoinGlass, crypto future position liquidations have spiked this week. Total liquidations rose to at least three-month highs on Monday above $1.1 billion. Elsewhere, one of the last remaining major algorithmic stablecoins, the Tron blockchain’s Decentralised US dollar ( USDD ) continues to fall further from its 1:1 peg to the US dollar. USDD maintains its peg with a mint-burn mechanism tied to Tron’s native crypto token TRX , much how ill-fated TerraUST ( USTC ) did with the Terra blockchain’s native LUNA token. As a result, many have been predicting a crash. In an apparent and somewhat strange reference to USTs demise back in May, Tron founder Justin Sun tweeted “Deploying more capital – steady lads”, exactly the same tweet that Terra founder Do Kwon put out in the initial stages of UST’s depeg from 1:1 with the US dollar. Despite USDD’s troubles, with the stablecoin currently trading around $0.969, and further sharp losses in TRX/USD, which is trading around $0.05 and down over 30% this week, Sun said that Tron would be increasing its ecosystem workforce by a further 50%. That very much cuts against the grain, with most other firms in the crypto industry downsizing their workforces. The latest company to announce layoffs was US crypto exchange giant Coinbase, which announced plans on Tuesday to lay off around 18% of its workforce, amounting to 1,000 employees. Back in May, it froze new hires. In a note to employees published on Tuesday, the company’s CEO Brian Armstrong said that “we appear to be entering a recession after a 10+ year economic boom” and that the company had grown too quickly during the crypto bull market in 2021. JP Morgan issued a bearish note on the company’s stock, cutting its rating from overweight to neutral and slashing its price target to $68 from $171. It will be challenging for Coinbase to generate near-term profit amid the deepening crypto bear market and following a recent ramp-up in investments, the US investment banking giant noted. Back to the stablecoin landscape; Singapore-based Tether, the issuer of USDT , has been under scrutiny once again amid allegations that its commercial paper portfolio is 85% backed by Chinese or Asia paper. These rumors are “completely false and likely spread to induce further panic in order to generate additional profits from an already stressed market,” Tether said in an announcement on Wednesday. The stablecoin issuer also denied rumours that it had loaned capital to struggling crypto hedge fund three Arrows Capital. USDT was last trading about 0.2% below its 1:1 peg to the US dollar in the $0.998 area, having at one point dipped as low as $0.995 on Wednesday. That might not be as bad as it seems given US-based Circle Internet Financial’s US dollar stablecoin USDC, seen as a safer bet by many given the company’s greater levels of transparency about the assets it holds to back USDC, is also trading about 0.2% below its 1:1 peg against the dollar. The two stablecoins currently have a market cap of around $70 billion and $54 billion respectively. Regulatory Landscape: Recently Unveiled Bipartisan Senate Crypto Bill Could “Undermine” Protections – SEC’s Gensler US Securiturities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s CFO Network Summit on Tuesday, gave wide-ranging remarks on issues related to crypto. He warned that the broad bipartisan crypto regulation bill recently unveiled by US Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand could inadvertently “undermine” market protections for investors. Gensler added that the SEC wants to protect its role of overseeing how companies can raise money from the general public. Gensler warned that the majority of tokens currently in the crypto market fall under the purview of SEC regulation and should therefore be required to offer the same disclosures as traditional securities. Moreover, the SEC Chair observed that many crypto companies are already engaging in behaviors that are typically overseen by his agency, including, for example, offering yield for staking. Separately, Gensler also issued a warning to would-be crypto investors to avoid crypto lending platforms offering returns that seem “too good to be true”. “We’ve seen again that lending platforms… (are) operating a little like banks,” he noted, adding that “they’re saying: Give us your crypto. We’ll give you a big return”. New York’s Attorney General Letitia James also issued a warning to investors about crypto this week, cautioning them that investors have lost hundreds of billions in recent weeks. Separately, reports broke on Tuesday that the SEC is investigating crypto exchanges over insider trading. The agency has reportedly sent letters to several exchanges inquiring as to their lack of insider trading safeguards. Meanwhile, in further news related to crypto regulation in the US, the House of Representatives is preparing to hear testimony on digital asset regulation sometime later this month, the Block reported on Wednesday. The House Agriculture Committee’s subcommittee on commodity exchanges, energy, and credit is getting ready to conduct a hearing on the “Future of Digital Assets Regulation” that is currently scheduled for 23 June. Outside of the US, South Korea is reportedly mulling new laws for blockchain platforms that would better regulate crypto and protect investors. Meanwhile, Brazil’s Federal Deputy Paulo Martins has introduced a bill to legalize crypto payments in the country. Elsewhere, France’s Olympic committee is recommending that the country adopt blockchain ticketing technology for the Paris 2024 games. Meanwhile, the EU’s Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinness on Tuesday urged EU lawmakers to find a political compromise to speed the passage of the EU’s proposed Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework. MiCA is currently stuck in the final stage of the EU legislative process. McGuinness said that, if passed, MiCA could facilitate the implementation of fresh sanctions against Russia. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: UniCredit closes $1.2 billion bad loan securitisation deal U.S. Justice Department backs new legislation to bolster federal judges’ protection Energy execs say industry must push harder on near-term transition projects Stifling heatwave grips central United States Oil prices slip ahead of expected U.S. interest rate hike Nord Stream 1 gas supply cut aimed at sowing uncertainty, Germany warns || Investview Announces Termination of Purchase Agreement with LevelX: Eatontown, NJ, June 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investview, Inc. (OTCQB: INVU), a diversified financial technology company that through its subsidiaries and global distribution network provides financial technology, education tools, content, research, and management of digital asset technologies with a focus on Bitcoin mining and the new generation of digital assets, announced today that it has terminated the Amended and Restated Securities Purchase Agreements (the “Purchase Agreements”) by which it had agreed during March 2021 to acquire LevelX Capital LLC ( a FINRA-registered broker-dealer) and LevelX Advisors (a registered investment advisor). Closing under the Purchase Agreements had been subject to a number of conditions relating to, among others, the maintenance of a specific level of regulatory net capital and the receipt of all required regulatory (FINRA) approvals on or before June 3, 2022.
According to Company President, James R. Bell, “although the parties have worked collaboratively over the past 13 months to secure the required regulatory approvals and satisfy all closing conditions, given, among other things, the length of the regulatory review process, to date, the uncertain timing of the regulatory process going forward, certain unforeseen circumstances that arose regarding LevelX since the date of the Purchase Agreements, and since certain material closing conditions under the Purchase Agreements have not been met as required, we have determined that it is in the best interest of Investview and our shareholders to cease pursuing the transaction. Accordingly, we have determined to terminate the Purchase Agreements and withdraw our participation in the regulatory approval process."
Victor Oveido, Company CEO, continued, ''we remain fully committed to the expansion of our Fintech platform through the acquisition of a suitable business within the financial services and/or brokerage space. Expansion of this element of our business has been designed to accelerate our existing strategies and further our FinTech footprintby complementing our proprietary SMART trading platform technology and transforming the customer experience.“
Mr. Oveido continued, “our Board, management team, and employees remain fully committed to expand the scope and enhance the value of our established businesses and technologies, including our acquired proprietary SMART trading platform. We have never been better positioned for growth, with cash and cash equivalents of $24.9 million, total stockholders’ equity of $29.6 million and a current ratio of 2.41 at March 31, 2022. The growth in our businesses provided record breaking net revenues of $72.2 million and net cash provided by operating activities of $27.7 million during the nine months ended December 2021, providing us with a strong balance sheet to support our continued and planned growth. Investview's performance in 2021 and in the first quarter of 2022, underscores the fundamental strength of its business and strategic approach.”
AboutInvestview, Inc.
Investview, Inc., a Nevada corporation (which we refer to as “we,” “us,” “our,” “Investview,” or the “Company”), a financial technology (FinTech) services company, operates several different businesses, including a Financial Education and Technology business that delivers a series of products and services involving financial education, digital assets and related technology, through a network of independent distributors; a Blockchain Technology and Crypto Mining Products and Services business including leading-edge research, development and FinTech services involving the management of digital asset technologies with a focus on Bitcoin mining and the new generation of digital assets; and a Brokerage and Financial Markets business that is currently in the early stages but plans to expand within the investment management and brokerage industries by commercializing on the proprietary trading platform we acquired in September 2021. For more information on Investview, please visit:www.investview.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
All statements in this release that are not based on historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies, and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believe," "expect," "may,” “should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "goal," "estimate," "anticipate" or other comparable terms. These forward-looking statements are based on Investview’s current beliefs and assumptions and information currently available to Investview and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. More information on potential factors that could affect Investview’s financial results is included from time to time in Investview’s public reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year-ended December 31, 2021, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements made in this release speak only as of the date of this release, and Investview assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in expectations, except as otherwise required by law.
Investor RelationsContact: Ralph R. ValvanoPhone Number: 732.889.4300Email:pr@investview.com || FlokiMarvin $PALS, the next Token to Moon: FlokiMarvin New York, NY, July 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FlokiMarvin $PALS on the BSC network is shaping up to to land on moon. The long-term vision of Floki Marvin $PALS is to reach a token value of 1$ at a one-billion-dollar market capitalization. This will be accomplished by establishing strong venture capitalist investments, several strategic partnerships, extensive marketing, software and hardware wallet development and unparalleled community building. Holders of FlokiMarvin $PALS will be rewarded by passive income in the form of WBTC and WETH along with staking opportunities. Launching with a token value of just .0003 cents FlokiMarvin PALS will achieve a 0.01 cent value at a 10-million-dollar market capitalization. At that point, FlokiMarvin will rebrand to PALS to continue its upward trend. The rebrand along with utilities such as its software and hardware wallet, will lay the groundwork for a $1 token value goal at a one-billion-dollar market capitalization! The long-term goal is to move from a MEME focused token to a real coin with value, very similar to what we have seen with DogeCoin and Baby Dogecoin projects. FlokiMarvin PALS is the first iteration of the $PALS token journey, the focus of which will be to build a strong foundation of community and investment for the $PALS ecosystem. FlokiMarvin will accomplish this by: 1) ETH and BTC rewards : Given the current market prices this is a very special time to acquire these two major assets. FlokiMarvin chose these reward tokens to support our investors in automatically acquiring these assets at an excellent price. FlokiMarvin holders who hold more than 500,000 $PALS tokens will be rewarded with Binance-Peg BEP20 ETH and BTC rewards on every transaction that occurs (Buy/Sell). In more detail, 4% of all buys and 4% of all sells will be accumulated in a wallet that will distribute those rewards every 24 hours to the eligible FlokiMarvin holders. Those investors will have to hold their tokens for at least 24 hours before receiving the first accumulation of the rewards and our holders will be able to calculate and monitor their rewards by using their DAPP. Story continues 2) Staking Rewards : Token staking will be made available so that holders can continue to build their investment passively in the PALS ecosystem. The staking platform will allow holders to build their position over time. There will be four staking periods 7 days, 30 days and 90 days. APY % will be variable based on market capitalization but will be competitive. Staking as a utility will bring passive income to holders by enabling them to stake their PALS token and receive the native token as passive income securing their investment. 3) Venture Capitalist involvement : FlokiMarvin $PALS is partnering with venture capitalists with the intent of creating a solid floor price for the $PALS ecosystem along with marketing and community building support from top tier professionals. 4) Community building : FlokiMarvin $PALS will focus on a strong and supportive community. The community will be built via incorporating a 'Socials Build Plan' and will aim to build that community on strong foundations based on market research. Engaging high-profile individuals that have a history of successful involvement in projects in the past. Community was, is and should be the #1 priority for FlokiMarvin. 5) Wallet: Their wallet (Paw Pals) will be introduced as a software and eventual hardware wallet. This will support the PALS ecosystem as a main utility that will bring exclusive features to investors and the wider crypto community. Website: http://flokimarvin.io Telegram: https://t.me/FlokiMarvinPortal Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlokiMarvin CONTACT: Anant Parker Floki Marvin support@flokimarvin.io || Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital fails to meet margin calls -FT: (Reuters) - Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital failed to meet margin calls this past weekend as cryptocurrency prices slid, according to a report from the Financial Times.
New Jersey-based crypto lender BlockFi was among the groups that liquidated at least some of Three Arrows' positions, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter who it did not identify.
Three Arrows, which made a strategic investment in BlockFi in 2020, had borrowed bitcoin from the company, the FT said, but was unable to meet a margin call on that loan. One of the people said the liquidation had occurred by mutual consent, the FT said.
The company and co-founder Kyle Davies did not immediately respond to requests for comment during the U.S. day.
In a tweet, BlockFi CEO Zac Prince said his company liquidated collateral against a loan to a large client, without naming who the client was.
"We fully accelerated the loan and fully liquidated or hedged all the associated collateral," he tweeted.
Three Arrows had tweeted on Wednesday it was committed to working things out. There had been chatter on social media that it faced liquidation issues.
"We are in the process of communicating with relevant parties and fully committed to working this out," Su Zhu, the co-founder said in a tweet, without going into further detail.
The hedge fund was set up in 2012, according to its website.
Bitcoin hit a fresh 18-month low this week, extending falls triggered after major crypto lender Celsius Network froze withdrawals and the prospect of sharp U.S. interest rate rises shook the volatile crypto asset class.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang and Michelle Price in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio) || Exodus to Participate in JMP Securities Technology Forum: Exodus Movement, Inc. OMAHA, Neb., July 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exodus Movement, Inc. (tZERO: EXOD, Securitize Markets: EXOD), (“the Company” or “Exodus”) the leading self-custodial cryptocurrency software platform, today announces its participation in the JMP Securities Technology Forum on July 12th, 2022 in Calistoga, California. James Gernetzke, CFO of Exodus, and Allysa Howell, Director of Investor Relations of Exodus, will have one-on-one and small group meetings with financial sponsors and corporate development professionals. The Company presentation made available during the event will be available on the "Shareholder" page of the Investors section of the Company's website. Please visit www.exodus.com/Investors . Questions for Exodus Management related to participation in this conference can be submitted via e-mail to investors@exodus.com . Contact Customer Support support@exodus.com Press Exodus exodus@5wpr.com Investor Relations Allysa Howell investors@exodus.com +1 (720) 484-1147 About Exodus Exodus is on a mission to help the world exit traditional finance. Founded in 2015, Exodus is a multi-asset software wallet that removes the geek requirement and keeps design a priority to make cryptocurrency and digital assets easy for everyone. Available for desktop and mobile, Exodus allows users to secure, manage and exchange cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more across an industry-leading 10,000+ asset pairs from a beautiful, easy-to-use wallet. The self-custodial functionality is encrypted locally on users' own devices, ensuring privacy, security and complete control over their wealth. For more info visit exodus.com. Disclosure Information Exodus uses the following as means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD: websites exodus.com/investors and exodus.com/blog; press releases; public videos, calls and webcasts; and social media: Twitter (@exodus_io and JP Richardson's feed @jprichardson), Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains forward-looking statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us as of the date hereof. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "will," "expect," "would," "intend," "believe," or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, quotations from management regarding confidence in our products, services, business trajectory and plans, certain business metrics, including anticipated revenues and net income for the year and, in particular, up to the second quarter of 2022, and the timing, means and amount of anticipated stock repurchases. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that are difficult to predict and may cause actual results or performance to be materially and adversely different. Story continues Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and safety of our employees, users, as well as the physical and economic impacts of the various recommendations, orders, and protocols issued by local and national governmental agencies in light of continual evolution of the pandemic, including any periodic reimplementation of preventative measures in various global locations; the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the impact of sanctions or other restrictive actions, by the United States and other countries, and the potential response by Russia thereto; difficulties predicting user behavior and changes in user spending habits as a result of, among other things, prevailing economic conditions, levels of employment, salaries and wages, inflation and consumer confidence, particularly in light of the pandemic and as pandemic-related restrictions are eased regionally and globally; unexpected or rapid changes in the growth or decline of our domestic and/or international markets; increasing competition from existing and new competitors; rapidly evolving and groundbreaking advances that fundamentally alter the digital asset and cryptocurrency industry; continued compliance with regulatory requirements; volatility in the price of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and other digital assets; the possibility that the development and release of new products or enhancements to existing products do not proceed in accordance with the anticipated timeline or may themselves contain bugs or errors requiring remediation and that the market for the sale of these new or enhanced products may not develop as expected; the risks relating to our ability to sustain or increase profitability or revenue growth in future periods (or minimize declines) while controlling expenses; the compromise of user data for any reason; foreign operational, political and other risks relating to our operations; and the loss of key personnel, labor shortages or work stoppages. More information on the factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause or contribute to such differences is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion & Analysis" sections of our offering statement on Form 1-A. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. View comments || Cryptoverse: The funds making moolah from messy markets: By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh (Reuters) - The crypto market's a hot mess, leaving many investors struggling to turn a buck. Enter the arbitrageurs. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have either been shackled to ranges or in decline since January, leaving your regular buy-and-hold investor with little option but to sell or to wait for the elusive rally. One class of seasoned investors is faring better, though: the arbitrageurs, players such as hedge funds who thrive on exploiting price differences between different geographies and exchanges. "In May when the market collapsed, we made money. We are up 40 basis points for the month," said Anatoly Crachilov, co-founder and CEO of Nickel Digital Asset Management in London, referring to their arbitrage strategy. "Arb trading" involves buying an asset in a cheaper venue and simultaneously selling it elsewhere where it's quoted at a premium, in theory pocketing the difference while being neutral on the asset. It's certainly not for everyone, and requires the kind of access to multiple markets and exchanges, and often the algorithms, that only serious players like sophisticated hedge funds can secure to make it a profitable endeavour. Yet for investors who meet the bar, it's proving attractive. Such "market neutral" funds have become the most common strategy among crypto hedge funds, making up nearly a third of all currently active crypto funds, according to PwC's annual global crypto hedge fund report published last week. K2 Trading Partners said its high-frequency trading crypto arbitrage fund, which is algorithmically driven, had returned about 1% this year through to the end of May, even as bitcoin slumped 31% in the same period. Meanwhile Stack Funds' long/short trading fund with exposure in liquid cryptocurrencies saw its single biggest monthly loss of about 30% in May, while its arbitrage-focused fund shed 0.2%. YOUR FUNDS FROZEN Story continues While arbitrage has long been a popular strategy in many markets, the young crypto sector lends itself to the approach as it boasts several hundred exchanges across a world with inconsistent regulation, according to participants. Hugo Xavier, CEO of K2 Trading Partners, said arb trading benefited from a lack of interconnectivity among crypto exchanges: "That's good because you have different prices and that creates arbitrage opportunities." For instance, bitcoin was trading at $27,493 on Coinbase on Monday, versus $28,067 on Bisq. Bitcoin is down 44% this year, and at December 2020 lows. Yet market watchers also point to the possible pitfalls, including technical snafus on exchanges slowing or freezing-up transactions, potentially robbing arb traders of their edge. Some lightly regulated venues in smaller countries, which offer many good arb opportunities, pose extra risks. "It's normal for an exchange go offline," Xavier added. "Your funds can be frozen for some reason." STRESS SITUATIONS Price discrepancies have typically arisen because of the less experienced retail traders who make up the bulk of crypto trades, particularly in the derivatives market. And, while arbitrage strategies are direction-neutral, they tend to perform better when bullish markets attract more retail participation. "Of course, you want to have retail traders on the same exchange that you are when you're doing arbitration because you will have less smart money. When there's a bullish market, retail volume comes back," Xavier said. "If the markets are moving sideways or going down, retail traders cool off. Opportunities are fewer because most of people there are market makers and they are efficient." Markus Thielen, chief investment officer at Singapore-based digital asset manager IDEG said that there had been a shift in recent months, with arbitrage opportunities mostly appearing during "market stress situations". "So the market structure has fundamentally changed on the arb side," he said, adding their arb strategy generated returns of 2% in the last eight weeks. Yet Katryna Hanush, director of business development at London-based crypto market maker Wintermute, said arb trading ultimately had a limited shelf life because inconsistent pricing across different exchanges was bad for investors. "As more institutional players come into the space, the arb opportunities will be eliminated." (Reporting by Medha Singh and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Pravin Char) || Are These Cryptos the Next Bitcoin or Ethereum?: While there are literally thousands of cryptocurrencies, when it comes to the big dogs, there are really only two: Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin is the original crypto , created in 2009, and Ethereum was created as a “Bitcoin killer” in 2015. Together, the two comprise nearly two-thirds of crypto’s $1.3 trillion global market cap, with Bitcoin alone comprising nearly one-half. See: 27 Ugly Truths About Retirement Learn: 10 Richest People in the World Although their prices have been volatile, both cryptos have provided exceptional long-term returns since their respective inception dates. That is part of the reason why investors have been piling into alternative cryptocurrencies, in the hopes of picking out “the next Bitcoin or Ethereum.” But how likely is it that another crypto can rise in prominence like the two market leaders? Here are three cryptocurrencies that various experts and market analysts think have a shot at being contenders . Solana Solana quickly became a favorite among traders to become “the next” Ethereum in late 2021, when its price shot up to over $260. Since then, it has fallen dramatically to less than $40 as of June 2022. However, the crypto market in general has been hammered in 2022, and Solana still maintains a market cap of about $13.5 billion, good enough to rank it as the ninth-largest cryptocurrency. One of the reasons that Solana has often been hyped as a crypto of the future is that it is the only major cryptocurrency blockchain that uses proof-of-history. Proof-of-history is meant to be extremely fast when compared with the proof-of-work protocol used by cryptos like Ethereum, and it also has lower fees. Solana claims it can process about 50,000 transactions per second, compared with the 15 to 45 transactions per second handled by Ethereum. This can allow Solana to scale up rapidly, one of the major requirements for a coin to catch or even surpass industry leaders Bitcoin and/or Ethereum. Check It Out: Crypto on the GO These characteristics have helped Solana win over the confidence of large institutions like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, which once said that Solana could become the “Visa of the digital asset ecosystem.” Story continues Currently, Solana runs over 400 projects on its ecosystem, including decentralized exchanges, wallets and other defi projects. Stablecoins like Circle’s USD Coin also run on the platform. Given its low cost and scalability, the future may still be bright for Solana. Cardano Whereas Solana has gained popularity for being faster and cheaper than Ethereum, Cardano aims to beat the top cryptos by being a more environmentally sustainable alternative. Cardano was actually developed by one of Ethereum’s creators, Charles Hoskinson, suggesting that Ethereum may be based on older technology and principles than Cardano. Indeed, Cardano was designed as the first proof-of-stake cryptocurrency, designed to provide a faster, cheaper, more secure blockchain. Cardano’s approach is more research-intensive than Ethereum’s, with each stage of its development peer-reviewed and thoroughly tested before implementation. The third-generation crypto is also launching smart contract capabilities, which will help make Cardano more sustainable and scalable. As some analysts describe it, Bitcoin is Crypto 1.0, Ethereum is Crypto 2.0, and Cardano is Crypto 3.0. Cardano actually sits as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency, with a current market cap of about $30.5 billion. Like most other cryptos, Cardano’s price has been hammered. After peaking at about $3.10 in September 2021, Cardano now sits at just $0.58, demonstrating the immense risk of investing even in market-leading cryptocurrencies. Polkadot Polkadot is the 11th-largest cryptocurrency, with a current market cap of about $9.3 billion. Polkadot’s “special talent” is its interoperability, or its ability to connect multiple blockchains together into one network. As part of a single network, these numerous blockchains can exchange information without compromising security by leaving the network. This type of secure protocol is viewed by some as essential to the future of Web3, or the decentralized digital ecosystem. As with Cardano and Solana, Polkadot aims to perform better than Ethereum when it comes to cost and scalability. But what may differentiate Polkadot from either of these other cryptos is its interoperability. Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, many investors buy Polkadot not just to speculate on the currency itself but to bet on the success of its underlying technology. If this trend gains momentum, it could help Polkadot’s price remain less volatile than other cryptos, which in turn might attract additional long-term investors. However, Polkadot still remains quite volatile, falling from a 2021 high of $55 to its current level below $10. More From GOBankingRates 9 Bills You Should Never Put on Autopay 23 Lottery Winners Who Lost Millions 7 Surprisingly Easy Ways To Reach Your Retirement Goals 5 Fastest Ways To Boost Your Credit Score This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Are These Cryptos the Next Bitcoin or Ethereum? || Trumps FBI Foes Dismissed From Conspiracy Suit Against Clinton: (Bloomberg) -- A federal judge dismissed Donald Trumps legal claims against former Federal Bureau of Investigation officials he accused in a lawsuit of conspiring with Hillary Clinton and others to undermine his presidency with the Russia investigation. Most Read from Bloomberg VW Billionaire Clan Plotted CEO Ouster as He Was on US Trip Sergey Brin Ordered Sale of Musk Investments After Affair: WSJ Fed to Inflict More Pain on Economy as It Readies Big Rate Hike Worlds Key Workers Threaten to Hit Economy Where It Will Hurt Teslas Bitcoin Dump Leaves Accounting Mystery in Its Wake Former FBI directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe, as well as onetime agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, all of whom were involved in the government probe of Trumps suspected ties to Russia, were removed from the case in a ruling signed Thursday by US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks in Florida. The judge agreed with the Justice Departments argument that the former FBI workers are protected by a 1988 federal statute, known as the Westfall Act, that bars civil claims against government workers acting in their official duties. The US will be substituted as a defendant in the case, though it has also asked to be dismissed. Trumps lawyer, Alina Habba, declined to comment on the ruling. Middlebrooks, who was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton, is still weighing a motion to dismiss the Trump lawsuit by Hillary Clinton, her 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta and former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others. They brushed of the complaint as a swollen political manifesto devoid of facts. Read More: Clinton Says Trumps New Conspiracy Suit Worse Than Original Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek The $260 Swatch-Omega MoonSwatch Is Reviving the Budget Brand Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers The US Has Lost Its Way on Computer Chips Ghosts of 2012 Haunt Europe as Rate Hikes Begin Sam Bankman-Fried Turns $2 Trillion Crypto Rout Into Buying Opportunity ©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 24424.07, 24319.33, 24136.97, 23883.29, 23336.00, 23212.74, 20877.55, 21166.06, 21534.12, 21398.91
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-05-02]
BTC Price: 5505.28, BTC RSI: 66.12
Gold Price: 1269.70, Gold RSI: 39.49
Oil Price: 61.81, Oil RSI: 44.90
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
McAfee Says He Spoke with Satoshi, Claims the Bitcoin Creator Is Furious: John McAfee is sending mixed messages on the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. | Source: CWJ Crypto World Journal/YouTube By CCN : Dont say we didnt see it coming. John McAfee is not unveiling the true identity of bitcoin creator, Satoshi Nakamoto , at least not today. The mercurial tech maverick has put a stop to proceedings, alleging that due to an imminent extradition request to the United States, McAfees attorney believes outing Nakamoto to the world could be too dangerous for his client. The US extradition request to the Bahamas is imminent. I met with Mario Gray, my extradition lawyer, and it is now clear (read his letter below) that releasing the identity of Satoshi at this time could influence the trial and risk my extradition. I cannot risk that. I'll wait. pic.twitter.com/l8lTjR6fQM John McAfee (@officialmcafee) April 23, 2019 McAfee Whiplash Our initial coverage suggested that McAfee might decline to reveal bitcoins father using the excuse of damage to the cryptocurrency community. In a rather amusing development, Fundstrats Thomas Lee felt the need to weigh in on this hilarious situation, seemingly suggesting that revealing Satoshis identity would hurt the BTC price, the community, or both. Wouldnt this be a negative development? Unless SN has passed away already
https://t.co/wvrgK7KvIf Thomas Lee (@fundstrat) April 23, 2019 Lees need to legitimize this saga was notable, but he wasnt the only one adding fuel to this fire. McAfee Tells Bloomberg Satoshi Nakamoto Is Not A Happy Camper Marketing and politics go hand in hand. McAfee is likely going to make a run at the U.S. presidency. Skeptics and non-skeptics alike might suggest that the Satoshi talk is nothing more than a way to keep his name in the spotlight. In another extremely amusing happenstance, Bloomberg (probably in desperation to get clicks out of a wasted interview) released some glorious quotes from an interview with the cybersecurity entrepreneur that one can only describe as prime McAfee: People forget that I am a technologist, I am one of the best. My entire life Ive been tracking people who are the best in the world at hiding their identity. Finding Satoshi was a piece of cake for me. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Fake California Cop Racket Targets Victims in Bitcoin Phone Scam: Scammers are now pretending to be cops in an extortion scam involving bitcoin. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN.com : A notice on the official website for the City of Berkeley police department warns residents of phone scams involving Bitcoin . Calling them “cyber-enabled fraud crime,” the post talks about a woman who scammers attempted to victimize via telephone – even calling her from the number 911. The scammer claimed she was under investigation for drug trafficking and should give all the money in her bank account to avoid arrest. The scammer wanted Bitcoin. Scammers Impersonate Berkeley Police Just this past Thursday, a young woman received a call from a person claiming to be an “Officer Neil Matthew” with Berkeley Police (the Berkeley Police Department does not have an Officer Neil Matthew). According to the caller id, the call came from 510-981-5900 (BPD’s listed non-emergency number). The scammer demanded that the woman send him all of the money (to be paid with bitcoin) in her bank account because she was under investigation for drug trafficking and fraudulent activities. The scammer repeatedly called the woman from multiple numbers—including 911. Scammers have figured out ways to mask their own telephone numbers with official numbers on your caller id. Berkeley bitcoin crypto Berkeley city’s police department issued an alert urging residents to be wary of the scam calls. | Source: Shutterstock The post doesn’t talk about the outcome of that case, but we assume the woman eventually contacted the real authorities to ensure it was all a fraud. The situation brings to mind similar scams, like the recent rash of spear-phishing attacks threatening to release video of a person enjoying pornography. Scamming: A $7+ Billion Industry According to the FBI , the increase in popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has coincided with an increase in scams that demand payment in them. Scammers most often target people over the age of 50. People have paid out over $7 billion since 2014, and the agency has received over 1.5 million complaints. This a considerable portion of the American population, which was calculated at just over 320 million in 2016. The total of scams conducted with cryptocurrencies would be a difficult number to compute. There have been such figures published, but ultimately many things are left out such as crimes which go unreported. Ransomware and old-fashioned social engineering are the most common attempts to extort people. Ransomware has declined largely thanks to anti-virus software that slows its spread, but people are still occasionally found attempting to run these tired scams. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Latest EOS price and analysis (EOS to USD): Latest EOS price commentary The price of EOS has been trading sideways over the last 24 hours and is currently sitting at $5.27. This follows a massive upwards spike earlier in the week that lifted prices by more than 200%. Following this rally, the price of EOS and other prominent cryptocurrencies are now moving in a positive direction, with a few minor corrections. EOS volume has increased considerably over the past few days by around 100% and is now currently sitting just above $3 billion. If this trend continues, we may be officially over the longest bear market in the history of cryptocurrency. Current live EOS pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest EOS price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – EOStoUSD British Pound Sterling – EOStoGBP Japanese Yen – EOStoJPY Euro – EOStoEUR Australian Dollar – EOStoAUD Russian Rouble – EOStoRUB Bitcoin – EOStoBTC About EOS The EOSIO platform was developed by private company block.one and released as open source software on June 2nd 2018. One billion tokens were distributed on the Ethereum blockchain by block.one. EOS is based on a white paper published in 2017, and the CEO of block.one (Brendan Blumer) announced it will be supported with over $1 billion. If you want to find out more information about EOS or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started: EOSBet receives gaming license in the Caribbean By Oliver Knight – April 5, 2019 As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . The post Latest EOS price and analysis (EOS to USD) appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 26/03/19: Bitcoin Cash ABC slid by 2.68% on Tuesday. Following on from a 0.78% decline on Sunday, Bitcoin Cash ABC ended the day at $158.51.
Range-bound through the early morning, Bitcoin Cash ABC moved through to mid-morning intraday high $164.16 before hitting reverse.
A broad-based crypto sell-off led Bitcoin Cash ABC to an early afternoon intraday low $155.24. The reversal saw Bitcoin Cash ABC slide through the first major support level at $161.22 and second major support level at $158.55.
The early morning high saw Bitcoin Cash ABC come up short of the major resistance levels.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC was down by 1.52% at $156.11. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC fall from a morning high $158.69 to a low $156.11. In spite of the early pullback, the day’s major support and resistance levels were left untested.
For the day ahead, Bitcoin Cash ABC would need to move back through the morning high $158.69 to signal an afternoon rebound. A move through $159.30 levels would be needed, however, to bring the first major resistance level at $163.37 into play.
Barring support from the broader market, however, we would expect Bitcoin Cash ABC to come up short of $160 levels on the day.
Failure to move back through the morning high could see morning give up more ground through the day. A fall through to $155 levels would bring the first major support level at $154.45 into play. Barring another crypto sell-off, however, we would expect morning to avoid a pullback through the 38.2% FIB of $152.
Litecoin fell by 1.35% on Monday. Following on from a 1.62% decline from Sunday, Litecoin ended the day at $58.66.
A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin strike an intraday high $60.25 before hitting reverse. While falling short of the first major resistance level at $60.35, Litecoin managed to test selling pressure at the 23.6% FIB of $60.
The reversal throughout the day saw Litecoin fall through the first major support level at $58.66 to an intraday low $57.82. Support at the second major support level at $57.86 prevented heavier losses on the day and a move back to $58 levels.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was down 0.27% to $58.5. A choppy start to the day saw Litecoin rise to a morning high $58.89 before pulling back. Falling short of the first major resistance level and 23.6% FIB at $60, Litecoin fell to a morning low $58.15.
For the day ahead, a move through to $58.90 levels would be needed to give Litecoin another run at the first major resistance level and 23.6% FIB. Barring support from the broader market, we would expect the 23.6% FIB to pin Litecoin back from a breakout to $61 levels.
Failure to move through to $58.90 could see Litecoin fall back through the morning low $58.15 to $57 levels. Barring a broad-based sell-off, we would expect the first major support level at $57.57 to limit the downside on the day. In the event of a sell-off, a visit to $56 levels and the second major support level at $56.48 could be on the cards.
Ripple’s XRP slid by 1.86% on Monday. Following on from a 1.3% fall from Sunday, Ripple’s XRP ended the day at $0.30592
A rise to an early morning intraday high $0.31236 was the only bullish move of the day. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.3160, Ripple’s XRP slid to a late intraday low $0.30313.
The reversal saw Ripple’s XRP fall through the first major support level at $0.3074. Finding support at the second major support level at $0.3031, Ripple’s XRP avoided sub-$0.30 levels on the day.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was down by 0.33% to $0.30490. A positive start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP rise to a morning high $0.30698 before easing back. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.3111, Ripple’s XRP fell to a morning low $0.30422.
For the day ahead, a move through to $0.3070 levels would support another run at the first major resistance level at $0.3111. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, we would expect Ripple’s XRP to fall short of $0.31 levels, however. In the event of a market rebound, Ripple’s XRP could break through the first major resistance level to $0.313 levels.
Failure to move through to $0.3070 could see Ripple’s XRP fall back through the morning low $0.30422. A broad-based reversal would see Ripple’s XRP call on support at the first major support level at $0.3019. Barring a crypto meltdown, however, we would expect Ripple’s XRP to avoid sub-$0.30 levels.
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Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Brexit and Economic Data Put the GBP and USD in Focus || Bitcoin Faces Deeper Price Pullback Before Rally Continuation: • Bitcoin fell more than 1 percent yesterday, confirming a bearish divergence of the 14-day relative strength index, an early sign of bearish reversal.
• BTC risks falling to levels below $5,000 in the next few days.
• A strong bounce from the crucial 30-day moving average (MA), currently at $4,969, would revive the short-term bullish outlook.
• The long-run outlook will remain bullish as long as the price is holding above the former resistance-turned-support of $4,236 (Dec. 24 high).
Bitcoin (BTC) may revisit sub-$5,000 levels in the short-term, as a widely followed technical indicator is flashing a historically bearish pattern.
With the recent rally to five-month highs above $5,600, the 50-day moving average (MA)crossedthe 200-day MA from below in what’s termed a “golden crossover” – a confirmation of long-term bull market.
However, short-term technical indicators, especially a bearish divergence on the relative strength index (RSI), are suggesting a drop in prices before the rally picks up pace again.
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The bearish RSI pattern is widely considered an early sign of trend change and has yielded notable price pullbacks in the past.
The leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization is currently trading at $5,430 on Bitstamp – down 3.5 percent from the high of $5,627 hit earlier this week.
Bitcoin first jumped above $5,000 on April 1 and further climbed to highs above $5,400, lifting the 14-day RSI to 88.00 – the highest level since December 2017.
With the indicator signaling extreme overbought conditions, bitcoin’s price retreated to $4,912 on April 12 before jumping to a five-month high of $5,627 earlier this week.
Litecoin Led Bitcoin’s Price Rally, Now It’s Hinting at a Pullback
Essentially, BTC created a bullish higher low at $4,912 and a higher high of $5,627. However, as bitcoin set the new higher high, the RSI instead formed a bearish divergence – a pattern confirmed with the near 2 percent price drop seen in the last 24 hours.
As can be seen above, BTC confirmed a bearish divergence of the RSI with a 2 percent drop to $9,623 on May 6, 2018, and fell 38 percent to lows below $5,800 by the end of June.
Before that, the 14-day RSI diverged in favor of the bears with bitcoin’s 6.5 percent price drop to $17,700 on Dec. 19, 2017. That was followed by a quick 36 percent sell-off to $11,200 by Dec. 22.
There are earlier notable examples, too (not shown). BTC fell 6.5 percent to $4,600 on Sept. 2, 2017. With the sharp slide, the RSI diverged in favor of the bears and prices tumbled to $2,972 on Sept. 15. Again that was a 36 percent price drop.
Another bearish divergence of the RSI on June 12, 2017, was also followed by a quick 20 percent price slide that ended at lows near $2,120 a few days later.
If history is any guide, the latest bearish divergence of the RSI could send prices down to $4,912 (April 12 low).
The 30-day moving average (MA), which served as strong support in March, is currently located at $4,969. Importantly, the average is still trending north, indicating a bullish setup.
A strong defense of that average would revive the short-term bullish outlook and could yield a rally to fresh multi-month high above the recent high of $5,627.
A violation there, however, could invite stronger selling pressure, leading to a drop to the 200-day MA at $4,466.
The longer-term outlook will remain bullish as long as prices are holding above $4,236 – the bearish lower high created on Dec. 24 and violated on April 2.
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoinimage via Shutterstock; charts byTrading View
• Lightning Labs Launches Desktop App on Bitcoin Mainnet
• Bitcoin Price Sees First ‘Golden Crossover’ Since 2015 || Bitcoin jumps 20 percent, mystery order seen as catalyst: By Tom Wilson and Tommy Wilkes LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin soared to its highest in almost five months on Tuesday, pulling smaller cryptocurrencies up with it, after a major order by an anonymous buyer set off a frenzy of computer-driven trading, analysts said. The original cryptocurrency soared as much as 20 percent in Asian trading, breaking $5,000 for the first time since mid-November. By mid-afternoon, it had settled around $4,800, still up 16 percent in its biggest one-day gain since April last year. Bitcoin surged to near $20,000 in late 2017, the peak of a bubble driven by retail investors. But last year prices collapsed by three-quarters, with trading dominated by smaller hedge funds and crypto-related firms. Today's gain was probably triggered by an order worth about $100 million spread across U.S.-based exchanges Coinbase and Kraken and Luxembourg's Bitstamp, said Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, chief executive of cryptocurrency firm BCB Group. "There has been a single order that has been algorithmically-managed across these three venues, of around 20,000 BTC," he said. "If you look at the volumes on each of those three exchanges there were in-concert, synchronized, units of volume of around 7,000 BTC in an hour". Still, analysts could not point to any specific developments that could explain the mystery buyer's big order. GRAPHIC: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/11/8994/8911/bitcoin.png Cryptocurrency markets had until today seen a period of relative calm through the year, with bitcoin trading around $3,300 and $4,200. Big institutional investors have largely stayed on the sidelines. Concern over security breaches and regulatory uncertainty were cited as reasons for the lack of mainstream enthusiasm in digital coins. In a sign of bitcoin's failure to gain an equal footing with conventional markets, Cboe Global Markets - which offered the first U.S. bitcoin futures contracts in 2017 - said last month it would no longer offer bitcoin futures contracts. Story continues CME Group Inc continues to list its futures product, which launched soon after Cboe. "ALTCOINS" ALSO SURGE Outsized price moves of the kind rarely seen in conventional markets are common in cryptocurrency markets, where liquidity is thin and prices opaque. Big orders tend to spark buying by algorithmic traders, said Charlie Hayter, founder of industry website CryptoCompare. As bitcoin surged, 6 million trades occurred in an hour, Hayter said - three to four times the usual amount, with orders concentrated on Asian-based exchanges. Bitcoin's surge sent smaller cryptocurrencies, known as "altcoins," trading higher. Ethereum's ether and Ripple's XRP, respectively the second- and third-largest coins, both jumped by more than 10 percent. Price moves of smaller coins tend to be correlated to bitcoin, which still accounts for just over half of the value of the cryptocurrency market. "Usually bitcoin is the leader of the market and altcoins tend to follow, as far as direction and sentiment is concerned," said Mati Greenspan, an analyst at eToro in Israel. "Today bitcoin is in the driving seat." (Reporting by Tom Wilson and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; editing by Larry King) || Buyback ETFs Could Enjoy Record Year of Company Share Repurchases: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Company stock repurchases just hit its fourth consecutive quarterly record, the longest streak in at least two decades. Investors can also look to exchange traded funds that focus on the buyback strategy if the pace of repurchases continues. The S&P Dow Jones Indices announced preliminary Q4 2018 S&P 500 stock buyback numbers of $223 billion, which marked the fourth consecutive quarterly record, the longest streak in the 20 years SPDJI has been tracking buybacks. The previous record of $203.8 billion was set during Q3 2018 and the Q4 number was a 62.6% jump from the $137.0 billion reported for Q4 2017. For all of 2018, buybacks set a record $806.4 billion, or up 55.3% year-over-year and up 36.9% from the record $589.1 billion set back in 2007. “Buybacks broadened out in Q4, as the top 20 issues accounted for 44.4% of all S&P 500 buybacks, near the recent historical average of 43.7%, down from Q3’s 54.3%, Q2’s 49.7% and Q1’s 49.5%. For the year, however, the top 20 accounted for 42.2% of the buybacks, substantially up from 2017’s 32.3%," Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a note. The record buybacks came in while stock prices declining an average 5.3% over Q4 2018, which only further increased the number of shares that companies could repurchase for the same amount of capital. Consequently, the percentage of companies that substantially cut share counts of at least 4% year-over-year surged to 18.8%, compared to the prior quarter’s 17.7% and Q4 2017’s 15.1%, bolstering earnings-per-share results. “Buybacks were again favored over dividends in both the rate of growth and aggregate dollars spent,” Silverblatt added. “Companies continued to spend more of their tax savings on these share repurchases as they boosted earnings through significantly reduced share counts. Adding to the share reduction, and therefore the EPS impact, was Q4’s stock price decline, which permitted companies to buy even more shares for their dollars and reduce share count more efficiently.” Company Ticker Sector Q4 2018 2018 2017 5-Year 10-Year Indicated Buybacks Buybacks Buybacks Buybacks Buybacks Dividend $ Million $ Million $ Million $ Million $ Million $ Million Apple AAPL Information Technology $10,114 $74,246 $34,427 $228,961 $260,449 $13,769 Oracle ORCL Information Technology $9,995 $29,306 $3,975 $58,680 $88,482 $3,445 Wells Fargo WFC Financials $7,308 $20,964 $10,301 $57,986 $71,610 $8,189 Microsoft MSFT Information Technology $6,413 $16,300 $8,405 $66,093 $118,506 $14,117 Merck MRK Health Care $5,933 $9,091 $4,014 $28,428 $43,774 $5,679 JPMorgan JPM Financials $5,928 $19,983 $15,410 $54,851 $73,155 $10,478 Bank of America BAC Financials $5,231 $20,094 $12,814 $42,069 $45,307 $5,795 Cisco Systems CSCO Information Technology $5,182 $22,936 $7,771 $46,276 $81,820 $6,163 Starbucks SBUX Consumer Discretionary $5,170 $10,709 $3,306 $18,828 $21,114 $1,791 Pfizer PFE Health Care $5,030 $12,198 $5,000 $32,035 $64,476 $7,995 Home Depot HD Consumer Discretionary $4,445 $9,963 $8,000 $38,843 $57,619 $6,145 Citigroup C Financials $4,206 $14,533 $14,946 $46,705 $50,090 $4,233 Facebook FB Communication Services $4,045 $16,087 $5,222 $21,388 $25,140 $0 Johnson & Johnson JNJ Health Care $3,808 $5,868 $6,358 $33,697 $62,014 $9,587 Broadcom AVGO Information Technology $3,513 $10,771 $0 $10,771 $11,090 $4,199 Walmart WMT Consumer Staples $3,249 $7,410 $8,296 $29,131 $68,413 $6,159 Alphabet GOOG/L Communication Services $2,650 $9,075 $4,846 $19,394 $20,312 $0 Visa V Information Technology $2,494 $7,914 $6,880 $30,050 $56,589 $1,750 Amgen AMGN Health Care $2,250 $17,920 $3,351 $26,902 $49,944 $3,609 Internat'l Bus Machines IBM Information Technology $2,073 $4,614 $4,533 $28,206 $98,936 $5,588 Top 20 $99,037 $339,982 $167,855 $919,294 $1,368,840 $118,690 S&P 500 $222,980 $806,408 $519,397 $2,987,621 $4,703,661 $490,570 Top 20 % of S&P 500 44.42% 42.16% 32.32% 30.77% 29.10% 24.19% Gross values are not adjusted for float Story continues As more companies look to add value through share repurchases, ETF investors can also capitalize on the potential opportunity through buyback-themed ETF strategies. For instance, ETF investors who believe in a rise in share repurchases can look to ETFs that specifically target companies that implement buyback schemes, including the Invesco Buyback Achievers ETF ( PKW ) , the SPDR S&P 500 Buyback ETF ( SPYB ) and iShares U.S. Dividend and Buyback ETF (Cboe:DIVB) . PKW includes a broader selection of U.S. companies that have effected a net reduction in shares outstanding by 5% or more in the trailing 12 months. SPYB focuses on S&P 500 companies with the highest buyback ratio in the past 12 months. DIVB is comprised of U.S. stocks with a history of dividend payments and or share buybacks where holdings include those with the largest dividend and buyback programs in the market measured by dollar value. S&P Dow Jones Indices S&P 500, $ U.S. BILLIONS (preliminary in bold) PERIOD MARKET OPERATING AS REPORTED DIVIDEND & VALUE EARNINGS EARNINGS DIVIDENDS BUYBACKS DIVIDEND BUYBACK BUYBACK $ BILLIONS $ BILLIONS $ BILLIONS $ BILLIONS $ BILLIONS YIELD YIELD YIELD 2018 Prelim. $21,033.30 $1,281.83 $1,116.83 $456.31 $806.41 2.17% 3.83% 6.00% 2017 $22,821.24 $1,066.00 $940.86 $419.77 $519.40 1.84% 2.28% 4.12% 2016 $19,267.93 $919.85 $818.55 $397.21 $536.38 2.06% 2.78% 4.85% 2015 $17,899.56 $885.38 $762.74 $382.32 $572.16 2.14% 3.20% 5.33% 2014 $18,245.16 $1,004.22 $909.09 $350.43 $553.28 1.92% 3.03% 4.95% 5YR Total (mkt avg) $19,853.44 $5,157.28 $4,548.07 $2,006.05 $2,987.62 10.10% 15.05% 25.15% 10YR Total (mkt avg) $16,124.68 $9,119.73 $8,158.26 $3,240.14 $4,703.66 20.09% 29.17% 49.26% 12/31/2018 Prelim. $21,033 $293.99 $240.31 $119.81 $222.98 2.17% 3.83% 6.00% 9/30/2018 $24,579 $349.04 $306.70 $115.72 $203.76 1.81% 2.93% 4.75% 6/30/2018 $23,036 $327.53 $288.55 $111.60 $190.62 1.89% 2.80% 4.69% 3/29/2018 $22,496 $311.26 $281.28 $109.18 $189.05 1.90% 2.56% 4.46% 12/29/2017 $22,821 $288.93 $230.12 $109.46 $136.97 1.84% 2.28% 4.12% 9/29/2017 $21,579 $268.35 $243.68 $105.45 $129.17 1.92% 2.40% 4.32% 6/30/2017 $20,762 $261.39 $231.40 $104.01 $120.11 1.96% 2.41% 4.37% 3/31/2017 $20,276 $247.32 $235.65 $100.86 $133.15 1.98% 2.51% 4.49% 12/31/2016 $19,268 $240.11 $207.93 $103.82 $135.29 2.06% 2.78% 4.85% 9/30/2016 $18,742 $247.98 $219.46 $98.43 $112.20 2.10% 2.92% 5.01% 6/30/2016 $18,193 $222.77 $201.79 $98.30 $127.50 2.14% 3.22% 5.36% 3/31/2016 $17,958 $208.99 $189.37 $96.67 $161.39 2.15% 3.28% 5.43% 12/31/2015 $17,900 $201.95 $163.76 $99.39 $145.88 2.14% 3.20% 5.33% 9/30/2015 $16,917 $224.14 $204.58 $95.07 $150.58 2.22% 3.30% 5.52% 6/30/2015 $18,219 $230.84 $201.35 $94.45 $131.56 2.03% 3.04% 5.07% 3/31/2015 $18,303 $228.45 $193.05 $93.41 $144.13 1.98% 2.94% 4.92% 12/30/2014 $18,245 $237.14 $202.31 $92.80 $132.63 1.92% 3.03% 4.95% For more information on the buybacks strategy, visit our buybacks category . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs A Better Way to Determine Risk Exposure for Growth ETF Investors Report Findings Highlight Fake Bitcoin Trading on Unregulated Exchanges How to Manage A Mature Bull Market With Macro-Themed ETF Strategies In the Know: Building a Low Cost, Defensive Portfolio Women in ETFs, Partners Ring the Bell for Gender Equality READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > View comments || BLOCKTV: Interchange Founder is Setting the Stage for Institutional Investors in Crypto: “Satoshi planted the seed of Bitcoin in the absolute moment of despair in the 2008 financial crisis and that wasn’t a mistake. That was a clear shot across the bow of central banks,” Dan Held, the co-founder of Interchange said in an interview toBLOCKTV.
Held, who has been part of the San Francisco crypto community since its earliest days, is currently busy laying the groundwork for the entrance of the big institutions that are eyeing the space.
“I don’t think we’re going to see the herd. I think we’re going to see more of a trickle than a flood right away. And those institutions are looking for specific types of foundation that has been laid out for them in order to come into the space,” he said.
“We are seeing different components of that being built. Interchange is one component of that around reconciliation and reporting. You’ve got other components like custody that is being built by Bitgo, anchorage and others. And then you have some of the bigger players coming in likeBakktandFidelity. So I think we’re seeing really cool, really forward-thinking companies coming into the space and building the necessary institutional framework.”
When asked when the institutions will take the plunge, Held framed it in terms of a play. “The backdrop has been set. The actors are in place. The orchestra is in the pit. Now, all it takes is the conductor to begin the show,” he said. And what will get the show started, according to held can be a range of things, from the Bitcoin halvening in 2020 to the anticipated approval of the Bitcoin ETF by the SEC.
Held said he remains extremely Bullish, despite the ‘Crypto Winter.’
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Jessie Liu's Women Lawyers' Group Opposed Alito—and 5 Other Things to Know: Jessie Liu, U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., speaking at Main Justice in 2017. (Photo: Bloomberg)Updated at 3:16 p.m.Jessie Liu, the former Big Law white-collar defender turned U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, will face rising scrutiny in the coming weeks as her nomination for a top U.S. Justice Department post advances in the Senate.President Donald Trump on TuesdaysaidLiu was his pick for associate attorney general, the third-in-command at Main Justice. Liu has served since September 2017 as the U.S. attorney for the District, overseeing more than 300 lawyers in the largest federal prosecution office in the country.Earlier in her career, she was a partner atJenner & Blockfrom 2009 to 2016 and worked for a year atMorrison & Foersterbefore she joined the Trump administration. Liu was a deputy general counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department before she was nominated as Washington's top federal prosecutor. Liu was formerly an assistant U.S. attorney in the District, and she has held posts at Main Justice."Jessie has distinguished herself as a first-class attorney in private practice, in the Treasury Department, and in five different positions over her career at the Department of Justice," U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. "With her record of public service, particularly in civil justice and federal law enforcement matters, it is clear that she will be an outstanding addition to our leadership team at the Department.”Liu, a Yale Law School graduate andmemberof the conservative Federalist Society since 2001, would succeed Rachel Brand, who left the Justice Department a year ago to become Walmart Inc.'s vice president of global governance and chief legal officer.What follows are six things to know about Liu:>> Liu formerly was vice president of the National Association of Women Lawyers, serving in that post from 2005 to 2006.The group, founded in 1899, advocates for women in the law. "I am an Asian-American woman lawyer, in a field—criminal prosecution—with fewer Asians than many other fields of law," Liu oncewrotein a column that praised the group for its support for diversity. The lawyers' group in 2005 honored Liu with a public-service award. One of the association's committees in 2006evaluatedSamuel Alito Jr.'s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court and rated him "not qualified from a women's rights perspective." Alito, the committee said in a statement then, "has shown a disinclination to protect or advance women's rights." The committee said one of its primary concerns was "Alito's stance on women's reproductive rights" and that Alito would be replacing Sandra Day O'Connor, "who has been a decisive vote in a number of cases involving the rights of women and laws that have special impact on women." The evaluation committee, selected by the president of the lawyers' group, included law professors, appellate lawyers and litigators. A Justice Department spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon that Liu was not on the committee that evaluated Alito and she did not have any role in the evaluation. As associate attorney general, Liu wouldoverseethe civil division, the largest litigating component at the Justice Department. Liu would also be in charge of the tax, civil rights and antitrust divisions.
Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM>> Liumoderateda panel in 2005 featuring Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor,and veteran appellate advocatesMichael Dreeben, Beth Brinkmann and Maureen Mahoney. Dreeben is a top criminal-law specialist now serving on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's prosecution team, Brinkmann is a partner atCovington & Burlingand Mahoney is a partner atLatham & Watkins. The panelists, according to a promotional blurb, were set to "discuss how they prepare for and conduct oral argument before the highest court in the land." Liu has not argued at the Supreme Court. But she has appeared on amicus briefs and other filings at the high court. In 2015, Liu was on the Jenner & Block teamrepresentingthe U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a friend-of-the-court. The Jenner lawyers urged the court to reject broad police powers to seize business records.>> Liusaidshe met personally with President Trump in 2017 as part of her U.S. attorney nomination process,and that meeting can be expected to be in the spotlight during her confirmation hearing for associate attorney general. Former Justice Department officials questioned the propriety of a U.S. attorney candidate meeting personally with a president. “It is neither normal nor advisable for Trump to personally interview candidates for US Attorney positions," former Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara said in a tweet in 2017. Trump also met withGeoffrey Berman, the formerGreenberg Traurigpartner who is leading the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Berman has recused himself from participating in certain investigations, including the prosecution of Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump. "No one has asked me to commit that I will be loyal to the President or the Attorney General, and I have not made such a commitment. If confirmed, my sole loyalty will be to the Constitution and to the people of the United States and the District of Columbia," Liu told U.S. Senators at the time of her nomination as U.S. attorney. Liu said she first got a call in March 2017 "from the Department of Justice inviting me to interview for the position of United States Attorney for the District of Columbia." She did not say whether she had sought the position, or whether the Trump administration pursued her. Liu was an uncompensated adviser on the Trump transition team, focusing on the Justice Department from September 2016 to January 2017. Liu donated $2,700 to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's failed presidential bid, federal records show. She did not donate to Trump's campaign.
>> Liu reported receiving $896,000 in partner income from Morrison & Foerster onthe financial disclosureshe filed in May 2017.The amount would have included legal services she provided in 2016. Liu's clients in private practice included Goldman Sachs & Co., Chevron Corp., Accenture, General Motors Co. and Booz Allen Hamilton. Liu declined to disclose five individual clients whom she said were subjects of non-public investigations. Liu in 2017 sold bitcoin holdings at Coinbase valued at between $1,000 and $15,000, according to her financial disclosure. At the time, Liu was a Treasury lawyer, and her role there might have involved regulatory and enforcement issues associated with cryptocurrency. Last year, Liu reported on aannual financial disclosurethat Jenner & Block had returned to her $440,837 in capital. Liu's husband, Michael Abramowicz, teaches at the George Washington University School of Law.>> White-collar lawyers take note: Liu haswrittenextensively on the False Claims Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices act,two areas of the law that are significant penalty-drivers for Main Justice—and long the bane of defense lawyers. In 2015, as a partner at Jenner & Block, Liu was a lead attorney on areporthighlighting Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement of the foreign-bribery law. “While 2014 reinforced that the DOJ and the SEC will continue to reward cooperation and self-disclosure with reduced penalties, last year’s enforcement actions also show that the DOJ and the SEC’s cooperation expectations may be quite high,” the report stated. The Justice Department is currentlyassessingwhether to issue guidance concerning its approach to giving cooperation credit in False Claims Act cases, which last year netted more than $2 billion in penalties for the government. As the U.S. attorney in Washington, Liu celebrated the Justice Department’s enforcement of the federal law prohibiting fraud against the government. Announcing a multimillion-dollar judgment against three individuals found guilty of paying kickbacks and causing laboratories to bill federal health programs for unnecessary tests, Liusaid, “This office joins with its Department of Justice colleagues in our mutual commitment to investigate misconduct and recover funds unlawfully obtained from federal healthcare programs.”>> Liu clerked in Houston for Carolyn Dineen King, a former chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.King was appointed by then-President Jimmy Carter. Liu graduated from Yale Law School in 1998. Some of her law school classmates included U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in New York; Gina Raimondo, the Rhode Island governor; Justice Goodwin Liu of the California Supreme Court; and Judge Andrea Wood on the Northern District of Illinois. Jessie Liu holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard College, from which she graduated in 1995.
William Barr Fills Front Office With Trump White House LawyersWhat 11 Ex-Big Law Partners' Financial Disclosures Revealed in 2018What's in Geoffrey Berman's US Attorney Financial Disclosure? Now We Know.Why the Treasury Department's Top Lawyer Sold Off His Bitcoin HoldingsRachel Brand, DOJ's No. 3, Leaves for Walmart Top Legal Post
This post was updated with comment from the Justice Department. || QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patryn allegedly traded large positions on BitMEX: Posting history clues strongly suggest a reddit user who frequently posted about making large-volume trades on BitMEX might in fact be Michael Patryn , co-founder of QuadrigaCX. QuadrigaCX, a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, ceased operations on Jan. 26, leaving many of its clients confused and panicked. Seven weeks prior, the firm’s CEO and co-founder, Gerald Cotten, suddenly passed away. QuadrigaCX filed an application for creditor protection in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Feb. 8, citing issues with locating “very significant cryptocurrency reserves held in cold wallets.” Michael Patryn's connection to MikeXBT Patryn appears to have repeatedly posted on reddit going by the username ' MikeXBT '. In MikeXBT's last public comment posted a month ago, he seemed to confirm that he is a shareholder in QuadrigaCX. He said: We were invited. It was not mandatory. Most shareholders did not attend. In another comment posted in February, MikeXBT responded to another user calling him “Mr Patryn.” In April 2014, MikeXBT was also directly linked to Michael Patryn as one of the candidates running for a slot on the Bitcoin Alliance board. Francis Pouliot posted his information on a public forum in 2014 including his handle ‘MIKE XBT’. Globe and Mail published a story last week asserting that Michael Patryn’s real name was Omar Dhanani and that he was a “convicted felon who served time in the United States for his role in an online identity-theft ring.” In 2004, when Dhanani was 20 years old, he was arrested by the United States Secret Service for operating an anonymous “electronic money-laundering service.” U.S. court records indicated that Dhanani had an alias of Omar Patryn. He was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and released in May 2007. According to Patryn, he had split with QuadrigaCX in 2016 , after having a fight with Cotten about taking the company public. BitMEX positions The connection between MikeXBT and Michael Patryn could potentially be problematic because the account often posted about taking unusually large positions on BitMEX. Some internet commentators went as far as to accuse Patryn of using some of the QuadrigaCX’s funds to trade. In one of the comments posted on r/BitcoinMarkets in April 2018, u/MikeXBT said: Closed my $7m long posted here from $6580, at an average of $6840. A gain of approximately 4%, plus earned a bit in maker fees and perpetual fundings. In September 2018, MikeXBT posted about taking positions as high as $8 million. Long $8 MM @ $6646. 1x leverage, soft stops at 5%. I allowed part of my hedge short to expire during the September settlement on Mex, planning to reopen in $500k chunks as the price increases. Story continues MikeXBT didn’t take long positions exclusively though. He also took plenty of short positions such as this one from April 2018. Added $1MM to my $2MM short @ $8722. Current position $3MM @ $8895. I’m still expecting substantial downward movement, but will consider this trade lost if we break the $9400 range with conviction. A Twitter account ‘I am Nomad’ also posted what seems to be a list of positions taken by a user ‘Patryn’ on BitMEX. Evidence certainly points to Patryn having taken some large positions on BitMEX, but what’s still not clear is how exactly he funded his multi-million dollar trades. View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Mar 14, 2019: The current Mayer Multiple is 0.79 with a $BTC price of $USD 3,879.79 and a 200 day moving average of $4,915.27 USD. The @TIPMayerMultple has historically been higher 82.00% of the time with an average of 1.48. Learn more at: http://MayerMultiple.com || #cryptocurrency Price Analysis for #Bitsend #BSD :
Last Hour Change : 0.33 % || 11-03-2019 08:00
Price in #USD : 0.0503451998 || Price in #EUR : 0.0448187065
New Price in #Bitcoin #BTC : 0.00001278 || #Coin Rank 734 || 04-07 21:00(GMT)
#SPINDLE price
$SPD (BTC)
Yobit :0.00000017
HitBTC :0.00000017
LiveCoin:0.00000014
$SPD (JPY)
Yobit :0.10
HitBTC :0.09
LiveCoin:0.08 || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $TRX 303 Tweets
2位 $BTC 260 Tweets
3位 $XRP 73 Tweets
4位 $C20 52 Tweets
5位 $XLM 52 Tweets
2019-04-29 00:00 ～ 2019-04-29 00:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
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https://t.co/6oUMimn7jq https://t.co/Mlni5KVlge || Mar 20, 2019 15:32:00 UTC | 4,030.20$ | 3,548.70€ | 3,055.10£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/jfjNYBKLXU || A March 2014 Newsweek story by Leah McGrath Goodman claimed to reveal the man behind Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Leah had become convinced that “Dorian Nakamoto” was in fact the famed Satoshi. But Dorian publicly denied it & Satoshi’s P2P Foundation did too. What do you think? https://t.co/xuj7anMWSy || ₿ One wallet #bitcoin all the others are pale & bland liners. pic.twitter.com/lXcTzayv2R
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Trend: up || Prices: 5768.29, 5831.17, 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-03-11]
BTC Price: 3905.23, BTC RSI: 54.74
Gold Price: 1288.80, Gold RSI: 42.29
Oil Price: 56.79, Oil RSI: 58.07
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Why This Unholy Trinity of State-Run Crypto Projects Could Poison Donald Trump’s Stance on Bitcoin: donald trump bitcoin crypto For a man as verbose as US President Donald Trump, the former real estate developer and reality television star has had little to say about bitcoin. However, there are a growing number of reasons to expect that when Trump finally does address the subject of cryptocurrency, it won’t be to praise the innovative nature of this technology and nascent asset class but rather to call for its imminent demise. Read More: Here’s What Every Major 2020 US Presidential Candidate Has Said about Bitcoin Trump Lays into ‘Radical’ Iran in State of the Union Address donald trump state of the union iran bitcoin Donald Trump criticized Iran in his State of the Union address. | Source: Doug Mills / POOL / AFP For the latest red flag, look no further than the president’s second State of the Union address. No, Trump didn’t call out bitcoin for its perceived — and inaccurate — reputation as a tool for money laundering and terrorism financing, but he did devote significant attention to Iran, a US geopolitical foe who reportedly wants to use crypto technology to accomplish at least one of those illicit goals. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bitcoin Price Clings to Interim Support While Litecoin Puts Stellar Back in its Place: ByCCN.com: The 24-hour period didn’t see much ultimate change in the Bitcoin price or the other few top cryptocurrencies. Litecoin overtook Stellar, however, following a rebranding earlier this week.
As noted by technical analysts Paul McNeal and Brian Swanny, a breakout in either direction may be imminent after several days of tight trading ranges in theBitcoin price.
Bitcoin closed the 24-hour period above $3,600 at Bitfinex but below that figure on most other exchanges. For example, on itBit it closed out the period around $3,547, with a daily low as far down as $3,528 — just barely above itsinterim supportlevel.
Read the full story onCCN.com
. || Did Bitcoin’s Q4 2018 Price Performance Prove It’s Not Digital Gold? Think Again: Gold, Bitcoin Writing for Market Watch Tuesday, Aaron Hankin asserts that Bitcoin’s price plunge along with the NASDAQ and other equities benchmarks in Q4 2018 proves Bitcoin is more like a tech stock than digital gold as some Bitcoin proponents have characterized it. Typically when soft assets like stocks and bonds are in free fall, investors’ money flees into hard assets like precious metals for shelter from the market turbulence. That’s exactly what happened with gold in Q4 2018. As Wall Street crashed and burned, the spot price of gold was buoyed by investors looking for relief from the hemorrhaging. If Bitcoin is like a digital version of gold as many of its most high-profile proponents (like the Winklevoss brothers or Peter Thiel ) have suggested, then it stands to reason, Hankin argues, that the same thing should have happened to the price of Bitcoin last quarter. Read the full story on CCN.com . || $2.2 Billion and Climbing: How Litecoin Surged 10% Overnight to Become the 4th Largest Cryptocurrency: Litecoin (LTC) has increased by more than 10 percent in value in the past 3 hours from $33 to $38, becoming the 4th largest currency in the global crypto market.
EOS, which secured its position as the 4th most valuable cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum since 2018, was surpassed by Litecoin.
Litecoin price Chart via TradingView
The abrupt increase in the value of Litecoin comes in a period during which its open-source developer community has made significant progress in implementing scaling and privacy solutions such as Confidential Transactions and Mimblewimble.
Read the full story onCCN.com. || Payment system Zeux brings BSV on board: Bitcoin Cash breakaway venture BSV has received a shot in the arm from a payment system which has now adopted the crypto onto its platform. Zeux – a London-based fintech company offering instant crypto payments – will now allow BSV holders to spend anywhere that accepts Apple Pay or Samsung Pay. By adding Bitcoin SV (BSV) to its portfolio, Zeux aims to integrate key financial services like payments, banking, and investments into one app. The move was welcomed by Calvin Ayre – the leading figure behind Bitcoin Cash before breaking away with Bitcoin Cash Satoshi Vision (BSV) following a hard fork in November 2018. “It is becoming increasingly clear from proof rather than talk that BSV is the only scalable coin out there. It is key to show the tangible utility of BSV,” he said. “Being on-boarded by Zeux adds a very important layer for BSV as it can now be used to pay in people’s daily lives. “It is a pivotal moment for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies – very exciting times.” Foreign exchange Zeux boasts an in-built investment platform and a foreign exchange function while charging no fees for account opening, money transfers, or top ups. Zeux’s CEO and founder – Frank Zhou – said he was delighted to bring BSV on board. “As one of the biggest cryptocurrencies, this represents a big step forward to Zeux becoming the world’s first crypto mobile payment and investment app,” he beamed. “I believe that, together, we can provide our customers with more personal financial freedom by combing the fiat and crypto worlds.” Meanwhile, Bitcoin Association president Jimmy Nguyen suggested the match was a good move for both parties. “Bitcoin is supposed to be genuine digital money, and Zeux’s forward-thinking platform makes this an immediate reality,” he said. “BSV has shown recently with a 100MB mined block that it can properly scale, and now it is showing utility as well. “Scalability and use are the most important factors in demonstrating how Bitcoin, by which I mean BSV, can become a global, low-transaction fee digital currency.” Story continues Hard fork BSV, at only five months old, created a storm when it was born from the Bitcoin Cash hard fork in mid-November, which coincided with a sudden and huge drop in the value of Bitcoin. BTC had levelled at $6,500 for much of 2018 before the fork, which then resulted in a hashing war between BSV and rival Bitcoin ABC (Adjustable Blocksize Cap) endorsed by Roger Ver and Bitmain’s Jihan Wu. The fallout was, in many eyes, the trigger that caused the resulting crypto crash in the 48 hours after the hard fork – something denied by Calvin Ayre. “The hard fork was a distraction, but the downturn is because the SegWit coin that’s erroneously still called Bitcoin (Core) now follows the old-fashioned financial trends,” he told Coin Rivet at the time. “It’s also because people wrongly focus on market cap when it should be about scalability and actual usability.” Bitcoin will be worth nothing in 2019, predicts industry firebrand Calvin Ayre By Darren Parkin – March 8, 2019 The post Payment system Zeux brings BSV on board appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Thai SEC Added 3 Cryptos to List of Crypto Assets Suitable for ICOs and Trading: The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (Thai SEC) has updated the list of cryptocurrencies suitable for use in initial coin offering ( ICO ) investments and trading pairs. An official Thai SEC statement reported the development on Feb. 28. Until now, Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ethereum ( ETH ), Ripple ( XRP ) and Stellar ( XLM ) could be used for the purposes mentioned above when complying with regulation in Thailand. In this statement, the commission informs the public that Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ), Ethereum Classic ( ETC ) and Litecoin ( LTC ) have been added to the list. Lastly, the statement also specifies that the presence of any given crypto asset in the list does not render it a legal tender. As Cointelegraph recently reported , Thailands National Legislative Assembly has officially allowed the issuance of tokenized securities on blockchain through an amendment to the Securities and Exchange Act; those changes will come into effect later this year. Also, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) of Thailand announced in January that they have developed blockchain technology for e-voting . According to NECTEC, once 5G is eventually adopted, all votes will be connected with the new technology. In December last year, the Thai SEC announced that it is planning a public hearing with the aim of loosening rules that form a barrier to ICOs. Related Articles: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, TRON, Binance Coin, Bitcoin SV: Price Analysis, February 27 Bitcoin Approaches $3,900 as Crypto Markets Stabilize, Stock Market Slightly Down Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, Tron, Binance Coin, Cardano: Price Analysis, Feb. 25 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, EOS, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, Tron, Binance Coin, Cardano: Price Analysis, Feb. 22 || U.S Mortgages – Rates Hold Steady, While Applications Rise Further: Mortgage rates held steady in the week ending 17thJanuary 2019, with 30-year fixed rates holding onto last week’s decline to remain unchanged at 4.45%.
The lack of an upward move marked a 10thconsecutive week of flat or weekly declines.
Economic data out through the week was on the lighter side, with key stats through the week including inflation, manufacturing PMI and weekly jobless claims figures.
While the Philly FED Manufacturing PMI bounced in January, the NY Empire State Manufacturing PMI reported materially slower growth, with the PMI falling to its lowest level in over a year.
The numbers were certainly contrasting between the two states, with the new orders index hitting a 6-month high in Philly, while slowing in NY State.
A common theme between the two states was a fall in input prices, suggesting that inflationary pressures were easing, a negative for U.S Treasury yields.
On the monetary policy front, FOMC members continued to deliver or a more dovish stance to pin back any upward move in yields, with the U.S equity markets managing to make gains through the week in spite of some negative earnings results from the financial sector.
Outside of the U.S, economic data out of China reflected the effects of the ongoing trade war with the U.S, both imports and exports on the slide in December. While the trade surplus widened further, the larger slide in imports is an ominous sign of what could lie ahead should there be no near-term resolution.
Freddie Mac weekly average rates for new mortgages as of 17thJanuary were quoted to be:
• 30-year fixed rate loan remained unchanged at 4.45% in the week, while up from 4.04% a year ago. The average fee slipped from 0.5 points to 0.4 points.
• 15-year fixed rates fell from 3.89% to 3.88% in the week, while up from 3.49% from a year ago. The average fee remained unchanged at 0.4 points.
• 5-year fixed rates increased from 3.83% to 3.87% in the week and up 0.41% from last year’s 3.46%. The average fee held steady at 0.3 points.
Mortgage Bankers’ Association Rates for the week ending 11thJanuary were quoted to be:
• Average interest rates for 30-year fixed, backed by the FHA, increased from 4.70% to 4.76%, with points increasing from 0.47 to 0.52 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
• Average interest rates for 30-year fixed with conforming loan balances remained unchanged at 4.74%, the lowest level since Apr-18, with points decreasing from 0.47 to 0.45 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
• Average 30-year rates for jumbo loan balances increased from 4.52% to 4.53%, with points increasing from 0.28 to 0.31 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
Weekly figures released by the Mortgage bankers Association showed that the Market Composite Index, which is a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased by 13.5% in the week ending 11thJanuary, following on from the previous week’s 23.5% jump. A second sold week of increases saw the index hit its highest level since February 2018.
The Refinance Index bounced by another 19% in the week ending 11thJanuary, following on from the previous week’s 35% surge, to take the index to its highest level since March 2018.
The share of refinance mortgages increased from 45.8% to 46.8%, week-on-week in the week ending 11thJanuary, following on from the previous week’s increase from 42.7% to 45.8%, to hit the highest level since January 2018.
According to the MBA, mortgage rates were pinned back due to uncertainty over the extended government shutdown, continued evidence of slowing global growth, Brexit, a more patient FED and a choppy stock market.
With mortgage rates on a downward trend, inventories on the rise and labour market conditions remaining solid, the peak season for homebuyers could provide the sector a much needed boost, mortgage rates needing to hold or head further down going into March to drive a surge in buying activity.
The MBA released its new home purchase mortgage application figures for December:
• Mortgage applications for new home purchases fell by 6.1% year-on-year, while down by 13% compared with November.
• New home sales fell from 627,000 units to 552,000 units, marking a 2ndconsecutive monthly fall, with economic uncertainty and a choppy stock market environment being attributed to the decline.
• The slide in applications comes in spite of the downward trend in mortgage rates and solid labor market conditions.
For the week ahead
Economic data is on the lighter side, with key stats including prelim January private sector PMI numbers, December existing home sales figures, durable goods orders numbers and the weekly jobless claims numbers in what’s a shortened week, the U.S markets closed on Monday.
While we can expect the private sector PMI and durable goods orders figures to be the key drivers from the economic calendar, the greater influence on U.S Treasury yields and U.S mortgage rates will come from market risk appetite, a number of factors expected to drive the U.S market near-term:
• Brexit: An extension to the 29thMarch departure date should ease any near-term market angst and raise the possibility of a 2nd
• S – China trade talks: Progress will need to be made to support a jump in yields, the news late last week suggesting that the U.S administration may look to ease tariffs on China.
• S Government shutdown: Now the longest ever, the more extended the more negative for yields.
• S and Global economic outlook: GDP figures out of China at the start of the week could hit risk appetite hard should the numbers catch the markets off-guard.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Bitcoin – Can Bitcoin Recover to $3,800 or is a Reversal on the Cards?
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 19/01/19
• USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Testing Short-Term Retracement Zone; Strengthens Over 110.452, Weakens Under 109.445
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• Bitcoin – Tight Ranges Return, Which Could Spell Trouble For The Bulls || Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 23/02/19: Bitcoin Cash ABC gained 0.43% on Friday. Partially reversing a 3.69% fall from Thursday, Bitcoin Cash ABC ended the day at $141.23.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC rise to an early morning intraday high $143.25 before hitting reverse.
Coming up short of the first major resistance level at $145.24, Bitcoin Cash ABC fell to a late morning intraday low $139.07 before recovering the day’s losses.
For the bulls, moving back through to $140 levels was positive, with Bitcoin Cash ABC managing to steer clear of the day’s major support levels.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC down by 1.39% to $140.08. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC fall from $142 levels to a morning low $139.46 before finding support. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $143.3, Bitcoin Cash ABC came within range of the first major support level at $139.12.
For the day ahead, a move through to $141 levels would signal a 2ndhalf of a day recovery. A broad-based crypto rebound would support a move through to $143 levels to bring the first major support level at $143.3 into play. In the event of a rebound, Bitcoin Cash ABC could take a run at the second major resistance level at $145.36 before any pullback. The current week’s high $149 would continue to keep $150 levels out of play.
Failure to move back through to $141 levels could see Bitcoin Cash ABC fall back to sub-$140 levels. A fall through the first major support level at $139.12 would bring $138 levels into play before any recovery. We would expect Bitcoin Cash ABC to avoid heavier losses and the second major support level at $137 in the event of a reversal.
Litecoin rose by 1.24% on Friday. Partially reversing a 5.07% fall from Thursday, Litecoin ended the day at $49.07.
A relatively range-bound day saw Litecoin recover from a mid-morning intraday low $47.83 to strike an early afternoon intraday high $49.47.
Steering clear of the day’s major support and resistance levels, Litecoin managed to recover to $49 levels by the day’s end.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was down by 1.43% to $48.37. Bearish through the morning, Litecoin fell to a morning low $48.03 before steadying.
While falling short of the first major resistance level at $49.75, with a start of a day morning high $49.14, Litecoin called on support at the first major support level at $48.11 in the early hours.
For the day ahead, a move back through to $48.80 levels would support a breakthrough to $49 levels. Support from the broader market would be needed for Litecoin to take a run at the first major resistance level at $49.75. We would expect $50 levels to be out of reach for a 2ndconsecutive day.
Failure to move through to $48.80 levels could see Litecoin fall back through the first major support level at $48.11. While Litecoin may slide through to $47 levels, we would expect the day’s second major support level at $47.15 to be left untested, barring a crypto meltdown that would bring $46 levels into play.
Ripple’s XRP gained 0.55% on Friday. Partially reversing a 3.32% fall from Thursday, Ripple’s XRP ended the day at $0.32841.
A bearish start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP fall to a mid-morning intraday low $0.32018 before recovering.
Steering clear of the day’s first major support level at $0.3191. Litecoin recovering to an early afternoon intraday high $0.33111 before easing back to $0.32 levels.
The day’s high came up short of the first major resistance level at $0.3375.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was down by 0.86% to $0.32558. An early morning high $0.32939 came up short of the first major resistance level at $0.3330 before hitting reverse.
The reversal saw Ripple’s XRP fall through to a morning low $0.32402 before steadying. The day’s major support levels were left untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move back through to $0.3270 levels would be needed to support another run at the first major resistance level at $0.3330. A shift in sentiment would support a run at the second major resistance level at $0.3375 before any pullback. We would expect Friday’s high $0.33111 to pin Ripple’s XRP back from $0.34 levels on the day.
Failure to move through to $0.3270 levels could see Ripple’s XRP call on support at the first major support level at $0.3220 before any recovery. Barring a broad-based crypto sell-off, we would expect Ripple’s XRP to steer clear of sub-$0.32 support levels on the day.
Buy & Sell Cryptocurrency Instantly
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Crude Oil Price Update – High-to-High Analysis Indicates Rally is Slowing
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• Crude Oil Price Forecast – crude oil markets testing resistance
• S&P 500 Price Forecast – stock markets facing overhead resistance || Another Bitcoin Indicator Signals Price Bottom May Be Forming: A technical indicator that incorporates both bitcoin’s price and trading volume is signaling the cryptocurrency may have bottomed in December.
The money flow index (MFI), also known as the volume-weighted relative strength index, is used to identify buying and selling pressure and oscillates between zero to 100. A rising MFI indicates an increase in buying pressure, while a falling MFI is considered a sign of increasing selling pressures.
Essentially, the MFI validates or confirms price trends. Many times, however, the indicator diverges from the prevailing market trend.
Angry Bitcoin Fans Delete Coinbase Accounts to Protest Neutrino Acquisition
For instance, BTC dashed hopes of a long-term bullish reversal with a break below $6,000 on Nov. 14 and hit a 15-month low of $3,122 on Dec. 15. The 14-week MFI also nosedived from the high of 43.00 in mid-November, confirming the sell-off in prices.
The indicator, however, bottomed out with a higher low at 22.00, contradicting the lower low in bitcoin’s price. That bullish divergence is widely considered an early warning of a bearish-to-bullish trend reversal. Supporting that argument is the fact BTC snapped its record six-month losing streak with a 10 percent gain in February and the MFI rose from 25 to 44.
Other indicators like the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) and thebearish crossoverof the 50- and 100-week moving average are also signaling long-term bearish exhaustion. These tools, however, don’t incorporate trading volumes. The MFI, therefore, stands out as a more reliable technical tool.
That said, with a number of indicators pointing to bullish reversal, the probability of BTC picking a strong bid a yearahead ofthe mining reward halving appears high.
Bitcoin Awaits Decisive Price Move as Trading Range Tightens
As of writing, BTC is trading at $3,785 according to CoinDesk data.
As seen above, the MFI diverged in favor of the bulls in mid-December, despite BTC sliding to lows near $3,100. Further, it carved out another higher low at 25 at the end of January and is now rising toward the upper edge of the channel. A breakout on the MFI, if confirmed, would reinforce the bullish divergence witnessed in December.
When it comes to BTC, $4,190 is the level to beat for the bulls, as it is the high of the inverted bullish hammer carved out last week. That candlestick pattern indicates the bulls are beginning to test bears’ resolve to keep prices low â a sign the market is bottoming out.
A convincing move above $4,190, if backed by a rise in the money flow, could yield a rally toward the psychological resistance of $5,000.
The bullish case presented by the MFI would weaken if the February low of $3,328 is breached with high volumes.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoin image via Shutterstock;Âcharts byÂTrading View
• Federal Reserve May Add Bitcoin Crash to Stress Test Scenarios
• Bittrex Leads $1.5 Million Round for South African Crypto Exchange VALR || Nvidia Decreases Q4 Revenue Estimates Citing Crypto Mining Decline, Conditions in China: Taiwan-based computer hardware producerNvidiaupdated its financial estimates for Q4 for the fiscal year of 2019, according to apress releaseon Jan. 28.
The company is reflecting weaker forecasted sales in its gaming and data center platforms, which comes from excess mid-range channel inventory following the slump incryptocurrencymarkets. Q4 revenue is expected to be at $ 2.20 billion, opposed to the previous projection of $2.70 billion according to astatementreleased by Nvidia on Jan 28.
Thecryptocurrency miningfrenzy drove up demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs). However, once the demand began to disappear due to decreased crypto valuations, GPU prices did not decrease enough to attract new consumers to purchase more affordable cards. This led to what Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang hascalleda “crypto hangover.”
Jensen Huang said in the press release, “Q4 was an extraordinary, unusually turbulent, and disappointing quarter.” In addition to a lack of crypto-related business, Nvidia also cites “deteriorating conditions” inChinaas a indicator of lower-than-expected revenue from gaming GPU sales in Q4.
The company had experienced a massive sell-off of stocks at the end of 2018, which sank the company’s stock price by 54 percent, as previouslyreportedby Cointelegraph. News of decreased revenues for the quarter has dropped Nvidia’s stock price by 15 percent, which is now trading around $135, down from $158.08 at opening today.
Crypto markets are currentlyseeinganother downturn, with many major coins seeing significant losses. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV, and Stellar (XLM) are all seeing losses over 10 percent at press time.
• Chinese Blockchain Rankings Released: EOS Still First, Ethereum Second, Bitcoin 15th
• Analysts Warn That ‘Crypto Hangover’ Could Persist for AMD
• ZB.Com User Accuses Crypto Exchange of Reporting Him to Police
• Bitcoin Stands Still Around $3,400 as Most Top Cryptos Report Moderate Gains
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$WAN #wanchain @wanchain_org looks ripe AF coming off of an ATLz with the market acting how it is I wouldn't be surprised if this goes as long as $BTC #bitcoin stays in it's range of $3500-$3800 pic.twitter.com/BkfIiCbon8 || Bs/BTC: 12224247.18 +11.00% Volume: 384.70259342 BTC 1516020.59 USD Feb 19, 2019 1:31 PM https://yadio.io #BsNOW #bitcoin #venezuela || VÍDEO: ¿Cómo funcionan las criptomonedas? (Como Bitcoin) #Economíahttp://bit.ly/2Hm3A5f || $BTC
信頼のリターンムーブ pic.twitter.com/wDWZy64O0E || Our eyes on $MTL... $BTC market on #Binance. Current Price: Ƀ 0.00006760 || #Bitcoin levels the playing field. pic.twitter.com/8bswTgFvZ0 || High Risk Call on BTC Coin Pair.
Candle Length : Short Term - 45 minute. || 日本でも金融会社大手の東京金融取引所がビットコイン先物取引を計画中 || - @CoinmeATM, is collaborating with the coin counter, @coinstar to offer #Bitcoin purchasing facilities in thousands of new locations!
Michael Dupree Jr, Founder of @EasyBitATM , joins us on video-chat to discuss the fast growing #BTM market!
Watchhttps://youtu.be/UsvSAbsAmgs || Bitcoin Cash BCH Current Price:
$130,558
1 Hour: -0.25 % | 24 Hours: 1.34 % | 7 Days: -2.14 %
#bch #bitcoin cash
|
Trend: up || Prices: 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
'FlowRio2016Extra' App Among Top Downloads in the Region: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Aug 9, 2016) - The 'FlowRio2016Extra' App peaked at the #2 spot alongside the worldwide phenomenonPokemon Go, as Olympic fans in the Caribbean downloaded the latest feature from Flow, theOfficial Broadcast Partner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 'FlowRio2016Extra' App, which isfreeto all users, is trending on both iOS and Android and is part of Flow's commitment to transform the Olympic Games viewing experience across the Caribbean.
Customers are raving about the service; GregFF from Jamaica declared, "Flow has done something exceptional here. I have never been able to follow or experience the Olympic Games like this. Bravo @FLOWJamaica" - GregFF (Jamaica), Aug 06 2016 09:39 AM
Trinifido of Trinidad was elated and added, "Okay @FlowTT I have to rate you with this #FlowRioapp. It's awesome. #RioOlympics2016." Fellow Trinidadian, Lizimberlis reported being "...happy I have @Flowtt...Olympic coverage of basketball, cycling and even equestrian." Lizimberlis of Trinidad, Aug 06 2016 12:13 PM.
As news of the impressive ranking broke, Michele English, Acting President of Flow, stated, "This is a proud moment for us at Flow, considering this has come literally on the first day of the 2016 Olympic Games. To actually be in the trending category alone counts as a major accomplishment, to be second place to Pokemon Go which is also the #1 trending search foriOSis beyond impressive. Our goal is to continue to delight our customers with innovations such as the 'FlowRio2016Extra' Appand we are thrilled that they are responding to the investments to serve them better." According to English, "the downloads have so far exceeded our initial expectations, and as the Olympic Games progress and more of our Caribbean athletes spring into action, we anticipate even more activity, more searches and in effect more downloads." Downloads are free to everyone, however, Flow customers have the added benefit of watching the live streams.
For English, the rating has taken on additional significance for the brand in light of the mammoth task the company has undertaken to prioritize and transform the customer experience. "As we place the customer at the heart of everything we do, we aim to complement, empower and enhance the consumers' ever-evolving lifestyle," English also said.
Olympic fans have been gravitating to the 'FlowRio2016Extra' Appbecause of its ease, convenience and complete access to all things Olympics, wherever and whenever the consumer wants. The 'FlowRio2016Extra' App allows the user complete freedom to carry on with life as usual even while enjoying the Games and not be restricted to the confines of the living room sofa. The 'FlowRio2016Extra' Apphas amazing features including multiple camera angles, giving viewers a sense of actually being up front and center at all events across all 32 Olympic venues in Rio de Janeiro.
Download the Free app today!http://hyperurl.co/FlowRio2016Extra
NOTE TO EDITOR:To view ranking visit the Google app store -- it is indicated in the trending section of the store:https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topselling_free?hl=en
For iOS, it displays in the trendingsearches, which once again are based on algorithms similar to Android. These trending searches are also region specific.
The store displays by region -- and is updated on a regular basis based on a complex algorithms, usually based on high volume downloads and usage over a short period. A mobile consumer survey reveals that nearly half of all mobile app users identified browsing the app store charts and search results (the placement on either of which depends on rankings) as a preferred method for finding new apps in the app stores. Simply put, better rankings mean more downloads and easier discovery.
As of July 2016; Android users were able to choose between 2.2 million apps. Apple's App Store remained the second-largest app store with 2 million.
About C&W CommunicationsCWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region -- in over 30 markets. Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty GlobalLiberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com.
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ISTANBUL - Turkey will soon complete an overhaul of its intelligence agency and make new appointments to its gendarmerie as it tries to rid its security apparatus of the followers of a U.S.-based cleric blamed for an attempted coup, officials said on Wednesday. (TURKEY-SECURITY/SCIENCE (UPDATE 3), moved, 748 words). See also: TURKEY-SECURITY/APP, moved, 779 words
Florida to begin aerial spraying of insecticides to control Zika
CHICAGO Florida will conduct an aerial insecticide spraying campaign at dawn on Wednesday in an effort to kill mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, officials in Miami-Dade County said. (HEALTH-ZIKA/INSECTICIDE, moved at 9:50 a.m., by Julie Steenhuysen, 394 words) See also: HEALTH-ZIKA/OXITEC, moved at 11:11 a.m., by Kate Kelland, 346 words
Washington D.C. police officer charged with helping Islamic State
WASHINGTON - A Metro transit police officer in Washington, D.C. was arrested on Wednesday morning on charges he attempted to provide material support to Islamic State, according to the U.S. Justice Department. (USA-JUSTICE/OFFICER (UPDATE 2), moved at 1:08 p.m., by Julia Harte, 218 words)
Brazil to deploy military to tourist sites, stadium security lax
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil says it is deploying the military to patrol emblematic tourist sites in Rio de Janeiro to guard against the "minimal" chance of an attack, though security at the Olympic stadium appeared slack three days before the Games. (OLYMPICS-RIO/SECURITY-STADIUM (PIX), moved, by Pedro Fonseca and Rodrigo Viga Gaier, 454 words). See also: OLYMPICS-RIO/POLICE, moved, 293 words; OLYMPICS-RIO/COUNTERFEITS (PIX, TV), moved, by Paulo Prada, 747 words and OLYMPICS-POPE/ (PIX, TV), moved, 250 words
CAMPAIGN
Tea Party Republican Huelskamp loses re-election bid for U.S. House
WASHINGTON - Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a Tea Party favorite who often feuded with Republican leaders in the U.S. House, lost his bid for re-election in the party's primary contest, unofficial state results showed on Wednesday. (USA-ELECTION/KANSAS (UPDATE 1), moved 10:34 a.m., 306 words)
Clinton campaign studying alternative to U.S. ethanol mandate
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign has solicited advice from California regulators on how to revamp a federal regulation requiring biofuels like corn-based ethanol be blended into the nation's gasoline supply, according to campaign and state officials. (USA-ELECTION/CLINTON-ETHANOL (PIX, GRAPHIC), moved at 10:23 a.m., by Valerie Volcovici and Rory Carroll, 681 words)
WASHINGTON
Fed's Evans says one rate hike may be 'appropriate' this year
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Wednesday offered a lukewarm endorsement of an interest rate increase later this year, despite his worry that inflation is still undershooting the U.S. central bank's 2 percent target. (USA-FED/EVANS (INTERVIEW, PIX), moved at 1 p.m., by Ann Saphir, 430 words)
OTHER U.S. NEWS
Gunman in deadly Austin, Texas shooting arrested in Atlanta
AUSTIN - A man suspected of killing one person and wounding four others when he fired shots from a handgun into a crowd on the streets of a nightclub area of Austin early Sunday was arrested without incident in Atlanta on Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals Service said. (TEXAS-SHOOTING/, moved at 1:12 p.m., by Jon Herskovitz, 216 words)
Pokemon no-go: New Jersey resident sues over trespassing players
NEW YORK - A New Jersey man has a message for the millions of players obsessed with the mobile game Pokemon Go: "Get off my lawn!" (NINTENDO-POKEMON/LAWSUIT, moved, 300 words)
Ex-NFL player Rucker gets nearly 2 years for embezzling from charities
CLEVELAND - Former National Football League wide receiver Reggie Rucker was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly two years in prison for embezzling more than $110,000 from anti-violence charities for personal use and to pay gambling debts. (NFL-RUCKER/, moved ta 12:24 p.m., by Kim Palmer, 355 words)
California wildfires likely to worsen as season peaks -forecaster
Drought conditions in California risk stoking new and ongoing wildfires as the season enters its peak, a forecaster said on Wednesday after several blazes already killed at least six people and charred thousands of acres so far this year. (CALIFORNIA-FIRE/, moved at 6:39 a.m. (TV, PIX), moved, 378 words)
'Massive' breach exposes hundreds of new SAT questions
BOSTON - Shortly after David Coleman took over as CEO in 2012, the College Board began redesigning its signature product, the SAT college entrance exam. The testing company also hired a consultancy to identify the risks associated with the monumental undertaking. (COLLEGE-SAT/SECURITY (SPECIAL REPORT), moved at 1:44 p.m., by Renee Dudley, 1923 words)
Famed flamingo Pinky dead in Florida after man attacks it
TAMPA - A Chilean flamingo named Pinky which was known for its dancing was euthanized at a Florida theme park after being badly injured by a man who reached into its pen and threw it to the ground, Tampa police said on Wednesday. (FLORIDA-FLAMINGO/ (PIX, TV), moved at 12:06 p.m., 205 words)
Man convicted in deadly Alabama church bombing denied parole
An 86-year-old white man convicted in the infamous 1963 Birmingham, Alabama church bombing that killed four young black girls during Sunday morning service was denied parole on Wednesday, prosecutors said. (ALABAMA-CHURCH/, 350 words, expect by 1:30 p.m.)
MIDDLE EAST
Hezbollah sees no immediate end to Syria war, partition in Iraq and Syria a possible outcome
BEIRUT - Lebanon's Hezbollah said the partition of Iraq and Syria was a possible outcome of sectarian fighting across the region and there was no prospect of any end to the war in Syria until after November's U.S. presidential election. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-HEZBOLLAH (INTERVIEW, PIX), moved at 12:01 p.m., by Samia Nakhoul, Laila Bassam and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, 937 words)
WORLD
North Korea missile lands near Japanese waters
SEOUL - North Korea launches a ballistic missile that lands in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated country in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. (NORTHKOREA-MISSILE/ (UPDATE 5), moved, 510 words)
Regional tensions test Japan's new defence minister on first day
TOKYO - Tomomi Inada will have precious little time to settle into her new job as Japan's defence minister, as events on her first day in the office underlined. (JAPAN-POLITICS/CABINET-DEFENCE (PIX, GRAPHIC), moved at 11:17 a.m., by Tim Kelly and Kiyoshi Takenaka, 676 words)
Recession ahead in Britain? Factories slow, business confidence tumbles
LONDON - British manufacturing shrinks at its fastest pace in more than three years in July and business confidence tumbles following the Brexit vote, according to surveys that show an increased chance of a recession ahead. (BRITAIN-EU/ECONOMY (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, 600 words)
South African vote tests ANC hold on cities, Zuma in focus
JOHANNESBURG/PRETORIA - South Africans vote in local elections that could see the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its scandal-hit leader lose control of the capital and other key cities for the first time since the end of apartheid. (SAFRICA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Nqobile Dludla, 700 words)
Fire guts Emirates jet after hard landing; one firefighter dies
DUBAI - An Emirates jetliner arriving from India caught fire after slumping onto the runway in Dubai on Wednesday, killing one firefighter in an intense blaze and bringing the world's busiest international airport to a halt for several hours. (EMIRATES-AIRPLANE/CRASH (UPDATE 6, TV, PIX), moved, by Noah Browning, 733 words)
Russian mayor who took on Kremlin party jailed before elections
MOSCOW - A Russian court sentenced a former mayor and vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's allies to 12 1/2 years in jail on Wednesday in a graft case the liberal opposition said was trumped up to end its fledgling success in the regions. (RUSSIA-MAYOR/PRISON (PIX), moved at 11:12 a.m., by Andrew Osborn, 448 words)
Portugal's Guterres eyed ahead of 2nd poll for next U.N. chief
UNITED NATIONS - Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres could cement himself as the ninth United Nations Secretary-General when the Security Council holds its second secret ballot on Friday, some diplomats said. (UN-ELECTION/ (PIX, GRAPHICS), moved at 12:24 p.m., by Michelle Nichols, 590 words)
Canada launches inquiry into missing, murdered indigenous women
OTTAWA - Canada launched a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women on Wednesday, a long-awaited look into the causes of decades of violence that have resulted in over a thousand murdered women. (CANADA-ABORIGINAL/, moved at 10:57 a.m., 312 words)
Venezuelan women seek sterilizations as crisis sours child-rearing
CARACAS - Venezuela's food shortages, inflation and crumbling medical sector have become such a source of anguish that growing number of young women are reluctantly opting for sterilizations rather than face hardship of pregnancy and child-rearing. (VENEZUELA-STERILIZATIONS/ (WIDER IMAGE, PIX), moved, by Alexandra Ulmer, 1130 words)
Venezuela names general accused of drug crimes by U.S. as minister
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro names a general accused of drug crimes by the United States as his new interior minister and removes from the cabinet his top economic official, who was viewed as a potential reformer. (VENEZUELA-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved, by Andrew Cawthorne, 388 words)
Tropical Storm Earl strengthens as it churns toward Belize
MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Earl bears down on Central America's Caribbean coastline, strengthening as it was forecast to strike land as a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says. (STORM-EARL/ (UPDATE 2), moved, 251 words)
Bitcoin exchange confirms second-biggest heist in U.S. dollar terms
HONG KONG - Nearly 120,000 bitcoin worth about US$72 million has been stolen from the exchange platform Bitfinex in Hong Kong, making it the second-biggest security breach ever of such an exchange. (BITFINEX-HACKED/HONGKONG (UPDATE 2) moved, by Clare Baldwin, 300 words)
HEALTH AND SCIENCE
For pregnant women, Zika outbreak hits home in Florida
In recent days, Karla Maguire has avoided taking her toddler son to a south Florida playground where mosquitoes may be biting. She walks the dogs less frequently and rigorously applies bug repellant when she must go outside. (HEALTH-ZIKA/WOMEN, moving shortly, by Letitia Stein and Jilian Mincer, 840 words). See also: (HEALTH-ZIKA/USA-MILITARY (UPDATE 1), moved, 128 words and HEALTH-ZIKA/FRAUD (UPDATE 2, TV, PIX), moved at 12:18 p.m., by Jessica Dye, 308 words
Memory may someday benefit from electric therapy
It may someday be possible to send weak currents of electricity through the scalp during sleep to help improve memory for motor tasks, researchers say. (HEALTH-BRAIN/STIMULATION-SLEEP, moved at 11:50 a.m., by Kathryn Doyle, 402 words)
ENTERTAINMENT AND LIFESTYLE
Harry Potter casts spell again with "Cursed Child" UK sales
LONDON - "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," the script for a new London play telling the eighth story in the hugely popular boy-wizard series, has sold more than 680,000 print copies in the UK in three days, publisher Little, Brown said on Wednesday. (BOOKS-HARRYPOTTER/ (TV), moved at 10:20 a.m., 350 words)
Second 'Fantastic Beasts' movie coming in Nov 2018, studio says
The second movie in the Harry Potter spin-off series "Fantastic Beasts" will be released in November 2018, Hollywood movie studio Warner Bros said on Wednesday, promising "much more on the horizon" from the boy-wizard franchise. (FILM-FANTASTICBEASTS/, moved at 10:35 a.m., 252 words)
Denver Broncos to acquire naming rights to Mile High Stadium
NEW YORK/WILMINGTON - The Denver Broncos professional football team will acquire the naming rights to its Mile High Stadium from Sports Authority after the bankrupt U.S. sporting goods retailer failed to find a new sponsor for the venue, according to a Tuesday court filing. (SPORTSAUTHORITY-BANKRUPTCY/BRONCOS (UPDATE 1), moved at 12:21 p.m., by Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals, 367 words)
BUSINESS AND MARKETS
Gains in energy, financial stocks boost Wall Street
Wall Street was higher on Wednesday after a sharp rise in oil prices boosted energy shares, while robust jobs data helped financial stocks. (USA-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 4), will be updated till close, 397 words)See also: Stocks slip for third day, dollar recovers ground (GLOBAL-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 6), by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, 501 words)
U.S. private sector added 179,000 jobs in July -ADP
NEW YORK - U.S. private employers added 179,000 jobs in July, above economists' expectations, a report by payrolls processor ADP shows. (USA ECONOMY/ADP, moved, 190 words)
Humana profit plunges on higher provisions for Obamacare business
Humana Inc reports a 28 percent drop in quarterly profit after setting aside more money to cover losses in its Obamacare business, and the company says next year it will discontinue most of these plans sold on public exchanges. (HUMANA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Amruthi Penumudi, 310 words)
Time Warner takes stake in Hulu, lifts profit forecast
Time Warner Inc disclosed a 10 percent stake in video streaming site Hulu on Wednesday, setting its sights on the web TV market, and it raised its 2016 forecast on expectations of sustained growth in its traditional media business. (TIME WARNER-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 5, PIX), moved at 1:37 p.m., by Malathi Nayak and Rishika Sadam, 358 words)
TIAA in advanced talks to acquire EverBank - sources
TIAA, the 98-year-old financial services firm seeking to expand in internet banking, has been in exclusive negotiations to acquire U.S. online lender EverBank Financial Corp Inc for $2.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. (EVERBANK-M&A/TIAADIRECT (EXCLUSIVE), moved at 10:52 a.m., by Lauren Hirsch and Olivia Oran, 379 words)
U.S. frackers surprise themselves as tweaks keep adding barrels
HOUSTON - Nimble U.S. shale oil producers continue to show an uncanny ability to squeeze more and more crude from new wells, allowing them to do more with less as they try to weather another dip in oil prices to $40 a barrel. (USA-FRACKING/, moved at 1:24 p.m., by Terry Wade and Ernest Scheyder, 576 words)
Fed penalizes Goldman Sachs for use of confidential data
NEW YORK - The U.S. Federal Reserve Board said on Wednesday it had ordered Goldman Sachs Group Inc to pay a $36.3 million civil penalty for the unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential information. (GOLDMAN SACHS-FED/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 12:12 p.m., by David Ingram, 254 words) *****************
For story queries, please contact us.general- news@thomsonreuters.com
For photo queries use USCanada-Pictures-Editors@thomsonreuters.com) ***************** || Group claims to have hacked the NSA, wants $500 million to release files: A group of hackers going by the name "The Shadow Brokers" claims to have penetrated an NSA-backed hacking operation , and has leaked a bunch of hacking tools it claims is from the NSA. But that's not all: the Shadow Brokers claim to have much more data, and are currently hosting a Bitcoin auction to sell it off to the highest bidder. The hackers claim to have penetrated something called the "Equation Group," a hacking organization widely believe to be the NSA. A sampling of the stolen files already posted shows similarity between the files and information revealed about the NSA's hacking operations in the Snowden leaks. DON'T MISS: Apple just released iOS 10 beta 6 for the iPhone and iPad The files mostly appear to be hacking tools and scripts, although it's unclear how much the hackers made off with. Their announcement on Pastebin specifically keeps the details of the stolen files a secret, since "Equation Group not know what lost. We want Equation Group to bid so we keep secret." The big question is obviously whether the data is legit. The overt grab for money means this could just be a fake; post a bunch of promising-looking files and screenshots, and then hold an anonymous Bitcoin auction for the rest. The NSA makes sense as a target here, as there's minimal information known about the Equation Group already, and the NSA is unlikely to comment too publicly on the hack. If it proves to be true, this would be one of the highest-profile and most serious hacks in years. Otherwise, it's just a neat fake, and a very bold plan to make quick cash. Trending right now: iPhone 8 concept shows the major design overhaul everyone wanted on the iPhone 7 New photos and video show iPhone 7 Plus in the color weve all been waiting for: Space Black The ultimate Pokemon Go hack that lets you walk anywhere just got even better See the original version of this article on BGR.com || Coinbase offers digital currency to consumers: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it is now offering the ether digital currency to consumers. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public database that can be used by consumers or corporations without the need for control by intermediaries. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian-Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin. "Ethereum is still in an early and experimental phase, and as it matures will likely evolve to serve a different purpose than Bitcoin," said Ankur Nandwani, product manager at Coinbase, in a blog posted on the company's website. "In the meantime, Ethereum is pushing the digital currency ecosystem forward and we are excited to support it as part of our mission to create an open financial system for the world." The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays, and other global corporations which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Nandwani said consumers in 32 countries can now buy, sell, and store in their Coinbase accounts. In May, ether trading was added to its digital currency exchange called GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange). That trading platform is focused on institutional investors and professional traders. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $12.64 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.04 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $10.48 billion and trading at $664.85. Volume for ether over the last 24 hours was around $25.7 million, while that for bitcoin was $61.2 million. At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is one of the fastest-rising digital currencies. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Andrew Hay) || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Eyes Q4 Partnership: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 3, 2016 /MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) today announced it has made significant advancements in pursuing a partnership with an established operator in the Bitcoin ATM and currency exchange space.
The potential partner has requested and been provided by MJMI with a draft Letter of Intent. MJMI plans to acquire an equity position with an owner / operator of Bitcoin ATMs that is also involved in digital currency to hard currency exchange space.
This strategic partnership will not only allow MarilynJean to offer users a faster and less expensive way to buy and sell Bitcoin but also opens the door to the multi-billion dollar international currency exchange and remittance market.
In recent months, the value of Bitcoin has skyrocketed over 40% from less than $450 to over $650. This price jump along with the increased adoption of the underlying blockchain technology by financial institutions continues to draw capital and investors to the space.
MarilynJean constantly monitors the Bitcoin market and is excited that usage of daily bitcoin transactions continues to increase dramatically. According to blockchain.info, the average daily transaction volume has increased approximately 300% since August of 2015, hitting a high of over $430 million in a single day in June of this year.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "The fact that a potential acquisition target has pursued us and requested an LOI further validates our activities in this space. We are working with our partners to build networks that can handle transactions involving all currencies and other financial instruments."
MJMI is current with its SEC filings and listed on the OTC:QB.
About MJMI
MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions.
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB.
Website:www.marilynjean.com
Press Contact:investorcommunica@gmail.com
SOURCE:MarilynJean Media Interactive || The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: UBS Group AG, Deutsche Bank, Bank of New York Mellon and Banco Santander: For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – August 26, 2016 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include UBS Group AG (UBS), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. ( BK) and Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN). Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free. Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog: Big Banks Team Up to Develop Blockchain System Wall Street's increasing focus on digital currency technology has been affirmed yet again with the recent teaming up of a group of financial giants for the development of Utility Settlement Coin (USC). It is a digital cash model based on blockchain that aims to facilitate payment and settlement for global institutional financial markets. Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG ( UBS ) and London-based Clearmatics initiated USC last September “to validate the potential benefits of USC for capital efficiency, settlement and systemic risk reduction in global financial markets.” The successful conclusion of the first phase of this project led to the joining of Deutsche Bank AG ( DB ), The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. ( BK ), Banco Santander, S.A. ( SAN ) and brokerage firm ICAP to develop the concept further. The group also plans to undertake test in a real market environment. USC is a series of cash assets implemented on distributed ledger technology and is entirely backed by cash assets held at a central bank. With a version for each of the main currencies including USD, EUR, GBP and CHF, USC would be convertible at parity with a bank deposit in the related currency. According to a joint release, spending a USC will be equivalent to spending its real-world currency. The group of financial institutions will focus on the financial structuring of the USC and its implications in the broader market. Alongside they will remain engaged in discussions with central banks and regulators to ensure a regulation compliant and efficient framework within which the USC can be implemented. Hyder Jaffrey, Head of Strategic Investment & FinTech Innovation at UBS Investment Bank stated, "Digital cash is a core component of a future financial market fabric based on blockchain technologies.” He further added, "There are several digital cash models being explored across the Street. The Utility Settlement Coin is focused on facilitating a new model for digital central bank cash." Paul Maley, Managing Director, Institutional Client Group, Deutsche Bank noted, "As today's settlement and clearing is a process involving many institutions, it's vital that we collaborate with our peers to develop viable alternatives to current models, creating new digital capabilities for the financial services industry.” Blockchain Buzz Blockchain, the “digital ledger” or the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, has gained attraction for its significant potential to revamp the extensive and complex network of bank payments as well as settlements. While Bitcoin was one of the first cryptographic currencies that drew attention in 2009, several other cryptographic currencies are currently available including Novacoin, Namecoin and Dogecoin. Bottom line Story continues The latest development tied with Blockchain platform crops up as banks are embracing technology and are continuously looking out for ways to restructure daily operations, update back-office functions and making huge investments for auto execution of transactions. While banks and regulators continue to explore prospects and benefits of digital currencies, concerns including security and impact on the broader financial system still lingers. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days . Click to get this free report >> Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free. About Zacks Equity Research Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term. Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons. Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today. About Zacks Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacksresearch Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates. Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report UBS GROUP AG (UBS): Free Stock Analysis Report DEUTSCHE BK AG (DB): Free Stock Analysis Report BANK OF NY MELL (BK): Free Stock Analysis Report BANCO SANTAN SA (SAN): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. || Bitfinex disables trading on exchange after hack: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based digital currency exchange Bitfinex said late on Wednesday that after a security breach on its website it will temporarily disable trading, deposits and withdrawals. The announcement was made on its website. Bitfinex also said it was working to restore limited service to its trading platform. The firm runs one of the largest exchanges for trading bitcoin and other digital currencies such as ether, and litecoin. On Tuesday, Bitfinex announced it discovered a security breach, with about 120,000 bitcoins, or roughly $70 million, stolen from customer accounts. The company said only the bitcoins were stolen. The theft at Bitfinex is the second largest bitcoin heist from an exchange since Tokyo's MtGox lost about $350 million bitcoins in early 2014. MtGox's loss eventually forced it to file for bankruptcy protection. "To accommodate the relaunch, all withdrawals, open orders, and open funding offers will be cancelled," said Bitfinex. "Furthermore, in order to compute losses for relevant parties, settlement of all financed positions will occur in all accounts." Zane Tackett, Bitfinex's director of community and product development, said on social media website Reddit that the company is "settling all positions, not liquidating." He added that the investigation on the bitcoin theft is still ongoing. The bitcoin price fell significantly in the aftermath of Tuesday's security breach. On Tuesday, after Bitfinex confirmed the theft, bitcoin fell 11 percent. It has since recovered, and last traded at $566.79 (BTC=BTSP) on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler) || Does Tesla have enough juice?: Wall Street is in a bit of a funk. Stocks ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) started the day little changed as investors dissect the latest round of corporate results and keep close tabs on oil prices ( CL=F ). Meanwhile, private sector employment came in better than economists expected last month. Employers added 179,000 jobs in July. However, all the hiring was in the service sector, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. Time Warner invests in Hulu Time Warner ( TWX ) shares were sharply higher in early trading. The media giant is buying a 10% stake in Hulu and signed an agreement for all of its Turner networks to be carried on Hulu’s live-streaming services. The company also announced second-quarter earnings that beat expectations. However, revenue fell short of forecasts due to slow growth in its HBO and Warner Brothers businesses. Earnings watch list Tesla ( TSLA ) results are on tap after the market close. Analysts expect sales to be over $1.6 billion for the quarter. Tesla has dealt with a lot of bad news recently, including how the autopilot feature played a role in one fatal crash. Fitbit ( FIT ) shares soared in early trading. The maker of fitness-tracking wristbands delivered better than expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter. Sales soared nearly 47% from a year ago. Profit fell as operating expenses more than doubled with new investment on research and development of new products and marketing. Etsy ( ETSY ) got a nice pop this morning. The online crafts marketplace raised its outlook for the year after revenue topped estimates for the second quarter. Sales jumped 39% thanks to strong growth in seller services and users. Electronic Arts ( EA ), the video game publisher behind titles including “FIFA” and “Star Wars Battlefront,” swung to a profit last quarter. Revenue also beat estimates as players downloaded more digital versions of its games. However, the company’s revenue forecast for the current quarter was a tad less than what analysts were expecting. Story continues HP CEO backs Clinton Meg Whitman may be a Republican, but she’s backing Hillary Clinton. On LinkedIn, Whitman wrote, “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.” Meanwhile, the Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) CEO praised Clinton for her temperament and global experience, which she says are major characteristics needed for a president. Bitcoin robbery Investigators are trying to find out who’s responsible for a major bitcoin heist. Almost 120,000 units of bitcoin were stolen from the Bitfinex exchange platform in Hong Kong. The Bitcoins are worth about $72 million. || Coinbase offers digital currency to consumers: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it is now offering the ether digital currency to consumers.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public database that can be used by consumers or corporations without the need for control by intermediaries.
Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian-Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin.
"Ethereum is still in an early and experimental phase, and as it matures will likely evolve to serve a different purpose than Bitcoin," said Ankur Nandwani, product manager at Coinbase, in a blog posted on the company's website.
"In the meantime, Ethereum is pushing the digital currency ecosystem forward and we are excited to support it as part of our mission to create an open financial system for the world."
The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays, and other global corporations which are trying to explore the Ethereum network.
Nandwani said consumers in 32 countries can now buy, sell, and store in their Coinbase accounts.
In May, ether trading was added to its digital currency exchange called GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange). That trading platform is focused on institutional investors and professional traders.
According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $12.64 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.04 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $10.48 billion and trading at $664.85.
Volume for ether over the last 24 hours was around $25.7 million, while that for bitcoin was $61.2 million.
At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is one of the fastest-rising digital currencies.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Andrew Hay) || First Bitcoin CapitalCorp. FINRA approved Name Change is effective as of today: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 15, 2016 / FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (OTC markets: BITCF), announced today that FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has approved its name change to FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP from Grand Pacaraima Gold Corp. The change will be reflected at the opening of the market today, August 15 th , 2016. For shareholders, the name change has no effect on the stock that is held. The name will automatically change in shareholders' brokerage accounts and the amount of shares will remain unchanged. All shareholders are asked to update their email addresses in order to receive Company electronic communications and further instructions. Kindly send an email to us via: info@bitcoincapitalcorp.com The company is excited to announce that it has developed for its own account and third parties certain crypto currencies such as TeslaCoil Coin (trading symbol TESLA), President Clinton coin (trading symbol HILL), President Trump coin (trading symbol PRES) , President Johnson (trading symbol GARY). These last three digital crypto coins -we believe to be history's first commemorative election coins trading as crypto currencies and public interest in these commemorative coins may increase as the election process comes to a close with the winning candidate's coin showing the most interest. These currencies have been launched using the OMNI protocol, developed by OMNI FOUNDATION and ride on the rail of the Bitcoin blockchain. We also believe that we are history's first publicly traded company to develop a blockchain for our shares to dually trade both in a traditional market (OTC Markets) and on crypto currency exchanges, such as company's own cryptocurrency exchange COINQX. Our crypto currency symbol is: BIT About the company: First Bitcoin Capital is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange- www.CoinQX.com We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new type of digital assets. "Being first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies." At this time Company owns and operates the following digital assets. Story continues www.BITCoinCapitalcorp.com company website. www.CoinQX.com Company operated Cryptocurrency Exchange, registered with FINCEN. www.iCoiNEWS.com real time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site www.BITminer.cc company provides mining pool management services. www.2016coin.org online daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL and $GARY coins FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release may contain forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "should," "intend," "estimate," "projects," variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file at www.OTCMarkets.com. SOURCE: First Bitcoin Capital Corp.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#TrinityCoin #TTY $ 0.000007 (0.47 %) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00 %) || One Bitcoin now worth $653.46@bitstamp. High $655.00. Low $605.50. Market Cap $10.288 Billion #bitcoin || 1 #bitcoin = $12360.00 MXN | $671.28 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 18.41MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || Re: What is The Best site to buy BitCoin? http://cur.lv/11mnwz #bitcoin #crypto || One Bitcoin now worth $570.00@bitstamp. High $573.92. Low $566.86. Market Cap $ 9.033 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/UZpchM7gH5 || Bitfury Research Seeks to Shine Light on Bitcoin Mixing Methods http://goo.gl/0ZhIXE https://twitter.com/BitcoinWrld/status/768225217885929473/photo/1pic.twitter.com/yq7vRzCqmy || #now $100.00 NEW R-Box 110 GHS bitcoin miner (used) POWER SUPPLY NOT INCLUDED http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-R-Box-110-GHS-bitcoin-miner-used-POWER-SUPPLY-NOT-INCLUDED-/232045072429 … || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$653.71/$655.11 #Bitstamp
$648.29/$650.00 #BTCe
⇢$-6.82/$-3.71
$659.53/$659.80 #Coinbase
⇢$4.42/$6.09 || $573.00 #itBit;
$575.00 #btce;
$578.61 #bitfinex;
$576.28 #GDAX;
$572.28 #bitstamp;
$574.99 #OKCoin;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || #MaryJane #MARYJ $ 0.001046 (0.07 %) 0.00000180 BTC (-0.00 %)
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 606.59, 610.44, 614.54, 626.32, 622.86, 623.51, 606.72, 608.24, 609.24, 610.68
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-06-15]
BTC Price: 6456.58, BTC RSI: 31.96
Gold Price: 1274.60, Gold RSI: 32.66
Oil Price: 65.06, Oil RSI: 39.26
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Micron's Huge Smartphone Opportunity: The market for computer memory products is booming, something that has helped to fuel memory makerMicron's(NASDAQ: MU)surge in both revenue and profitability. For context, Micron made $20.3 billion in revenue during fiscal 2017, up 64% from the levels it saw during fiscal 2016. Its gross profit margin more than doubled from 20.2% to 41.5%, and its operating income jumped to $5.87 billion from just $168 million (no, that's not a typo).
It's a good time to be a memory maker, that's for sure.
One of the key demand drivers for Micron's DRAM and NAND flash technologies, which are used as system memory and as storage, respectively, has been the continued growth in memory content in smartphones.
Image source: Micron.
For some perspective,Apple's top-of-the-line iPhone in 2014, the iPhone 6 Plus, had just 1 GB of DRAM and came in storage configurations of 16 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB. Today, Apple'sflagship iPhone Xincorporates 3 GB of DRAM and comes in 64 GB and 256 GB storage configurations.
According to Micron, the growth in smartphone DRAM and NAND flash is far from over. Let's go over what the company had to say about this during its recent analyst day presentation.
Micron says that during calendar year 2017, the average smartphone contained 2.7 GB of DRAM and 43 GB of NAND flash storage. Over the next four years, though, the company is betting that these numbers grow substantially.
By calendar year 2021, Micron thinks that the average smartphone will have 4.8GB of DRAM content with flagship phones packing as much as 12GB. The company also estimates that the average phone will have 142 GB of NAND flash storage by then, with flagship devices coming with a whopping 1 terabyte (that's 1,000 gigabytes) of flash storage.
Micron's numbers are believable. The company thinks that smartphones will take increasingly high-resolution images and videos, which will balloon image size requirements (I'd also add that higher frame-rate videos will dramatically increase video sizes, as well). Additionally, emerging applications like augmented reality, "advanced user authentication" (e.g., facial recognition), and "on-device [artificial intelligence] engines [and] applications" will all drive memory content growth.
Given the historical trends we've seen in the smartphone market, I'd say Micron's right on the money.
Micron has made a compelling case for why overall smartphone industry trends will favor its business, but it's also important to see a convincing case that Micron will be able to fully capitalize on the opportunities ahead of it.
Smartphones benefit from components that are as small and as power-efficient as possible, since such devices are fundamentally power and space constrained. Micron claims that it has the "industry's smallest 512Gb TLC 3D NAND die" and that its LPDDR4X memory is the lowest power in the industry.
There's no way for the public to easily verify this information, so we'll have to take Micron at its word. If true, these are good accomplishments that could help it sustain or even improve its market share position while maintaining robust margins.
Micron also says that it's "engaged" with each of the top 10 smartphone makers and even has a "[No.] 1 quality ranking at multiple customers." The company also claims that it enjoys "deep engagement across all mobile chipset vendors" -- something that's important because in a smartphone, the applications processor and the memory are very tightly coupled.
The company's execution in the mobile memory market looks good to me.
Ultimately, Micron thinks that its total opportunity in mobile memory will grow from around $45 billion in calendar 2017 to $54 billion in calendar year 2021. As long as the company continues to execute well, I see no reason that Micron can't, at the very least, grow its revenue alongside the market. If it does an exceptionally good job, it could even gain market share, which could amplify whatever growth the market itself experiences.
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Ashraf Eassahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AAPL. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on AAPL and short January 2020 $155 calls on AAPL. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || How Walmart Is Stacking the Deck Against the Competition: Compared to the company Sam Walton founded,Walmart(NYSE: WMT)today is fast becoming unrecognizable. Under the guidance of CEO Doug McMillon, the world's largest retailer is reinventing itself by pivoting toward growth markets and creating a Walmart that will thrive in the future. These days, the company is becoming much more than the low-priced, big-box retailer that most Americans think of it as.
Though Walmart stock is down 14% this year, due to a sell-off following slowing e-commerce growth in its fourth quarter, the stock is still up considerably since McMillon first announced the company's turnaround strategy in October 2015, up 44% since then and nearly 90% earlier this year.
Let's take a look at a few ways Walmart is reinventing itself and stacking the deck against the competition.
Image source: Walmart.
Just in the last month or so, Walmart has made three big moves to reorient its international portfolio toward growth. First, the company said at the end of April it would merge its British subsidiary, Asda, with grocer Sainsbury in a deal that allows the retail giant to cash out much of its stake in the U.K. market. Walmart will hold 42% of the combined company and will receive $4 billion from the deal.
The move accomplishes several goals for Walmart, including giving it an exit from Asda, which had been struggling and losing sales in a cutthroat British market, combining it withSainsburyto yield a stronger business, and dealing a blow toAmazon(NASDAQ: AMZN)in the process, which counts the U.K. as one of its foreign markets. Cashing out $4 billion in its investment in Asda also allowed Walmart to redeploy that firepower elsewhere, and it did so less than two weeks later.
Walmart followed up the Asda deal with a blockbuster $16 billion investment in Flipkart, taking a 77% stake in the leading Indian e-commerce operator and giving the company a huge stake in the fast-growing Indian online retail market. Investors actually jeered the news, sending shares down, as it will weigh on Walmart's bottom line in the near term. But India is expected to be the world's second-biggest economy, and if Walmartleverages its partnershipwith Flipkart effectively, it should be a major player on the subcontinent. Once again, this tie-up dealt a blow to Amazon, which has already pledged to invest $5 billion in the Indian market, as the company is a big believer in the growth opportunity there.
Finally, just this week, Walmart said it would sell 80% of its Brazil business, which has also struggled amid a recession and high inflation, to private equity firm Advent International. Walmart could receive a payment of $250 million from Advent, depending on the business's performance. More importantly, the decision allows the company to unload a problem area and focus on growth markets.
Under McMillon, Walmart has also made huge strides in e-commerce. The company plans to have more than 2,000 grocery pickup stations by the end of the year, and it has made several acquisitions to beef up its online retail capabilities, including Jet.com, most importantly, as well as Bonobos, Modcloth, Moosejaw, and Shoebuy. Last year, Walmart's U.S. e-commerce sales grew by 44%, and the company expects the key figure to increase by another 40% this year.
E-commerce growth has become essential for brick-and-mortar retailers in this day and age as consumers have gotten used to the convenience of shopping from home or from their smartphones. At 40% online sales growth, Walmart is outperforming virtually all of its peers, and, though it will likely never catch Amazon, it is taking at least a modest amount of market share from the e-commerce leader. The company has also rolled out programs like free two-day shipping for orders of $35 or more, offering a version of Amazon Prime without the annual $119 shipping fee, and experimenting with other tactics like pickup towers in order to make the most of its store base.
With more locations than any of its rivals, includingKroger,Costco, andTarget, the company's expansion of grocery pickup should help it maintain its leadership in grocery and keep Amazon, with its takeover of Whole Foods, at bay.
Walmart just launched a new personalized shopping service in New York City called Jetblack. Led by Rent the Runway co-founder Jenny Fleiss, thenew program"offers its members the ability to text nearly any shopping request and Jetblack will find the right products and deliver them the same or next day for no additional charge." Jetblack is the first invention to come out of the company's technology incubator, Store No. 8, established by Marc Lore, the founder of Jet.com and Walmart's CEO of U.S. e-commerce.
Lore has also pushed the company to think like a start-up in other ways as the company has several other secretive projects in Store No. 8, and he's focused on ways to get the customer more savings with ideas like Pickup Discount and the smart-basket technology he brought from Jet.
Walmart already has built-in advantages like economies of scale and an unmatched distribution network that only became stronger with its more recent moves. The company's efforts to refocus its business on growth markets, boost its e-commerce business, and experiment to expand its reaches beyond its traditional customer base should make life more difficult for its competitors.
The market may still be skeptical, as the stock trades at a modest P/E valuation of less than 20, but the decisions above should make the company more competitive over the long term.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors.Jeremy Bowmanowns shares of Kroger. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Cirrus Logic Stock Could Be a Good Pick Ahead of New iPhone Launch: Audio chip specialistCirrus Logic(NASDAQ: CRUS)has been a disappointing performer over the last year, as shares are down more than 45% during that time.
Cirrus' business depends heavily on its sales of audio chips toApple(NASDAQ: AAPL)for its iPhone and, to a lesser extent, iPad and Mac product lines. According to the company's last annual filing, 81% of the company's revenue came from sales to Apple during its fiscal year 2018. That figure was actually up from 79% during the company's prior fiscal year, and significantly up from 66% in fiscal year 2016.
Image source: Apple.
As sales of Apple's latest iPhones have disappointed, Cirrus' business and its stock performance have been affected. In February, Cirrus CEO Jason Rhodetold investorsthat while its "design position with key customers remains strong, revenue was below expectations due to unanticipated weakness in smartphone demand that materialized in late December."
In other words, that iPhone weakness that's been evident for quite some time took its toll on Cirrus Logic's performance.
With that in mind, here's why I think the next iPhone product cycle -- which, if history is a guide, should begin in about three months -- could work in Cirrus Logic's favor rather than against it, as the current product cycle has.
Ahead of Apple's iPhone product launch in September of 2017, analysts and investors alike were expecting the company's iPhone X to drive a so-called "super-cycle." In other words, they were expecting the redesigned phone to accelerate the pace at which current iPhone users upgraded their devices, driving a surge in iPhone unit demand for Apple that would, of course, benefit Apple's suppliers.
That didn't happen. Instead, Apple reported a slight iPhone shipment decline during the first quarter of its current fiscal year and a slight iPhone shipment increase during the second quarter of that fiscal year. Right now, it's looking like iPhone unit shipments for this product cycle will come in roughly flat.
Later this year, though, Apple is expected to release a successor to the current iPhone X, much more compelling products at lower price points to replace the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and even ajumbo-sized version of the upcoming iPhone X successor.
In other words, Apple seems to be set to significantly strengthen its iPhone product lineup this year.
That rejuvenated product portfolio could help Apple deliver year-over-year iPhone growth, which would be good for suppliers that depend heavily on Apple, like Cirrus Logic. On top of that, with Cirrus Logic stock down nearly 50%, and with the shares trading at a hair over 11 times trailing-twelve-month earnings, it looks like expectations are in the proverbial cellar.
CRUSdata byYCharts.
The combination of a potentially strong iPhone product cycle, low stock valuation valuation, and what appear to be generally low investor expectations, Cirrus Logic stock looks like a compelling risk/reward proposition at current levels.
Right now, current analyst consensus calls for Cirrus Logic's revenue to drop 11% year over year during the current fiscal year, with earnings per share set to plunge from $4.27 to $2.96 (thanks, presumably, to the loss of leverage that would accompany such a revenue drop).
This means the stock is trading at around 12.62 times this year's expected earnings per share -- that is, if you think the analysts have it right, here. That's not absurdly cheap, but a lot of pessimism is certainly priced in. Moreover, analysts expect Cirrus' revenue to grow by 5.4% in the coming year, with earnings per share set to rise to $3.25. Cirrus Logic trades at 11.5 times next year's expected earnings per share.
I think if the coming iPhone product cycle proves more robust than the most recent one did (I don't think investors are expecting much in the way of iPhone unit shipment growth in the coming product cycle), there could be upside to current Cirrus Logic revenue and earnings per share estimates. On top of that, if investors can simply get confidence that Cirrus' revenue and profit decline are over -- at least for the foreseeable future -- the market might be willing to reward the stock with a higher multiple.
Ultimately, if all goes well, I wouldn't be surprised to see this stock rise by a good 20% to 30% over the next year, and I think at this point, the downside is limited, because what could go wrong for Cirrus (e.g., a dud iPhone cycle from a unit shipment perspective) already has gone wrong.
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Ashraf Eassahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Cirrus Logic. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Now's the Time to Buy These 3 Stocks: You know all the cliches. There's no time like the present. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Fish or cut bait. Strike while the iron's hot. Just do it.
Our society is geared toward taking action. Sometimes that's not a good thing, but in many cases, it is.
I think those kick-into-gear cliches are very appropriate when it comes to investing in certain stocks. Three that especially stand out in my view areAlphabet(NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL),Vertex Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: VRTX), andViking Therapeutics(NASDAQ: VKTX). Here's why now's the time to buy these three stocks.
Image source: Getty Images.
Pretty much any time is the right time to buy Google parent Alphabet -- as long as you don't wait too long. I view Alphabet as one of the best stocks on the market to buy and hold for the long term.
Alphabet's cash cow is its advertising platform that includes Google search engine, Gmail, Chrome, Maps, and YouTube. These products enjoy tremendous market shares. With hundreds of millions of people across the world using its products combined with growth in digital advertising spending by customers, Alphabet appears to be in great shape to keep its momentum going.
But the primary reason I think buying Alphabet sooner rather than later makes sense is that the company is on the verge of seeing some of its "other bets" pay off. One case in point is Alphabet's Waymo self-driving car subsidiary. Waymo is way ahead of the competition in developing self-driving technology. And itcould start making money soon: Waymo plans to launch a self-driving taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona, later this year.
Granted, one cab service in one city won't make enough revenue to even be a rounding error for Alphabet. However, I think this will be just the start of a big opportunity for the company. I also expect some of Alphabet's other initiatives -- such as itsVerb Surgical joint venture that's developing surgical robots-- could make a splash in the not-too-distant future.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals pretty much has a monopoly right now in treating cystic fibrosis (CF). The biotech's three approved products -- Kalydeco, Orkambi, and Symdeko -- are the only CFTR modulators on the market. CF is caused by genetic mutations that cause CFTR proteins to fold incorrectly. CFTR modulators help ensure that misfolding doesn't happen.
While Vertex's current products are great, I'm even more excited about what could be just around the corner. The biotech is evaluating several triple-drug combinations targeting CF inphase 3 clinical studies. If these combos work successfully, Vertex will be able to increase its target patient population by more than 50%.
It shouldn't take long to find out if the triple-drug combos are as good as Vertex hopes they'll be. The company initiated one phase 3 clinical study in March, and two additional studies of another triple-drug combo in April. These studies are expected to wrap up next year. If the results are positive, Vertex should file for regulatory approval soon afterward.
One key reason I think buying Vertex stock right now is smart is that the share price has pulled back somewhat. The FDA recently placed a gene-editing therapy being developed by Vertex's partnerCRISPR Therapeuticsfor the treatment of sickle cell disease on clinical hold, which means planned clinical testing in humans can't begin yet. I expect this toonly be a speed bump for the two biotechs, though, and I think Vertex stock will bounce back soon.
Unlike Alphabet and Vertex, Viking Therapeutics isn't profitable. The biotech still has a good bit of clinical testing to conduct before it even has a chance of winning regulatory approval for any product. But for investors not afraid of taking on some risk, I think now's a great time to buy Viking Therapeutics' stock.
Viking's lead candidate is VK2809. The biotech is evaluating the drug in aphase 2 clinical studyfor the treatment of high cholesterol and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Normally, I wouldn't be overly excited about a clinical-stage biotech that doesn't even have phase 2 results yet. But Viking is an exception.
Last week,Viking stock soared over 80%because of great clinical results from another biotech --Madrigal Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: MDGL). Why such a big sympathy move for Viking? Madrigal reported positive phase 2 results for its lead candidate MGL-3196 in treating non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a serious non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. MGL-3196, like VK2809, is a thyroid hormone receptor beta-selective agonist. Madrigal's results could bode well for VK2809's chances.
There are no drugs currently approved for treating NASH. Some predict that the NASH market could reach $35 billion annually in a few years. With this kind of huge opportunity, several big drugmakers are scrambling to develop NASH drugs. I think the positive results for MGL-3196 could make both Madrigal and Viking prime acquisition candidates in the not-too-distant future. And since Viking's market cap is around one-tenth that of Madrigal, the biotech could be especially attractive to bigger players.
What about the cliche that "good things come to those who wait?" I do think investors could wait to buy any of these three stocks and still win over the long run.
However, the problem with waiting to buy stocks is that it's impossible to know how long you should wait. It's not out of the question that Viking could be acquired next week and see its stock skyrocket. Vertex could reach an agreement this summer for reimbursement of Orkambi in the United Kingdom and get a big bump. Alphabet could announce great news from one of its many initiatives.
Maybe none of these things will happen anytime soon. But I like the prospects for Alphabet, Vertex, and Viking. And -- cliche or not -- there really is no time like the present.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Keith Speightsowns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A and C shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of CRISPR Therapeutics. The Motley Fool recommends Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Popular Ether Wallet MEW Is Hijacked in DNS Attack: MyEtherWallet, a popular web-based wallet for storing and transmitting the cryptocurrency ether (ETH), suffered a DNS attack that rerouted unsuspecting users to a Russian scam site into which some victims fed their login credentials.
An unsigned SSL certificate warned users before entering the phony site but some bypassed the warning, resulting in a loss of funds. MyEtherWallet confirmed the attack in astatementon April 24, 2018.
Hackers did not actually hack the MyEtherWallet platform itself but went after vulnerabilities in public-facing DNS servers instead. MyEtherWallet recommends users switch to Cloudflare DNS servers for the time being.
DNS servers provide the correct IP address for an internet site’s name. If you type in “www.myetherwallet.com,” a DNS server will translate that into the IP address for that site. An SSL certificate protects against spoofed DNS answers by comparing the hostname you enter with the hostnames listed in the certificate. If no match is found, an SSL warning pops up.
Normally when users attempt to visit myetherwallet.com, they are directed to Amazon Web Services, which hosts the site. But this time,according to cybersecurity firm CloudFlare, they were directed instead to a set of Russian IP addresses.
According toOracle's Internet Intelligence division, the hacker was able to hijack DNS entries after executing a BGP (short for Border Gateway Protocol) route hijack that redirected internet traffic meant for Amazon servers. BGP, a routing protocol used by the internet, is known for its vulnerabilities. Most of the affected users were employing Google’srecursive DNS service.
“Little did we know this was part of an elaborate scheme to use the inherent security weaknesses of DNS and BGP to pilfer cryptocurrency, but that remarkable scenario appears to have taken place,” Oracle’s Doug Madorywrotein a blog post.
DNS hijacks are not uncommon. Earlier this year,hackers hijacked the DNS server for BlackWallet.co, a web-based wallet for the Stellar Lumens cryptocurrency, redirecting $400,000 worth of lumens (XLM) to their own server. In late 2017, EtherDelta was also thevictim of a DNS hijack, resulting in the loss of at least $267,000 in funds.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Sports Betting Opens New World For Gaming Companies: Casinos and gaming suppliers are tripping over themselves to show how excited they are about the Supreme Court overturning a law that banned sports betting in every state in the U.S. except Nevada. Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) , MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM) , and Scientific Games (NASDAQ: SGMS) all released statements in support of the potential of expanded sports betting with Scientific Games saying it could be the "greatest wave of gaming expansion in the United States in the past 20 years." There's no question that sports betting is already big business and legal sports betting is a big opportunity. But it could be years before laws are passed nationwide allowing for sports betting, and, as investors, we don't know how the move will play out. Person betting on sports on mobile phone. Image source: Getty Images. The opportunity Legalizing sports betting will bring an industry worth tens of billions of dollars per year out of the shadows of illegal betting, but it's unclear just how big sportsbooks will be to casinos. The American Gaming Association estimates $150 billion is bet on sports per year, but that's likely on the high side of the opportunity. Jay Zagorsky recently wrote that the sports betting industry would be about $67 billion if it matches the level of play that the U.K. does per person. Nevada saw about $4.8 billion bet at sportsbooks in 2017, so a range of $67 billion to $150 billion is probably correct for legal sports betting across the U.S. But keep in mind that each state will have to pass its own laws to govern sports betting. Casinos and gaming suppliers could have a huge win on their hands If sports betting is legalized in a large number of states, it isn't as if there will be a sportsbook on every corner. In Nevada, players have to deposit money at a casino sportsbook before they can bet on games. But from there they can bet anywhere in the state. If that becomes a model for the rest of the country, all gaming companies will need is the ability to intake betting dollars and have an app for users to place bets through. Companies like Caesars, which has gaming licenses in 13 states, or Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) , which has 20 jurisdictions, have the broad footprint to build out their sportsbook infrastructure quickly. Story continues One of the reason suppliers like IGT (NYSE: IGT) and Scientific Games are reacting positively is because they'll likely provide the betting infrastructure casinos use. IGT powers MGM's playMGM app that takes sports bets in Nevada today. It could easily scale that technology nationwide. Scientific Games sees its OpenBet product suite providing similar solutions to its customers. It's not yet clear whether online sports betting in the absence of a physical location will be broadly legalized. For example, The Stars Group, which owns PokerStars, PokerStars Casino, Full Tilt, and other online betting brands is hoping to get in on the sportsbook action in the U.S. The company already has millions of customers on its platforms and great brand awareness. But a lack of physical locations could limit its entrance into U.S. sports betting, so the rules of the game state by state will be important for investors to watch. Not all sports leagues are as excited as casinos Some sports leagues are pushing back against legalized sports betting. The NCAA is against betting and the NFL has called for Congress to enact a framework for betting, rather than leave it entirely up to the states. The NBA also supported a regulatory framework on a federal level. The NBA, MLB, and even PGA Tour are also trying to capitalize on the opportunity with what they're calling an "integrity fee," hoping to take a cut of any money gambled on their league. That hasn't been received well by casinos, but the leagues are trying to get in on the action if they can. Bringing sports betting out of the shadows is going to get a lot of attention from gaming companies, and those allowed to take take a part of the action could see billions of dollars in new revenue. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Travis Hoium has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks fell on Friday after President Trump announced $50 billion in tariffs on imported Chinese goods, stoking fears of an impending trade war between the U.S. and China. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) had extended yesterday's decline , dropping around 0.3% after paring its earlier losses. The S&P; 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) slipped about 0.1%. Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change Dow (0.34%) (84.83) S&P 500 (0.11%) (3.07) Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Oil stocks led the market lower on expectations that OPEC and its allies will soon increase output, leaving the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration and Production ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) down 2.9%. Meanwhile, consumer goods stocks helped pare the market's losses, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT: XLP) up 1.3%. As for individual stocks, Jabil (NYSE: JBL) stumbled following an analyst's negative comments, and Canada Goose Holdings (NYSE: GOOS) soared after posting a stunningly good quarter. Stock market prices overlaid by arrows indicating direction and a digital world map Image source: Getty Images. Jabil's beat just wasn't enough Jabil stock fell 6.5% after an analyst cut his price target on shares of the manufacturing services company despite its stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Late yesterday, Jabil announced that its fiscal third-quarter revenue climbed 21% year over year to $5.4 billion, which translated to adjusted (non- GAAP ) earnings of $79.6 million, or $0.46 per diluted share. Most investors were looking for earnings of $0.45 per share on revenue of $4.9 billion. Jabil CEO Mark Mondello called it a "strong" quarter despite today's "challenging components market." In addition, for the current fiscal fourth quarter, Jabil told investors to expect revenue of $5.2 billion to $5.6 billion, and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $0.56 to $0.80. Analysts, on average, were projecting fiscal Q4 earnings of $0.70 per share -- or slightly above the midpoint of guidance -- on revenue near the low end of Jabil's outlook. Story continues Shortly after the release, J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster maintained his overweight rating on Jabil, but reduced his per-share price target. Coster pointed to concerns that Jabil's cash flow during the quarter was weaker than expected due to investments in working capital. He also noted that Jabil's margins are being pressured by component supply constraints. That's not to say this wasn't a solid quarter from Jabil. But it's evident that Wall Street doesn't like that its top-line growth appears to be coming at the expense of cash flow and profitability. Canada Goose Holdings flies higher Shares of Canada Goose Holdings skyrocketed 33.1% after the performance luxury apparel company crushed expectations with its fiscal fourth-quarter 2018 results. Quarterly revenue jumped 144% year over year to 124.8 million Canadian dollars, which translated to adjusted net income of CA$9.9 million, or CA$0.09 per share, swinging from a CA$0.15-per-share loss in the year-ago period. Analysts, on average, were expecting Canada Goose would incur an adjusted loss of CA$0.09 per share on revenue of C$78.9 million. "These results reinforce my belief that we are still just scratching the surface of our global potential," stated Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss. "As we continue to bring more Canada Goose to more of the world, we are resolutely focused on the long term and what we need to get there." Reiss added that in the coming fiscal year, Canada Goose will "make significant strategic investments in infrastructure and people to support [its] foundation for enduring growth." To that end, over the next three fiscal years, Canada Goose expects average annual growth in revenue and adjusted earnings of "at least" 20% and 25%, respectively. That's impressive any way you slice it for this up-and-coming company, and it's no surprise to see the stock popping in response. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Aerospace, Defense ETFs Nuked by Trump-Kim Meeting: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. On its surface, the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may have proven to be a success in terms of establishing a peace agreement and denuclearization, but aerospace and defense ETFs got nuked in the process on Tuesday. Before the close of the market, aerospace and defense ETFs were having their worst day since May 31. “Worst day in a couple of weeks, down almost 1% if you look at the main ETFs in the group,” said Mike Santoli , CNBC Senior Markets Commentator. Aerospace & Defense ETFs Close Down The aerospace and defense ETFs affected at the close of the market on Tuesday included the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF ( ITA ) —down 0.95%, SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF ( XAR ) —down 1.02%, the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF ( PPA ) —down 0.84%, and Direxion Daily Aerospace & Defense Bull 3X Shares ( DFEN ) —down 2.95%. Related: Did Trump Get Enough out of the North Korea Summit? Interestingly enough, DFEN is up 0.12% as of 4:15PM Eastern Daylight Time in after hours trading, so the bloodbath in aerospace and defense ETFs could simply be a profit-taking measure for short-term traders. If that is in fact the case, then it should have no long-term implications on the industry as a whole and the market fundamentals should remain solid in the future. “You could say that this is just an opportunity to have some very strong stocks pull back on some profit-taking when you have one global hot spot in North Korea, which might be moderately cooling at the margins,” said Santoli . “But nobody really thinks it changes the longer-term story in terms of the aerospace cycle or defense spending plans. Obviously, those budgets are pretty well in place.” For more information on current affairs, visit our current affairs category. POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM Tom Lydon Featured on Capital Allocators With Ted Seides Podcast Bitcoin: More Speculators, Fewer Investors 5 Ways to Improve Your Financial Decisions 6 Hacks to Automate Your Financial Life Tom Lydon Makes the Investopedia 100 READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || The owner of the New York Stock Exchange is expanding its crypto tool aimed at Wall Street: FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Thomson Reuters ICE, the parent of the NYSE, is expanding its bitcoin data product, Lynn Martin, the head of the exchange's data business, told Business Insider. The so-called Cryptocurrency Data Feed went live in March, and is aimed at institutional trading firms, banks, and hedge funds. One of the largest exchange operators in the world is diving deeper into crypto. Intercontinental Exchange Group, the parent company of the historic New York Stock Exchange, is looking to expand its crypto data product, the Cryptocurrency Data Feed , which aims to provide banks, traders, and other Wall Street firms with an institutional-grade view of the cryptocurrency market. Now, ICE is in the process of enhancing the product. Lynn Martin, the head of ICE data services, told Business Insider in a recent interview that the product transmits data covering 65% of the $300 billion market for digital currencies. Martin, who was recently named on Business Insider's list of crypto pioneers , said the exchange is looking to cover more exchange venues with the product. Already it covers 18 venues, which is up from 15 at the time of product launch. Over the course of the next few months, ICE will focus on deepening the product's market depth. Looking towards the future, the exchange will add more features to the feed, including one that shows data about spreads between different exchanges. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are known to trade at wildly different price across exchanges. That's a mouth-watering profit opportunity for traders. Such information can help the exchange's clients find opportunistic trades and manage their risk. Across equities and other traditional markets such tools are readily available for traders. But in crypto they are just rolling out. Subscribe to read our BI Prime list of the traders, investors, and technologists pioneering crypto on Wall Street. NOW WATCH: A $163 billion chief economist outlines his biggest market fear See Also: Here's what it costs to open a McDonald's restaurant Kids at every income level reveal their favorite toys The Supreme Court just handed the Trump administration a loss on immigration — and Gorsuch was the tiebreaking vote || Qualcomm, Inc. Begins Layoffs: WhenQualcomm(NASDAQ: QCOM)was in the midst of trying to block a takeover by fellow chip giantBroadcom, the former came out and pledged to cut $1 billion in costs in order to help it achieve its long-term earnings-per-share growth target.
As Qualcomm tries to make good on that promise,Bloombergreports that the company has started axing roughly 1,500 jobs in California.
Image source: Qualcomm.
"The layoffs in California represent the bulk of the cuts, though some positions will be eliminated in other locations," according to Bloomberg.
Let's go over what these layoffs mean for Qualcomm shareholders.
The good news for investors is that this should have the effect of boosting Qualcomm's net income and earnings per share, even without a substantial change in the company's business performance. No company, especially a large one like Qualcomm, is perfectly efficient -- there's always some bloat that can be cut out to improve efficiency.
That, however, is where the good news ends.
The problem with large layoffs (which are generally highly publicized, as this one is) is that they can negatively impact a company's business performance in ways that aren't immediately obvious in its financial results.
First, while companies try to lay off so-called weaker employees, the reality is that often times good -- even great -- workers slip through the cracks for reasons that are more political and less about actual work capability.
Those good-to-great employees will almost certainly wind up at competitors, strengthening the competition at Qualcomm's expense. Don't be surprised to see companies likeIntel(Qualcomm'smain competitor in stand-alone modems), MediaTek, andSamsung(which competes directly with Qualcomm in integrated mobile processors) trying to aggressively scoop up those impacted by Qualcomm's cost-cutting.
Beyond the risk of losing good talent, large layoffs can be highly demoralizing. It can lead some employees to fear for their jobs as they ask whether they'll be next, which means that they'll be sending out resumes to competitors. For others, seeing valued colleagues and friends being forced out the door can make them want to seek other opportunities as well.
And, finally, when such layoffs are widely communicated, it can discourage talent from seeking positions with the company -- at least for a while until things have cooled off.
Sometimes layoffs are necessary to ensure a company's long-term survival, but what appears to be the case here is that Qualcomm wasn't careful about keeping its operating expenses in check, and now that there are signs of trouble (e.g.,Applelawsuit, slowing smartphone market), it has to cut back.
Qualcomm will get through this round of layoffs, and although the risk of the negative consequences that I outlined above is very real, eventually things will get better. What Qualcomm needs to do, though, is to be more careful about its spending from here on out: The company should strive to always spend what it needs to and not a penny more.
Not only would being more careful allow Qualcomm to maximize profits (and, ultimately, stockholder value), but it would allow the company to avoid having to do mass layoffs when it hits a rough patch.
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Ashraf Eassaowns shares of Intel and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AAPL. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm and has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on AAPL and short January 2020 $155 calls on AAPL. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom Ltd and Intel. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
7k was not the bottom $BTC. || Brick and mortar firms trading millions in #bitcoin and #altcoins.http://flip.it/KIEEH- || innovative #3D marketplace #afelicoin #Blockchain #Bitcoin #BTC #Ethereum... https://youtu.be/MPLsmXERejM via || 2018-04-28 00:00:03 UTC
BTC: $8938.72
BCH: $1331.97
ETH: $643.33
ZEC: $282.06
LTC: $145.87
ETC: $20.61
XRP: $0.8057 || I liked a @YouTube video http://youtu.be/wzzZT95ijTo?a Bitcoin Q&A: Price volatility and store-of-value || The Wealthy Are Embracing Cryptocurrency – More Than 30% Invested in Cryptocurrency Markets #bitcoin #cryptocurrencies #bitcoinprice #bitcoinnews #bitcoininvestment #btc #cryptonews #cryptocurrencynews #btcnews #bitcoincryptonews #bitcoinmillionaire…
http://amp.gs/kaRA || Crypto Investing Pro Review #cryptocurrency #investing #bitcoin #ethereum => http://url9.co/aWr || How #Cryptocurrencies became common currency in Southeast Asia http://bit.ly/2sscwx8 #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/fwkAMrdsp5 || Capitalizate Con BITCOIN Sin Inversion Con las 3 Mejores Paginas que Existen En la Actualidad !! http://americanstocktrader.com/capitalizate-con-bitcoin-sin-inversion-con-las-3-mejores-paginas-que-existen-en-la-actualidad/ …pic.twitter.com/PIG2NXCK5e || Los recientes taques a la red de Bitcoin Gold no ocurren por un error de código #Seguridad https://www.criptonoticias.com/seguridad/recientes-taques-red-bitcoin-gold-no-ocurren-error-codigo/ …
Los recientes taques a la red de Bitcoin Gold no ocurren por un error de código #Seguridad https://www.criptonoticias.com/seguridad/recientes-taques-red-bitcoin-gold-no-ocurren-error-codigo/ …
— CriptoNoticias (CriptoNoticias) June 5, 201…
|
Trend: down || Prices: 6550.16, 6499.27, 6734.82, 6769.94, 6776.55, 6729.74, 6083.69, 6162.48, 6173.23, 6249.18
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin group scores funds from biggest names in industry: Bitcoin-related businesses raised more venture capital money in 2015 than in any year before: $485 million, according to industry news siteCoinDesk. And yet, even as they court more VC interest, these companies continue to deal with skepticism from the general public and from top executives of big financial institutions, likeJamie Dimonof JPMorgan (JPM).
So they're turning to a non-profit advocacy group for help.
Coin Center, a 501(c)(4) lobbying group founded in 2014, calls itself the "leading non-profit research and advocacy center" for public policy on "cryptocurrency technologies such as Bitcoin." Its supporters already included well-known venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz (Marc Andreessen is a vocal bitcoin believer), and some of the biggest companies in the industry, including Chain, Coinbase, and Xapo. Now Coin Center is about to get a lot louder: This month it has raised $1 million in new donations, Yahoo Finance has learned.
In an industry where the hottest companies have had recent fundraising rounds of $116 million (21 Inc.), $50 million (Circle) and $30 million (Chain), $1 million may sound like small potatoes—and it is, although Coin Center says it will help fund travel for its five staff members, who spend much of their time meeting with lawmakers to discuss policy.
But as some big banks have joined a consortium to explore the possibilities of the blockchain (the public, open ledger on which all bitcoin transactions are logged), what is significant here is that Coin Center's extensive list of new supporters includes some of the most powerful people in the exploding fintech sector. Among those who donated are 21 Inc. (which last year released a small bitcoin-mining computer aimed at making it easier to develop bitcoin apps), BitStamp, Overstock.com (OSTK), which was one of the first major online retailers to accept bitcoin as payment, and Digital Currency Group.
That last firm is key: Led by SecondMarket founder Barry Silbert, DCG has invested in 65 different bitcoin companies, and the companies in its portfolio have raised 70% of all the venture capital in the space. DCG is to the bitcoin industry what Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) is to the beer market, or what IAC (IAC) has been to online-dating companies.
"Our mission is to accelerate the development of a better financial system," Silbert tells Yahoo Finance, "and the way we will do that is investing in great companies, starting companies, buying companies, and helping organizations like Coin Center." In other words: Silbert wants to have his hands in as many digital-currency entities as possible to ensure his influence, and he is quickly carrying out that strategy. It's why DCGbought outrightthe industry's leading news site, CoinDesk."There are many ways lawmakerscould stifle the bitcoin blockchain," Silbert says, "so providing awareness and education is a very important part of what will make this industry sustainable."
In short: Coin Center is getting more influential, and now it has people backing it who have deep pockets and major interest in keeping regulators from interfering too much in what bitcoin companies are doing. Coin Center is not a trade association—none of the companies in the bitcoin industry are members. But it certainly shares their interests.
Jerry Brito, Coin Center's executive director, isa law professor who has testified before Congress about cryptocurrencies. Hesays Coin Center's primary audience is policy-makers—and these people can often be confused about the industry. The fear of bitcoin businesses is that politicians will hastily regulate, or even shut down startups, before they understand the technology. (The tension is not unlike the battle raging in daily fantasy sports right now.) Coin Center can help, Brito says: "Policy makers hear about these negative aspects, whether it’s ransoms, or drug sales, or the like, and they will often contact law enforcement and say, 'What's up with this?' This is a challenge just like all new technologies have been, from email to pagers, butwe think that we can get a handle on this."
To that end,Coin Center teamed with the Chamber of Digital Commerce in October to help create The Blockchain Alliance, a safe-space private forum in which law enforcement groups like the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice can pose questions to bitcoin startup executives and policy pundits. Think of the alliance like a Justice League for bitcoin. But it is unclear how frequently the forum is being used, since the media isn't allowed in.
Last year, New York became the first state to release its own regulatory framework specifically devoted to digital currency businesses. Called the BitLicense, it was met with so much opposition from the bitcoin community that a slew of companies packed up and left New York, cutting off service to customers in the state. Other companies happily applied for a license, but bemoaned the high cost.
Coin Center makes its stance on legislation clear. "If you look back, [former New York Department of Financial Services superintent]Ben Lawsky said he didn't want to interfere with innovation or hurt business. Ultimately, the BitLicense that we got did not succeed at that. It is not a good model for other states to follow," he says. "I think the only solution is a light touch approach. If you go heavy-handed, as a regulator, you’ll do two things: not meet your goals, typically, becasuse you’ll make it so difficult that people can’t even comply with it, and not get the visibility that you want as a regulator." Those in the bitcoin business, of course, like that argument quite a lot.
Marc Andreessen has been Coin Center's biggest donor since the beginning, giving the lion's share of help. But with Silbert flexing his muscle, Coin Center's role in advocating for digital currency will strengthen. (Brito says donors "can give input," but not dictate what Coin Center does.)
Coin Center has received $2 million in donations to date, and it now plans to seek $1 million every year. It won't have much trouble getting it.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.Read more:
Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter
Bitcoin's biggest investor bought its biggest news site
Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin
Fantex, the 'athlete stock exchange,' signs first golfer || Your first trade for Thursday: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour is a seller ofiShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM)
Brian Kelly is a seller ofEnergy Select Sector SPDR ETF(XLE)
Karen Finerman is a seller of Priceline (PCLN)
Guy Adami is a buyer of NetApp (NTAP)
Trader disclosure: On February 17 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:
TIM SEYMOUR:Tim is long AAPL, BAC, DO, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, NKE, SINA, T, TWTR, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, KO, MCD, PEP, SAVE, SBUX, VALE, WMT,YHOO, short HYG, IWM.
BRIAN KELLY:Brian is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, TLT, US Dollar; he is short Aussie Dollar, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWH, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan.
KAREN FINERMAN:Karen is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY calls, URI, she is short SPY. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY, SPY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
GUY ADAMI:Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || University of California Berkeley notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || New Ways To Trade China, Crude Oil And The Fed: You’re reading the newsabout China and oil. The Fed will be talking about that news and much more and making news of its own. Some traders will find ways to profit. But will you trade the news you read? Or does the cost and risk keep you on the sidelines?
George Soros got a shout-out Tuesday from no less than China’s People’s Daily, considered the official paper of China’s Communist Party. China sent a rare personal warning to the man who once “broke the Bank of England” by shorting the pound and making a billion in a day, not to try short-selling the yuan. The opinion piece by a commerce ministry researcher was quite specific: “Soros's war on the renminbi and the Hong Kong dollar cannot possibly succeed...”
You may agree or disagree with what Soros said in Davos about a hard landing for the yuan and Chinese stocks. You may have an opinion about where Chinese stocks are headed next. But does that mean you can turn that opinion into a trade? You might speculate on how China’s problems might affect your Apple stock. You might even try a China-based ETF, but you’d still be dependent on the skill of the fund’s manager and other factors. How to directly trade the price of a Chinese stock index yourself?
Oil is another fun topic to have opinions about. I’ve heard guys talk for 10 minutes about which gas station has the cheapest price that week. Even Bloomberg Businessweek did some of that, reporting that gas is now cheaper in Houston than in Dubai for the first time since 2008.
Dennis Gartman, whose “Gartman Letter” many read and some even agree with, recently said oil would not go above $44 a barrel “in his lifetime.” Mr. Gartman is in great health, so this is a long-term forecast. Some of you almost certainly disagree.
Last year I made a cocky prediction on oil when it was around $70 a barrel, that it would be under $45 by August. The cocky part was that I made it to a friend who worked for Koch Industries and knew petroleum up close and personal. When I was proven right, I gloated for a few minutes, but not much. Because I didn’t trade that prediction. I’ve traded for 18 years, but I took a pass on crude even when I was confident. Trading crude futures or even options was more risk than I wanted to take on just then.
FOMC meeting week is usually a time for wide-ranging discussions. While the Fed is talking, so is everyone else, it seems. And when the Fed is done, they often move many markets and the US and other economies with their opinions. Stock markets will have short-term reactions and counter-reactions. Currencies may fluctuate and so can commodities, which are priced in dollars. Traders on all these markets stand to profit.
Soros has an opinion, Gartman has an opinion, the FOMC has a dozen opinions. The rest of us have valid opinions of our own, but few ways to turn those opinions into opportunities to profit. Too much capital required or too much risk involved.
The Nadex binary options exchange offers a secure, CFTC-regulated, affordable new way to trade not just crude oil, but even more exotic (to US traders) markets like the China A50 stock index of China’s 50 biggest companies. Exchange-traded binary options from Nadex offer guaranteed limited risk, low fees, and thousands of contracts traded daily with great liquidity thanks to the exploding growth in the popularity.
Last year, a special report in Bloomberg Businessweek called Nadex binary options “The Future of Trading” because they address the problems of cost and risk. You can start with a minimum balance of just $100, the fees are 90 cents a side or less, and you always know your maximum possible loss before you enter the trade. No worrying about stop-losses or unlimited risk.
That means you, too, can trade your opinions on China’s markets. You probably won’t get called out by the People’s Daily, either. And next time you’re talking gas prices, you could pull up the Nadex app on your phone and trade crude oil for less than $100 of risk.
And of course, you can trade the most popular global stock indexes, commodities, and forex pairs—all from one screen and one account. Nadex even has binaries on Bitcoin (without having to own bitcoins).
And if you have an opinion on whether the Fed will raise rates this week or not, Nadex has a binary option for that. Regulated by the CFTC, with your money held in US banks, Nadex offers an innovative new way for the rest of us to find profit opportunities in all parts of the world’s markets (well, except cannabis).
This information has been prepared by Nadex, a trading name of North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc., prepared by independent third parties contracted by Nadex or reproduced form third party news agencies. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Nadex accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication.
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Forty big banks test blockchain-based bond trading system: By Jemima Kelly LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - Forty of the world's biggest banks, including HSBC and Citi, have tested a system for trading fixed income using the technology that underpins bitcoin, fintech company R3 CEV said on Thursday. The banks are part of a consortium of 42 major lenders, brought together last year by New York-based R3 CEV to work on ways blockchain technology could be used in financial markets - the first time so many have collaborated on using such systems. A blockchain is a huge, decentralised ledger of transactions that can be used to secure and validate any exchange of data, including real assets, such as commodities or currencies. Bitcoin's blockchain was the first, but others have since been built that offer additional features and can be programmed. That means the technology can enable so-called smart contracts: agreements that are automatically executed when pre-determined conditions are met. For this experiment, the banks tried five different blockchain-technology providers to test trading fixed income: Ethereum, often considered the most advanced and ambitious, Chain, Eris Industries, IBM and Intel. "We have raised the bar significantly with the sheer number of global financial institutions, distributed ledger technologies and cloud providers working together ... to demonstrate how this nascent technology can be applied to ... an actively traded asset class," said the head of R3's Collaborative Lab, Tim Grant. Banks reckon the technology could save them money by cutting out middlemen and making their operations more transparent. But analysts say it is early days - bitcoin was invented just six years ago and developers are still working on the technology. Indeed, the G20's Financial Stability Board said on Saturday assessing the systemic implications of fintech innovations would form part of the task force's core policy work this year and global regulators could propose rules to prevent them from destabilising the broader financial system. Chain's CEO Adam Ludwin said: "R3 is further accelerating the adoption of blockchain technology by demonstrating, instead of simply asserting, the commercial advantages of this emerging approach to financial services." (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Alison Williams) || The Crisis in Bitcoin and the Rise of Blockchain: Remember the hype over bitcoin? The crypto-currency that so tantalized techies and excited investors is today in a sorry state: Its core supporters are at war with each other and ordinary consumers still don’t care about this supposedly revolutionary form of money. But that’s only half of the story. The other half is about the remarkable rise of blockchain, the core technology underlying bitcoin that is enjoying unprecedented adoption by banks and big business. This development--the fall of bitcoin and the rise of blockchain--has accelerated in recent months, and it has big implications for those who have sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into these technologies. Here’s the latest on the story of bitcoin, which has turned out far differently than many imagined. How We Got Here Flash back five years, the bitcoin scene was an exciting place to be. A motley mix of coders, libertarians, and get-rich-quick hucksters latched onto the promise of bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s new distributed, tamper-proof money system and ledger run from millions of computers. The ledger provided an indelible record of near-anonymous financial transactions in offering a global payment platform to ordinary merchants, drug dealers, and everyone in between. The early bitcoin buzz soon exploded, and the currency’s value briefly soared to $1,200 . The mainstream news media caught onto the story while venture capitalists lined up to fund any business with “bit” in its name. Meanwhile, businesses from Virgin Galactic to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings realized they could get a heap of free press just by announcing they would accept bitcoin. The currency never caught on, however. Despite all the startups offering wallets and other tools to popularize the payment technology, average consumers never took to bitcoin--even as they did adopt another person-to-person mobile payment platform, known as Venmo , in droves. So what happened? One problem is that bitcoin never shook its sordid side. While there is nothing intrinsically evil about bitcoin, its most famous adopters have always been a rogue’s gallery of fraudsters, prostitutes, dark web drug lords , and Ponzi schemers . Even some members of bitcoin’s governing foundation, who sought to make the currency respectable, are on the lam or in jail . Story continues This rogue reputation certainly didn’t help bitcoin. But it wasn’t the crypto-currency’s biggest problem. Instead, the main reason bitcoin didn’t catch on is because it’s just not practical. Even if you can find merchants who accept it, the process involves exotic apps, currency transactions, and a verification process that takes minutes to get the okay. Compare that to swiping a credit card, and you see the problem. In recent months, bitcoin’s adoption problem has suddenly worsened. Meanwhile, big banks are finding they can use bitcoin’s best feature and leave the currency itself behind. Get Data Sheet , Fortune 's technology newsletter. The Current Crisis and the Rise of Blockchain “Bitcoin’s nightmare scenario has come to pass,” read a headline this week from tech site, The Verge. That’s a pretty fair way to describe a recent schism within the bitcoin developer community--the collection of gnomes who decide on the protocols and computer code under the hood. The Verge report offers a good run-down of the technical specifics but, for present purposes, they can be summed up like this: the bitcoin community failed to agree on a system upgrade, which means the ledger’s infrastructure faces a growing backlog, and it now takes over 40 minutes to confirm a transaction. As a result, bitcoin is less practical than ever and merchants (the few who accepted it in the first place) are bolting. This schism deals a further blow to bitcoin’s hopes of ever becoming a mainstream currency. This is a setback for the bitcoin community, but here’s the kicker: it doesn’t really matter. That’s because the true value of bitcoin is not the currency itself. Instead, it’s the blockchain technology underneath it. Banks and other big businesses have already reaped the benefit of this technology. As Fortune reported in December, IBM , Intel , JP Morgan , and several other big banks are betting on the blockchain’s ledger system. As with bitcoin, the system requires a set of diffuse computers to prove that a transaction has occurred. Once a confirmation occurs, it’s recorded in a common ledger and cannot be reversed. Why is this such a big deal? It has to do with record keeping. The idea of a tamper-proof ledger created by computers is so significant because it could let a number of industries--especially banking, brokerages, and law firms--overhaul the way they do business. Instead of relying on slow and cumbersome settlement systems to notarize and record documents, they can let a blockchain do it for them. “The clearing and settlement will be done in a matter of seconds. An efficiency comes with this that is a pretty significant force multiplier,” explains Jeff Garzick, a former bitcoin developer who recently launched a consultancy called Bloq that advises banks and others how to deploy blockchain technology. Garzick and his partner Matt Rosack expect the financial industry will begin using the blockchain for stock and loan settlements as soon as the end of this year. Likewise, they think banks’ transactions at the discount window of the Federal Reserve will soon be recorded on a blockchain. And that’s just the beginning. Garzick and Rosack say the Big Four auditing firms will soon have a blockchain-based transaction feed that will be visible to regulators, who have been studying the potential of blockchain technology for years. The Future: Blockchain Without Bitcoin Even for those familiar with crypto-currency, it can be hard to get one’s head around just how the blockchain can operate without bitcoin. The reason is that bitcoin supplies the financial incentive for people around the world, known as miners, to operate the ledger in the first place. For more about bitcoin, watch our video : In return for devoting their computers to running the blockchain (which publishes the ledger), they receive a reward in the form of a bitcoin that can be spent online or exchanged for traditional currency. In the absence of such an incentive, how do the banks plan to develop the blockchain? The answer is they are building their own version of blockchain and running it themselves. As Garzick explains, this process involves taking the core protocol underlying bitcoin and then stripping off all the “mining” and compensation functions. He says the miners are an interesting way to creating a ledger, but they are not essential in the case of a “private chain,” like the one the banks are developing. “The mining is a really elegant software solution that equally distributes who is going to validate the next set of bitcoin transactions,” Garzick says. “ A private chain replaces the entire trust-less aspect with a more private closed network of participants.” In practice, this will involve the banks rejecting a global federation of miners in favor of a handful of trusted verification partners within their own network--a process already underway . For instance, a group of 15 banks might agree that the ledger becomes official once computers from seven group members agree to record a set of transactions. So what happens to bitcoin in this scenario? As The Economist noted in a recent feature , it may become no more than a novelty or a historical curiosity. If this is the case, the venture capitalists who made big bets on consumer bitcoin startups like Coinbase and Xapo could see a pool of wealth vanish. Ditto the U.S. government, which has seized a large pile of bitcoins in high-profile drug investigations. For now, that worst case scenario for bitcoin hasn’t come to pass yet. Despite the recent convulsions in the developer community, its price has held fairly steady around $400 for months. It may find niche roles as a currency, such as for foreign remittances. Meanwhile, bitcoin still has defenders such as Jeremy Allaire, a successful entrepreneur who raised over $60 million for his startup, Circle, a money transfer service for consumers using bitcoin behind the scenes. Allaire says there is still time for bitcoin to break through in place of services like Venmo. “Venmo is another AOL--I don't want another walled garden. I want the Google of money,” Allaire said in a recent interview. “We've gone from a world where everyone is in denial about the tech and its usefulness. Now traditional financial institutes say, ‘We love the technology but we want to control it with our own private technology.’ That's not practical.” Other defenders include my former colleague at Fortune , Dan Roberts, who said the bull case outstrips the bear case for bitcoin in 2016. Still, based on recent developments, a bitcoin resurgence looks like a long shot. When the final history of bitcoin is written, the currency itself is likely to be just a colorful footnote in the tale of the emergence of a powerful new blockchain technology. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com This Could Kill the World's Most Popular Cryptocurrency Securing the City of the Future with Bitcoin Global Regulators Now Eyeing Fintech Through Machine Learning, IBM Braintrust Sees Better Days Ahead Here's Why Europe Is About to Crack Down on Bitcoin Anonymity || Your first trade for Friday: The "Fast Money" traders delivered their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour was a seller of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF(NYSE Arca: EEM).
Steve Grasso was a seller of Freeport-McMoRan(FCX).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of the iShares Silver Trust(NYSE Arca: SLV).
Guy Adami was a buyer of Coca-Cola(KO)for the second day in a row.
Trader disclosure: On March 10, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, GLD puts, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures. Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BA, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX sold BAC firm is long OXY, BP, CVX, RIG, FCX kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, DO, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, NKE, SINA, T, TWTR, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, KO, MCD, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, VALE, WMT,YHOO, short HYG, IWM.
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• Personal Finance || C&W Business Earns Fortinet Platinum Partner Recognition: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Feb 22, 2016) - C&W Business, part of Cable & Wireless Communications , Plc (CWC), today announces it has been recognized as a Fortinet Platinum Partner. To receive Platinum status, C&W Business demonstrated that it had successfully achieved all Fortinet certification requirements and training programmes needed to deliver the highest levels of partnership, performance and commitment. As a certified Platinum partner, C&W Business are experts in delivering Fortinet's superior, next generation multi-threat security solutions to their customers across the Caribbean and Latin American region. C&W Business has a proven track record of delivering managed security services over a vast range of advanced security technologies, such as Web Application Firewall, Email Security, DDOS protection, Advanced Persistent Threat protection, among others. C&W Business offers unparalleled skills in the region, with local resources across 26 countries and experts with the highest certification levels across the board. C&W Business has successfully deployed complex security solutions, using Fortinet's technology, in large and medium companies from a number of different sectors -- including Banking, Retail, Government and BPO. "This recognition as a Platinum Partner highlights our dedication to be the most complete ICT Solutions provider in the Caribbean and Latin American region. Security is a topic that is high in CIO's minds and we take that very seriously," said Daniel Peiretti, SVP Product Development, C&W Business. "We have focused in hiring and certifying security experts and giving them the tools necessary to ensure our customers enjoy peace of mind with their network," added Peiretti. Security threats are on the rise so corporations and government agencies alike must do everything to protect their networks and their data. C&W Business employs security experts in their Security Operation Centers (SOC) throughout the region to monitor their network 24X7X365. Story continues "We are excited to recognize C&W Business as a Platinum Partner, based on their strong commitment to delivering innovative solutions that drive customer success," said Pedro Paixao, General Manager, Latin America, at Fortinet. "C&W Business plays an important role in transforming customers, across multiple industries, into more agile, connected and secure companies that can rest assured their most important assets and the assets of their end-users are protected." About Cable & Wireless Communications Plc Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in Latin America and the Caribbean. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. CWC delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and Video consumer offers. Through its business division, CWC provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers. The Group also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity. CWC has more than 7,300 employees serving 6.4 million customers (Mobile 4.1m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 470k and Broadband 690k) across 42 countries. The Group's leading brands include; LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. CWC is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programmes. Cable & Wireless Communications Plc's shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The Group is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America. For more information visit: www.cwc.com . About Fortinet Fortinet ( NASDAQ : FTNT ) helps protect networks, users and data from continually evolving threats. As a global leader in high-performance network security, we enable businesses and governments to consolidate and integrate stand-alone technologies without suffering performance penalties. Unlike costly, inflexible and low-performance alternatives, Fortinet solutions empower customers to embrace new technologies and business opportunities while protecting essential systems and content. Learn more at www.fortinet.com , or follow Fortinet at the Fortinet Blog , Google+ , Linkedin or Twitter . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2967158 || Bitcoin finds room in small funds; large institutions still on sidelines: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin has found favor among smaller investors, thanks to the availability of funds designed to invest in it, but remains a niche among the larger investing community. Investors at some family offices, smaller mutual funds, and traders at hedge funds say bitcoin has helped returns and demonstrated a low correlation with other asset classes. Hopes that bitcoin would become a broadly used alternative to other currencies helped buoy its price to more than $1,000 in December 2013, when its market capitalization was $13 billion. But the market cap has retreated since then, to about $6.4 billion as of Thursday. Early enthusiasts for the crypto-currency were drawn to its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. The risks of dealing in bitcoin were laid bare in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange Mt Gox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds. The currency's earlier ties to gambling and criminal websites did not endear it to traditional investors. Jeremy Millar, founder and managing partner at Ledger Partners in London, estimated that 50 to 90 percent of bitcoin's current $6.4 billion market cap is held by near-institutional money such as individuals at hedge funds and family offices. That has not changed over the last two years. He does not have an estimate for institutional investment holdings of bitcoin. But he said they are likely to be insignificant, compared with the smaller investors who have fewer restrictions about fund allocation. "What is clear though is that over the last two years, bitcoin has emerged from its 'hacktivist' origins to a more institutionalized ecosystem which includes the participation of hedge funds, traders, and professional investors," said Millar. BITCOIN IN PORTFOLIOS Funds dedicated to investing in bitcoin are relatively small. The largest is the Pantera Bitcoin Fund, a $160 million hedge fund founded by Dan Morehead, formerly of Tiger Management, available to institutions and individuals who invest $50,000 or more. Story continues According to a Pantera Bitcoin Fund brochure, the fund was launched in July 2013, a period when bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) traded at around $65. On Thursday, it traded at $418.80, a gain of more than 500 percent from July 2013. The firm did not comment on fund performance or its investors. The majority of the Pantera Fund's investors are family offices and high net worth individuals, said two people familiar with the fund. The Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, with assets of more than $60 million, is another vehicle for investors. GBTC is backed by bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group. It is the only publicly traded U.S. security in the over-the-counter market invested in bitcoin. Volume is thin, with a few thousand shares traded daily, according to Thomson Reuters data. Antonis Polemitis, managing director at Ledra Capital in New York, a family office specializing in education and technology, said that on average, clients have allocated 1 to 3 percent of their portfolios to bitcoin. "A lot of people will take that bet with 1 percent of their assets," he said. "A 1 percent loss does not change anyone's life in any way. If it goes up 10 times, then you get to feel very smart." Some investment managers say having bitcoin in portfolios has helped performance. ARK Invest, which manages four exchange-traded funds with $240 million in assets, holds GBTC in its $12 million Next Generation Internet ETF and the $7 million ARK Innovation ETF. Chris Burniske, analyst and blockchain products lead at ARK Invest in New York, said since investing in September 2015, GBTC has contributed 67 basis points to the Next Generation Internet ETF's return and 62 basis points to the ARK Innovation ETF. For 2015, the Next Generation ETF posted a 15.29 percent return, while the Innovation ETF had 3.76 percent gains. For Kingsbridge Wealth Management, a multifamily office in Las Vegas with $150 million in assets, GBTC has become a great diversifier because so far it has had a low correlation with other asset classes, said David Dunn, the firm's founder and chief investment officer. The firm has about $1.7 million invested in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain, Dunn said. (Editing by David Gaffen and Matthew Lewis) || Flux Party seeks to be the bitcoin of Australian politics: By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - A new Australian political party is using the virtual currency bitcoin as a model to replace what they say is an outdated political system - representative democracy - with a streamlined new polity for the information age. The Flux Party says its goal is to elect six senators. They will propose no policies and will not follow their consciences, but will support or block legislation at the direction of their members, who can swap or trade their votes on every bill online. "If they didn't have to be senators, if they could just be software or robots they would be, because their only purpose is to do what the people want them to do," Flux Party co-founder Max Kaye told Reuters in an interview. Australia is set to hold an election in September or October after a period of turmoil that brought five prime ministers in as many years. At the same time the upper house, which thanks to the quirks of its electoral system has a history of returning mavericks and fringe party candidates, has been hopelessly deadlocked by a handful of senators, at least one elected on less than 1 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week raised the possibility of calling an early poll to break the gridlock that has held up the government's legislative agenda. That type of policy inertia is what bitcoin enthusiasts Kaye and Flux co-founder Nathan Spataro say inspired them to explore alternative systems that better represent the world of 2016. Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" used to move money around quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority. The technology behind it is called the blockchain - a massive electronic ledger of every transaction that is verified and shared by a global network of computers. To Spataro and Kaye, bitcoin is not just an alternative financial system: it is the missing link between representative democracy and Democracy 2.0. "This ancient system we've got of representative democracy, which at the time liberated us from monarchies and was awesome, now we're at a point where it's become this monster," Spataro said. Story continues "We're in a society now that's got the Internet and when democracy in its current form was conceived, you had to sail on a ship from England to get here. This model wasn't designed for this world." "DELIGHTFULLY NAIVE" Bitcoin's strength comes from its ability to build trust through ease of verification and by removing human frailty from the equation, said Dr. Adrian Lee, an expert on bitcoin at the University of Technology Sydney. That makes what the Flux Party is proposing both unique and also potentially fraught. "I haven't seen a party which would vote via blockchain," Lee said. "If you removed the politician and made it just a bitcoin machine, then maybe it would work but you can't do that," he said, noting the absence of a legally binding mechanism to make Flux senators vote as directed. Although the party's architecture for calculating and distributing voters' wishes to their elected officials uses highly complex computer code, the overall idea is fairly simple. Flux members and single-issue campaigners that agree to support the party at the election are allotted bitcoin-like tokens that they can use themselves, trade or give to experts or interest groups they trust to vote as their proxy. Outcomes are distributed proportionately, so if 80 percent vote in favor of a bill and 20 against, five Flux senators vote yea and one nay. Ministers are not often experts in their portfolio, and yet they are charged with making critical decisions on issues such as environmental or fiscal policy. Under their system, the Flux Party founders say, large blocs of voters could effectively grant their vote on such issues to a scientist or economist. "You get sick, you go to the doctor, right? You don't self-diagnose and you don't go and call your plumber," Kaye said. The Party filed its registration papers with the Australian Election Commission last month after obtaining the requisite support of at least 550 registered voters. Its website currently puts its membership at 1,009 people. Attempting to apply the transformative power of the Internet to democratic systems is not a new one, said Peter Chen, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Sydney, who called the Flux Party "delightfully naive people". "They're just the modern version of something that's always been around: utopian political system designers," he said. "They're obviously guys who are really focused on the tech thing and that has always been the problem with the e-democracy people. They're often really tech-driven and they need political scientists at the brainstorming floor to say 'well, I don't know if that'd work'." (Reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Alex Richardson)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Liquid Bitcoin || Get 3 #Bitcoin from this #Casino #Poker site for free. How you can make Upto 3 BTC a Day, With 100% User Rating. https://goo.gl/LkHiUB || Boxen: Marco Huck ist Weltmeister - TKO-Sieg über Ola Afolabi http://ow.ly/3bQfgC || 1 #bitcoin 1310.53 TL, 430.802 $, 393.899 €, GBP, 31189.99 RUR, 49725 ¥, CNH, CAD #btc || Hey Елена thanks for the follow! || Liquid Bitcoin || Buy #bitcoin NOW! https://twitter.com/re9601/status/702736530381484032 … || Liquid Bitcoin || Bitcoin ATM Comes To Philadelphia @AlexandriaHoff Shows You How It Works: http://cbsloc.al/1VJq3qr?cid=twitter_CBSPhilly … || $389.00 at 23:15 UTC [24h Range: $366.72 - $391.88 Volume: 12942 BTC]
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Trend: no change || Prices: 417.95, 426.77, 424.23, 416.52, 414.82, 416.73, 417.96, 420.87, 420.90, 421.44
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2016-09-29]
BTC Price: 605.69, BTC RSI: 52.43
Gold Price: 1321.70, Gold RSI: 47.36
Oil Price: 47.83, Oil RSI: 58.37
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Exclusive: LexisNexis and start-up join to curb bitcoin money-laundering: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - A company that provides banks with anti-money-laundering controls has teamed up with a bitcoin security firm to try to curb nefarious uses of the digital currency, such as drug trafficking and terrorism financing. LexisNexis said the new service it has created with London-based startup Elliptic would bring bank-grade AML controls to bitcoin transactions, making the virtual currency more attractive to those who might want to use it for legitimate transactions LexisNexis, part of multinational analytics firm RELX Group (REL.L), helps banks comply with AML regulation, using a database of 2.7 million global entities that could be involved in illicit transactions, such as those on sanctions and other watch-lists. It has shared that database with Elliptic, which monitors bitcoin transactions and can alert its clients - ranging from bitcoin exchanges to U.S. and European intelligence agencies - when money moves from bitcoin addresses that have been identified as bad actors. "This is a step towards making it (bitcoin) more mainstream and more acceptable," said Thomas Brown, of LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Bitcoin is a web-based digital currency that relies on complex algorithms to move money around quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority to process transactions. That has made it attractive to a variety of users, including those who want to get around capital controls and those who support a currency that is free from government control for ideological reasons. But it has also attracted criminals, such as drug dealers and arms traffickers. "Today, if you see bitcoins transacting, you almost assume they're from someone who wants to be off the grid, or they're proceeds from illicit transactions," said Brown. Last month Elliptic said it was working with the Internet Watch Foundation to clamp down on the use of bitcoin for online child pornography. "The single biggest thing keeping mainstream financial services out of the (bitcoin) ecosystem is the inability to do bank-grade anti-money laundering controls," said Elliptic's head of business development, Kevin Beardsley. "The hope is that this will unlock a whole wave of companies being able to enter financial services with bitcoin." (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) || The NSA cyber-weapon auction is a total smokescreen — here's what's really going on: NSA spying surveillance (Josh Mayeux, a network defender, works at the US Air Force Space Command Network Operations A group calling itself the "Shadow Brokers" claimed earlier this week that it hacked into the US National Security Agency and stole an apparent treasure trove of exploits and hacking tools that it is now trying to auction off . But experts say that this is all a smokescreen for a not-so-subtle message from Moscow to Washington: Don't mess with us. "It's a smokescreen, there's nothing real about this," John Schindler, a former NSA analyst and counterintelligence officer, told Business Insider. "This is Moscow's way of upping the ante in the spy war, and sending a message no one can miss [which is] 'we have you penetrated, we've got you by the balls, don't push us.'" He added: "The Russians are making a power play because they think they can right now." The previously-unknown Shadow Brokers created a number of social-media accounts earlier this month on Reddit, Github, Twitter, and Imgur, before announcing on August 13 its "cyber weapon auction," which promised bidders a "full state sponsor tool set" from a hacking unit believed to be within the NSA known only as "The Equation Group." It released a 234-megabyte archive on various file-sharing sites with one-half being free to view and use — which numerous experts say is legitimate — while the other half was encrypted. The winner of the auction, the group said, would get the decryption key. But an auction for hacking tools and exploits is not something that ever happens, experts say . Instead, exploits are bought and sold on the black market for hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of dollars, in private. There's something else going on here, and it seems like it has nothing to do with a hacking group looking for cash. nsa (Reuters) Auction files 'better than Stuxnet' In the announcement of its auction, Shadow Brokers seemed to ensure that no one would seriously consider bidding on the other half of its treasure trove, which it claims has within it software that is better than "Stuxnet" — the US-Israeli malware that destroyed Iranian nuclear centrifuges. Story continues Its FAQ tells bidders that they are going to lose their Bitcoin, no matter what they do. If you win the auction, you'll get the files, but if you lose the auction, you don't get the files — and you don't get your Bitcoin back. "Sorry lose bidding war lose bitcoin and files," the group wrote. That's probably why the so-called auction hasn't moved anywhere close to the group's goal of 1 million Bitcoin, or roughly $575 million. The high bid is currently 1.629 Bitcoin, a surprisingly low figure for a software package that, if it were "better than Stuxnet," would contain a number of unknown software exploits called "zero days," each of which can be sold for $100,000 or more on the black market. "This auction is one of the more bizarre things that I've ever seen in this space. People who buy and sell exploits would not just dump money into an auction," a source who used to work for the NSA's elite hacker unit, Tailored Access Operations, told Business Insider on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters. "It kind of makes no sense." "The low Bitcoin offers are pretty amusing though," Dr. Peter Singer, a strategist at the think tank New America and coauthor of " Ghost Fleet ," told Business Insider in an email. Further, the website WikiLeaks apparently has the full archive and says that it will release its own "pristine copy in due course." WikiLeaks did not respond to an email from Business Insider asking when that release would be. This just "shows the fraud of the whole Bitcoin angle," Schindler said. A view through a construction fence shows the Kremlin towers and St. Basil's Cathedral on a hot summer day in central Moscow, Russia, July 1, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/File Photo (The Kremlin towers and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.Thomson Reuters) 'Conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility' Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden offered his opinion on the underlying message behind the "auction" in a series of tweets on Tuesday, notably pointing the finger at Russia as being behind it. After cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that it uncovered two different state-sponsored Russian hacking groups inside the servers of the Democratic National Committee in June , Snowden wrote that "if Russia hacked the DNC, they should be condemned for it," and then chided the US for not releasing evidence that he believed the NSA had that would prove it. That "smoking gun" evidence never came, though a number of US political and intelligence officials have said that the DNC hack was at the Kremlin's direction. "Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility," wrote Snowden of this latest breach, adding, "This leak looks like somebody sending a message that an escalation in the attribution game could get messy fast." How messy? According to Snowden, the fully-leaked toolkit — from 2013 — could offer insight into previous hacks carried out by the NSA, or it could be reverse-engineered to help adversaries detect them in the future. Even Schindler, the former NSA analyst who's an outspoken critic of Snowden, agrees with Snowden's finding on the overt message, though he doesn't think that leaked tools will have any significant effect on future NSA operations. "This stuff has all been changed," Schindler said. "Three years is a long time in cyber ops, because that's not the point. The point is to show NSA that we've got you by the balls." NOW WATCH: FORMER NSA DIRECTOR: America is ‘really good’ at stealing data from other countries More From Business Insider Experts think Russia has leaked NSA cyberweapons online Here's why the supposed NSA 'hack' is unlike anything we've ever seen before EDWARD SNOWDEN: Russia might have leaked alleged NSA cyberweapons as a 'warning' || Traders pick the best bets for Yellen's speech: The " Fast Money " traders made their last few bets ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen 's Friday speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Trader Brian Kelly said he recently added a new position in the banks (NYSE Arca: KBE) . He said if Yellen makes hawkish statements on Friday, the banks could rally. If the Fed chair's statement ends up dovish, defensive assets like the utilities sector and gold miners are the places to invest, said trader Steve Grasso. Kelly said, however, that Yellen's potentially hawkish comments are already priced into the gold miners and other gold assets. On Wednesday, the gold miners broke below their 50-day moving average . But even with the recent move to the downside, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca: GDX) has soared 99 percent this year. "Gold, to me, appears to be in a long-run bull market. You buy the dips in that," he said. Disclosures: STEVE GRASSO Steve Grasso is long BA, CC, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. Grasso's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. No Shorts. Stuart Frankel & Co Inc. and some of its Partners have a financial interest in LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, NXTD, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, JCP, GE, AIR FP. KAREN FINERMAN Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, DRII, DRII calls, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, DRII, DRII calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. DAVID SEABURG Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP; he is short the euro and Japanese yen. || 'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft: By Clare Baldwin
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers.
The Hong Kong-based exchange said on Aug. 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin.
It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex.
Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said.
Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law.
The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach.
"The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book.
The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specializes in U.S. securities and trading laws.
The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licenses in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have.
"If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment.
Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue.
"ROBBED"
Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being.
"I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters.
He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token.
"Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry.
Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation.
"This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses.
Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing.
"People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut.
He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back.
But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge.
"It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court.
"It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up,” he said.
(Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman) || Indian bitcoin company raises $1.5 million from U.S., Indian investors: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unocoin, a Bangalore-based bitcoin startup, has raised $1.5 million in funding from a mix of Indian and U.S. investors, the company announced on Thursday. The company, which runs a trading platform to buy, sell, and store bitcoins for Indian customers, said the money raised was the largest for an Indian bitcoin startup. Unocoin, which has 100,000 users and more than 30 employees, has been in operation since December 2013. Unocoin describes itself as the Coinbase of India. San Francisco-based Coinbase is the largest U.S. bitcoin company and runs an exchange and a wallet service, among other businesses. Funding came from Indian entities such as Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures along with U.S. investors such as Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, and FundersClub. Digital Currency Group was founded by one of the top U.S. bitcoin investors Barry Silbert, while Boost VC is run by U.S.-based Adam Draper, the son of billionaire entrepreneur Tim Draper. "We needed a separate exchange for India. A few years ago when we wanted to buy bitcoin, there was nothing available in India," Sunny Ray, Unocoin's co-founder and president told Reuters in an interview. "So if you want to buy bitcoin from an international exchange, you will have to do a wire transfer from India to these international exchanges and get your bitcoin and oftentimes it takes three to five days." Unocoin raised about $200,000 in its first financing round. It started from a small hometown called Tumkur, near Bengaluru. Bitcoin, a digital currency, was trading at $604.50 (BTC=BTSP) on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) || Bitfinex says expects 'socialized loss' for $72 million bitcoin hack: By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex, from which hackers stole about US$72 million worth of bitcoin this week, said on Friday that it expected to "socialize" the losses among bitcoin balances. In dollar terms, the theft of the 119,756 bitcoin revealed on Tuesday was the second-biggest security breach ever of a digital currency exchange. The theft accounted for about 0.75 percent of all bitcoins in circulation. "We are still working out the details," Bitfinex said on its website, "however, we are leaning towards a socialized loss scenario among bitcoin balances and active loans to BTCUSD positions." The exchange, which is known for its liquidity in the U.S. dollar/bitcoin currency pair, did not explain what that would entail. It has said previously it would settle accounts at an exchange rate of $604.06, the midpoint of the bid and ask on Aug. 2, 2016 at 18:00:00 UTC. The price of bitcoin plunged more than 23 percent on Tuesday when news of the hack became public, trading as low as $465.28 on the BitStamp platform BTC=BTSP. It was trading at $569.84 on Friday. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Editing by Will Waterman) || Hacking group claims to offer cyber-weapons in online auction: By Joseph Menn (Reuters) - Hackers going by the name Shadow Brokers said on Monday they will auction stolen surveillance tools they say were used by a cyber group linked to the U.S. National Security Agency. To arouse interest in the auction, the hackers released samples of programs they said could break into popular firewall software made by companies including Cisco Systems Inc, Juniper Networks Inc and Fortinet Inc. The companies did not respond to request for comment, nor did the NSA. Writing in imperfect English, the Shadow Brokers promised in postings on a Tumblr blog that the auctioned material would contain cyber weapons developed by the Equation Group, a hacking group that cyber security experts widely believe to be an arm of the NSA. [ http://reut.rs/2aVA7LD] The Shadow Brokers said the programs they will auction will be better than Stuxnet, a malicious computer worm widely attributed to the United States and Israel that sabotaged Irans nuclear program. Reuters could not contact the Shadow Brokers or verify their assertions. Some experts who looked at the samples posted on Tumblr said they included programs that had previously been described and therefore were unlikely to cause major damage. The data [released so far] appears to be relatively old; some of the programs have already been known for years, said researcher Claudio Guarnieri, and are unlikely to cause any significant operational damage. Still, they appeared to be genuine tools that might work if flaws have not been addressed. After examining the code released Monday, Matt Suiche, founder of UAE-based security startup Comae Technologies, concluded they looked like "could be used." Other security experts warned the posting could prove to be a hoax. The group said interested parties had to send funds in advance of winning the auction via Bitcoin currency and would not get their money back if they lost. The auction will end at an unspecified time, Shadow Brokers said, encouraging bidders to "keep bidding until we announce winner." (Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Citigroup hits another Costco hurdle: (BII)This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, pleaseclick here.
Citigroup is still experiencing hurdles after purchasing the roughly 11 million cardholder Costco portfolio from American Express earlier this summer.
Last week, the firm mistakenly emailed a “small portion” of Costco members telling them that their membership had ended and their cards would be canceled, according toBusiness Insider. Citigroup has since notified the affected consumers that the messageoccurredas a result of a “systematic error.”
The error marks another in a series of problems that Citigroup has faced managing the transition.
In the week following the transition, the company fielded multiple complaints from consumers who hadn’t received new cards or were struggling to activate them and couldn’t get the necessary support. Despite that, the portfolio has been performing well, giving Citi$5.7 billionin purchases made on Citi Costco cards in its first three-and-a-half weeks.
But ongoing errors could begin to turn off consumers and increase cardholder attrition, particularly since Costco now accepts any Visa card, not just the Citigroup-branded Costco card. That would limit the potential financial impact of the portfolio, which could give Citi over $80 billion in annual billed business and help it further establish separation as the third largest US card issuer this year.
Citigroup is just one piece of the larger payments ecosystem, which contains card issuers, processors, merchants, gateways, and more.
Evan Bakker and John Heggestuen, analysts atBI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, have compileda detailed report on the payments ecosystemthat drills into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.
In full, the report:
• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
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More From Business Insider
• THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY EXPLAINED: The Trends Creating New Winners And Losers In The Card-Processing Ecosystem
• THE CONNECTED DEVICE PAYMENTS REPORT: Market opportunities, top stakeholders, and new use cases for the next frontier in payments
• The top 5 fintech predictions for 2016 || 'FlowRio2016Extra' App Among Top Downloads in the Region: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Aug 9, 2016) - The ' FlowRio2016Extra ' App peaked at the #2 spot alongside the worldwide phenomenon Pokemon Go , as Olympic fans in the Caribbean downloaded the latest feature from Flow, the Official Broadcast Partner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games . ' FlowRio2016Extra ' App, which is free to all users, is trending on both iOS and Android and is part of Flow's commitment to transform the Olympic Games viewing experience across the Caribbean. Customers are raving about the service; GregFF from Jamaica declared, " Flow has done something exceptional here . I have never been able to follow or experience the Olympic Games like this. Bravo @FLOWJamaica" - GregFF (Jamaica), Aug 06 2016 09:39 AM Trinifido of Trinidad was elated and added, "Okay @FlowTT I have to rate you with this #FlowRioapp. It's awesome. #RioOlympics2016." Fellow Trinidadian, Lizimberlis reported being "...happy I have @Flowtt...Olympic coverage of basketball, cycling and even equestrian." Lizimberlis of Trinidad, Aug 06 2016 12:13 PM. As news of the impressive ranking broke, Michele English, Acting President of Flow, stated, "This is a proud moment for us at Flow, considering this has come literally on the first day of the 2016 Olympic Games. To actually be in the trending category alone counts as a major accomplishment, to be second place to Pokemon Go which is also the #1 trending search for i OS is beyond impressive. Our goal is to continue to delight our customers with innovations such as the ' FlowRio2016Extra' App and we are thrilled that they are responding to the investments to serve them better." According to English, "the downloads have so far exceeded our initial expectations, and as the Olympic Games progress and more of our Caribbean athletes spring into action, we anticipate even more activity, more searches and in effect more downloads." Downloads are free to everyone, however, Flow customers have the added benefit of watching the live streams. Story continues For English, the rating has taken on additional significance for the brand in light of the mammoth task the company has undertaken to prioritize and transform the customer experience. "As we place the customer at the heart of everything we do, we aim to complement, empower and enhance the consumers' ever-evolving lifestyle," English also said. Olympic fans have been gravitating to the ' FlowRio2016Extra' App because of its ease, convenience and complete access to all things Olympics, wherever and whenever the consumer wants. The ' FlowRio2016Extra ' App allows the user complete freedom to carry on with life as usual even while enjoying the Games and not be restricted to the confines of the living room sofa. The ' FlowRio2016Extra' App has amazing features including multiple camera angles, giving viewers a sense of actually being up front and center at all events across all 32 Olympic venues in Rio de Janeiro. Download the Free app today! http://hyperurl.co/FlowRio2016Extra NOTE TO EDITOR: To view ranking visit the G oogle app store -- it is indicated in the trending section of the store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topselling_free?hl=en For iOS, it displays in the trending searches , which once again are based on algorithms similar to Android. These trending searches are also region specific. The store displays by region -- and is updated on a regular basis based on a complex algorithms, usually based on high volume downloads and usage over a short period. A mobile consumer survey reveals that nearly half of all mobile app users identified browsing the app store charts and search results (the placement on either of which depends on rankings) as a preferred method for finding new apps in the app stores. Simply put, better rankings mean more downloads and easier discovery. As of July 2016; Android users were able to choose between 2.2 million apps. Apple's App Store remained the second-largest app store with 2 million. About C&W Communications CWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region -- in over 30 markets. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3043152 || Traders pick the best bets for Yellen's speech: The "Fast Money" traders made their last few bets ahead ofFederal ReserveChairJanet Yellen's Friday speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Trader Brian Kelly said he recently added a new position in the banks(NYSE Arca: KBE). He said if Yellen makes hawkish statements on Friday, the banks could rally.
If the Fed chair's statement ends up dovish, defensive assets like the utilities sector and gold miners are the places to invest, said trader Steve Grasso.
Kelly said, however, that Yellen's potentially hawkish comments are already priced into the gold miners and other gold assets. On Wednesday, the gold minersbroke below their 50-day moving average. But even with the recent move to the downside, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF(NYSE Arca: GDX)has soared 99 percent this year.
"Gold, to me, appears to be in a long-run bull market. You buy the dips in that," he said.
Disclosures:
STEVE GRASSO
Steve Grasso is long BA, CC, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. Grasso's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. No Shorts. Stuart Frankel & Co Inc. and some of its Partners have a financial interest in LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, NXTD, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, JCP, GE, AIR FP.
KAREN FINERMAN
Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, DRII, DRII calls, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, DRII, DRII calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
DAVID SEABURG
Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT.
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP; he is short the euro and Japanese yen.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 11 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $83.76 #bitcoin #btc || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000012 (6.21%) 0.00000002 BTC (-0.00%) || #UFOCoin #UFO $ 0.000012 (2.81 %) 0.00000002 BTC (-0.00 %) || $603.55 at 19:00 UTC [24h Range: $592.46 - $607.65 Volume: 3895 BTC] || oh mon dieu ma langue svp || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000012 (-0.29%) 0.00000002 BTC (-0.00%) || #ChainCoin #CHC $0.000080 (0.10%) 0.00000014 BTC (0.00%) || Buying bitcoins can be delicious at https://Bittylicious.com/refer/2465 £494.00 per BTC. (BPI +4.01%) #buy #bitcoin #banktrans || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000011 (-0.58%) 0.00000002 BTC (-0.00%) || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 11 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $65.23 #bitcoin #btc
|
Trend: up || Prices: 609.73, 613.98, 610.89, 612.13, 610.20, 612.51, 613.02, 617.12, 619.11, 616.75
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-09-25]
BTC Price: 8486.99, BTC RSI: 22.02
Gold Price: 1504.60, Gold RSI: 50.13
Oil Price: 56.49, Oil RSI: 48.72
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Is Ethereums tokenization throne at risk? Binance thinks so: Ethereum has long been the network that businesses flock to in times of blockchain need. But the networks appeal could soon fade, according to a new report from Binance Research. Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, suggests that Ethereums scalability issues are giving several other programmable blockchains a chance to catch up and support their own token standards. While still the go-to blockchain for creating new tokens, those scalability issues have led to other problems, such as slow transaction times and high gas fees, according to the report. So while Ethereum is still at the top of tokenization heap, Binance claims that the blockchain network is also overstuffed, and several competing blockchain systemsincluding its own Binance Chain, of courseare finding new ways to make their mark when it comes to gaming, compatibility, storage and ease of fee payments. One such example is Tron, according to Binance, which famously helped launch two Tron-backed IEOs on its Launchpad platform. The Tron network aims to provide its users with more efficient distributed storage solutions, along with faster transactions so users can receive their funds within minutes rather than hours. Tron has also placed a big emphasis on blockchain gaming to drive user adoption. Vitalik Buterin absent from Ethereums next upgrade In fact, Binance suggests that gaming could be a way for competing chains to distinguish themselves. Both EOS and Tron, the report claims, are stronger platforms for blockchain gaming at the moment, since more than 80 percent of the dapps on these networks are devoted to gambling and online casinos. On the Ethereum network, by comparison, only about 33 percent of the dapps are gaming related. And while Ethereum currently boasts the highest number of tokens running on its own blockchain, Binances report classifies many of these tokens as worthless, given the issuance costs associated with deployment of their smart contracts incurred in gas fees. Consequently, the many useless tokens on the Ethereum blockchain result in spam that clouds up the network, the report claims. Story continues Binance identifies several competing blockchainssuch as EOS, Tron, NEO and Steemitthat also bear worthless tokens, though in smaller numbers compared to Ethereum. According to Binances research, it is, in fact, its own network Binance Chainthat holds the highest number of positively-valued tokens after Ethereum. Shocker. But the biggest problem with Ethereum, according to Binances report, is that its fees are too highsome transactions requiring gas fees exceeding 30 cents eachwhich can hinder greater network participation. In addition, users cant conduct transactions unless they own ether. Sending funds in BTC, EOS or any other cryptocurrency can be done granted the sender can pay associated fees in ether. This leads to issues if the person is not an active Ethereum trader. Some chains, such as TomoChain and (cough, cough) Binance Chain, are supposedly better options in this category, since they allow fees to be paid in any tradeable cryptocurrency. What it all means is that the many blockchains contenderspresent and futureare learning what to do and what not to do from Ethereum. Ethereum remains the primary platform to build new tokens, and its still the second-largest cryptocurrency network by market cap. But the contenders are coming. And some might bring advantages that ultimately give them the edge. || Bitcoin confirmed as Watford FC’s new sleeve sponsor: The Bitcoin logo will be printed on the Watford FC shirt for forthcoming Premier League games this season, according to an official announcement from the club. The new agreement is in connection with Watford’s main shirt sponsor Sportsbet.io, which is running a campaign to “improve awareness around Bitcoin”. Justin Le Brocque, head of marketing at Sportsbet.io, said: “The crypto community have been hugely supportive of us since we began, so putting the Bitcoin logo on the sleeve felt like a fun way to give something back while also showing them our support.” Customers at Watford’s stadium, Vicarage Road, will be able to use Bitcoin to purchase hospitality boxes and exclusive club merchandise. Bring your home or away shirt to either the Vicarage Road or @intuwatford stores and get the @Bitcoin logo printed for free! 👕👍 pic.twitter.com/NA0B7vjDUq — Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) September 12, 2019 Watford CEO Scott Duxbury admitted that placing the Bitcoin logo on the club’s shirt “challenges the accepted norm” before going on to say: “We’re excited about the partnerships and the potential for new global conversations that it could help start for our club.” The club has also launched a Bitcoin education website that contains content on the origin of Bitcoin and how it can be purchased, as well as options to use the cryptocurrency to get a shout-out on an LED billboard at Vicarage Road. The decision to add the Bitcoin logo on the shirt hasn’t gone down well with fans, many of whom have expressed their displeasure at the announcement . For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Bitcoin confirmed as Watford FC’s new sleeve sponsor appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Confessions of a Venezuelan Bitcoin miner: In Venezuela, electricity is practically free—when the lights will turn on at all. A country with some of the cheapest energy prices in the world should be a dream forcryptocurrencyentrepreneurs in search of themost profitable places to mine Bitcoin.
But the severe economic crisis in Venezuela, coupled with widespread corruption throughout every level of government, might make Bitcoin enthusiasts think twice about setting up shop in this would-be mining paradise.
A few weeks ago, a Venezuelan Bitcoinminer, Juan Blanco,took to social mediato recount what he described as pressure and intimidation tactics from the Venezuelan government over his activities—including attempts by national police to shake him down for cash, he claimed.
Blanco said he received a call from a business associate warning him that the police had raided his mining farm and were attempting to seize 15Antminer T15’sfrom his property. The issue, according to Blanco, stemmed from a lack of invoices for his business and proper registration of his mining operation with the country’s cryptocurrency regulatory authority,Sunacrip.
WhileBitcoinmining in Venezuela is technically legal, the practice is highly restricted. Since it provides miners with a hefty profit, valued in U.S. dollars, authorities keep a close eye on these operations. Dollars, after all, were until very recently forbidden by President Nicolás Maduro’s government, and still highly sought after by the populace.
Intrigued,Decryptreached out to Blanco to learn more about his experience. The Venezuelan entrepreneur and member of the country’s National Cryptocurrencies Association (Asonacrip) has spent several years bulding his Bitcoin-based business. He now says he fears that the harrassment he’s faced in recent weeks is only just beginning.
Blanco toldDecryptthat, during the raid, officers forced him to produce his invoice data, which he kept in the cloud, as well as register with Sunacrip on the spot to avoid confiscation of his hardware. The problem is that registering as a miner with Sunacrip had been, and continues to be, impossible for most people—sincethe websitethat the government created for this process remains disabled.
But despite getting the necessary paperwork squared away, the Bitcoin miner said officers still attempted to seize his hardware. Though they ultimately relented, he said police took photographs of his equipment and asked invasive questions about how much money he made mining and what he did with the profits.
The experience has forced him to relocate his business. “I think I’m ‘marked’ by both the police and the community,” Blanco said.
Being ‘marked’ is a term that is well understood by Venezuelans. Once outed as a person with a large income in U.S. dollars, Venezuelans are at risk of becoming a target for both criminals and corrupt cops. And given the nature of the business, Bitcoin miners make for prime marks.
Indeed, Blanco’s storyisn’t unusual—bitcoin miners in Venezuela have reported harassment from policetime and time againwithin the last few years. In fact, Blanco claims that less than two weeks before the raid on his bitcoin mining business, the national police conducted a similar operation on aDash farm. He said the police in this case succeeded in seizing all of the equipment “and everything generated by it,” including the cash the owner had on hand.
Venezuelan authorities at Sunacrip and the national investigative police (CIPC) did not respond toDecrypt’s request for comment.
And yet in spite of the police raids, threat of property seizures, and bureaucratic hassles, Blanco said he believes the highly lucrative rewards from bitcoin mining in Venezuela still outweigh the risks.
“Venezuela is the best place in the world to mine,” he said, based on the cost analysis alone. Mining a single bitcoin in Venezuela costs around $520, he explained, while costs in the United States or China, can exceed $4,000.
By comparison, according to statistics from Global Petrol Prices, the average cost of energy in the United States is $0.14 per kilowatt hour. In Iran, another hotbed ofbitcoin mining in the face of government repression, the price is $0.03 per 1kWh. In Venezuela, the cost is virtually nonexistent.
“Mining in Venezuela is growing fast,” said Blanco. “What has stopped the growth a little is how difficult it has been to get the equipment that is manufactured in China.” The Venezuelan government imposes strict restrictions on imports of electronic equipment, which makes mining hardware prohibitively expensive for most Venezuelans. For example, an Antminer S9 that costs less than $500 on Amazon, or about $300 on the official Bitmain website, is sold for around$1500 in Venezuela.
On top of that, a prolonged electricity crisis in Venezuela has had a significant impact on mining businesses in the country—not to mention the overall quality of life of the country’s residents.
Nationwide power outages have for the last week left much of Venezuela in the dark—blackouts that President Nicolas Maduro has blamed, without evidence, on an “electromagnetic attack” waged by political opposition both within his own country and in the United States.
Whatever the cause, as the lightsslowly begin to come back onthroughout the country, those with high economic hopes invested in bitcoin are no doubt eager to get back to the risky business of mining. || The price of Binance Coin has halved since all-time high: Binance Coin (BNB) rallied in the first half of this year, rising $6 to highs of $39 in June. But since then, its price has been slashed in half. Currently, Binance Coin sits at just $20.54 after losing more than 4.5% in the last 24-hours. What's behind the downfall? Well, the initial rise occured while the whole market was booming, in part pushed up by the swell of exposure surrounding Facebook's plans for its Libra cryptocurrency , which were unveiled in May. But Binance Coin surged more than the rest, outperforming Bitcoin by 300%, partly due to its regular coin burns , designed to boost its price, alongside its IEO offerings, which attracted a lot of attention to the project. It's possible that since the market has calmed, and IEOs have largely been consigned to the dustheap , this has slowed momentum, turning bullish traders into bears. On top of this, while Binance is expanding to the US, it won't be adding Binance Coin by default to the platform, nor will it initially be used for trading fees (its main purpose on the main non-US Binance exchange). This may have come as a surprise to traders since Binance, so far, has natively supported Binance Coin on all of its exchanges around the world. Currently, Binance US has said it will support five cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, and stablecoin Tether. While BNB isn't initially on the list, the exchange is considering adding it, according to a Binance spokesperson. However, Binance has continued to expand its services, and will be launching its futures trading platform on Friday. Profits from the platform will also go towards Binance's quarterly burn of Binance Coin. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that, based on community feedback, from now on, "Binance will include all future businesses and products (including Binance Futures) into the scope of each quarterly BNB burn." || Millennials love Bitcoin, still don’t trust or understand it: survey: Having grown up in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, is it any wonder that Millennials and Generation Z like the sound ofBitcoinover the traditional banking system?
A survey released today conducted by U.K.-based research firm One Poll, and commissioned bypeer-to-peer BitcoinmarketplacePaxful, suggests young people in the United States have a growing interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The trouble is a sizable portion of them still don’t trust crypto—and some even struggle to understand it, according to the report.
The survey polled approximately 500 young people between the ages of 18 and 42 earlier this year and found that nearly half of the Millennial and Gen Z respondents—43 percent—think crypto could replace the U.S. financial systemtoday. And another 26 percent believe it will get there one day soon. (A whopping 98.4 percent associate cryptocurrency with Bitcoin, according to the survey, while 77.4 percent said they’ve heard ofEthereum.)
On the other hand, the survey also demonstrated that more than a third—37.14 percent—of young people don’t yet trust cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, citing things like regulation and volatility as concerns. Of those polled, 14 percent of Millennial and Gen Z respondents cited a “lack of understanding” as their main reason for not getting involved with crypto.
In an interview withDecrypt,Paxful CEO Ray Youssefsaid he believes that many young people are not necessarily looking for the same sort of lending or investment services like their parents. Rather, they’re attracted simply to easier ways of receiving, sending and storing funds. Crypto, he said, can offer these services better than standard financial institutions, though he believes cryptocurrencies are still difficult to utilize—and, therefore, difficult to understand.
“Many people are not gamblers. They just want to make money and make their lives easier,” he said. “Crypto can make lives easier, but nobody is doing enough to educate themselves. There is too much focus on speculation,” said Youssef. “I’m sure many of these young people have only heard of crypto from pump-and-dumps.”
It’s worth noting that more than half of Millennial and Gen Z respondents said they are more interested in the peer-to-peer trading capabilities of crypto, rather than just buying from an exchange and holding. Of those polled, roughly 44 percent cited “peer-to-peer transactions” as their primary interest in digital currency. What’s more, 67 percent said they also associate crypto with globalization.
Youssef said he isn’t surprised by this. “When we did the campus tour in Africa, we saw young African students’ eyes light up when we told them about a potential new revenue stream,” he explained. “Peer-to-peer trading offers a wealth-generating opportunity, and when they understand peer-to-peer trading, younger people will understand the arbitrage opportunities. This is a new world for them.”
The survey also demonstrated that nearly 21 percent of the respondents in the U.S. were unbanked, an unusually high number for a developed country, according to Youssef. However, more than half of those polled said they’ve purchased crypto within the last six months, suggesting crypto adoption could be on the rise among America’s youth. || The high cost of Bitcoin’s bull run: American blockchain entrepreneur Rhett Creightonestimatedthat over $4 billion is being spent on Bitcoin mining each year. How did Creighton work this out? He estimated that Bitcoin mining uses 55 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy per year and costs 7.5 cents per hour. He multiplied those two numbers together, and out popped the tweet-worthy figure of $4.125 billion.
If Creighton’s right, that amounts to a hefty sum, indicative of an even larger environmental cost. Bitcoin’s incredibly inefficient; all that computing power spent solving those complex puzzles is lost, and the money goes directly into the hands of energy companies. It’s a non-refundable investment, given that the world predominantly relies on fossil fuels, and the harsh price to pay for Bitcoin’s latest bull run.
It turns out that Creighton’s calculation was wrong—but not by much. Working out the financial and environmental cost of bitcoin mining is far more complex than a calculation that fits into a single tweet.
According to theBitcoin Energy Consumption Index, the pet project of Alex de Vries, blockchain specialist at PwC, annualized global mining costs $3.66 billion, with a revenue of $7 billion. A neat and tidy profit to bitcoin miners riding high on Bitcoin’s soaring price—but a hefty cost to the environment.
But the numbers Creighton plugged in? Not entirely consistent with de Vries' findings. First, he overestimated the price. De Vries put the price per kilowatt at 5 cents, and he even saidthat’sgenerous. “In a lot of places like around in China, you can get cheaper energy...I think the regular price for coal-based electricity in China goes to 4 cents per kilowatt hour,” he toldDecrypt.
Creighton also underestimated the terawatt hour: energy consumption is far higher. In fact, the aggregate estimated energy consumption of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash has returned to its highest point since November 2018, 73.121 TWh, according to de Vries’ estimates.
Energy consumption dipped along with the price of Bitcoin back in November last year, but has been steadily rising alongside this year’s bull market, which saw a resurgence in bitcoin interest, and thus mining.
To put things into perspective, de Vries’ site, Digiconomist, said that a year’s Bitcoin mining produces the (pick one): carbon footprint of Denmark, or the power consumption of Austria, or the electronic waste of Luxembourg.
The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, an initiativereleasedby Cambridge University in July, suggests that things could be much worse. It estimates that around 65 TWh is used annually, but puts an upper bound at up to 135TWh.
De Vries saidthat the environmental impact isn’t just limited to the amount of power produced. Bitcoin mining machines are often purpose-built for the task, so when farmers replace them or they break, the old models go straight to landfill. De Vries estimated that only 15% are recycled.
A 2017studyby Garrick Hileman and Michel Rauchs put around 47 percent of mining facilities in China, a nation heavily reliant on coal-based power.
How about Ethereum, the protocol that, despite attempts to transition to a pure Proof-of-Stake blockchain, is yet to shed its slimy Proof-of-Work skin? Not much better according to de Vries’latest estimates: annualized global mining revenues amounted to over $1.1 billion, and the electricity used to mine those revenues--which garnered a profit of just $425 million--uses the same amount of electricity as Luxembourg.
One solution is so-called “green coins,” whichDecryptalreadydebunkedas about as environmentally friendly as landfill. Initiatives that hope to mine bitcoins using sustainable energy are “going to be very hard, if not impossible, simply because of the type of energy that these miners need,” de Vries said.
Miners need constant energy to be effective, and the energy provided by, say, solar panels, aren’t consistent enough to genuinely replace fossil-fuels. So, though it’s possible to supplement renewable energy supplies with non-renewable sources, it’s difficult, de Vries said, and that“translates to a not so green network.”
De Vries said that Proof-of-Stake could be a way forward if crypto continues to scale. “From an environmental perspective, it’s definitely a game-changer,” said de Vries. “You don’t need the specialised equipment so you cancel both the energy use and the electronic waste that emerges from it,” he said.
But for now, Proof-of-Stake blockchains, like Hedera Hashgraph and Algorand are still battling for both dominance and relevance. || Lendingblock launches institutional crypto lending platform: Lendingblock has launched the first-ever institutional lending platform fully dedicated to cryptocurrency, according to a press release shared with Coin Rivet. Lendingblock’s exchange provides a secure and liquid venue for lending and borrowing various crypto coins. Institutional users will be able to borrow and lend popular digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. This can be done on loan terms of 1, 7, 14, and 30 days, with a minimum trade size of $100,000. Loan management Clients won’t have to hold their assets on Lendingblock’s exchange ahead of placing orders. Instead, Lendingblock manages the entire loan lifecycle throughout the term of the loan. The firm ensures correct maintenance and sufficient collateral so that all loans are fully secured. Lendingblock also acts as a settlement agent throughout any transactions, with borrow and lend orders being matched automatically. Any rates are set automatically by supply and demand, providing a transparent view of current market rates at any given time. Market analysis, accessible data, and price transparency Lendingblock’s clients include a mix of trading houses, market makers, and crypto lending firms. As such, the new platform supports the broader needs of the market and all of its participants. Borrowers and lenders can enter into fully collateralised crypto vs crypto lending agreements that benefit both parties. Lenders can earn incremental interest income and borrowers can use their own digital assets as collateral. Key market infrastructure With this new platform, Lendingblock is creating a wider support mechanism for the cryptocurrency industry. Steve Swain, CEO of Lendingblock, explains: “We see the Lendingblock exchange as a key piece of market infrastructure that will provide efficiencies and support healthy markets in the crypto economy. We look forward to bringing the first institutional lending exchange to market and believe it will play an essential role in facilitating clients’ trading strategies and also in helping the crypto market infrastructure to mature.” Story continues This support will also be embedded in Lendingblock’s approach to customer service, which will include a team that offers 24-hour support over the phone and through live chat. As the business and platform grows, it will expand its capabilities to meet further client demand. To find out more about cryptocurrencies, follow Coin Rivet . The post Lendingblock launches institutional crypto lending platform appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Ethereum DEX startup launches app store to be ‘the homepage of the Lightning Network’: Blockchain startup Radar, best known for running a decentralized exchange (DEX) over ethereum, is expanding its influence in bitcoin and wants to "the homepage of the Lightning Network," according to Radar CEO Alan Curtis.
The company launched on Tuesday an app store that collects all applications built on Lightning Network, the second layer of bitcoin for scaling transactions. The new platform allows users to discover new lightning applications and pay for them via a single payment channel through Radar.
In March, Radarreleased the Radar ION platform, a starter pack for lightning users that includes news, developer tools, announcements, and tutorials. The app store will add to this offering in the hope to onboard more users to the Lightning Network and allow application developers to showcase their work.
The startup made headlines last August when its decentralized exchange, Radar Relay, raised$10 millionfrom Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, and others. The exchange is based on ethereum and facilitates peer-to-peer trading of ERC20 tokens. The platform has clocked over $250 million in trading volumes over the past two years, and in July it hit its highest monthly volumes of $17 million, according to a company spokesperson.
Radar's expansion to the lightning technology is part of its plan to branch out to a different blockchain network,according to Curtis.
"ION isn’t a pivot; we've identified the Bitcoin Lightning Network as a promising technology (with nearly free and near-instant payments) and launched ION as our second product earlier this year. The ION App Store is an expansion towards our efforts in becoming the Homepage of the Lightning Network," Curtis told The Block. || Bitcoin’s hash rate reaches highs of 84 quintillion hashes per second: Bitcoin’s hash rate surpassed 80 quintillion hashes per second on Friday, continuing the upward trend that started in December as Bitcoin’s price began to rise. That means that the amount of computing power dedicated to “hashing” verified transactions is at an all-time high.
When Bitcoins are mined, transactions have to be verified, or “hashed”, before they’re added to the blockchain. The hash rate is an estimated number of hashes the Bitcoin network is performing per second.
On Friday, the hash ratereachedan all-time high: 84 quintillion hashes per second. The increase of hash rates coincides with the price of Bitcoin, which has been rising this year. Bitcoin’s price is currently $9,844, up from the low $3,000s in December.
The rising hash rate also means that the network is more secure and less susceptible to 51-percent attacks. The more computationally intensive puzzles that are being calculated at the same time, the more miners you’d need to launch an attack.
Bitcoin’s network is designed to adjust its mining difficulty around every two weeks. The more computers are mining bitcoin, the harder the puzzles are to solve. Accordingly, puzzles get easier to solve the fewer miners there are.
So it’s reasonable to assume that the hash rate rise could also be related to an increase of dedicated mining equipment, much of it from China–where the majority of bitcoin mining takes place. Prices of miners havereportedlydoubled in price in China to meet rising demand caused by the increase in price.
The surge also coincides with China’s rainy season. Rain is used by the hydropower plants that power the crypto-mining farms in China’s mountainous regions. China’s rainy season is set to end in September, though apparently the season was delayed a month this year.
The rise in Bitcoin’s hash rate doesn’t make the network any quicker, though, since block confirmations still take around 10 minutes.
Bitcoin’s hash rate is far greater thanEthereum’s, which reached a hash rate of 295 trillion hashed per second on August 9 last year. Ethereum’s hash rate hasn’t reached those highs since hash rates slumped in November 2018, currently sitting at 176 trillion hashes per second. Tsk. || NBA player to tokenize $34 million contract, sell shares in ICO-like sale: Sports andcrypto—an unlikely partnership that seemingly grows closer by the day.
Late last week,The Athleticreportedthat Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie is taking his latest contract extension, worth $34 million, and turning it into a securitized “digital investment vehicle.”
In other words, Dinwiddie is launching anSTOin himself, offering investors a piece of his own contract.
According to a Fox Newsreport, the point guard plans to sell thousands of digital tokens tied to the contract and use the money to make other investments and develop new streams of income. Those who buy in will be paid back principal and interest, according to the report.
On the day of the announcement,Dinwiddietweeted simply:
Why would the professional basketball player do this? Dinwiddie’s contract is set to pay out over the next three years. Rather than wait to get the money he’s owed, the STO allows him to get his moneynow—from investors. And, according toThe Athletic,Dinwiddie is creating a whole new company to set it all up.
The scenario is, perhaps surprisingly, not a new idea. A venture a few years back calledFantexsought to do something similar. The California-based company provided “athlete tracking stocks” linked to various professional football players in the NFL and was planning a second IPO in 2017 (the first occurred the year prior). The offering never made it to market, however, according to the Financial Times, and the firm has struggled to attract interest.
But others in the sports world have managed to make some headway in the crypto space. Last August, the Dallas Mavericks madea surprising announcementthat they would soon accept Bitcoin as a means of payment for both event tickets and merchandise. The Mavericks became the second NBA team to do so, withthe Sacramento Kingsbeing the first in early 2014.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
As of September 12, 2019 at 09:50AM, 1 BTC = 10370.9404 USD. 😄 https://t.co/ksCOqyBwFU 😋 #Investing #fire #ira #401k #money #stock #retirement #trade #NeverWorkAgain #CapitalGain #Savings #PersonalFinance #crypto #ethereum #eth #bitcoin #btc || Looks like a fun week ahead... $BTC in a precarious position. Ready to make a move. || Heard of crypto currencies and bitcoin trade before? Is a promising investment where you can earn $12000 weekly or monthly by trading with these crypto currencies like bitcoin #binary #forex #Crypto #uk #london #paris #natgeowild #grece #twooo #ireland #Switzerland #croatia #us https://t.co/eozN7JJBqj || Bitmessage Developer: Craig Wright Faked Documents on Bitcoin Creation https://t.co/nWDwueIa1Y || Actualidad : Bitcoin depositado en Bakkt Warehouse está protegido por póliza de $125 millones https://t.co/y0yttAWSiX https://t.co/Ks2HNudhiN || #Bitcuners Un proyecto Blockchain busca exportar el cacao venezolano y creó una moneda respaldada por chocolate https://t.co/qxRllJMrhX #Bitcoin || Not much longer...have your #btc in a wallet ( ledger, Trezor etc.) and claim your #free #hex on snapshot day. Get an extra 10% by using my link...Genius concept and game theory, learn more here .. https://t.co/K84NxADkpW https://t.co/zBhWA82auq || investing in bitcoin really changed my life || Bitcoin ETF: How SEC Exemptions Help Firms Offer Interim Products https://t.co/ey4voVWh8K 🙋Crypto Cashflow via → https://t.co/2p1Vt5799c || [#Bitcoin] Craig Wright in Rwanda 2018 : Ive got more money than your country. 2019: Ive got more debt than your country. https://t.co/Yrg2Zr1jHt https://t.co/0EHC92u9mE
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Trend: no change || Prices: 8118.97, 8251.85, 8245.92, 8104.19, 8293.87, 8343.28, 8393.04, 8259.99, 8205.94, 8151.50
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin and ETH Regain Traction, Why LUNA’s Rally Isn’t Over Yet: • Bitcoin gained pace above the $42,500 resistance zone.
• Ether (ETH) is still well below $3,200.
• LUNA is eyeing a crucial upside break above $100.
Recently,bitcoinprice saw a decent increase above the $42,000 resistance zone. The bulls were able to push the price above the $42,500 resistance.
It even spiked towards the $43,000 level and settled above the 21 simple moving average (H1). BTC is now consolidating gains near the $42,500 level. An immediate support is near the $42,250 level and a connecting bullish trend line on the hourly chart.
The next major support is near the $42,000 level. On the upside, there is a major resistance forming near $43,000. A clear move above the $43,000 level could set the pace for a fresh rally.
ETHattempted another increase above the $3,150 level. However, the bulls are still struggling near the $3,165 and $3,170 levels.
It is currently consolidating near the $3,150 level. An immediate support is near the $3,110 level and a connecting bullish trend line on the hourly chart. A downside break and close below the $3,110 support level may perhaps open the doors for a drop to $3,020.
On the upside, the price is facing resistance near the $3,165 level. The next key resistance is now near $3,210, above which ether price might surge.
LUNAstarted a downside correction from the $120 resistance zone. There was a move below the $110 and $105 levels.
The price even traded below a key bullish trend line with support near $98 on the daily chart. However, the bulls appeared near the $80 zone. A low was formed near $77 and the price started another increase.
There was a move above the $80 and $85 resistance levels. It is showing positive signs above the $95 level the 21-day simple moving average. Today, the price started a fresh increase and gained pace above the $98 level. It is up over 5% and the current price action suggests more upsides above the $100 resistance.
If the bulls succeed, the price could rise towards the $120 level. If not, it might correct lower and test the $90 support. The main support is now forming near the $80 level.
Cardano (ADA)is slowly moving higher towards the $0.988 resistance zone. A clear move above $0.988 might send the price towards $1.05.
Binance Coin (BNB)is gaining pace above the $420 level. If there is a move above $424, the price could rise to $430. The next key resistance is $435.
Polkadot (DOT)is consolidating near the $19.20 level. It seems like the bulls are aiming a test of the key $20.00 resistance.
A few trending coins areSOL,TRX, andTHETA. Out of these, TRX gained over 15% and broke the $0.07 level.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Best Dividend Stocks to Buy Now for May 2022 || WeWork Wants to Be a Tech Company Again, Sort Of: (Bloomberg) -- WeWork Inc. is trying to strengthen its technology credentials with a new software product it hopes to sell to employers. Most Read from Bloomberg Netflix Tumbles as 200,000 Users Exit for First Drop in Decade In Defense of Elon Musk's Managerial Excellence Twitter Has a Poison Pill Now U.S. Stops Mask Requirement on Planes After Judge’s Ruling Putin Calls Time on Foreign Listings in Fresh Hit to Tycoons The co-working company will partner with the real estate software maker Yardi Systems Inc. to develop WeWork Workplace, a tool that will let companies manage their employees and their office space the same way WeWork does. The software, which can be used for tasks such as booking conference rooms, coordinating flexible desk usage with hybrid workers and analyzing which spaces are used the most, is set to debut this summer, the company plans to announce Wednesday. Yardi’s existing tools help landlords and asset managers oversee their property operations and finances. WeWork’s core business is renting out desks and offices, but the company has also worked to expand beyond that in recent years — though not as far afield as the bewildering choices of its co-founder and former chief executive officer, Adam Neumann, who oversaw WeWork’s expansion into an elementary school and residential co-living. Neumann had pitched WeWork to investors as a technology company, emphasizing a spate of acquisitions that included conference-room booking software, a digital marketing company and a product that used smartphone data to track how groups of employees flowed throughout an office. After WeWork’s failed attempt at an initial public offering in 2019, some of those side businesses were sold off to trim expenses. WeWork succeeded at its second attempt to go public. When it did so last fall under the current CEO, Sandeep Mathrani, WeWork told investors it was building a three-part business model: renting out office space, providing on-demand options such as renting a desk for a day and selling a newly created software service, WeWork Workplace. Story continues The idea is that even employers who don’t rent space from WeWork might choose to pay for its software tools, especially given the more complex logistics of a workforce that wants to spend some days at the office and other days at home. In January, WeWork said its first customer for this product was pharmaceutical company Organon & Co., which already had leases with WeWork in dozens of locations. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Beijing Crackdown Derails Alibaba’s Bid for Amazon-Size Profit Alzheimer’s Trials Exclude Black Patients at ‘Astonishing’ Rate America’s Favorite Truck Is About to Test Tesla’s Dominance How Two Ex-Cops Cracked a $100 Million Maritime Mystery How Jack Dorsey Quit Twitter to Become Bitcoin’s Spiritual Leader ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || Bitcoin's crashing. The Biden administration wants to keep it out of your 401(k).: A move by Fidelity Investments to let retirement savers add Bitcoin to their 401(k)s is becoming a new flash point in the fight over crypto regulation, pitting free-market Republicans against Democrats who say it's a threat to millions of consumers. The Biden Labor Department, which polices employer-sponsored 401(k)s, has warned the 76-year-old asset management firm that its foray into volatile crypto markets could endanger future retirees. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts where Fidelity is based questioned the company's CEO about exposing investors to a risky and speculative gamble. Democrats are raising red flags as the price of Bitcoin has tumbled more than 50 percent from its all-time high in November. Republicans have rushed to defend Bitcoin as a viable retirement asset class. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama introduced legislation last week that would prevent the Labor Department from restricting options available to employees in self-directed retirement accounts. He called the departments recent guidance government overreach at its finest. The atmospherics the YOLO and the FOMO of cryptocurrency are our concerns, Labor Department Acting Assistant Secretary Ali Khawar said in an interview. Right now, you don't know whether you're betting on the winning horse or not. It's very speculative. Fidelity one of the most prominent old-school financial giants to embrace digital currency trading is forging ahead with the initiative as Washington officials scramble to keep up with the highly volatile $1.3 trillion crypto market. The company's decision shows how Wall Street stalwarts are beginning to lend their lobbying muscle to the crypto industry's fight to shape policies that are just now being written as virtual currency goes mainstream. With 23,000 companies using Fidelity for their employees retirement, AARP and consumer advocates are also sounding the alarm that throwing crypto into 401(k)s could leave employers and workers holding the bag. The Labor Department is cautioning that businesses that put crypto on their retirement plan menus could be investigated for failing to act in their employees' best interests. Story continues It's very difficult to separate the facts from the hype and there's a lot of hype, said Micah Hauptman, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. Offering these assets to plan sponsors to include in their lineups could be increasing their liability, and that's not good for anybody. It's not good for small businesses
it's not good for their employees. Fidelity has been building a presence as a crypto juggernaut for almost a decade, with a digital asset platform that includes everything from Bitcoin mutual funds to custodial services for institutional investors. The company last year spearheaded a new advocacy and lobbying group the Crypto Council for Innovation with fintech startups-turned-powerhouses Block (formerly Square) and Coinbase. Fidelity's Bitcoin 401(k) announcement in late April came more than a month after the Labor Department warned against such a move. DOL in March said retirement plan administrators could be investigated if they opted to invest their employees' defined contribution plans in digital assets including Bitcoin. Plan fiduciaries usually employers are held to particularly high standards of prudence when it comes to choosing what investment options are available for their employees. Some investments, such as collectibles and certain precious metals, are prohibited. While DOL stopped short of throwing crypto on a no-fly list, it has serious concerns about the prudence of digital asset investments. That means the employer could be liable if an employee's 401(k) Bitcoin holdings go bust. Notably, Bitcoin is not yet planned as an option in any 401(k)s where Fidelity acts as a fiduciary, Fidelity spokesperson Eric Sandwen said. In an April 12 response letter, Fidelity Head of Workplace Products and Platforms Dave Gray urged the Labor Department to rescind its guidance or revise it to say that it is not imprudent to include crypto in 401(k)s. Fidelitys Bitcoin 401(k) offering, which it plans to launch later this year, leaves the decision-making to individual employees who opt into the program through their employer. The Labor Department issued its warning in part because of the lack of clarity around how digital assets will be regulated as well as because of concerns about scams, market manipulation and other fraud, Khawar said. There arent clear benchmarks for attaching valuations to digital assets nor are there rules around how plan administrators maintain custody of a retirees crypto holdings. We don't know what regulatory changes are going to happen in this market, and who's going to adapt to them better or worse, he said. Even if you are a strong proponent of cryptocurrency, I don't think anyone has any certainty that Bitcoin itself is going to be the coin that succeeds in ways that others don't. There are also questions about how Bitcoin or other digital assets would fit in the context of typical 401(k) investment portfolios, which are constructed to leave retirees with a dependable stream of income as they draw down their savings. AARP, the advocacy group for Americans over 50, argues that crypto's recent catastrophic downturn is evidence digital currency is too dangerous for retirement planning. "It is a horrible mistake to use crypto assets [for retirement plans]," said David John, senior strategic policy adviser at the AARP Public Policy Institute. "The last week to 10 days or so proved that point for us." Fidelity's decision to move ahead drew a swift rebuke from Warren and Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who in a May 4 letter asked Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson why the company failed to heed the Labor Department's warning. The senators cited extreme price volatility, which they said is exacerbated by influences like Tesla CEO Elon Musk. They also asked about potential conflicts of interest related to Fidelity's foray into Bitcoin mining. "In short, investing in cryptocurrencies is a risky and speculative gamble, and we are concerned that Fidelity would take these risks with millions of Americans retirement savings," they said. The day after Warren and Smith called out the company, Tuberville introduced the "Financial Freedom Act" that would prohibit the Labor Department from restricting the types of investments permitted in self-directed 401(k) accounts. While Tuberville spokesperson Ryann DuRant said the senator's staff met with Fidelity and crypto trade groups before the bill's release, she said Fidelity played no role in crafting legislative language. Traditional financial trade groups including the American Bankers Association and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association have lobbed letters at DOL questioning the guidance and demanding revisions as well. "The government has no business standing in the way of retirement savers who want to make their own investment choices," Tuberville said in a statement. "When youve earned your paycheck, how you invest your money should be your decision. My legislation makes sure that is the case. Sandwen said the company has in place several consumer safeguards including "excessive trading oversight, transparency, education and cybersecurity features." Fidelity looks forward to continuing the dialogue on this exciting offering with federal regulators and policymakers consistent with our approach to many new services we offer our customers, Sandwen said. || Crypto-Focused Firm Galaxy Digital Posts Over $100M Quarterly Loss: Key Insights: The first quarter of 2022 wasn’t pleasant for the crypto markets. Institutions like Galaxy Digital recorded a net comprehensive loss in Q1. The losses suffered were attributed to the turbulent price action presented by most cryptos in the first quarter. This year started on a gloomy note for the cryptocurrency market. The first quarter of this year saw the global crypto market cap drop by almost 15%. However, it wasn’t just token prices and the larger crypto market cap that were affected. In fact, cryptocurrency-focused financial firms like Galaxy Digital saw significant losses. Galaxy Digital posts quarterly losses Technology-driven financial services and investment management firm Galaxy Digital (GLXY) recorded a net comprehensive loss of $111.7 million for the first quarter of 2022. Notably, GLXY shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, were down by around 3.83% in pre-market trading. A statement from the company highlighted that the net comprehensive loss was $111.7 million, compared to an $858.2 million gain in the prior-year period. The firm cited market volatility and warned of a loss of $110 million to $130 million in the first quarter through March 28. According to the firm, these losses were primarily related to unrealized losses on digital assets and on investments in the company’s Trading and Principal Investment businesses. Notably, however, the company’s operating business lines of asset management, investment banking, and mining were profitable in aggregate, contributing $0.6 million to net comprehensive income in the quarter. Additionally, the investment banking and mining segments demonstrated record revenue and net comprehensive income in the quarter. Net total income in investment banking grew 775% and in mining grew 433% compared to the same period last year. Crypto market continues its fall Despite hopes of a brighter second quarter, the crypto market has failed to stay above the key support zones established in the first quarter. Story continues At the time of writing, the global crypto market cap was around $1.51 trillion, making for a 4.56% decrease, over the last day. Furthermore, the top coin in the market bitcoin (BTC) was down by almost 15%, over the last week, and traded at $33,048, at press time. The top altcoin ethereum (ETH) was down by 14.68% on the weekly chart and traded at $2,413.32 at the time of writing. A recent FX Empire forecast highlighted that volumes were rising along with falling prices, pointing to an increasingly rapid exit from cryptocurrencies. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Wall St sells off, led by growth shares amid rate concerns U.S. dollar touches 20-year high as markets shun risk Google faces antitrust lawsuit from dating app owner Match over Play store fees Gold Price Prediction – Gold Prices Dropped Sharply as Yields Rise Bitcoin falls 7.8% to $31,333 Biden unveils pact with internet companies to reduce prices || CI Global, Galaxy Digital Expand ETF Suite With Blockchain and Metaverse Offerings: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
CI Global Asset Management launched the CI Galaxy Blockchain ETF (CBCX) and the CI Galaxy Metaverse ETF (CMVX), both of which will begin trading Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The Blockchain exchange-traded fund seeks to track the performance of companies engaged in the development of blockchain technologies along with businesses operating in and developing the blockchain ecosystem, according to a press release. Among targeted sectors are crypto miners, miner equipment makers, brokers and custody services.
The Metaverse ETF aims to track the performance of companies materially engaged in the interactions, enablement and connectivity to themetaverse, according to a company statement. Among targeted companies are those involved in augmented and virtual reality, gaming/entertainment, payments and social media.
Both funds will track indexes created by Alerian in partnership with Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY.TO). Each has an annual management fee of 50 basis points.
“Blockchain and the metaverse are two extraordinarily powerful trends that are set to dramatically change our society and how we do business,” Roy Ratnavel, CI GAM’s executive vice-president and head of distribution for CI GAM said. “Our ETFs provide investors with low-cost, convenient and diversified exposure to the growth potential of these rapidly developing, leading-edge sectors.”
These product launches expandCI and Galaxy’s initial ETF offeringslisted in Toronto, including the CI Galaxy Multi-Crypto ETF, CI Galaxy Bitcoin Funds, and the CI Galaxy Ethereum Funds.
These new CI products follow similar moves from larger assets managers. In April, Fidelity Investmentslaunched two ETFsfor investors to gain exposure to the broader crypto, blockchain and digital payment ecosystems.
Read more:Simplify Files for Bitcoin ETF Mixing Treasurys and Options Strategies || Michael Saylor Suggests MicroStrategy Will Never Sell Its Bitcoin: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Founder and CEO of business-intelligence software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR) Michael Saylor tookto Twitter on Tuesday morningin an attempt to clarify the company's obligations with respect to its bitcoin-backed loans.
"MicroStrategy has a $205 million term loan and needs to maintain $410 million as collateral," said Saylor. Linking to his company'sQ1 investor presentation, Saylor noted that of MicroStrategy's 129,218 bitcoin (BTC) stash, 115,109 (or more than $3 billion at current prices) remains unencumbered.
Bitcoin would need to fall all the way to $3,562 before the company would run out of enough of the crypto to pledge for that loan, but even at that point, MicroStrategy could post some other collateral, said Saylor. His implication is that theoretically there's almost no price low enough at which his firm would need to be a forced seller of bitcoin.
The sharp downturn in the crypto market – which last night sawbitcoin fall below $30,000 for the first time since July 2021– had ramped up chatter about MicroStrategy facing amargin call. Indeed, on the company earnings call last week,outgoing CFO Phong Le saidas much, suggesting about $21,000 as a trigger point.
The Saylor tweet and presentation slides appear to make clear, however, that the company for now has an overwhelming amount of unencumbered bitcoin available as additional collateral.
MicroStrategy shares tumbled nearly 26% yesterday alongside bitcoin's plunge. Both are modestly bouncing this morning, with MSTR ahead 6.4% and bitcoin returning to the $32,000 level. || Bitcoin's Derivative Data Suggests Potential for 'Short Squeeze': Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Macro traders expecting a continued decline in bitcoin (BTC) should look at the positioning in the derivatives market, or otherwise they risk being caught off guard by a potential short squeeze, which is a rapid move higher driven by bears abandoning their bearish bets.
For a short squeeze to occur, the market needs to have a higher-than-usual bearish activity. In such situations, a minor price bump can send bears or short sellers running to square off their positions, which, in turn, drives prices further up.
Open interest, or the number of open positions in bitcoin's perpetual futures market, rose to 256,752 BTC early this week, the second-highest daily tally in 365 days, surpassed. only by Jan. 4's total of 260,000 BTC, data provided by Arcane Research shows.
Most of these could be short positions, as data tracked by Laevitas shows the funding rate – the cost of holding long/short perpetual futures positions – has been consistently neutral to negative in recent weeks. A negative funding rate means shorts are paying longs to keep the bearish position open. In other words, the market is skewed bearish. That's also evident from the depressed futures premium, also known as the basis, on major exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a proxy for institutional activity. The three-month premium recently slipped to 1.1% annualized on the CME and 2% on Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by open interest and volume.
So, now if bitcoin turns higher, the cost of holding shorts will become a burden for traders holding bearish positions. And they could offload their bearish bets, putting upward pressure on prices. Bitcoin was last seen trading near 2% higher on the day near $38,900, according to CoinDesk data.
"All [open interest] growth in late April has been accompanied by substantially negative funding rates, suggesting that shorts are the key aggressor while also implying some capitulation from longs after this leg downward," Arcane Research's Vetle Lunde wrote in a weekly research report shared with CoinDesk on Tuesday.
"The sentiment, funding rates and futures basis [premium] suggest that shorts are the most confident. Thus, a short squeeze is possibly on the table," Lunde added.
While open interest in perpetual futures has increased, the number of open positions in regular futures remains depressed. Perpetual futures differ from regular futures as they lack predetermined expiry. So, perpetual futures positions can be held indefinitely without the need to square off or roll over positions ahead of the expiration date.
Open interest as a standalone indicator reveals only the amount of fiat money locked in the derivatives market. However, when combined with other metrics like the funding rate – the cost of holding long/short perpetual futures positions – analysts get an idea about the nature of the positioning. || Uber and NYC Yellow Cabs Announce Deal, Propelling Stock Up Nearly 5%: Maridav / iStock.com New Yorkers will soon be able to take a yellow cab using the Uber app, thanks to a business partnership announced March 24 between Uber and taxi technology system provider Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT). DoorDash vs. Uber Eats: Which Earns More Cash? Discover: How Much Do Uber Drivers Make? Is It Worth Your Time? Following the announcement, Uber’s stock — which is down 21% year-to-date — was up 4.9% at the end of the day. “This is a real win for drivers — no longer do they have to worry about finding a fare during off peak times or getting a street hail back to Manhattan when in the outerboroughs,” Guy Peterson, Director of Business Development for Uber, said in a press release. “And this is a real win for riders who will now have access to thousands of yellow taxis in the Uber app.” The Uber-CMT deal will start in beta this spring and roll out to the general public this summer, according to the release. Anyone with the Uber app will have access to thousands of yellow taxis that operate on the CMT/ARRO platform. As for taxi drivers, they will see Uber-originated fares on their driver monitors which they already use to service e-hails from the ARRO taxi app. “New York City is back!,” Ron Sherman, Chairman of Creative Mobile Technologies and a pioneer in the taxi industry, said in the release. “As businesses bring their employees back, as tourists flock to New York City again and as New Yorkers start going out and replenishing our local economy after a devastating pandemic, yellow taxis and Uber are bringing the best our industries have to offer to help this city get back on its feet.” The Wall Street Journal reported that Uber and its taxi partners will receive a cut of the fare , but the companies declined to specify the terms. Uber’s average global take rate for rides in the fourth quarter was 20%. Angelo Zino, CFRA senior industry analyst, wrote in a note sent to GOBankingRates that while this is not a first for Uber — there have been similar partnerships across the globe — “we believe this is the biggest such deal in one of Uber’s largest markets (top 3 in the U.S.).” “We believe the deal offers additional driver supply in a challenging market, with a recent spike in gas prices creating a headwind in trying to find and keep drivers active. Ultimately, we see more partnerships like this getting announced, which will further sustain Uber’s dominant share position in the ridesharing space and increases the potential installed base of drivers,” Zino wrote in the note. See: Are You Spending More Than the Average American on 25 Everyday Items? Crypto Regulation: Proof-of-Work Bitcoin Mining Could Be Banned in New York Due to Climate Concerns Zino said CFRA thinks this should also help support greater adoption of Uber’s Eats business and ultimately see greater opportunity to monetize its platform through ad revenue. Story continues “Even as driverless vehicles become a reality, it will take time and Uber’s human installed base will still be critical in regions like NYC where AVs could take longer,” he wrote. CFRA maintained its “Strong Buy” opinion on the stock. More From GOBankingRates Social Security Payment Schedule 2022: What Dates To Watch Out For 22 Side Gigs That Can Make You Richer Than a Full-Time Job 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Protect Against Inflation 18 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Your Credit Cards More This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Uber and NYC Yellow Cabs Announce Deal, Propelling Stock Up Nearly 5% View comments || GLOBAL MARKETS-World equities rise on bounce in U.S., European markets: (Adds closing price of oil, updates prices, adds fresh commentary)
* Wall Street rallies at end of roller coaster week
* Crypto world stabilizes, bitcoin rallies after stablecoin slide
* Oil jumps 4% as U.S. gasoline prices hit record high
* U.S. yields gain as market angst eases a bit
By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - Global shares rose on Friday as Wall Street rallied to end a volatile week of trading, while oil jumped 4% on the back of record-high U.S. gas prices.
Global markets and U.S. stocks were down sharply most of this week as investors grew anxious about the possibility of recession. The S&P 500 index is off nearly 20% from its all-time high in January and was close to a bear market on Thursday.
But investors' fears over whether U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell can accomplish a "soft landing" - bringing inflation down while keeping the U.S. economy growing - appeared to ease at least temporarily on Friday.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 2.30% at 4:07 p.m. ET (2007 GMT), after hitting its lowest since November 2020 on Thursday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 2.14%.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 94.57 points, or 2.41%, to end at 4,024.65 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 436.61 points, or 3.84%, to 11,807.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 466.43 points, or 1.47%, to 32,196.73.
Despite Friday's gains, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their sixth consecutive weekly loss, and the Dow notched its seventh consecutive weekly dip.
Emerging market stocks rose 1.83%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 2.01% from Thursday's 22-month closing low. Japan's Nikkei rose 2.64%.
"Stocks were ready to rebound as some investors remain hopeful the Fed will deliver a soft landing, while others are ready to buy the dip," said Edward Moya, analyst at OANDA.
Cryptocurrencies steadied on Friday, with bitcoin recovering from a 16-month low after a volatile week dominated by the collapse in value of TerraUSD, a so-called stablecoin.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, rose 3.5% to $29,884, rebounding from a December 2020 low of $25,400 hit on Thursday. Bitcoin remains far below week-earlier levels of around $40,000 and is on track for a record seventh consecutive weekly loss.
Oil prices jumped 4% as U.S. gasoline prices jumped to a record high and China looked ready to ease pandemic restrictions.
Brent futures rose $4.10, or 3.8%, to settle at $111.55 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $4.36, or 4.1%, to settle at $110.49.
Markets are likely to experience a short-term rebound before resuming the sell-off which has sent Wall Street's Nasdaq tech index down over 25% since the beginning of the year, BofA analysts wrote in a weekly strategy note.
Investors liquidated global equity funds worth $10.53 billion in the week ended May 11, compared with $1.65 billion of net selling in the previous week, according to Refinitiv Lipper.
In an interview late on Thursday, Powell said the battle to control inflation would "include some pain," and he repeated his expectation of half-percentage-point interest rate rises at each of the Fed's next two policy meetings.
Headline inflation in the euro zone will fall in the second half of the year but so-called core prices, which strip out food and energy, will keep rising, the European Central Bank's vice-president Luis de Guindos said on Friday.
The dollar was lower on Friday but remained on track for a weekly gain. The dollar index fell 0.2%, with the euro up 0.21% to $1.0401.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.77% versus the greenback at 129.32 per dollar, while sterling was last trading at $1.2232, up 0.27% on the day.
The moves higher in equities were mirrored in U.S. Treasuries, with the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield edging up to 2.9367% from a close of 2.817% on Thursday.
The policy-sensitive 2-year yield was 2.5986%, from a close of 2.522%.
Gold fell more than 1% on Friday and is set for its fourth straight weekly decline, as the dollar's strength sapped appetite for bullion. Spot gold dropped 0.8% to $1,807.79 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.59% to $1,807.40 an ounce.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London and Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai and Dhara Ranasinghe in London; Editing by Jane Merriman, Nick Zieminski and Richard Chang) || Megatrends: CEOs of NIO, NuRAN Wireless, Bitfarms, and First Energy Metals Focus on Next Wave of Billion Dollar Market Opportunities in Crypto, Electric Vehicles, Battery Metals, and Telecom in Developing Markets.: NEW YORK, April 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wall Street Reporter, the trusted name in financial news since 1843, has published reports on the latest comments and insights from CEOs of:NIO, Inc. (NYSE:NIO),NuRAN Wireless (OTC: NRRWF) (CSE: NUR) First Energy Metals (OTC: FEMFF) (CSE: FE), and Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) (TSX.V: BITF).
Today’s emerging technologies and lifestyle megatrends are creating billion dollar opportunities for disruptive innovation in how we live, work and play. Wall Street Reporter highlights the latest comments from industry thought leaders shaping our world today, and in the decades ahead:
Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) (TSX.V: BITF) CEO Emiliano Grodzki: “Bitcoin Miner Consolidation Is Coming - We’re Shopping for Acquisitions”“...Today, we have a combined total of 10 farms in operation and development, with planed capacity of 404 megawatts and 48,000 miners slated for delivery in 2022. With our strengthened balance sheet and flexible capital plan, we are well positioned to reach our targeted exahash rate of 3 by March 31, 2022, and 8 by December 31, 2022….We've been actively looking at opportunities to buy companies and assets going back to last December. We only closed one of those transactions, and that was Washington for 24 megawatts. In terms of size, we wouldn't be interested in looking at anything less than 10 to 20 megawatts of size, because that's about the size that makes sense to make it worthwhile for us. We certainly are more attracted to the bigger opportunities where there’s scale...Because of our team and our expertise deploying new facilities, I think we're an attractive partner for anybody that wants to come to us, particularly given our growing international expertise…”Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) (TSX.V: BITF) Earning Highlights:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2021/11/18/bitfarms-ltd-nasdaq-bitf-q3-2021-earnings-highlights/
NuRAN Wireless (OTC: NRRWF) (CSE: NUR) CEO Francis Letourneau:“Bringing Wireless Connectivity to Africa is Billion Dollar Opportunity for NuRAN”NuRAN Wireless (OTC: NRRWF) (CSE: NUR) CEO Francis Letourneau, a featured presenter at Wall Street Reporter’s NEXT SUPER STOCK investors livestream is bringing wireless connectivity to Africa, enabling communications and internet for the last great untapped market of over 1 billion population. Francis shares how NRRWF’s contracts with blue chip global telecom partners, position the company on path for over $220 million in annual recurring revenue, and potential billion dollar market valuation in the coming years.Watch NuRAN Wireless (OTC: NRRWF) (CSE: NUR) NEXT SUPER STOCK video:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/02/16/next-super-stock-nuran-wireless-otc-nrrwf-path-to-billion-valuation-w-africa-telecom-contract/
NRRWF provides telecom operators in Africa a turnkey “Network as a Service” (NaaS) infrastructure solution, specializing in rural and remote areas. NRRWF has developed carrier-grade mobile networks, and towers using solar power that are ideally suited for rural and remote environments in developing economies such as Africa where 300 million people have zero mobile coverage. Mobile connectivity in the developing world is a vital lifeline for healthcare, jobs, trade and education. NRRWF currently has contracts in place with blue chip telcom’s like Orange S.A. for services in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and with MTN Group in South Sudan for 2,492 sites, which it is now rolling out. These initial 10 year contracts are expected to generate $50 million annual revenues with EBITDA of 50%.
NRRWF plans to roll out to at least 10,000 mobile telecom sites in Africa over the next 5 years, which is expected to generate $220 million annual revenues with $110 million EBITDA. At typical multiples in the sector, this could value NRRWF at over $1 billion.NRRWF has a pipeline of about 15,000 potential sites in Africa, and is also targeting similar contracts in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region. NRRWF is now in the early stages of its deployment, with a long runway of growth in the months ahead.Watch NuRAN Wireless (OTC: NRRWF) (CSE: NUR) NEXT SUPER STOCK video:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/02/16/next-super-stock-nuran-wireless-otc-nrrwf-path-to-billion-valuation-w-africa-telecom-contract/
First Energy Metals (OTC: FEMFF) (CSE: FE)Gurmin Sangha, CEO:“Lithium Essential For EV Boom Ahead”Booming electric vehicle sales globally are causing prices for battery components like lithium to skyrocket - with prices increasing over 1,000% in the past 12 months, with no slowdown in sight, as EV’s go mainstream. China is snapping up strategic battery metals deposits globally
First Energy Metals (OTC: FEMFF) (CSE: FE) a featured presenter at Wall Street Reporter’s NEXT SUPER STOCK investors conference is developing what promises to be a major lithium project in Quebec, Canada. Preliminary drilling and exploration results, (subject to a qualified 43-101 report), point to adding additional resources to the already 119 million tonne resource surrounding the Augustus Lithium property. A typical EV requires approximately 10 kilograms of lithium, so one ton of lithium ore is enough to build about 90 electric cars.
FEMFF’s flagship “Augustus” lithium project is strategically located in an exciting area of known Lithium bearing rock types, with neighboring advanced staged projects with resources in place. FEMFF is now progressing on a systematic drilling program with an objective to develop a resource (43-101 compliant) over the next 9-12 months. Lithium projects and exploration projects in the area are of similar grades and support the continued exploration and potential at the Augustus Project. Sayona Mining, who owns both the advanced stage properties in the area recently published a JORC combined Measured, Indicated, and Inferred resource of 119.1million tonnes for both its North American Lithiium (NAL) and Authier project.
Importantly, FEMFF’s lithium project is located in Quebec, Canada which is a mining friendly jurisdiction. FEMFF’s lithium project is located near a past lithium processing plant and other more advanced stage lithium projects. FEMFF’s drilling program is still in the early stages with a number of important milestones in the weeks ahead, which could reveal the project’s full upside potential.WatchFirst Energy Metals (OTC: FEMFF) (CSE: FE)NEXT SUPER STOCK video:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/01/19/next-super-stock-first-energy-metals-otc-femff-cse-fe-lithium-for-ev-revolution/
NIO, Inc. (NYSE:NIO) CEO William LI: “2022 ‘Full Speed Ahead’ for NIO”“...2021 was a year for NIO to develop fundamental powers and make comprehensive preparations for the next stage of development. 2022 is a year for NIO to press ahead at full speed. We will deliver three new products, continue to invest in R&D and infrastructure to improve our long-term competitiveness, expand our production capacity to meet the faster-growing user demand, and serve users in more countries and regions…2021 has been a year of decisive investment in charging and swapping infrastructure as well as the sales and service network. In terms of the sales and service network, we now have 46 NIO houses and 341 NIO spaces in 155 cities worldwide. In China, we have 60 new service centers and 179 authorized service centers in 146 cities…As the sales and service network expands quickly, we have been continuously optimizing the network deployment and the operational efficiency of each touchpoint while delivering high quality services to users. In 2022, we plan to open more than 100 new sales outlets and over 50 new service centers and authorized service centers.In terms of the charging and swapping network, we have deployed 866 battery swap stations in 190 cities and completed over 7.6 million swaps in China. So far, we have 711 super charging stations and 3786 destination chargers in China. In 2022, we will add 30 new destination charging routes to the Power Up Plan. With that, NIO will accumulatively operate over 1300 battery swap stations, 6000 power chargers and 10,000 destination chargers in China…”NIO Earnings Highlights:https://www.wallstreetreporter.com/2022/03/31/nio-inc-nysenio-q4-2021-earnings-highlights/
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Wall Street Reporter (Est. 1843) is the leading financial news provider, focused on giving investors direct access to CEOs of promising, publicly-traded companies, and market experts.www.WallStreetReporter.com. Nothing in this news summary shall be construed as investment advice. Quotes/content may be edited for brevity and context. Full disclaimer, and relevant SEC 17B disclosures here:https://tinyurl.com/2x4eznd5
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: up || Prices: 30323.72, 29098.91, 29655.59, 29562.36, 29267.22, 28627.57, 28814.90, 29445.96, 31726.39, 31792.31
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Marathon Digital Holdings Expands Credit Facilities, Increasing Debt Funding Capacity by $100 Million: Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. LAS VEGAS, Aug. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA ) ("Marathon" or "Company") , a leader in supporting and securing the Bitcoin ecosystem, has expanded its credit facilities with Silvergate Bank, the leading provider of innovative financial infrastructure solutions to the digital currency industry, by refinancing its existing $100 million revolving line of credit and adding an additional $100 million term loan on July 28. The $100 million term loan includes a delayed draw feature that grants Marathon the ability to draw $50 million at the time of closing and an additional $50 million up to 270 days after closing. The term loan carries a variable interest rate with the initial draw currently priced at 7.25%. The Company also announced the refinancing of the $100 million revolving line of credit that was previously set to expire in October 2022. There are no amounts outstanding under the revolving credit facility at this point. Both facilities are secured by bitcoin and mature in July 2024. “We are pleased to be closing on these debt facilities and believe that the combination of a term loan and revolver provide Marathon with exceptional flexibility as to our funding options,” said Hugh Gallagher, Marathon’s CFO. “With these facilities in place, we have achieved our goals of adding both capacity and optionality in financing our future operations growth. We thank the team at Silvergate for their engagement as we collaborated to put these facilities in place.” Investor Notice Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks, uncertainties and forward-looking statements described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 10, 2022 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on May 5, 2022. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely suffer. In that event, the value of our securities could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. The risks and uncertainties we describe are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. In addition, our past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance, and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results in the future. There are factors out of our control, such as force majeure events and unforeseen economic and other challenges to our hosting partners, which may delay or prevent realization of our stated goals. Future changes in the network-wide mining difficulty rate or Bitcoin hash rate may also materially affect the future performance of Marathon's production of bitcoin. Additionally, all discussions of financial metrics assume mining difficulty rates as of July 2022. The total network’s hash rate data is calculated from a third-party source, which is available here: https://www.blockchain.com/charts/hash-rate . Data from third-party sources has not been independently verified. See "Forward-Looking Statements" below. Story continues Forward-Looking Statements Statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise. About Marathon Digital Holdings Marathon is a digital asset technology company that focuses on supporting and securing the Bitcoin ecosystem. The Company is currently in the process of becoming one of the largest and most sustainably powered Bitcoin mining operations in North America, while remaining asset light. Marathon Digital Holdings Company Contact: Telephone: 800-804-1690 Email: ir@marathondh.com || RocketFuel Announces New B2B Cross-Border Settlements Solution: RocketFuel Blockchain San Francisco, California, July 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RocketFuel Blockchain, Inc. (OTCQB: RKFL) (“RocketFuel” or the “Company”), a global provider of payment solutions via ACH bank transfers, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, today announced that it had successfully launched its new B2B cross-border settlements solution, which facilitates settlement between B2B entities using stablecoins like USDT and USDC. The solution utilizes a combination of digital and fiat currencies to enable fast, reliable, compliant cross border settlements. Settlement is automated and done in minutes. In June 2022, RocketFuel experienced a significant increase in its B2B cross border volume from its initial customers, and the Company believes that the numbers will grow with an even higher pace the coming months. Peter Jensen, RocketFuel CEO, stated: “An important factor that is pushing crypto payments into mainstream is settlement layers using stablecoins, in particular USDT and USDC. This is not yet so visible for the retail customer but has a very important effect on the general integration of crypto-rails for financial institutions, creating stable, programmable and efficient settlement layers. Due to our newly received crypto-exchange (VASP) license in Europe, RocketFuel is now able to offer PSPs and eCommerce merchants stablecoin settlements in a completely regulated environment.” RocketFuel’s virtual currency platform comes with a variety of digital payment options for both cryptocurrency and fiat currencies in the virtual and physical world. These options are a great fit for metaverse and NFT platforms to include payments via in-game tokens, cryptocurrencies, CBDC, stable coins and fiat currencies to Web3 merchants across the world. About RocketFuel Blockchain, Inc. RocketFuel is a global payments solution company that provides online shoppers with a simple, easy-to-use, one-click checkout process that accepts payments with bank transfers, Bitcoin, and 120+ cryptocurrencies. Its new B2B cross-border settlement solutions enables businesses to send cross-border payments in an number of fiat currencies safely and efficiently. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Copenhagen, RocketFuel delivers a highly secure and efficient shopping cart experience with significantly low fees for merchants, along with the benefits of no chargebacks and daily settlements in USD. RocketFuel's solution focuses on enhanced customer privacy protection eliminating the risk of a data breach while improving speed, security, and ease of use. More information about RocketFuel is available at: www.RocketFuelBlockchain.com . Story continues Forward-Looking Statements The Company believes that this press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Terms such as “may,” “might,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “project,” “estimate,” “pro-forma,” “predict,” “potential,” “strategy,” “anticipate,” “attempt,” “develop,” “plan,” “help,” “believe,” “continue,” “intend,” “expect,” “future,” and terms of similar import (including the negative of any of these terms) may identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Actual results and the timing of certain events and circumstances may differ materially from those described by the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Factors that may influence or contribute to the accuracy of the forward-looking statements or cause actual results to differ materially from expected or desired results may include, without limitation, market acceptance of the company’s products and services; competition from existing products or new products that may emerge; the implementation of the company’s business model and strategic plans for its business and our products; estimates of the company’s future revenue, expenses, capital requirements and need for financing; current and future government regulations; and developments relating to the company’s competitors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because of the risks and uncertainties related to them. For further information on such risks and uncertainties, you are encouraged to review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments, except as required by law. COMPANY CONTACT Contact@RocketFuelBlockchain.com INVESTOR CONTACT Ben Yankowitz, CFO B.Yankowitz@RocketFuelBlockchain.com View comments || 7 Growth Stocks Trading at a Huge Discount Right Now: With the broad market correction and revision of growth estimates, there is a solid list of growth stocks trading at a discount. However, considering the factors of inflation and a potential recession, investors have been inclined to buy blue-chip stocks.
Of course, I agree that it’s time to remain overweight on large-cap stocks that have a low beta. At the same time, though, growth stocks trading at a huge discount can be considered. Once market sentiments reverse, growth stocks will outperform large-cap stocks.
I must add that with economic uncertainties, I would buy growth stocks in a systematic investment plan (SIP) mode. In simple words, if I had $100 to allocate towards growth stocks, I would put $20 each month in my basket of selected stocks.
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• 7 Cheap Stocks That Are Trading at a Discount
With all of this in mind, these seven growth stocks have witnessed a deep correction. In turn, they all look undervalued from a medium to long-term growth visibility perspective — making them top growth stocks trading at a discount.
[{"Ticker": "TDOC", "Company": "Teladoc Health", "Price": "$41.26"}, {"Ticker": "TSP", "Company": "TuSimple Holdings", "Price": "$10.05"}, {"Ticker": "NIO", "Company": "Nio", "Price": "$19.37"}, {"Ticker": "DKNG", "Company": "DraftKings", "Price": "$13.63"}, {"Ticker": "RADA", "Company": "Rada Electronic", "Price": "$9.68"}, {"Ticker": "RIOT", "Company": "Riot Blockchain", "Price": "$7.24"}, {"Ticker": "APPH", "Company": "AppHarvest", "Price": "$4.30"}]
Source: Piotr Swat / Shutterstock.com
In April 2022, Cathie Wood suggested that investors are missing the point thatTeladoc(NYSE:TDOC) is in the“same league”asAmazon(NASDAQ:AMZN). After a correction of more than 70% in the last 12 months, TDOC stock is among the growth stocks trading at a discount.
More specifically, it’s worth noting that the stock recently bottomed out at $27.38. Now, though, TDOC stock is already higher by 55% from those levels. So it seems likely that the stock will trend higher after consolidation.
For the first quarter of 2022, the company reportedrevenue growth of 25% to $565.4 million. Revenue growth in the U.S. was 24% year-over-year (or YOY), while international revenue growth was higher at 27% over the same period. And with a big addressable market, growth is likely to remain healthy.
I also like the fact the EBITDA losses have narrowed significantly and adjusted EBITDA remains positive. With the cash burn being arrested and with sustained growth in average U.S. revenue per member, Teladoc is positioned for margin improvement.
Source: T. Schneider / Shutterstock
TuSimple Holdings(NASDAQ:TSP) stock has plunged by almost 50% over the past six months. However, over the last month, the stock has been able to bounce back a bit by 40%. In turn, this might be an indication of the point that TSP stock has bottomed out.
Even with some high-profile management exits,Morgan Stanleyremains positiveon TuSimple. Analyst Ravi Shanker is bullish considering the company’s “technology, business model and total addressable market….”
To put things into perspective, theglobal truck freight market is worth $4 trillion. With that in mind, TuSimple is working on creating a fully autonomous (SAE Level 4) driving solution for long-haul trucks through its Autonomous Freight Network. In Q1 2022, the company indicated that“strong progress”has been made on the technology development front.
Further, TuSimple already has 7,475 reservations from blue-chip partners across the freight ecosystem. So, in the next few years, the revenue upside potential is significant.
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It’s also worth noting that TuSimple does not have significant capital investments. The technology-based business model can be a cash flow machine once the technology is on the road. Thus, at its current price, TSP stock is one of the top growth stocks trading at a discount.
Source: Andy Feng / Shutterstock.com
It’s very likely that China’s favorable policies for electric vehicles (EVs) will be extended beyond 2022. In turn, this could mean great things forNio(NYSE:NIO), which is attractive among Chinese electric vehicle growth stocks.
Overall, shares of the EV firm has suffered a drop of 38% YTD. Nonetheless, besides positive industry tailwinds, there are company-specific catalysts.
Nio has an attractive line-up of new electric vehicles, including the ES7 and ET5 which are scheduled for mass delivery in the second half of 2022. So, while delivery growth was disappointing in Q2 2022, it’s likely that growth will accelerate in the coming quarters. Additionally, Nio also has a robust cash buffer to pursueaggressive international expansion. And with a focus on Europe, the company’s growth outlook seems bright.
I also believe that vehicle margin will continue to improve with growth in deliveries. In the near-term, raw material inflation will impact key margins. However, the long-term outlook is positive on operating leverage — boding well for NIO stock.
Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com
There seems to be no end to the correction forDraftKings(NASDAQ:DKNG). For risk-taking investors, though, the growth stock seems to be trading at a massive discount.
Recently,JMP Securitiesanalyst Jordan Bender initiated coverage onDKNG stock with an “Outperform” rating. More specifically, the analyst set a price target of $25 for the stock, which would imply an upside potential of around 80% from current levels.
Moreover, it’s worth noting that online sports betting (or OSB) and iGaming are still at an early growth stage in the U.S. With more states legalizing OSB and iGaming, there is potential for sustained top-line growth. On that note, DraftKings believes that the total addressable market in the U.S. is in the range of$67 billion to $80 billion.
Of course, a major concern for DKNG stock investors is the cash burn. Even with higher revenue per user, EBITDA losses have widened. However, once marketing and selling expenses decline, cash flows are likely to improve. And the company has guided for long-term adjusted EBITDA of $2.1 billion.
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Overall, there seems to be limited downside risk for DKNG stock at current levels. On the other hand, though, the upside potential is significant if key margins improve.
Source: Shutterstock
Defense stocks are likely to be performers in the coming years as geopolitical tensions remain high. Among blue-chip stocks,Lockheed Martin(NYSE:LMT) stock is my top pick.
However, there also seems to be deep value among growth stocks in the defense sector. AndRada Electronic(NASDAQ:RADA) stock is among the quality defense growth stocks trading at a discount.
For the last six months, RADA stock has been basically sideways, up just 4% over that time. With an impending merger and potential value creation, the growth stock is attractive at a forward price-earnings ratio (P/E) of 23.
Just last month, Rada andLeonardo DRSagreed on an all-stock merger. The business combination is expected to create a leading provider of defense products and technologies.
For 2021, the combined entity is likely to clock a turnover of $2.7 billion. Furthermore, the guidance for adjusted EBITDA is $278 million. With74% of the revenue coming from the U.S. Army and Navy, the outlook seems bright.
With merger synergies and operating leverage, margin expansion of 150-200 basis points is expected through 2023. Overall, with a growing addressable market, the merger is likely to create value for investors.
Source: Shutterstock
For a large part of 2021,cryptocurrency stockswere among the darlings of the markets. However, the crash in Bitcoin (BTC-USD), has reversed sentiments. Growth plans for major Bitcoin mining companies however remain unaltered.
I believe thatRiot Blockchain(NASDAQ:RIOT) is trading at a massive discount. While it’s a high-risk bet, returns can be multi-folds if there is a strong reversal in Bitcoin in the next 12-24 months.
From a growth perspective, Riot reportedhashing capacity of 4.6EH/sin June 2022. With the aggressive deployment of miners, the company expects capacity to increase to 12.6EH/s by January 2023. This will have a meaningful impact on the top line once Bitcoin trends higher.
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In the near term, margin compression is likely. However, the company is well positioned from a financial perspective to navigate challenging quarters. As of Q1 2022, Riot reported $113.6 million in cash. Additionally, the company held 6,536 Bitcoin at the end of the period.
Source: Silga Bauge-Robezniece / Shutterstock.com
With factors such as water scarcity and food shortage, vertical farming stocks have been in the limelight. However, cash burn has translated into big corrections in all vertical farming stocks.
In turn, firms likeAppHarvest(NASDAQ:APPH) are getting crushed. And thus, APPH stock is among the growth stocks trading at a discount from the sector. Overall, APPH stock is up more than 10% YTD. So even with the broad market correction, this movement is an indication that the stock has bottomed out.
For Q1 2022, the company reportedrevenue growth of 125% YOY to $5.2 million. Furthermore, AppHarvest has also guided for full-year sales between $24 million to $32 million.
The key point to note is that AppHarvest will be opening three more high-tech farms by the end of 2022. This will ensure that robust growth sustains well into 2023. AppHarvest is also in discussions for financing for a 15-acre salad greens facility in Kentucky. In turn, secured financing for this facility will be a positive catalyst for the stock.
Overall, APPH stock is attractive and has discounted the cash burn concerns. With operating leverage, it’s likely that key margins will improve in 2023 and 2024.
On the date of publication, Faisal Humayun did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to theInvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The post7 Growth Stocks Trading at a Huge Discount Right Nowappeared first onInvestorPlace. || El Salvador Introduces 2 Sovereign Debt Repurchase Bills in Effort to Allay Default Concerns: Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, sent two bills on Tuesday to the local congress in an effort to secure funds needed to buy back all sovereign debt bonds maturing in 2023 and 2025. Bukeles announcements are intended to counter speculation about a potential default by El Salvador, amid strained relations between the Central American country and the traditional credit market, including the International Monetary Fund, which repeatedly recommended El Salvador discontinue the use of bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender due to the financial risks and liabilities created. El Salvador is down roughly 54% on its investments in bitcoin, representing a potential loss of $55.8 million, according to CoinDesk data based on Bukele's announcements. So far, the country has spent $103.9 million in bitcoin, at an average price of $45,171 per coin. El Salvadors government plans to start the purchasing operation in six weeks, after the corresponding paperwork is finished, Bukele said on Twitter , adding that the government will pay the market price for each bond at the time of the transactions. According to Bukele, El Salvador has enough liquidity to pay its current commitments in a timely manner and to buy all its debt until 2025 in advance. Hoy enviamos 2 proyectos de ley a la @AsambleaSV para asegurar los fondos para hacer una oferta de compra transparente, pública y voluntaria a todos los tenedores de bonos de deuda soberana salvadoreña desde 2023 hasta 2025, al precio de mercado al momento de cada transacción. Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) July 26, 2022 The bonds maturing in 2023 total $800 million, and those maturing in 2025 represent a similar amount. In November, Bukele announced plans to issue a $1 billion bitcoin bond that will use Liquid , a bitcoin-based service created by Blockstream. However, that initiative was postponed due to unfavorable market conditions, El Salvadors finance minister said recently . El Salvadors congress is controlled by Bukele's party, Nuevas Ideas, which holds 64 out of 84 votes. Read more: Behind the Scenes of El Salvadors Bitcoin Bond With the Man Who Designed It View comments || Sell-Side Analysts Trim Targets for Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain: Analysts at H.C Wainwright and Jefferies slashed their price targets for Argo Blockchain (ARBK) following disappointing guidance when the company delivered quarterly results on Wednesday.
Kevin Dede at H.C. Wainwright continues to rate Argo a buy, but lowered his price target to $8 from $14, and versus Thursday's closing price of $4.93. Meanwhile, Jonathan Peterson and Amanda Santillo at Jefferies cut their price target to $13 from $20, while also maintaining a buy rating.
Behind Argo'syear-end 2023 hashrate guidance cutto 3.2 exahash per second (EH/s) from 5.0 are delays in the miner's plans to deploy custom-made mining rigs using Intel's (INTC) Blocksale application-specific integrated circuits. Speaking to investors in a conference call this week, Argo CEO Peter Wall said the delays were in part due to his company's decision to redesign the machines to maximize efficiency as opposed to computing power, or hashrate. Wainwright's Dede noted that supply chain issues have also delayed the Intel machines deployment.
While Argo expects to reach 4.1 EH/s by the end of the first quarter of next year, the Wainwright analyst pointed out that with a new product, "manufacturing milestones are easily jeopardized," meaning more delays could be in the offing.
Both Dede and the Jefferies team took down revenue targets for Argo, with Dede now expecting full-year sales at $84.3 million versus $135.5 million previously, assuming bitcoin remains at around $24,000 and total network computing power of roughly 220 EH/s. Peterson and Santillo at Jefferies cut their revenue estimate by nearly 50% to $76.8 million from $145.6 million. Their base case scenario has bitcoin is around $21,400 and network hashrate around 220 EH/s for the rest of the year.
Read more:Bitcoin Mining Difficulty: Everything You Need to Know
Argo also indicated that the reduced Intel order helps keep options open by lowering its capital expenditure, Jefferies wrote. The firm said it is looking to raise $25 million-$35 million to achieve 4.1 EH/s, down from a $50 million funding goal earlier this year.
Argo expects to sign a fixed-price power purchasing agreement in the next couple of months, which will both stabilize its electricity spending and allow it to sell power back to the grid, along withother peers, Wall said. The company continues to target a long term power rate of about $2.5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in Texas, where their biggest mine is. The Jefferies team isn't so sure, expecting power to cost $3.75 cents per kWh across Argo's portfolio in the fourth quarter of this year and into 2023. || US CPI Preview: Inflation Likely to Climb to New 40-Year High: U.S. consumer prices probably rose 1.1% in June, pushing the year-on-year change to a four-decade high of 8.8%, FXStreet data shows. A reading above that could bring renewed selling pressure to risk assets, including bitcoin (BTC).
The U.S. Labor Department will release the widely tracked consumer price index (CPI) measuring the cost of living in the world's largest economy on Wednesday at 12:30 UTC. Core inflation, which strips out the volatile food and energy component, is expected to be 0.6% month-on-month, or 5.8% for the year.
TheWhite Housewas in a damage control mode early Monday, calling the forecast bump in inflation a backward-looking and out-of-date figure skewed higher by energy and food prices, which have retreated over the last couple of weeks.
A higher-than-expected inflation print, particularly for core CPI, would validate the Federal Reserve's strategy of combating price pressures with aggressive rate hikes and balance sheet runoff, bolstering the dollar rally and bringing renewed selling pressure to risk assets, bitcoin among them.
Fed fund futures show expectations for a 75 basis points rate increase later this month are fully priced in. Traders have also baked in a 50 basis point hike in September and 25 basis points raises in November and December. The central bank has raised rates by 150 basis points to the 1.5%-1.75% range since March.
A hotter-than-expected figure may also see traders scale back expectations for Fed rate cuts next year. At press time, rates traders are pricing in an easing of monetary policy in the second half of 2023 to reverse the tightening cycle's negative impact on economic activity.
On the flip side, bitcoin and other risk assets will probably rally if core inflation eases, reviving the "inflation has peaked" narrative and strengthening the case for the Fed to slow policy tightening in the coming months.
Here is how some observers expect the CPI to influence bitcoin.
Matthew Dibb, COO and co-founder of Singapore-based Stack Funds, told CoinDesk:
"We believe it is largely priced in, but any deviation from the forecast will bring huge volatility. Bitcoin has been trading heavily 'risk off' since Sunday in anticipation of macro news this week and is approaching recent support.
"If a print comes in higher than 8.8%, it's likely BTC will be approaching the $18,000 handle in the short term."
John Kicklighter, chief strategist at DailyFX, said:
"Wednesday's CPI is a capable catalyst to put the markets back on the move, but it is a higher bar to generate broader traction in 'risk trends' that will pull bitcoin and crypto further down along with other traditional speculative assets. On the other hand, another extension for the dollar, which is trading between 20 and 35-year highs against its largest counterparts (euro, yen and pound), could certainly throttle this principal alternative-to-fiat."
Vetle Lunde, an analyst at Arcane Research, noted in the weekly report:
"Be prepared for volatility following Wednesday's CPI print at 08:30 E.T. Inflation surprises towards the upside lead to enhanced expectations of further tightening of monetary policies by the Federal Reserve.
"These contractionary policies have a broad impact on equities, and this macro backdrop has been an important factor in bitcoin's bear market since November 2021."
The monthly U.S. inflation reports have persistently injected volatility into the bitcoin market this year, with above-forecast figures leading to price declines.
Michael Boutros, a strategist at DailyFX, said:
"It’s either a bear-flag or an wedge/consolidation formation [on bitcoin's daily chart] around the monthly open. Either way it does look similar to the May – June [pre-CPI] setup.
"A quick study on the May/June price pattern suggests another few days of consolidation before another potential decisive break lower. A break below 17,792 is needed to fuel the next leg lower towards the 2019 high at 13,880 and the 100% extension of the entire sell-off at 12,079 – an area of interest for possible support IF reached. Ultimately bitcoin would need to breach/close above 25,850 to invalidate this current downtrend."
Simons Chen, a private equity fund manager, said:
"If the June CPI data shows inflation has continued to expand, and exceeds market expectations, the Fed is bound to raise interest rates hard and fast in the second half of the year, right through to year-end.
"In December, we expect the interest rate will quickly reach 350 basis points or higher (3.5%+), and it will likely remain in the 350~400 basis points range or higher throughout 2023 to curb high inflation. At present, commodities and stock markets have already pulled back from their recent peaks by around 30%~50%+, based on expectations of rising interest rates.
"Meanwhile producer price index has eased. But the short-term decline is not sufficient to reduce the long-term inflation rate, unless we see raw materials return to lower levels."
UPDATE (July 13, 11:25 UTC):Adds comment from Simons Chen. || Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Signs 75MW Hosting Deal: Core Scientific (CORZ) the largest bitcoin (BTC) miner by hashrate, or total computing power signed a new deal with an undisclosed party to host 75 megawatts' worth of mining rigs. As part of the agreement, Core is getting prepayments that will fund the additional infrastructure needed to host the miners, the company said in a press release . Hosting is a service that data centers provide to crypto miners so that customers can store their mining rigs and mine their preferred digital assets for a fee without having to build the accompanying infrastructure themselves. Core has a blend of self-mining and hosting operations. In the first quarter, the company earned $33.2 million from its hosting business, which was about 17% of its total revenue, according to a recent presentation . In recent months, demand for hosting crypto miners has seen an uptick as infrastructure and power supply-related delays as well as lack of capital have caused bottlenecks for miners who are often now finding themselves with more mining rigs than available power. Core said the server deployments for the new hosting deal will start in the third quarter, with estimated completion expected this year. This addition will have Core operating about 325,000 rigs self-mining and hosting by the end of 2022. Read more: Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Gets $100M Equity Financing Despite Bear Market View comments || Top NFTs Prove Resilient to Price Volatility | 2022 Q2 NFT Industry Report: After a wild bull market that saw NFTs emerge as a controversial force in the crypto world, many have been waiting for the bubble to burst. Surely these strange digital images cannot continue costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each? With the whole market in a severe negative downtrend, now is the time for the ride to come to an end. Or is it? Despite the severity of the macro situation on crypto—an entire chain collapsed, VC firm founders are on the run, and the most well-known CEXs are filing for bankruptcy—NFTs have proven to be relatively resilient. The data shows that: DeFi TVL down 68% GameFi trading volume down 62% NFT trading volume was down 41% The amount of NFT financing also fell by 57% However, in light of the entire market, this is only a small part of the picture. This report will summarize and analyse the overall data of the NFT industry in Q2 2022 , including the overall overview of the NFT market, NFT investment and financing, and a segmentation analysis of on-chain data performance. It will also track key data of BAYC, CryptoPunks and Goblintown. Q2 NFT Market Overall Overview NFT trading volume in Q2 is down 41% At the beginning of the year, crypto asset prices were affected by policy and fell, and investment capital was flowing into the NFT market for collectibles, gaming, and art. This drove the NFT market to an unprecedentedly active trading volume, hitting a new high of $8.6 billion. Many believed this could lead to widespread adoptions of NFTs and lead to record Q2 transactions. However, in mid-May, the crypto market faced considerable challenges and the NFT market cooled off. NFT trading volume dropped from $19.02 billion in Q1 to $11.26 billion in Q2. Footprint Analytics – Volume of NFT Marketplaces In terms of market cap, GameFi tokens are positively correlated with the change in BTC market cap , with GameFi Token market cap dropping 76% from Q1 to Q2. For NFT, the market cap tends not to respond quickly, with a 39% drop from Q1 to Q2. Story continues Footprint Analytics – GameFi Token MC vs BTC MC Compared to Q1, Q2 NFT funding is down 57% Q2 NFT financing accounted for 8% of total Q2 investment, and Q2 NFT investment was $1.168 billion. Compared to Q1, it is down 57%. In terms of financing categories, gaming received more than the NFT category in terms of financing amount, followed by NFT Marketplace. The biggest change from Q1 to Q2 is in the metaverse category. The metaverse investment boom has stopped. As can be seen from the performance of The Sandbox’s project data, it is not easy to build a virtual world. As a result, many metaverse-related projects are still in the concept hype stage. Footprint Analytics – NFTs Investment Funding Category Distribution There were more seed rounds than any other, and the proportion of other financing rounds is less than 10%. However, from the perspective of independent NFT financing projects of each chain, Solana’s NFT market Magic Eden has performed particularly well. It completed a $130 million Series B financing round in late June, creating a rare bear market breakthrough for NFT financing. Footprint Analytics – NFTs – Funding Rounds in Q2 NFT’s data performance in the Ethereum, Polygon and Solana ecosystem According to Footprint Analytics , the total transaction volume of NFTs in the Ethereum ecosystem account for more than 80% of many blockchains. Moreover, Ethereum has the most NFT projects, and the aggregation effect of head projects is obvious, including BAYC, Otherdeed and CryptoPunks. On-chain NFT trading volume comparison Looking at the NFT trading volume on Ethereum, Polygon and Solana, Q2 has a 60% decrease in NFT trading volume compared to Q1. Ethereum is still the most prosperous and most transactional on-chain ecosystem of NFTs, but high gas fees and congestion problems are still the shortcomings of Ethereum. As a result, Solana and Polygon are not far behind in the NFT industry. Especially after OpenSea began to introduce projects on Solana, its trading volume increased by 12% in Q2 compared to Q1. It will be the latest contender to challenge Ethereum for the NFT crown. Footprint Analytics – Monthly NFT Volume by Chain Marketplace NFT Volume comparison Going into the second quarter, and especially in June, the market for offering NFT transactions was no longer dominated by OpenSea. X2Y2 has begun to shake OpenSea’s dominance. Like LooksRare, it is an emerging NFT trading platform that started to challenge OpenSea early in the year. They are going straight for the pain points of OpenSea’s centralization, irrelevance of platform revenue to users, high fees and unissued token, and gradually dividing OpenSea’s position in the NFT trading market. Magic Eden trading platform is gradually revealed, opening the floodgates for Solana NFT and enriching the NFT multi-chain trading market. Footprint Analytics – Monthly Market Ranked by Volume Marketplace Active Address and Volume As can be seen from the two major trading platforms chart, OpenSea’s competitor LooksRare did not gain significant user volume while incentivizing NFT transactions and gaining some market share. Most users are still active on the OpenSea platform, with more than 50,000 daily active users during Q2. Footprint Analytics – Daily Market Ranked by Volume(USD) Footprint Analytics – Marketplace Daily Active User Buyers & Sellers If there are more sellers than buyers, this indicates that people are selling their assets. If there are more buyers than sellers, there will be more newcomers who want to enter the NFT ecosystem than those who want to get rid of assets. As a result, the data shows that after the bear market setback, fewer users entered the NFT ecosystem in Q2 than in Q1. Footprint Analytics – Buyers & Sellers NFT projects to watch this quarter BAYC volume and floor overtakes CryptoPunks’ For many years, Punks has been known as the preeminent “blue chip” NFT asset due to its long history and dedicated community. However, due to the acquisition of the intellectual property rights of CryptoPunks and Meebits by Yuga Labs, the BAYC development team, the trading volume and floor price of BAYC series NFTs have once again increased significantly, beating CryptoPunks repeatedly. With the collapse of the crypto market, investors’ demand for NFTs also declined by a corresponding degree, which greatly affected its overall trading volume and floor price decline. As can be seen from the chart, after mid-May, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cryptopunks volume and floor price are both declining. Footprint Analytics – Bored Ape Yacht Club vs Cryptopunks Volume Footprint Analytics – Bored Ape Yacht Club vs Cryptopunks Floor Price Emerging Project: Goblintown The downturn in the market has not stopped new NFT projects from emerging. Goblintown, a collection of ugly, absurd-looking Goblins avatars, became the breakout NFT project of the second quarter. Initial minting began on May 21, with 9,999 pointy-eared goblin avatars distributed for free or an on-chain gas fee. The project quickly generated market interest. On June 1, daily trading volume reached $11 million, with a market cap of $127 million. Compared with BAYC, Goblintown brings a sense of rebellion through differentiation and secondary interpretation, but with a little artistry. But judging from the market value and transaction volume, the king of NFTs is undoubtedly BAYC. Screenshot source – goblintownwtf collection Summary Although the NFT market has cooled, the prices of some top projects have remained relatively stable, and new projects still emerged in Q2. In other words, the current downward pressure which has already brought down an entire chain, several VC firms and a few CEXs has not caused the NFT market to implode. This means that while NFT projects’ prices can still decline, we are unlikely to see any “NFT bubble” bust as many believed. If anything, it shows that NFTs, out of all crypto asset categories, are the least in a bubble of all. July. 2022, Vincy The full report: 2022 Q2 NFT Report This piece is contributed by Footprint Analytics community. The Footprint Community is a place where data and crypto enthusiasts worldwide help each other understand and gain insights about Web3, the metaverse, DeFi, GameFi, or any other area of the fledgling world of blockchain. Here you’ll find active, diverse voices supporting each other and driving the community forward. || STEPN and Ethereum Classic Boost Crypto Market Cap to $1 Trillion: Key Insights: STEPN’s GMT shot up by almost 22% today to trade at $1.09. Ethereum Classic rallied by 62.5% in this week alone, with 13.8% of it coming today. Bitcoin and Ethereum also benefitted from the broader market rally, rising to $22k and $1.5k. Investors of cryptocurrencies were elated today as the broader market shifted gears and inched closer to closing above the $1 trillion mark that it last visited a month ago. As always, altcoins were the ones to lead the rally today, but the king coin Bitcoin and altcoin king Ethereum did not hold back either, with both of them rallying by 6.5% and 11.5%, respectively. STEPN Into Recovery Leading the rally along with MATIC and other altcoins was STEPN’s native token GMT, which gained almost 22% in the last 24 hours. This pushed the coin to flip the critical resistance of $1 into support as the altcoin traded at $1.09 at the time of writing. Although the altcoin is still far away from recovering the losses it witnessed in June when GMT sunk by 52.59% in the span of 13 days. However, the cryptocurrency has risen by more than 84.7% from its lows since then. Once GMT closes above $1.25, it would have completely recovered the fall of June. Supporting the same are the Parabolic SAR and Relative Strenght Index (RSI), as the former indicated an active uptrend today with the appearance of the white dot below the candlestick. Additionally, the RSI also entered the bullish zone once again and could sustain itself in this area this time, provided the bears do not reciprocate any time soon. Thus, if these conditions remain unchanged, GMT will be able to reclaim $1.25 by the end of this month. Ethereum Classic on a Rally Rally The Ethereum namesake and hard fork also emerged as one of the best performers of the day, furthering its growth that began five days ago. ETC , which noted a 44.88% decline in the month of June, struggled to create momentum for recovering said losses until a few days ago. Starting July 12, the altcoin initiated a rally, and at the time of writing ETC rose from the lows of $13 to trade at $22.54. This 62.5% growth pushed the altcoin closer to $25, from where ETC will be able to begin recovering the May losses as well. Story continues At the moment, price indicators leaned in favor of the same occurring with the Bollinger Bands diverging highlighting high volatility for the cryptocurrency. However, with the candlesticks remaining above the basis of the indicator, the price swings will be in favor of the bulls. Furthermore, the MACD maintaining its bullish crossover, exhibited rising bullishness with its green bars supporting ETC’s rise in the future. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Japan, China cut holdings of U.S. Treasuries to multi-year lows -data SoftBank halts plans for Arm’s London IPO – FT Fauci plans to retire by end of U.S. President Biden’s term Lawsuit accuses Apple of antitrust violations over Apple Pay New UK finance minister targets inflation, ‘sound finances’ Bolsonaro attacks Brazil’s election system in briefing of diplomats || Cboe Digital Markets Names Jump Crypto, Robinhood and DRW Among Expected Equity Partners: The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has named a cohort of trading heavyweights expected to be equity partners in its revamped cryptocurrency-facing division, Cboe Digital Markets, which includes the likes of Jump Crypto, Robinhood and high speed trading firm DRW.
Read more:Wall Street Giant DTCC Launches Private Blockchain in Big Crypto-Milestone for TradFi
Cboe Digital Markets, which is being formed following theacquisition of trading platform ErisXannounced late last year, will provide minority ownership stakes to those partners and will also create an advisory committee to help mature crypto markets.
The full roster of planned equity partners includes B2C2, GSR, Hidden Road, IMC, Interactive Brokers, Jane Street, Optiver, tastytrade and Virtu Financial. Commercial partners named in connection with Cboe Digital include Fidelity Digital Assets, Galaxy Digital, NYDIG and Webull, according to a press release.
Such a sturdy consortium of traditional finance and crypto players demonstrates a firm backing for the ErisX business and also reflects the fact Cboe wasthe first U.S. company to launch bitcoin (BTC) futures in 2017before later shuttering the product.
Under the auspices of Cboe Digital, the existing spot, derivative and clearing platforms of ErisX, will carry on operating, with plans to develop a benchmark data stream and evaluation of crypto execution prices, the company said.
“Building trusted markets has always been a part of Cboe's DNA, and we look forward to leveraging the combined expertise of our partner firms to help bring Cboe's regulatory framework, transparency, infrastructure and data solutions to further grow the digital asset market on a global scale,” said Ed Tilly, chairman and chief executive of Cboe Global Markets, in a statement.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 19812.37, 18837.67, 19290.32, 19329.83, 21381.15, 21680.54, 21769.26, 22370.45, 20296.71, 20241.09
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-03-28]
BTC Price: 47128.00, BTC RSI: 69.66
Gold Price: 1939.60, Gold RSI: 52.29
Oil Price: 105.96, Oil RSI: 51.45
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Ukrainian Flag NFT Raises $6.75M for Country’s War Efforts: A non-fungible token (NFT) of the Ukrainian flag sold for 2,258 ETH (roughly $6.75 million) on Wednesday, with the proceeds being sent toCome Back Alive, an organization that donates supplies to Ukrainian civilians and military members.
The sale was organized byUkraineDAO, a crowdfunding effort led by Russian art collective Pussy Riot and non-fungible token studio Trippy Labs to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Read more:New DAO Raises $3M in ETH for Ukrainian Army
The winning bid for the 1-of-1 flag NFT was placed on behalf of a pool of 3,271 donors through a service calledPartyBid, where the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was able to essentially purchase the NFT from itself through donations from its members.
UkraineDAO says it will airdrop amounts of its LOVE token to wallets that contributed to the sale, proportional to the ether they donated.
The DAO says its tokens will have “[n]o utility nor value, but are a beautiful testament and reminder of your contribution to a noble cause,” according toits website.
The high-value NFT sale is just the latest example of cryptocurrency being used to financially support the Ukrainian government in recent days.
The country’s government has received over $40 million in crypto donations sincetweeting outits ether (ETH) and bitcoin (BTC) addresses on Feb. 26, with NFT-based donations contributing around $7 million to that total.
A rare CryptoPunkwas sent to the country’s Ethereum wallet on March 1, and other blockchain figureheads haverushed to get their networks into the fold. || 7 Energy Stocks to Buy Heading Into April: • Devon Energy(DVN): An independent oil and gas firm, Devon features project right down the middle of America.
• EOG Resources(EOG): Specializing in hydrocarbon exploration, EOG has a compelling mix of domestic and global projects.
• Enphase Energy(ENPH): Geopolitical tensions inspire the necessity of developing renewable energy solutions.
• Bloom Energy(BE): An infrastructure play that makes renewable energy much more practical and viable.
• Orsted(DOGEF): A multinational Danish firm, Orsted promotes offshore wind power.
• AFC Energy(AFGYF): Focusing on leveraging hydrogen for clean power, AFC is speculative but intriguing.
• Lukoil(LUKOY): Possibly the most toxic idea ever, Lukoil could be huge once Russia becomes a normal country again.
Source: Shutterstock
Weighing the enormous costs in life and property associated with Russia’s shockingly irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine, very few silver linings if any exist. But if there was one that the world could agree on, it’s that energy stocks have taken on a whole new relevance.
Rather than merely a form of speculation, energy stocks represent national security for the U.S. and its allies. True,we receive very little oil from Russia. However, the sanctions imposed on the country have effectively eliminated a significant portion of total global supply. Therefore, prices that were already high for fossil fuels accelerated, with little relief in sight.
Indeed, dependencies on critical commodities sourced from less-than-stable countries have always presented a challenge. With the Russian invasion, though, the concept of energy economics as a form of warfare is no longer theoretical. On the bright side for investors, a portfolio of diverse energy stocks could pan out profitability in an otherwise disturbingly chaotic situation.
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Of course, no investment class is immune to risk. You’ll want to conduct your due diligence as always. However, heading into April, these energy stocks look quite intriguing.
[{"DVN": "EOG", "Devon Energy": "EOG Resources", "$61.99": "$123.46"}, {"DVN": "ENPH", "Devon Energy": "Enphase Energy", "$61.99": "$190.64"}, {"DVN": "BE", "Devon Energy": "Bloom Energy", "$61.99": "$23.98"}, {"DVN": "DOGEF", "Devon Energy": "Orsted", "$61.99": "$115.87"}, {"DVN": "AFGYF", "Devon Energy": "AFC Energy", "$61.99": "$0.52"}, {"DVN": "LUKOY", "Devon Energy": "Lukoil", "$61.99": "$6.96"}]
Source: T. Schneider / Shutterstock.com
While top-tier energy stocks have garnered considerable attention over the past few weeks, investors ought to consider some of the independent oil and gas names. One of the more popular companies within this subsegment isDevon Energy(NYSE:DVN). And thanks to the conflict in Ukraine, it could continue building on its momentum.
And what a ride it has been! On a year-to-date basis, DVN is up over 40%. During the trailing year, it has demolished much of the competition with a 177% performance. It’s even making up for several years of disappointments, as the trailing five-year gains register 60% up. On top of it all, the company currently features a dividend yield of 6.5%.
Against a geopolitical framework, Devon is quite intriguing among energy stocks because of itsoperational footprint. Basically, its projects cut right through the middle of America, which is appealing because due to the homegrown sourcing effect. As well, you can reasonably expect bipartisan initiatives to promote domestic project growth to further reduce dependencies on foreign countries.
Source: Casimiro PT. / Shutterstock
A specialist in hydrocarbon exploration,EOG Resources(NYSE:EOG) may not have been the most popular investment prior to the paradigm shift in eastern Europe. After all, an increasing focus (particularly among politicians) occurred toward renewable and sustainable solutions. Therefore, hydrocarbon-related energy stocks ran the risk of eventual obsolescence.
But that narrative may have shifted with the outbreak of armed conflict. With a significant portion of hydrocarbon-based commodities indefinitely eliminated from global supply channels, energy stocks like EOG are in the driver’s seat. No matter how much we scream and cry about renewables, fossil fuels remain an integral component of national security due to their enormousenergy density.
Further, EOG commands an intriguing mixture of domestic and international projects. Most of its production of 276 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) is tied to U.S. operations. However, EOG also has a presence in Trinidad and Tobago, Australia and China – the latter being significant as it would be one reminder among several that the communist nation would have much to lose economically if it acts imprudently like its neighbor.
Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com
Although a full and immediate pivot to renewable energy stocks is impossible due to infrastructural and technological concerns (among others), the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Europe has made ignoring renewable solutions untenable. So long as western nations are tied to the teat of Russian oil, they will have difficulties holding imprudent actions accountable.
Therefore, companies likeEnphase Energy(NASDAQ:ENPH) deserve much consideration. True, ENPH has been on a roller-coaster ride during this year. However, in the past month – basically the entirety of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – shares are up 30%. A coincidence? I don’t think so. A specialist in battery storage technologies, the more societies pivot to non-hydrocarbon-based energy stocks, the less likely they will be awkwardly tethered to belligerent states.
Moreover, factors such as climate change – along with to be fair difficulties in the grid responding to changing resource mixes – will likelyaccelerate the probabilities of blackouts. Thus, Enphase is poised to become one of the most relevant energy stocks, irrespective of the geopolitical flashpoint.
Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock
Like Enphase above,Bloom Energy(NYSE:BE), which focuses on so-called future-proof energy platforms like electrolyzers, hydrogen fuel cells and carbon capture, incurred some choppy price action this year. Overall, BE commands a year-to-date performance of 8.5% – a solid return but not overwhelmingly exciting.
However, in the trailing month, shares are up nearly 21%. I’d say that is enough to raise the blood pressure albeit in a positive context. As with other next-generation energy stocks, Bloom’s business profile enjoyed fortuitous pertinence because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Again, this dangerous decision demonstrated that governments need to get serious about energy and resource security.
But even without the cynical catalyst of warfare, Bloom was already attracting attention for its AlwaysON microgrid solution. For large companies, the economic cost of blackoutcould be millions of dollars per hour of downtime. That’s just not acceptable – and climate change and other pressures may exacerbate this negative probability.
Therefore, resilient microgrid solutions will likely command greater demand in the future, not less.
Source: Khanthachai C / Shutterstock.com
One of the more interesting – albeit higher risk – names among energy stocks isOersted(OTCMKTS:DOGEF). A multinational power company based in Denmark, Orsted earns its place among energy industry leaders as the world’s largest developer of offshore wind power by amount of built offshore wind farms.
While this core business has always been important, the outbreak of violence that’s basically occurring in western Europe’s backyard makes DOGEF especially crucial over the long run. For instance, the U.S. Energy Information Administration states the following:
Of the 10.1 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil and condensate thatRussiaproduced in 2021,Russia exported more than 45%, or 4.7 million b/d. The majority of Russia’s crude oil and condensate exports went to OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] Europe, which received almost half of Russia’s total exports.
Such dependencies in Europe to hydrocarbons – and Russian hydrocarbons specifically – is a major liability now. Therefore, DOGEF could potentially work its way out of its present funk.
Source: Kaca Skokanova/ShutterStock.com
If you thought Orsted was a walk on the wild side of energy stocks, wait until you consider the case forAFC Energy(OTCMKTS:AFGYF). Billed as the leading provider of alkaline fuel cell systems for the generation of clean energy, AFC is a one among a burgeoning number of companies leveraging hydrogen for electricity production.
Why hydrogen? For starters, the segment provides a level of energy diversity. While it’s a bit of speculation on my part, I don’t anticipate the pivot toward clean and renewable energy to mean that we’ll get rid of hydrocarbons altogether. Rather, it’s in our best interest to have multiple energy sources to provide broader resilience.
As well, experts peg the hydrogen market to expand robustly. Back in 2020, the global hydrogen generation market achieved a valuation of $145.7 billion. However,projections call for this valuation to hit $220.4 billion by 2028. It’s possible that AFC Energy stock could be a downwind beneficiary.
Still, priced at 52 cents at time of writing, AFGYF is a literal penny stock. Therefore, you should treat it accordingly.
Source: Shutterstock
If you don’t want to dive into the cynical and toxic realm, you can treat this list of energy stocks as ended with AFC Energy. However, since I speak to a wide audience, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. So, if you can handle the criticism that might come your way, you may want to consider Russian energy firmLukoil(OTCMKTS:LUKOY).
Before I can even start a sentence with Lukoil, you must acknowledge that the situation surrounding Russian energy stocks (or any Russian equity category) is highly fluid. As I write this, the country’s stock market is scheduled topartially reopen. However,foreigners are banned from selling Russian securitiesuntil April 1.
Plus, it’s not entirely clear when American investors will have the okay to acquire Russian stocks on the over-the-counter market or in proper exchanges. And if that green light arrives, it could be a bloodbath or shares could rise on speculative fervor. I just don’t know.
However, Lukoil is attractive because it’s lost about 86% of value yet the underlying asset is more relevant than ever. It’s possible you might lose your soul if you buy LUKOY but you might be able to profit handsomely over the long term.
On the date of publication, Josh Enomotodid not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The post7 Energy Stocks to Buy Heading Into Aprilappeared first onInvestorPlace. || US stocks fall as volatility from the Ukraine-Russia crisis keeps investors on edge: Trader Leon Montana works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange stocks NYSE worry AP Photo/Richard Drew US stocks finished lower on Friday as investors remain concerned about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said "progress" was being made in negotiations with Ukraine, but the countries continue to fight each other. Comments from Putin led to a brief pop in stock prices that was ultimately reversed as oil prices surged. US stocks reversed early morning gains and closed lower on Friday as investors remain concerned about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its impact on commodity prices. Stocks saw a brief pop early Friday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said negotiations with Ukraine have made "progress" and are seeing "certain positive shifts." But the fighting between the two countries continues, and there are signs this coming weekend will see further escalation. The whiplash in stock prices following Putin's comments highlights how closely investors are watching the situation between Russia and Ukraine, which has roiled commodity markets and led to concerns of persistent inflation. That inflation has the Fed on track to raise interest rates next week for the first time since late 2018. Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Friday: S&P 500 : 4,204.35, down 1.30% Dow Jones Industrial Average : 32,943.40, down 0.70% (229.88 points) Nasdaq Composite : 12,843.81, down 2.18% More and more companies are exiting Russia and writing down their assets to $0, highlighting the heavy losses experienced by some multinational companies. Investment giant BlackRock said it is facing losses of over $17 billion on its holdings of Russian assets. One commodity that is starting to see a surge in prices is uranium, which hit their highest level since the 2011 Fukushima disaster as President Joe Biden weighs sanctions on a Russian supplier of the metal used in nuclear power plants. Despite the heightened volatility in the stock market amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, economists at ING still expect the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates next week. Story continues "With the economy growing strongly, creating jobs in significant numbers and experiencing the fastest rate of price inflation in 40 years, not even the uncertainty and financial market volatility caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine will deter the Fed from hiking on Wednesday," ING said. Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian plunged 9% to a record low after its fourth-quarter earnings revealed 2022 delivery guidance of just 25,000 despite it having capacity to build 50,000 vehicles. The company blamed supply chain disruptions for the shortfall. China-based Didi plunged more than 40% on Friday after it halted plans to relist its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move comes as the company is still under a cybersecurity probe by China, and other Chinese stocks fell in unison with the ride-hailing app. The rotation out of growth and into traditional economy stocks has led to incredible sell-offs in work-from-home stocks that performed strongly amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These seven work-from-home stocks have given up nearly all of their gains and are now trading back to their pre-pandemic levels. West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as much as 3.06% to $109.26 per barrel. Brent crude , oil's international benchmark, rallied as much as 3.08% to $112.70. Bitcoin was flat at $38,493. Ether prices gained 0.32% to $2,551. Gold fell as much as 1.55% to $1,969.30 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury added 2 basis points to 2.0%. Read the original article on Business Insider || EUR/USD Tried To Settle Below 1.1300: U.S. Dollar Tries To Gain More Ground Against Euro EUR/USD is currently trying to settle below the support level at 1.1300 while the U.S. dollar is moving higher against a broad basket of currencies. The U.S. Dollar Index attempts to settle above 96.25. In case the U.S. Dollar Index manages to settle above the resistance at 96.25, it will head towards the resistance at 96.50, which will be bearish for EUR/USD. There are no important economic reports scheduled to be released in the EU today, so foreign exchange market traders will focus on the reports from the U.S. The flash readings of PMI reports for February will likely serve as the key drivers today. Analysts expect that Manufacturing PMI increased from 55.5 in January to 56 in February while Services PMI grew from 51.2 to 53. Traders will also monitor the developments in U.S. government bond markets as rising geopolitical tensions boost demand for the safe-haven Treasuries, pushing their yields lower. In case Treasury yields continue to move lower, the U.S. dollar may find itself under some pressure. Technical Analysis EUR/USD is testing the support level at 1.1300. In case EUR/USD manages to settle below this level, it will move towards the support level at 1.1270, although it may also get some support near 1.1285. RSI remains in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional downside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge. If EUR/USD declines below the support at 1.1270, it will head towards the next support level at 1.1230. On the upside, the previous support level at 1.1330 will serve as the first resistance level for EUR/USD. If EUR/USD gets above this level, it will move towards the resistance, which is located near the 50 EMA and the 20 EMA at 1.1345. A move above the 50 EMA will indicate that EUR/USD will try to gain sustainable upside momentum. In this scenario, EUR/USD will move towards the resistance at 1.1370. For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Intel Unveils new Bitcoin (BTC) Asic Miner Indian Police Arrest 11 for Crypto Scam Worth $5.4 Million Daily Gold News: Tuesday, Feb. 22 – Gold Reached New Highs Amid Russia-Ukraine News FTX Crypto Exchange Launching Gaming Unit to Encourage NFT Adoption For Big Money, Bruker Corporation Passes Test A Dogecoin-Inspired Virtual Restaurant Opens in Dubai || Today’s Market Will Remain Unkind to Vinco Ventures Stock: Even those who are bullish onVinco Ventures(NASDAQ:BBIG) stock have to concede that it’s a bit of a mystery.
Source: vincoventures.com
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The value of its businesses and of the company are riddles that have not yet been fully solved. As a result, it’s been tough to make an informed decision about whether this digital holding company, which isin the process of spinning offitscrypto and non-fungible token (NFT) unit, is a buy.
Those who have bought BBIG stock have done so on hope and hype alone. Granted, that worked out very well for traders during 2021 and briefly in early 2022. At the time, with retail investors overly confident, it didn’t matter that the company had too many red flags to count.
With short interest in the name high and plenty of chatter about it online, it went “to the moon” and back on several occasions. However, the market has changed a great deal since then. With high inflation, rate hikes, and now the Russian-Ukrainian conflict causing skittish investors to sell stocks, unless Vinco’s next financial update is promising, expect BBIG stock to sink further.
The attraction of Vinco Ventures has never really been about its underlying assets. Sure, those buying its shares may have convinced themselves that Vinco’s NFT segment and/ or its indirect stake inLomotif, a video-sharing site that’s very similar to TikTok, were attractive.
But investors’ excitement about BBIG stock has been based on the idea that it will rally due to the renewed hype of Vinco.
For much of 2021, the environment was perfect for such a phenomenon to occur. The meme stock army was bidding up heavily-shorted stocks, penny stocks, and many other types of stocks through coordinated buying of them. With many retail traders willing to follow the lead of those hyping stocks,a number of names underwent big short squeezes.
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In late August and early September 2021, Vinco became the meme flavor of the month. BBIG stock went up more than four-fold during the period, soaring from $3 to $12.49 . With investors’ sentiment deteriorating later in the year, the shares collapsed back to the low single-digits. Still, in January, Vinco managed to pull off one last short squeeze, spiking above $5 per share, only to fall back once more.
After dropping to around $2.25 per share, BBIG stock may look like a buy today if you assume that it can undergo a squeeze again. However, there’s little reason to make that assumption, since the meme era seems to have ended.
Granted, that doesn’t by itself mean the “game is over” for Vinco. In theory, the shares could still move higher based on their fundamentals. But unfortunately, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that. While there’s no denying that BBIG stock is inexpensive, it’s tough to make the case that it’s undervalued, at least not until its fundamentals become clearer.
As I’ve noted in previous columns, Vinco’s management tendsto reveal important informationslowly. Although it’s provided some information aboutone of its acquisitions, there are still many unanswered questions about the company. For example, there are questions about its corporate structure, and Vinco still has not yet completed its planned merger withZASH Global. Given these points, it’s tough to decipher its financial statements and to figure out Vinco’s underlying value.
Also, the company has not disclosed the dilutive impact of the warrants that it issued last year. And although it’s already early March, we haven’t seen its 10-Q form for the quarter that ended on Dec 31. Nevertheless, while the answers to these questions could provide the market with a better idea of Vinco’s true value, something tells me that the way Vinco is disseminating this information is all you need to know about whether the data will be good for its investors.
Sometime soon, Vinco will need to release its financial results for the December quarter. At that time, we’ll have a better idea about whether the stock is a bargain or overvalued.
In the meantime, if the market’s volatility remains high and the move away from “risk-on” stocks continues, BBIG stock could sink further. Meanwhile, it does not have any strong, positive catalysts. In light of these points, investors should avoid the name for now.
On the date of publication, Thomas Nieldid not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The postToday’s Market Will Remain Unkind to Vinco Ventures Stockappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Bitcoin hits $42,000 as world's largest hedge fund to invest in crypto: Bitcoin (BTC-USD) broke through the $42,000 mark on the news that Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates hedge fund is set to invest in the world's preeminent cryptocurrency.
On Tuesday the price ofbitcoinrose 3.3% to $42,571.
Ethereum (ETH-USD) jumped 16.5% in a week to $3,020 after its co-founder Vitalik Buterin appeared on the front cover of Time magazine.
The news that Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund with $150bn in assets, is to invest in bitcoin is the brightest signal yet that institutional finance sees a long-term upward trajectory for the cryptocurrency.
The hedge fund is one of several financial institutions that are adding bitcoin to their investment portfolios.
Dalio's firm is following a July 2021 move by London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace, which was reported to be starting up its own crypto fund.
Bridgewater Associates is planning to invest in an external vehicle that is linked to the price of bitcoin,according to CoinDesk.
Read more:Club for women in crypto promises to close gender funding gap
Dalio announced in May 2021 that he has a personal investment in bitcoin, but this is the first signal that the world's largest hedge fund is planning to put its own money into derivatives backed by bitcoin.
The company told CoinDesk in February: “While we won’t comment on our positions, we can say Bridgewater continues to actively research crypto but is not currently planning on investing in crypto."
Recently, there have been signals of a shift in attitude towards bitcoin from both institutions andregulators.
The US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has put an extension on the time when it will decide on whether to sanction two bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The SEC has previously had a hostile attitude towards bitcoin ETFs.
The commission released a statement on both the One River and WisdomTree ETFs saying: “The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and any comments received."
On Monday, Goldman Sachs (GS) traded a non-deliverable bitcoin option, which is a derivative tied to the price of bitcoin but pays out in cash instead of the underlying cryptocurrency.
This is the first time that a Wall Street bank has completed an over-the-counter (OTC) bitcoin-related trade.
Galaxy Holdings Digital, the cryptocurrency firm that facilitated the trade, said: "This marks the first OTC crypto transaction by a major bank in the US as Goldman Sachs continues expanding its cryptocurrency offerings, demonstrating the continued maturation and adoption of digital assets by banking institutions."
Read more:'Crypto lobby groups are dictating terms in Washington'
The move follows news from earlier in March that the Wall Street heavyweight was offering crypto-curious clients access to Gallaxy Holdings' Institutional Ethereum Fund.
Regulatory documents filed with the SEC at the beginning of March said: “Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC will receive an introduction fee” for clients that it introduces to the Galaxy Institutional Ethereum Fund. || Concentrum Wealth Management Buys Apple Inc, Confluent Inc, Invesco DB Base Metals Fund, Sells ...: Investment company Concentrum Wealth Management ( Current Portfolio ) buys Apple Inc, Confluent Inc, Invesco DB Base Metals Fund, iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF, First Trust Financials AlphaDEX Fund, sells Invesco DB Energy Fund, First Trust Low Duration Mortgage Opportunities ET, iShares MSCI Sweden ETF, iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, Myovant Sciences during the 3-months ended 2021Q4, according to the most recent filings of the investment company, Concentrum Wealth Management. As of 2021Q4, Concentrum Wealth Management owns 59 stocks with a total value of $191 million. These are the details of the buys and sells. New Purchases: CFLT, DBB, FXO, FXN, IYF, FVD, BRK.B, PFF, PSI, Added Positions: AAPL, IHI, QQQ, FV, TSLA, NVDA, MSFT, USMV, CIBR, GRID, SOXX, QTEC, MMLG, AMAT, NXTG, JNJ, QCLN, SNOW, GOOG, VTI, SPY, Reduced Positions: LMBS, AMZN, INTC, ORCL, FPE, FPX, GOOGL, FDN, EWN, EWT, Sold Out: DBE, EWD, EWY, MYOV, PLTR, PYPL, VOO, Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with PYPL. Click here to check it out. List of 52-Week Lows List of 3-Year Lows List of 5-Year Lows For the details of Concentrum Wealth Management's stock buys and sells, go to https://www.gurufocus.com/guru/concentrum+wealth+management/current-portfolio/portfolio These are the top 5 holdings of Concentrum Wealth Management Meta Platforms Inc ( FB ) - 174,896 shares, 30.78% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 0.1% Apple Inc ( AAPL ) - 115,961 shares, 10.77% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 163.31% First Trust NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index Fd ( QTEC ) - 40,746 shares, 3.73% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 1.07% BTC iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) - 86,285 shares, 3.65% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 2.97% First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF (FV) - 136,015 shares, 3.50% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 15.11% New Purchase: Confluent Inc (CFLT) Concentrum Wealth Management initiated holding in Confluent Inc. The purchase prices were between $59.07 and $93.6, with an estimated average price of $72.36. The stock is now traded at around $65.710000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.69%. The holding were 42,450 shares as of 2021-12-31. Story continues New Purchase: Invesco DB Base Metals Fund (DBB) Concentrum Wealth Management initiated holding in Invesco DB Base Metals Fund. The purchase prices were between $20.59 and $23.91, with an estimated average price of $21.51. The stock is now traded at around $23.100000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.29%. The holding were 110,889 shares as of 2021-12-31. New Purchase: First Trust Financials AlphaDEX Fund (FXO) Concentrum Wealth Management initiated holding in First Trust Financials AlphaDEX Fund. The purchase prices were between $43.88 and $48.28, with an estimated average price of $46.41. The stock is now traded at around $46.940000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.19%. The holding were 49,362 shares as of 2021-12-31. New Purchase: First Trust Energy AlphaDEX Fund (FXN) Concentrum Wealth Management initiated holding in First Trust Energy AlphaDEX Fund. The purchase prices were between $11.34 and $12.98, with an estimated average price of $12.32. The stock is now traded at around $13.870000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.88%. The holding were 140,413 shares as of 2021-12-31. New Purchase: iShares U.S. Financials ETF (IYF) Concentrum Wealth Management initiated holding in iShares U.S. Financials ETF. The purchase prices were between $82.75 and $89.95, with an estimated average price of $86.92. The stock is now traded at around $88.140000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.36%. The holding were 8,003 shares as of 2021-12-31. New Purchase: First Trust Value Line Dividend Index Fund (FVD) Concentrum Wealth Management initiated holding in First Trust Value Line Dividend Index Fund. The purchase prices were between $39.33 and $43.04, with an estimated average price of $41.2. The stock is now traded at around $42.220000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.12%. The holding were 5,438 shares as of 2021-12-31. Added: Apple Inc (AAPL) Concentrum Wealth Management added to a holding in Apple Inc by 163.31%. The purchase prices were between $139.14 and $180.33, with an estimated average price of $158.61. The stock is now traded at around $175.840000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 6.68%. The holding were 115,961 shares as of 2021-12-31. Added: iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI) Concentrum Wealth Management added to a holding in iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF by 179.70%. The purchase prices were between $61.5 and $66.31, with an estimated average price of $63.97. The stock is now traded at around $60.100000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 1.21%. The holding were 54,510 shares as of 2021-12-31. Added: PowerShares QQQ Trust Ser 1 (QQQ) Concentrum Wealth Management added to a holding in PowerShares QQQ Trust Ser 1 by 23.72%. The purchase prices were between $352.17 and $403.48, with an estimated average price of $386.05. The stock is now traded at around $368.490000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.56%. The holding were 14,004 shares as of 2021-12-31. Added: Microsoft Corp (MSFT) Concentrum Wealth Management added to a holding in Microsoft Corp by 21.05%. The purchase prices were between $283.11 and $343.11, with an estimated average price of $325.12. The stock is now traded at around $313.460000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.12%. The holding were 3,899 shares as of 2021-12-31. Added: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Concentrum Wealth Management added to a holding in Johnson & Johnson by 21.87%. The purchase prices were between $155.93 and $173.01, with an estimated average price of $163.78. The stock is now traded at around $172.770000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.03%. The holding were 2,095 shares as of 2021-12-31. Sold Out: Invesco DB Energy Fund (DBE) Concentrum Wealth Management sold out a holding in Invesco DB Energy Fund. The sale prices were between $15.35 and $18.72, with an estimated average price of $17.45. Sold Out: iShares MSCI Sweden ETF (EWD) Concentrum Wealth Management sold out a holding in iShares MSCI Sweden ETF. The sale prices were between $43.08 and $47.43, with an estimated average price of $45.48. Sold Out: iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) Concentrum Wealth Management sold out a holding in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF. The sale prices were between $74.16 and $80.32, with an estimated average price of $77.78. Sold Out: Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR) Concentrum Wealth Management sold out a holding in Palantir Technologies Inc. The sale prices were between $17.96 and $26.75, with an estimated average price of $21.99. Sold Out: Myovant Sciences Ltd (MYOV) Concentrum Wealth Management sold out a holding in Myovant Sciences Ltd. The sale prices were between $14.31 and $23.87, with an estimated average price of $19.02. Sold Out: PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL) Concentrum Wealth Management sold out a holding in PayPal Holdings Inc. The sale prices were between $179.32 and $271.7, with an estimated average price of $214.83. Here is the complete portfolio of Concentrum Wealth Management. Also check out: 1. Concentrum Wealth Management's Undervalued Stocks 2. Concentrum Wealth Management's Top Growth Companies, and 3. Concentrum Wealth Management's High Yield stocks 4. Stocks that Concentrum Wealth Management keeps buyingThis article first appeared on GuruFocus . || Bitcoin and Ether Form Short-term Top, MATIC Faces Hurdle: Bitcoin In the past few sessions, Bitcoin price saw a major increase above the $40,000 resistance zone. There was a steady increase above the $42,000 and $43,500 resistance levels. Finally, the price spiked above the $45,000 level. It seems like the bulls faced a strong resistance near the $45,400 and $45,500 levels. A short-term top pattern was formed near $45,500 and the price started a downside correction. It traded below a key bullish trend line with support near $44,000 on the hourly chart. The next key support is near the $43,050 level, below which the price might even slide to $41,800. Ether (ETH) Ether also climbed higher above the $3,000 and $3,050 resistance levels. It even surged above the $3,200 level, but the bulls struggled. There was a bearish reaction from the $3,220 zone and the price declined below $3,150. Besides, there was also a break below a major bullish trend line with support near $3,180 on the hourly chart. The price is now consolidating near the $3,050 support. The next key support is near $2,960, below which there is a risk of a sharp decline in the coming sessions. Polygon (MATIC) MATIC started a fresh increase after it formed a base above the $1.35 level. There was a steady increase above the $1.40 and $1.55 resistance levels. The price cleared the $1.80 resistance level. It even surpassed the 50% Fib retracement level of the key decline from the $2.45 swing high to $1.32 low. It is now facing a strong resistance near the $2.00 and $2.05 levels. There is also a major bearish trend line with resistance near $2.00 on the daily chart. The trend line is close to the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the key decline from the $2.45 swing high to $1.32 low. A close above the $2.00 and $2.05 levels may perhaps send MATIC price towards the $2.25 resistance zone or even $2.50. If not, there is a risk of a fresh decline below the $1.85 level. Initial support on the downside is near the $1.80 zone. The first major support sits near the $1.75 level, below which there is a risk of a move towards the $1.50 level in the near term. Story continues ADA, BNB, and DOT price Cardano (ADA) surged above the $1.20 and $1.22 levels. However, it failed to clear the $1.25 level and started a downside correction. It is trading below $1.20 and might continue to decline towards $1.162. Binance Coin (BNB) is consolidating near the $420 level. Immediate resistance is near $430. However, the main hurdle is near the $445 and $450 levels. Polkadot (DOT) is showing a few positive signs near the $21.50 level. Having said that, it must surpass the $22.00 and $22.20 resistance levels to continue higher. A few trending altcoins are SHIB , XRP , and XTZ . Out of these XRP rallied above the $0.85 and $0.88 resistance levels before it started a downside correction. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The S&P 500 Chops Aimlessly Shares Of Private Equity Firm KKR Slump as Net Income Declines in Q4 Best Stocks to Buy Now for February 2022 Gold Prices Rises Despite Higher Yields Preview: What to Expect From Coca-Colas Earnings on Thursday E-mini S&P 500 Trading on Weak Side of Key Retracement Zone || Concorde Asset Management, LLC Buys BTC BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF, British American ...: Troy, MI, based Investment companyConcorde Asset Management, LLC(Current Portfolio) buys BTC BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF, British American Tobacco PLC, BTC iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF, PowerShares QQQ Trust Ser 1, Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, sells Atlassian Corporation PLC, AGNC Investment Corp, AT&T Inc, Preferred Apartment Communities Inc, iShares 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF during the 3-months ended 2021Q4, according to the most recent filings of the investment company, Concorde Asset Management, LLC. As of 2021Q4, Concorde Asset Management, LLC owns 168 stocks with a total value of $168 million. These are the details of the buys and sells.
• New Purchases:NEAR, ICF, ALHC, DG, FNDX, IAT, PFE, ABT, IIPR, IJK, CAT, UPS, NXDT, SQQQ,
• Added Positions:BTI, QQQ, RSP, IVV, GBDC, FALN, TIP, SCHD, BGS, USMV, NFLX, VHT, IWM, XOM, MGNI, GRWG, F, MDB, EFV, SPYG, FVRR, EFG, GSK, UPST, IUSB, ESGU, CRWD, ESTC, EIX, MMP, XLE, HUBS, HYZN, IVE, IJR, STWD, ANET, VEA, VZ, SLRC, PMT, FDT, WBIT, VO, ANIX, MSOS, COST, VOO, DPZ, VWO, BOMN, USB, FLGT, RDVY, MGV, PM, AFIN, ABR, HYG, GLD, DNA, ACRE, CHMI, BNDX, IGM, NRZ,
• Reduced Positions:IGSB, ZS, TTD, MO, MSFT, NOW, AAPL, SHOP, IXN, ESGE, VLUE, NVDA, TSLA, ETSY, DDOG, IXG, AMD, COMT, RPRX, NEE, FIXD, ITOT, ARKK, ABBV, LMBS, LQD, SLV, BCE, AMZN, ISRG, JNJ, CIM, IYE, XLF, FTA, FVD, IHI, BSV, MBB, BBDC, BRT, PPL, IJH, FTSL, FTC, CLX, FAAR, FISV, HD, SPY, XLU, XLI, XLY, REMX, JMIN, FMF, ABNB, KREF, CSCO, KMI,
• Sold Out:TEAM, AGNC, T, APTS, NLY, CMO, OKTA, TRTX, MELI, PSEC, STMP, PAYC, MTUM, TDOC, APPN, CRSP, ZTS, BSY, HEI, WIX, TRU, INTU, GDX, ADBE, DIS, NICE, FSK, CVX, PLTR, GM, ROKU, ENB, FTSM, LLY, ARKG, FND, VGM, ORAN,
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with BTI. Click here to check it out.
• BTI 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of BTI
• Peter Lynch Chart of BTI
For the details of Concorde Asset Management, LLC's stock buys and sells,go tohttps://www.gurufocus.com/guru/concorde+asset+management%2C+llc/current-portfolio/portfolio
These are the top 5 holdings of Concorde Asset Management, LLC
1. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) - 19,170 shares, 5.46% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.78%
2. iShares MSCI USA ESG Optimized ETF (ESGU) - 68,383 shares, 4.40% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 1.46%
3. iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF (IUSB) - 89,072 shares, 2.81% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 2.34%
4. BTC BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) - 1,451 shares, 2.58% of the total portfolio. New Position
5. BTC iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (GOVT) - 136,435 shares, 2.22% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 0.24%
New Purchase: BTC BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC initiated holding in BTC BlackRock Short Maturity Bond ETF. The purchase prices were between $49.92 and $50.04, with an estimated average price of $49.97. The stock is now traded at around $49.865000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 2.58%. The holding were 1,451 shares as of 2021-12-31.
New Purchase: BTC iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF (ICF)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC initiated holding in BTC iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF. The purchase prices were between $65.07 and $76.08, with an estimated average price of $70.32. The stock is now traded at around $70.010100. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.76%. The holding were 16,636 shares as of 2021-12-31.
New Purchase: Alignment Healthcare Inc (ALHC)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC initiated holding in Alignment Healthcare Inc. The purchase prices were between $12.36 and $22.85, with an estimated average price of $17.48. The stock is now traded at around $7.725000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.58%. The holding were 68,580 shares as of 2021-12-31.
New Purchase: Dollar General Corp (DG)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC initiated holding in Dollar General Corp. The purchase prices were between $205.61 and $235.83, with an estimated average price of $221.07. The stock is now traded at around $208.370000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.34%. The holding were 2,404 shares as of 2021-12-31.
New Purchase: Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index ETF (FNDX)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC initiated holding in Schwab Fundamental U.S. Large Company Index ETF. The purchase prices were between $54.17 and $58.73, with an estimated average price of $56.79. The stock is now traded at around $58.630000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.2%. The holding were 5,730 shares as of 2021-12-31.
New Purchase: iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF (IAT)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC initiated holding in iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF. The purchase prices were between $58.66 and $65.69, with an estimated average price of $62.91. The stock is now traded at around $63.990000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.16%. The holding were 4,408 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Added: British American Tobacco PLC (BTI)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC added to a holding in British American Tobacco PLC by 169.61%. The purchase prices were between $33.65 and $37.56, with an estimated average price of $35.53. The stock is now traded at around $43.360000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.81%. The holding were 57,319 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Added: PowerShares QQQ Trust Ser 1 (QQQ)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC added to a holding in PowerShares QQQ Trust Ser 1 by 234.47%. The purchase prices were between $352.17 and $403.48, with an estimated average price of $386.05. The stock is now traded at around $368.590000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.75%. The holding were 4,522 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Added: Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC added to a holding in Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF by 111.60%. The purchase prices were between $150.44 and $163.01, with an estimated average price of $157.71. The stock is now traded at around $157.580000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.62%. The holding were 12,076 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Added: iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF (FALN)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC added to a holding in iShares Fallen Angels USD Bond ETF by 64.68%. The purchase prices were between $29.31 and $30.2, with an estimated average price of $29.76. The stock is now traded at around $28.755000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.49%. The holding were 70,102 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Added: Golub Capital BDC Inc (GBDC)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC added to a holding in Golub Capital BDC Inc by 61.83%. The purchase prices were between $14.86 and $15.99, with an estimated average price of $15.47. The stock is now traded at around $15.850000. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.49%. The holding were 137,958 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Added: iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC added to a holding in iShares TIPS Bond ETF by 38.74%. The purchase prices were between $126.62 and $129.87, with an estimated average price of $128.15. The stock is now traded at around $125.623700. The impact to a portfolio due to this purchase was 0.46%. The holding were 21,465 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Sold Out: Atlassian Corporation PLC (TEAM)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC sold out a holding in Atlassian Corporation PLC. The sale prices were between $343.33 and $458.13, with an estimated average price of $401.62.
Sold Out: AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC sold out a holding in AGNC Investment Corp. The sale prices were between $14.76 and $16.6, with an estimated average price of $15.84.
Sold Out: AT&T Inc (T)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC sold out a holding in AT&T Inc. The sale prices were between $22.17 and $27.35, with an estimated average price of $24.71.
Sold Out: Preferred Apartment Communities Inc (APTS)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC sold out a holding in Preferred Apartment Communities Inc. The sale prices were between $12.08 and $18.06, with an estimated average price of $13.8.
Sold Out: Annaly Capital Management Inc (NLY)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC sold out a holding in Annaly Capital Management Inc. The sale prices were between $7.79 and $8.73, with an estimated average price of $8.4.
Sold Out: Okta Inc (OKTA)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC sold out a holding in Okta Inc. The sale prices were between $198.08 and $268.28, with an estimated average price of $237.78.
Reduced: iShares 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF (IGSB)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC reduced to a holding in iShares 1-3 Year Credit Bond ETF by 54.03%. The sale prices were between $53.7 and $54.33, with an estimated average price of $53.95. The stock is now traded at around $53.266000. The impact to a portfolio due to this sale was -0.66%. Concorde Asset Management, LLC still held 17,805 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Reduced: Zscaler Inc (ZS)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC reduced to a holding in Zscaler Inc by 58.64%. The sale prices were between $251.86 and $368.78, with an estimated average price of $316.24. The stock is now traded at around $257.254600. The impact to a portfolio due to this sale was -0.65%. Concorde Asset Management, LLC still held 3,000 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Reduced: The Trade Desk Inc (TTD)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC reduced to a holding in The Trade Desk Inc by 36.92%. The sale prices were between $66.03 and $111.64, with an estimated average price of $88.27. The stock is now traded at around $70.840000. The impact to a portfolio due to this sale was -0.45%. Concorde Asset Management, LLC still held 18,822 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Reduced: Altria Group Inc (MO)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC reduced to a holding in Altria Group Inc by 20.34%. The sale prices were between $42.64 and $48.7, with an estimated average price of $45.81. The stock is now traded at around $50.770000. The impact to a portfolio due to this sale was -0.37%. Concorde Asset Management, LLC still held 55,416 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Reduced: Microsoft Corp (MSFT)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC reduced to a holding in Microsoft Corp by 49.55%. The sale prices were between $283.11 and $343.11, with an estimated average price of $325.12. The stock is now traded at around $312.640000. The impact to a portfolio due to this sale was -0.35%. Concorde Asset Management, LLC still held 2,166 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Reduced: ServiceNow Inc (NOW)
Concorde Asset Management, LLC reduced to a holding in ServiceNow Inc by 30.18%. The sale prices were between $599.57 and $701.73, with an estimated average price of $656.59. The stock is now traded at around $581.825000. The impact to a portfolio due to this sale was -0.24%. Concorde Asset Management, LLC still held 1,559 shares as of 2021-12-31.
Here is the complete portfolio of Concorde Asset Management, LLC. Also check out:1. Concorde Asset Management, LLC's Undervalued Stocks2. Concorde Asset Management, LLC's Top Growth Companies, and3. Concorde Asset Management, LLC's High Yield stocks4. Stocks that Concorde Asset Management, LLC keeps buyingThis article first appeared onGuruFocus. || Cryptocurrency donations to groups backing Ukraine are soaring as threat of war with Russia looms, says crypto analytics firm: • Thousands of dollars in crypto donations are pouring into groups supporting Ukraine as a war with Russia brews, said a report by Elliptic.
• The crypto analytics firm said more than $570,00 in cryptoasset funding has been sent to groups backing Ukraine.
• The US warns that an invasion against Ukraine by Russia could take place "any day now".
Cryptocurrency donations to groups supporting Ukraine have jumped as Russia amasses thousands of troops on its border, with crypto analytics firm Elliptic saying in a report that funding has reached several hundred thousand dollars.
Bitcoinhas become a key alternative funding method for international donors working to bypass financial institutions that are blocking payments aimed at aiding Ukraine, said Elliptic on Tuesday. The company runs crypto-risk assessments such as wallet screenings, transaction monitoring, and investigations and counts crypto firms, financial institutions, and regulators as customers.
Hundreds of crypto-based donations have gone to volunteer groups and non-government organizations, or NGOs, that have close links to the Ukrainian government. Such funding shot up by more than 900% in 2021. Volunteer groups are helping the Ukrainian military by providing soldiers and weapons and other items following decades of corruption and neglect, the report said.
Several cryptocurrency wallets used by volunteer groups and NGOs have collectively received just over $570,000 in donations, much of it coming in over the past year, said Elliptic, which identified the wallets.
One of the largest organizations supporting the Ukrainian army called Come Back Alive received nearly $200,000 in bitcoin donations in the second half of 2021, marking a recent jump in funding. The organization, which provides military equipment and training services, started accepting cryptoassets in 2018.
Elliptic also highlighted the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance, a collective that's engaged in cyberattacks against Russian targets since 2016. It said unlike other groups that rely heavily on bank wires, the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance's public fundraising relies solely on cryptoasset donations. The alliance has drawn in about $100,000 in bitcoin, litecoin, ether, and stablecoins over the past year.
"By embracing cryptoasset fundraising, Ukrainian volunteer groups are actually emulating techniques previously employed by Russia since the very start of the Russo-Ukrainian War," said Elliptic. It said a series of online campaigns raised money for Pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine, with money channeled through Russian and overseas banks. The campaigns also accepted crypto donations.
Russia has been amassing troops at Ukraine's border for months andhas deployed 130,000 troopsat the border. Russia could take military action against Ukraine "any day now" or in a couple of weeks, unless it opts for a diplomatic resolution with Ukraine, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivansaid on Fox News Sundaythis week.
Russian President Vladimir Putinat a Monday press conferencesaid Ukraine must be made to implement elements of the Minsk Protocol, a cease-fire agreement in 2014 to end fighting between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Read the original article onBusiness Insider
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 47465.73, 47062.66, 45538.68, 46281.64, 45868.95, 46453.57, 46622.68, 45555.99, 43206.74, 43503.85
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-08-26]
BTC Price: 10370.82, BTC RSI: 47.46
Gold Price: 1526.30, Gold RSI: 71.45
Oil Price: 53.64, Oil RSI: 43.26
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin price sees largest spike ever in Argentina following market crash: Argentina is in crisis—and while its economy languishes,Bitcoinis having itself a moment.
Late Sunday night, Argentine President Mauricio Macri suffered anunexpected defeatin a primary election at the hands of his populist nemesis Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The abrupt turn of events caused the Argentine peso to tank, falling around 45 percent overnight.
Meanwhile, however, the price of Bitcoin in Argentina has shown asimilarly surprising movement—in the opposite direction.
Bitcoin reached a premium of nearly $12,500 per BTC in the country on Monday, according to data fromLocalBitcoins.com. BTC trading on local exchanges also showed similar behavior, going from 515,000 Argentine pesos per bitcoin to 640,000 pesos in a few hours. By contrast, BTC remained below 550,000 Argentine pesos the previous week, and was hovering around below 525,000 pesos on Saturday.
This spike in the price of Bitcoin in Argentina took place within a matter of hours. It appears that the sharp drop in the relative purchasing power of the Argentine peso may have led several locals to turn their attention to cryptocurrencies as a way of protecting themselves against rising inflation. Sunday's electoral results could be viewed, then, as the drop that spilled the glass.
Of course, the FUD surrounding the Argentine economy didn’t just manifest itself within the local crypto scene. Argentina's stock market suffered its worst drop in its history, plunging more than 37 percent.
This drop in the market, however, is potentially a positive sign for crypto adoption in the region—as digital currency presents an opportunity for locals to hedge against financial calamities. Like Argentina, other countries in crisis, such as Venezuela, also have significant volumes of local Bitcoin trading.
"The truth is that here, Bitcoin is better than gold, silver, or any other good. It's easier to sell and trade," said Alfonso, an active LocalBitcoins andPaxful user in Argentina, who preferred to withhold his last name. He said that a significant number of users do not even feel the need to trade on exchanges or even online, as there are Telegram and WhatsApp groups that make the process "less complicated."
However, not everyone agrees: "The common citizen [in Argentina] has never heard of bitcoin; [and] the educated citizen has, but is not exposed," said Alex Krüger, an experienced trader and economist. In general, "Argentines do not care much about bitcoin,” he said. “Penetration isextremelylow."
Krüger believes the rise of Bitcoin is not caused by migration to crypto but rather a devaluation of the local fiat currency, adding that this is just "the beginning of a real trend, driven by justified panic."
Still, the relative ease-of-trading of cryptocurrencies could potentially help Argentines protect themselves from the damage caused by years of misguided monetary policy. Although Kruger believes that the crisis is inevitable, Bitcoin appears to be providing at leastsomeArgentines with a measure of hope in the face of a very bleak economic outlook. || UK services PMI: Economic contraction flagged after 'worst month in decade': The Shard is seen as workers use umbrellas to shelter themselves from the rain while crossing London Bridge in London. Photo: Eddie Keogh/Reuters New figures suggest the UK economy may have shrunk in the second quarter, the first quarterly contraction in three years. Data provider IHS Markit published its closely-watched service sector PMI on Wednesday, which is a survey measuring business activity and future intentions. The data pointed to a significant slowdown in the engine room of economic growth. Service sector PMI for June came in at 50.2, versus a forecast of 51. (Anything above 50 signals growth, anything below means contraction.) IHS Markit said the figure showed “business activity was close to stagnation in June, which contrasted with the modest recovery seen during the previous month.” The findings add to a bleak picture painted by data from other sectors. Earlier this week, an IHS Market survey of the construction sector found it suffered its worst month since the financial crisis in June. IHS Markit’s data for the manufacturing sector also hit a six-year low. ‘The economy has slipped into contraction’ “The near-stagnation of the services sector in June is one of the worst performances seen over the past decade and comes on the heels of steep declines in both manufacturing and construction,” Chris Williamson, IHS’s chief business economist, said in a statement. “Collectively, the PMI surveys indicate that the economy has slipped into contraction for the first time since July 2016, suffering the second-steepest fall in output since the global financial crisis in April 2009.” Williamson said IHS Markit’s data suggests the UK economy contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter. READ MORE: Pound slides as UK manufacturing hits six-year low Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the growth forecast was “plausible, given the drag from the unwind of Q1’s stockpiling boost,” but noted PMI data has recently been too pessimistic and underestimated GDP growth. James Smith, an economist at ING, warned that “the fact that new orders have ground to a halt in the service sector suggests that underlying economic momentum is unlikely to increase imminently.” Story continues Shortly after the IHS Markit data was published, the pound was down by 0.1% against the euro ( GBPEUR=X ) and down by 0.1% against the dollar ( GBPUSD=X ). Sterling was under pressure against both currencies prior to the announcement. ‘Ongoing Brexit uncertainty’ The slowdown in the service sector was blamed on “sluggish domestic economic conditions and greater risk aversion among clients in response to ongoing Brexit uncertainty.” “The latest downturn has followed a gradual deterioration in demand over the past year as Brexit-related uncertainty has increasingly exacerbated the impact of a broader global economic slowdown,” Williamson said. READ MORE: Pound falls on UK construction's worst month since crisis as Brexit bites The service sector, which covers everything from banking to waiting tables, accounts for around 80% of economic growth in the UK. One of the few bright spots from IHS Markit’s survey was an increase in service sector hiring. Employee numbers grew at their fastest rate since August 2017. IHS Markit said some companies were “anticipating a rebound in demand following greater clarity about the path to Brexit.” However, other survey respondents expected continued tough conditions to continue due to “domestic political uncertainty and subdued global economic conditions.” Pressure on the Bank of England Williamson said the data would “put further pressure on the Bank of England to add stimulus.” “For policymakers to not loosen policy with the all sector PMI at its current level would be unprecedented in the survey’s two-decade history,” he said. The Bank of England has said publicly it wants to raise interest rates but has been hamstrung by weak economic growth. Investors now judge a rate cut to be more likely than a rise. READ MORE: Bank of England holds interest rate at 0.75% as 'downside risks' increase The Bank of England last month cut its growth forecast for the UK to zero in the second quarter of 2019 . The MPC said UK economic growth appears to have “weakened slightly in the first half of the year” and said “downside risks to growth have increased.” Governor Mark Carney also struck a downbeat tone in a speech on Tuesday, warning that US-China trade tensions could “shipwreck the global economy.” ING’s Smith said the Bank of England was “unlikely to hike interest rates this year” due to ongoing Brexit uncertainty and “the potential for an escalation in global trade tensions.” However, Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Tombs said he doubted there was “a greater than 50% chance of the MPC cutting Bank Rate before Governor Carney steps down at the end of January.” ———— Oscar Williams-Grut covers banking, fintech, and finance for Yahoo Finance UK. Follow him on Twitter at @OscarWGrut . Read more: Facebook warned against ‘move fast and break things’ approach to Libra US threatens new EU tariffs on Scotch, pasta, and Italian cheese Bitcoin falls below $10,000 as Facebook rally fades Investors still stranded as Woodford's £3.7bn fund stays frozen LGBT+ pay gap revealed despite corporate embrace of Pride || Blockchain Education Initiatives Launch at California Universities: UPDATE (22, August 22:45 UTC):MouseBelt does not have any official connection with Oxford, Cambridge, or Harvard Universities as a previous version of this story indicated.
———
A VC-backed blockchain firm claiming to work with student-led blockchain clubs at Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge is officially rolling out its programs at three California universities.
Related:Iconloop Signs Deal With Art Site to Create Record of Ownership
MouseBelt‘s Blockchain Accelerator launched Wednesday at UC Davis, UC Los Angeles and UC Santa Barabara, boosting the educational presence at the noted U.S. schools. Backed by over $40 million in funding from NueValue Capital, MouseBelt currently aids 65 student blockchain community groups at 14 universities worldwide.
The accelerator joins MouseBelt’s advisory team and media groups Bitcoin Radio and MouseBelt University.
Bundled into two programs, MouseBelt will sponsor undergraduate to PhD level programs. The first fund will cover research across all three campuses, specifically for blockchain project development. MouseBelt has set aside $500,000 in funding with up to five projects jockeying for $100,000 in seed funding.
MouseBelt is also donating to the three universities engineering departments. The accelerator is hoping to co-op the donations for the development of a general fundraiser toward university selected research capped at $500,000.
Related:These Bitcoin Users Want DAI and DeFi – Here’s How They Plan to Get It
Speaking with CoinDesk, university outreach director Ashlie Meredith said the program is designed to fill a knowledge gap in the university level system. Most universities do not hold blockchain classes, leaving student organizations to fill the void.
A little over a year ago, these same student organizations became the basis for MouseBelt’s current initiative.
Meredith said:
“We aim to help these universities become a driving force for innovation in the blockchain space, as well as provide students and researchers with the opportunity for both theoretical and industry experience.”
What’s in it for MouseBelt? Meredith says it’s not only about equity holds in successful projects, but a long term play on student development.
Dr Mohammad Sadoghi, head ofExpoLabat UC Davis, who has been working with MouseBelt for the past year in various functions, says student demand for blockchain coursework is high. Sadoghi told CoinDesk his engineering blockchain classes max out at 65 students, forcing him to add a waitlist and cut students.
“What would it look like if a computation is democratic and decentralized?” Sadoghi asked in a conversation with CoinDesk. To him, blockchain technology is a paradigm shift in data storage and one requiring youthful creativity.
Running his own separate program at UC Davis, Sadoghi says undergraduates are currently forgotten in the space. Often, however, they hold the motivation and energy but merely lack the opportunity.
California flag via CoinDesk archives
• The City of Seoul Will Create a Cryptocurrency for Citizen Rewards
• From Ghana to the Bronx, These Teen Bitcoiners Are Building the Future || Trump dunks on Facebook's Libra in cryptocurrency tweetstorm: It's official: Donald Trump does not likeBitcoin.
Or, for that matter,anycryptocurrency — including Facebook's proposedLibra. He made that much clear in a Thursday evening tweetstorm dunking on the latest proposed entrant in the digital currency world.
"I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air,"tweetedthe President. "Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity...."
Hecontinuedthat "Facebook Libra’s 'virtual currency' will have little standing or dependability. If Facebook and other companies want to become a bank, they must seek a new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks [...]"Read more...
More aboutFacebook,Bitcoin,Donald Trump,Libra, andCryptocurrency || Bitcoin Price Jumps $1K in 30 Minutes to Top $10,000 Again: Bitcoin surged $1,000 in just 30 minutes during U.S. trading hours Thursday, a move that found the leading cryptocurrency rising from $9,335 to a high of $10,400, based on Bitstamp data.
The sudden rally could be associated with the massive unwinding of short BTC/USD positions (profit taking) seen in 30 minutes to 15:00 UTC, as reported by bot powered twitter handle@WhaleCalls.
Prices had dropped to a low of $9,280 at 14:00 UTC, having repeatedly failed to beat the psychological resistance of $10,000 in the Asian session and during early European trading hours. But, bitcoin’s price rise is now boding well for the broader market.
Related:LibertyX Surpasses 1,000 Bitcoin ATMs Across the US
Names like litecoin and bitcoin SV arereportingdouble-digit gains at press time. Meanwhile, ethereum’s ETH token and XRP are up 6 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
Bitcoin’s dominance rate, the top cryptocurrency’s share of total market cap, has also risen to 65.8 percent from 65.4 percent seen earlier today, according toCoinMarketCap.
With the sudden move above $10,000, the prospects of bitcoin breaching the former resistance-turned-support of $9,097 (May 30 high) have weakened. That said, the bulls are not out of the woods yet and a break above $11,080 is needed to invalidate the bearish case.
Related:Bitcoin Bounce Capped by $10K Price Resistance
A high-volume break above $11,080 would violate the bearish lower highs pattern and shift risk in favor of a rise to $12,000. Notably, the move above $10,000 is backed by a rise in buying volumes (green bar). Hence, prices could rise to $11,080 in the next 24 hours.
As of writing, BTC is changing hands at $10,400 on Bitstamp, representing 5 percent gains on a 24-hour basis.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Price chart via Shutterstock; charts byTrading View
• Sexual Misconduct Allegations Emerge Against Bitcoin Coder Peter Todd
• The Case $7.5K Could Become Bitcoin’s New Price Support || A Shipping ETF Has Been Quietly Outperforming: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
A dry bulk shipping-related exchange traded fund has been cruising under the radar, quietly outperforming on expectations of a favorable resolution to the ongoing trade war and a turnaround in the global economy.
TheBreakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF (BDRY) has jumped 16.2% over the past week and surged 59.3% over the past three months. In comparison, the S&P 500 Index gained 2.9% over the past week and increased 4.8% in the past three months.
Shipping prices have been steadily strengthening on back-to-back gains. The Baltic Dry Index rose for 15 consecutive days. The index is comprised of the Capesize, Panamax and Supramax Timecharter Averages and acts as a proxy for dry bulk shipping stocks as well as a general shipping market bellwether.
The steady gains in the Baltic Dry Index reflect higher prices across the Capesize, Panamax and Supramax sub-indices that measure different sizes of carries or merchant ships.
Shipping rates across both hemispheres have exhibited strength throughout the week and demand for iron ore has boosted rates for larger vessels, according toSeekingAlpha.
"Considering that the BDI tends to reflect Chinese resource demand in real time, there would appear to be a good likelihood that commodity supply-demand will take a turn for the better, at least versus May-June," Nomura strategist Masanari Takada said. "The BDI does have a seasonal tendency to improve in July, but the pace of improvement this time around is quite marked."
The Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF tires to provide exposure to the daily changes in the price of dry bulk fright futures by tracking three-month strip of the nearest calendar quarter of futures contracts on specified indexes that measure rates for shipping dry bulk freight. Specifically, the Benchmark Portfolio includes 50% exposure in Capesize Freight Futures contracts, 40% exposure in Panamax Freight Futures contracts and 10% exposure in Supramax Freight Futures contracts, according to the fund prospectus sheet.
BDRY achieves "direct exposure to shipping rates, which can move significantly. Volatility in rates offers a potentially attractive uncorrelated source of return. Unlike shipping equities, BDRY offers direct exposure to freight futures eliminating equity market risk, company-specific risk, potential dilution, etc.," according to BreakWave Advisors.
For more information on alternative strategies, visit ouralternatives category.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Venezuelans can now shop with crypto, including BTC and BNB, at retailer Traki’s 49 stores: Traki, one of the largest chains of department stores in Venezuela, is now accepting payments in ten cryptocurrencies and tokens, including bitcoin (BTC) and Binance coin (BNB), at its 49 retail stores.
Singapore-based blockchain startup, Pundi X, has enabled its point-of-sale (PoS) device “XPOS” across Traki’s 49 stores for the initiative, according to anannouncementThursday.
Through the device, Traki customers can now purchase everyday essentials with ten cryptocurrencies and tokens - bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), Binance coin (BNB), DAI stablecoin, Digix gold token (DGX), NEM (XEM), KuCoin Shares (KCS), Kyber Network (KNC), and Pundi X's own two tokens - NPXS and NPXSXEM.
Venezuela’shyperinflationsituation and lack of cash make cryptocurrencies “a necessary form of commercial trade, and a perfect way to protect the value of liquid assets,” said Pundi X.
Retailers in over 30 countries, including Argentina, Australia, South Africa and Uganda, use XPOS device, Pundi X said, adding that it aims to roll out 100,000 devices to the global retail market by 2021.
Back in October, Pundi X also revealed a blockchain phone called XPhone, which is expected to ship in Q4 of this year to pre-order customers, according toinformationon its website. || Bitcoin Sees More Red as the Broader Market Takes another Weekly Hit: Bitcoin fell by 2.44% on Saturday. Reversing most of a 2.89% gain from Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $10,154. A particularly bearish morning saw Bitcoin slide from an early morning intraday high $10,427 to a mid-morning intraday low $9,893.8. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $10,567, Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $10,148. Bitcoin came within range of the second major support level at $9,888 before bouncing back to $10,200 levels. A bearish end to the day left Bitcoin at $10,100 levels. Having managed to hold onto positive territory through the week, Saturdays pullback left Bitcoin down by 1.69% Monday through Saturday. In spite of the weekly loss, Bitcoin continued to hold onto positive territory for the current month. To the end of Saturday, Bitcoin was up by 0.65% and remains the only major to continue to see green in August. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a mixed bag on Saturday. Litecoin led the way down, sliding by 2.76%. Binance Coin (-2.34%), Ripples XRP (-1.96%), Moneros XMR (-1.90%), and Ethereum (-1.88%) also saw heavy losses. While Bitcoin Cash SV saw a more modest 1.65% loss on the day, Stellars Lumen bucked the trend on the day. Stellars Lumen rose by 0.56%. For the current week, however, there was nothing mixed about it, with all of top 10 in the red. Moneros XRM led the way down, falling by 8.21%, Monday through Saturday. Binance Coin (-5.66%), Ripples XRP (-4.24%) Litecoin (-3.79%) and Bitcoin Cash ABC (-3.34%) also saw heavy losses. Bitcoin Cash SV (-1.86%), Ethereum (-1.98%), EOS (-0.78%), and Stellars Lumen (-0.48%), saw more modest losses. For the current month, Bitcoin stood alone in positive territory, with Monero XMRs 8.21% slide in the current week reversing gains from the month. For August, Moneros XMR was down by 0.12% to the end of Saturday. Leading the way down in August, was Litecoin with a 25.8% slide. Story continues The total crypto market cap tumbled from a Tuesday high $282.72bn to a current week low $256.941bn on Thursday. At the time of writing, the total crypto market cap stood at $264.8bn. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.33% to $10,120.9, Saturdays late pullback continuing into the early hours. Bitcoin fell from an early morning high $10,188 to an early morning low $10,037.4. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, Stellars Lumen bucked the trend early on, up by 0.27% at the time of writing. It was red for the rest of the majors, with Bitcoin Cash SV leading the way down with a 0.7% fall. Outside of the top 10, Trons TRX and Cardanos ADA found strong support. At the time of writing, the pair was up by 1.31% and by 4.38% respectively. The morning gains point to a week of gains for the pair. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move back through to $10,160 levels to support another run at the first major resistance level at $10,422.7. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $10,188 to $10,200 levels. Barring a broad-based crypto rebound, Saturdays high $10,427 and the first major resistance level at $10,422.7 would likely limit any upside. In the event of a broad-based crypto rally, $10,600 levels would likely come into play before any pullback. Failure to move back through to $10,160 levels could see Bitcoin slide deeper into the red. A fall through the morning low $10,037.4 would bring the first major support level at $9,889.60 into play. Barring an extended sell-off through the day, Bitcoin would likely steer clear of the 38.2% FIB of $9,734 and sub-$9,700 levels. Get Into Cryptocurrency Trading Today This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Powell Says Fed Prepared to Act to Sustain Expansion; Acknowledges Limited Monetary Policy Tools RBAs Philip Lowe: Political Shocks are Turning into Economic Shocks Demand for Risk Plummets as Trump Orders US Manufacturers Out of China Chinese State Council Slaps US with More Tariffs The Week Ahead: Trade, Stats and the G7 Summit to Drive the Majors Psychology and Trading || The No Deal Brexit that Could Topple the Next British PM: If Boris Johnson was of the opinion that it would be smooth sailing through to the 31stOctober Brexit deadline, he would have had a rude awakening.
It’s not Theresa May’s leadership of the Tory Party that brought about the in-party division and her untimely demise.
Ironically, Boris Johnson was one of the catalysts in the Conservative Party implosion that has resulted in the resignation of 2 British Prime Ministers in just a few years.
Brexit is a Pandora’s Box and for this very reason, the in-party implosion was to be expected when considering the events leading up to the EU Referendum itself.
The UK Parliament continues to be of the view that a no-deal departure from the EU should be avoided at all costs.
This very impasse brings into question just how effective either of the candidates in the leadership race will be at delivering Brexit.
While the EU Referendum was not a legally binding one, the majority did speak, all-be-it by a particularly narrow margin.
We continue to debate whether a 2ndReferendum should decide Britain’s fate. It’s no secret that voters are now more knowledgeable on what Brexit involves.
When governments fail to win by a majority and are unable to form a coalition, a 2ndelection is not uncommon.
The UK Parliament has continued to fail at delivering a deal for Britain to leave the EU. This should be considered a good enough reason to take it to another vote. The pro-Brexiteers may feel unfairly treated, particularly if the outcome is to remain, but this should be larger than Parliament.
Either way, the reality is that it should be the voters and not the members of Parliament who decide Britain’s fate.
There’s one curveball, as there always is. The EU could decide that certain components of the Brexit deal warrant reviewing.
Economic data out of the UK puts to bed the Brexit doomers and gloomers, at least for now.
Retail sales surged in June according to government figures released on Thursday. Wage growth was also on the rise, in spite of disappointing claimant count figures. Throw in inflation at 2% and doubts will begin to creep in on whether the BoE will cut rates. Last week’s GDP numbers had muddied the waters ahead of this week’s stats.
The BoE’s next move does ultimately hinge on Brexit. If Parliament successfully blocks a Johnson no-deal departure, assuming he takes the top job, it would certainly be a positive.
It could get even more interesting if Parliament manages to prevent Johnson from suspending Parliament to deliver Brexit.
If the EU refuses to return to the renegotiating table and simply agrees to give Britain more time to come to terms with the deal that would also be a positive.
One has to say that the longer this drags on, the higher the chance of a 2ndReferendum. There would at least be a snap general election if the 31stOctober deadline passes…
While the markets tend to dislike uncertainty, particularly when Brexit is concerned, the Pound may embrace this one…
At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.24% to $1.25143. The Pound found support from favorable Brexit chatter from the EU this week. There is a long way to go, however, which leaves a downward bias in place…
It wouldn’t take much for the Pound to slide back to $1.23 levels and bring $1.20 back into play…
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Crude Oil Breaks Down – Target $40 || Analyst: Revolve Is Capitalizing On The Influencer Revolution: Bank of America Merrill Lynch has initiated coverage onthe newly publicRevolve Group LLC(NYSE:RVLV)
The Analyst
Justin Postinitiated coverage of Revolve with a Neutral rating and $36 price target.
The Thesis
"Revolve offers an aspirational consumer experience in women’s fashion powered by [a] data focused-merchandising approach," Post said in the Tuesday initiation note. (See his track record here.)
BofA is constructive on the online retailer's long-term fundamentals on the basis of brand equity, data-focused inventory curation, healthy user growth and positive marketing spend ROI, the analyst said.
BofA does not anticipate large revenue upside surprises in 2019, and with the stock up 82% from the IPO price, views the stock as being close to fairly valued.
Amid the social media fashion influencer revolution, Revolve should be the top beneficiary of the movement, as it's cultivated a network of over 3,500 influencers alongside multiple marketing events to support the brand, Post said.
Revolve’s strong brand and merchandising generates a positive ROI on marketing spend on the first transaction, which is unique in the e-commerce sector, the analyst said. The company has a profitable business model, with a 7.5% operating income margin expected in 2019, he said.
Revolve has attractive growth prospects, but they come with high expectations, Post said.
Price Action
Revolve shares were down 0.6% at $34.58 at the time of publication Wednesday.Related Links:
Wall Street Positive On Stitch Fix Despite Tough Apparel Retail Backdrop
IPO Outlook For The Week: Biotech, Real Estate, IT Solutions And Secondhand Luxury E-Tail
Latest Ratings for RVLV
[{"Jul 2019": "Jul 2019", "": "", "Initiates Coverage On": "Initiates Coverage On", "Buy": "Overweight"}, {"Jul 2019": "Jul 2019", "": "", "Initiates Coverage On": "Initiates Coverage On", "Buy": "Outperform"}]
View More Analyst Ratings for RVLVView the Latest Analyst Ratings
See more from Benzinga
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© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 #satoshi = 0.03165 $HUF 🇭🇺
0.00031 $TND 🇹🇳 0.00081 $SRD 🇸🇷
0.00568 $PHP 🇵🇭 0.10030 $RWF 🇷🇼
0.00014 $CAD 🇨🇦 0.02283 $GYD 🇬🇾
0.00103 $TJS 🇹🇯 0.00366 $NIO 🇳🇮
0.00212 $MXN 🇲🇽 0.01751 $PKR 🇵🇰
0.00548 $GMD 🇬🇲 0.00341 $TWD 🇹🇼
#Bitcoin #StackingSats || #RT @logancrypto_com: APompliano: RT APompliano: The best Bitcoin investors are really good at doing nothing for long periods of time. || Beating Bakkt, LedgerX Is First to Launch 'Physical' Bitcoin Futures in US - CoinDesk via /r/Bitcoin https://t.co/t27n3dDlZ8 #bitcoin || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || HEREISTITLE https://t.co/AsxKLLdo1l #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #cryptonews #btcnews || BTC
レンジ相場入り。
巨大ペナントを押し出し上抜け後に小レンジが形成されたことから、方向感を探る時間がまだ必要なことがわかります。
10月に入ってから壁として機能している75万円のレジスタンスプライスの攻略が鍵となります。
下値は7月からのペナントサポートラインがまだ機能するでしょう || Ethereum Price (ETH) Dives Below $200 & BTC Down 15%
➡️https://t.co/WoaPgHAMYj
🗺️
▶️https://t.co/vdnO18c8ZC
#last7daysnews #Bitcoin #blockchain #crypto || Our eyes on $LINK... $BTC market on #Binance. Current Price: Ƀ 0.00021598 || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || $BTC
Stops ran
Liquidity procured
Degenerate Americans margin called on holiday
Bottom shorters snorkeling
Gas tank refueled for Moonkekistan 🚀 https://t.co/LKsQmDIscF
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Trend: up || Prices: 10185.50, 9754.42, 9510.20, 9598.17, 9630.66, 9757.97, 10346.76, 10623.54, 10594.49, 10575.53
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin blew past its record and soared to $2,800 in just a few hours — and now it's plunging: (Investing.com)
Thebitcoinrally looks like it's finally running out of steam.The cryptocurrency blew past $2,500 and nearly touched $2,800 for the first time on Thursday, before giving all the gains back.
It hit a high of $2,799, up $360, before surrendering its gains. The cryptocurrency is now trading down 9.2% at $2,230 a coin. It has gained in 26 of the past 29 sessions, tacking on more than 107% over that time.
Bitcoin had climbed as much as 25% since Tuesday's close, propelled by news that the Digital Currency Group, representing 56 companies in 21 countries, reached ascaling agreementat the Consensus 2017 conference in New York.
The announcement was the latest bit of good news for the cryptocurrency. In early April, Japan announced bitcoin had become alegal payment methodin the country. Additionally, Ulmart, Russia's largest online retailer, said it wouldbegin accepting bitcoineven though Russia had said it wouldn't explore the cryptocurrency until 2018.
But the market is still waiting on a ruling by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on whether it will overturn itsdecision on the Winklevoss twins' bitcoin-exchange-traded fund. The SEC was accepting public comment on that decision until May 15, but it hasn't announced whether it will overturn its rejection of the ETF.
Bitcoin has gained 141% this year.
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• Bitcoin plunges and then recovers
• Bitcoin blows past $2,000, $2,100, and $2,200 for the first time
• Bitcoin surges past $1,900 for the first time || When and How To Use Niche ETFs: News of a massive worldwide cyberattack involving Windows pushed the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) and the First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) sharply higher Monday. Both funds, which focus on cybersecurity firms, were on the frontline of action following the latest news. That’s a great example of what niche investing is all about. The Wannacrypt ransomware attack late last week caused the appeal of cybersecurity ETFs soar this week. HACK and CIBR rallied some 3% on Monday, putting year-to-date gains at 16% and 13.5%, respectively. Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com HACK and CIBR are considered “niche” funds because of their narrow focus on a specific corner of the market. But the definition of niche can vary from investor to investor. Niche can be a small segment of the market, as narrow as a subsegment of a specific sector—cybersecurity or robotics as a subsector of technology, for instance. It can also be a thematic area of investment that goes across different sectors. Another example is a fund like the Global X Millennials Thematic ETF (MILN) , which is niche for its underlying theme that connects the companies it owns across various sectors—they all make money off of millennials’ spending habits. Any way you define it, niche ETFs can be used in different ways. For some, they are merely tactical, short-term tools to express a view on a pocket of the market. For others, a niche can be a long-term play that takes time to come to fruition—like millennials or, say, solar energy. As such, these ETFs would belong in the strategic bucket of the portfolio. There’s no one way to do it. We talked to ETF strategist Grant Engelbart, who’s a portfolio manager at CLS Investments, for his road map to using niche effectively. Here’s what he had to say ... Understand The Risks Adding niche ETFs to a portfolio can help diversify it, working as a risk management tool. Better diversification should mean lower overall portfolio risk. The flip side is that niche ETFs could also increase the risk of a portfolio if you end up adding too much exposure to single stocks. By design, niche ETFs are concentrated, narrower portfolios, and can carry a lot of weight in a handful of stocks. Any underperformance in one of the top holdings could drag your overall returns. “If used as, say, adding floating rate securities to manage your interest rate risk in fixed income, these ETFs can help you manage portfolio risk,” Engelbart said. “But you could be adding more idiosyncratic risk to your portfolio, too, if you have ETFs that have 10-20% weighting in a single stock.” Story continues Know Where Niche ETFs Fit Best The best application of niche ETFs is the one that best suits your investment needs and goals. That said, consider these two broad possible applications. First, it’s harder to argue niche ETFs as strategic allocations rather than tactical. “Satellite usage makes a ton of sense in niche ETFs,” Engelbart explained. “They’re great to pair with broader exposures.” For example, you may own emerging market stocks. You may also be bullish on India’s demographics and want added exposure to India’s small-cap and infrastructure stocks. Adding niche ETFs tapping into those segments to your broader emerging markets ETF allocation makes sense, he says. This is one of the common ways CLS incorporates niche to the portfolio. The same applies to cybersecurity, or robotics—adding narrower exposures to your broader-growth technology ETFs . Niche funds are great tactical overlays, Engelbart notes. But that’s not the only use. The example of MILN, again, or the Long-Term Care ETF (OLD) , shows that niche exposures can also play out in the longer term. Holding on to these funds in your broader equity bucket may make strategic sense. Overlap Is OK With niche ETFs, you might find you own the same stock twice in your portfolio—once in your broader ETF, the other in a niche fund. “Overlap is OK. We’re far more concerned with correlation between two products,” said Engelbart. “When we’re choosing a niche ETF, we look for different valuations and low correlations between products. That’s more important than overlap.” If you get funds that are highly correlated, diversification potential goes down. The idea of niche is to capture performance that’s different from your broader, vanilla ETF. Value is another important factor in niche investing. “Make sure the securities in your niche ETF aren’t priced out of their normal range” (to the upside), because returns could be limited, he says. Know Your Niche From A Hot Fad Finally, there’s the issue of knowing when a niche is a viable investment idea as opposed to a quickly burning fad. A lot of times, niche ETFs come to market as response to investor demand, but are they simply tapping into the latest “hot thing” that will soon pass. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to tell one from the other. But you can discern a good investment based on valuations and on as much data as possible on the underlying securities, notes Engelbart. “You want to make sure you’re buying something that’s trading within its normal price range,” he said. “Bitcoin is a great example—is it a fad? How do you value the underlying?” “We want to be able to value what we’re buying, and if we can’t, we avoid it even if the ETF is ‘cool,’” Engelbart added. “Pay attention to total risk, to valuations and to index construction.” You can find several other niche ETFs in our Theme Investing Channel . Contact Cinthia Murphy at cmurphy@etf.com Recommended Stories When & How To Use Niche ETFs Some Thematic Tech ETFs Are Sticking A Response To Jim Cramer’s ‘Why I’m Against ETFs’ HACK & ROBO Funds On A Technical Roll Why Israeli Tech Stocks Are ‘Underowned & Undiscovered’ Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved View comments || The hotel industry's secret plan to bring down AirBnB: It’s always been pretty obvious why the hotel industry might not be big fans of AirBnB. After all, AirBnB lets us find lodging that’s homier, less cookie-cutter, and far less expensive than renting hotel rooms.
But this week,The New York Times reported onjust how much AirBnB bothers the hotel industry: Its trade group, the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), which has a multimillion-dollar budget, has actually developed a secret program to cause trouble for AirBnB.
So far, the plan has succeeded in virtually shutting down AirBnB apartment rentals in New York City. (The AHLA helped persuade New York lawmakers to impose a law that issuesfines as high as $7,500for people who repeatedly advertise their apartments on AirBnB for less than 30 days if they’re not also staying there.) Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Miami, and Washington, D.C. are the trade group’s next targets.
Clearly, the hotel lobbyists are concerned about losing business to AirBnB and similar services. But they’re also unhappy with the uneven playing field. “Airbnb hosts often do not comply with rules imposed on hotels, like anti-discrimination legislation, local tax collection laws, and safety and fire inspection standards,” the Times reports.
The hotel industry’s other complaints: Lots of people are abusing the AirBnB model by buying many apartments and then renting them, essentially operating as a big hotel business. City governments are also concerned that these AirBnB businesspeople are, in the process, snapping up the supply of housing that city residents desperately need.
Needless to say, AirBnB suspects that the hotel industry has other motivations. “The hotel cartel is intent on short-sheeting the middle class so they can keep price-gouging consumers,” AirBnB spokesman Nick Papas told the Times.
Only one thing about AirBnB’s road ahead is sure: the hotel industry intends to make it as rough a ride as possible.
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David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s poguester@yahoo.com. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || How a security researcher miraculously and accidentally killed the ‘WannaCry’ ransomware: The massive ransomware hack targeting Windows machines across the globe was stopped dead in its tracks by a security expert who inadvertently activated a “kill switch” built into the malware’s code. The ransomware, dubbed “WannaCry”, made headlines on Friday after infecting computers in nearly 100 countries across the world, with Russia and England reportedly seeing the highest number of infections. The ransomware effectively locks users out of their machines, encrypts their files, and instructs them to send $300 worth of Bitcoin in order to reclaim them. The ransomware also states that the $300 payout will increase if a prompt payment isn’t made. Don't Miss : Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen The exploit, which proliferates via email, was reportedly part of a vast treasure trove of NSA hacking tools leaked by a hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers last month. And though the exploit had since been patched by Microsoft, not everyone had updated their software accordingly. So how did the WannaCry campaign come to an end? Well, a young security researcher — known as malwaretechblog on Twitter — took a look at the ransomware’s code and noticed that it connected to an unregistered domain name consisting of a random string of characters. Out of curiosity, he registered the domain and inadvertently shut WannaCry down. The following photo via Kevin Beaumont is instructive: Detailing how the surprise discovery of the kill switch went down, The Guardian reports: The kill switch was hardcoded into the malware in case the creator wanted to stop it spreading. This involved a very long nonsensical domain name that the malware makes a request to – just as if it was looking up any website – and if the request comes back and shows that the domain is live, the kill switch takes effect and the malware stops spreading. The domain cost $10.69 and was immediately registering thousands of connections every second. MalwareTech explained that he bought the domain because his company tracks botnets, and by registering these domains they can get an insight into how the botnet is spreading. “The intent was to just monitor the spread and see if we could do anything about it later on. But we actually stopped the spread just by registering the domain,” he said. But the following hours were an “emotional rollercoaster”. For anyone curious about the nitty-gritty details surrounding malwaretechblog’s ransomware killing adventure, he posted an article detailing the experience on the National Cyber Security Centre website. It’s well worth a read. Story continues It’s worth adding that everyone shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. It’s imperative that users should backup their important files, avoid clicking on suspicious emails, and make sure that their operating system software is up to date. Trending right now: Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen New Google Pixel 2 leak shows raw power that comes with stock Android O T-Mobile’s latest smartphone deal is one of the best yet See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || Ripple has attracted more than 75 banks: The concept of a blockchain originated in 2009 with the digital currency bitcoin, but now Wall Street institutions are interested in blockchain technology without bitcoin. RippleNet is a blockchain-like protocol for faster settlement of international payments. It launched in 2012 but its concept predates bitcoin. And it has added 75 banking clients already. Ripple Labs announced on Wednesday it has signed 10 new banks from all over the world, including BBVA in Spain; MUFG in Japan; Akbank in Turkey; SEB in Sweden; and Axis Bank and Yes Bank, both in India. Add those 10 to the 47-bank consortium in Japan that implemented Ripple in March. And add those 57 to existing big-name clients like Bank of America, RBC, Standard Chartered and UBS, and RippleNet starts to look like it’s gaining traction very quickly. “Our pace [of signing new clients] has dramatically increased,” says Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse. “I also think people are getting more comfortable with blockchain technologies. It’s no longer a science experiment. It’s not theory, it’s very real.” The bitcoin blockchain is a decentralized, public, permissionless ledger that records every transaction and trade done in bitcoin. But now all manner of companies, from “blockchain as a service” startups like Ripple and Chain to established tech giants like IBM, are developing all manner of distributed ledgers for areas like food shipment tracking , smart contracts, and agriculture. In many cases these applications of blockchain are closed and permissioned, which is a very different proposition than the spirit of the anonymized, open-to-all bitcoin blockchain. In banking, for now, the main appeal is to improve the efficiency of their transaction processing . From the Ripple web site Why banks are gravitating to Ripple Ripple’s value proposition to banking clients is cheaper rates and faster transfer times for international payments. The bank’s customers don’t have to know or care that they’re using Ripple (it isn’t like you’d tell your bank, “I want to send this money using Ripple”), but would certainly notice the faster transaction time than they’re used to. Garlinghouse gives the pitch to banks this way: “If your customer wants to send yen to Japan, you are captive to the correspondent banking network and your customer has a bad experience and you, as a bank, have to endure cost to transmit that money.” Ripple’s Consensus Ledger can process 1,000 transactions per second, and settles an international payment in three seconds on average. (He compares that to the bitcoin blockchain, which has slowed recently to two hours per transaction, creating a debate over block size; to be fair, both speeds are much faster than sending money with a traditional clearinghouse like Western Union.) Story continues Ripple can also be used for in-country payments; many of the banks in Japan are using Ripple for domestic payments due to the sluggishness of the local payments network there. But for the most part, Ripple is focusing on cross-border payments because that’s the biggest pain point for banks and banking customers. Santander added a function to its mobile app that lets customers send money abroad over the Ripple network . While Ripple is hardly the only blockchain-for-banking startup out there, Garlinghouse boasts, “We are the only company in the space with real customers.” Competitors, Garlinghouse says, “are still playing in the sandbox. And proof of concepts are not a business model.” That’s tough talk, and true only to an extent. Chain has partnered with heavy-hitters like Visa, Citi, and Nasdaq, but for now the results have been experiments, trial runs, or “previews” like Visa B2B Connect . All the experimentation has led critics to say that the Wall Street interest in blockchain is all just talk, or as IBM blockchain exec Jerry Cuomo puts it, “ blockchain tourism .” Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas acknowledges that the term itself has become a “classic technology buzzword.” But Garlinghouse is confident that distributed ledger technology and its many applications will bring about the “Internet of value.” Many have applied that phrase to bitcoin ( causing some contention over who owns the phrase ), but Garlinghouse says it hasn’t lived up to that promise. “We feel like to enable an Internet of value, you have to connect through repositories of value, and those are the banks,” he says. “Where many in the bitcoin community have espoused a view of, ‘Down with the banks, down with fiat currency,’ Ripple has taken the opposite: we think the banks are critical to the future of an Internet of value.” What about bitcoin? Bitcoin has risen 178% in value in the past year (it’s now around $1,300), but critics now doubt that the coin can become more than a speculative investment. “We might end up finding that bitcoin is the Napster of digital assets,” Garlinghouse says. “Napster lived in a world devoid of trademark law, and royalties, and tried to live outside of the rules , and you could say the same about bitcoin. I’m not predicting that bitcoin will go the way of Napster, but I would point out that bitcoin has demonstrated some very cool capabilities that, in the end, bitcoin may not be the best tool for.” Ripple’s digital currency, XRP Ripple price over the past 3 months (via CoinMarketCap) Ripple has its own digital token, XRP, and it is often billed by tech press as a bitcoin competitor, but that’s not quite right. Ripple uses it as a settlement token, and banking clients don’t have to use it or touch it at all. It is more of an institutional digital asset than a public investment vehicle like bitcoin, though anyone could buy some XRP if they wish. (Its value has risen 345% in the past year, but in dollars it is worth just 3 cents; again, its trading price is not the point.) Ripple’s XRP coin is “about reducing the cost for banks to fund liquidity around the world,” says Garlinghouse. That can double as a statement of Ripple’s purpose, too. And if its banking clients, over time, decide that Ripple’s rail has reduced friction and made customers happier, expect Ripple to continue adding banks and financial clients, who are itching to show their innovativeness by saying they’re in the blockchain tech space. — Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain tech at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite . Read more: America’s big banks are staffing up—for blockchain Why 21 Inc is the most exciting bitcoin company right now Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain Bitcoin’s biggest investor just bought its biggest news site View comments || Coinbase suffers outages amid bitcoin surge: (Reuters) - Coinbase said on Thursday it suffered outages this week as the bitcoin exchange saw "unprecedented traffic and trading," with the digital currency hitting record levels. Bitcoin fell as much as 6.5 percent to $2,263.72 at around 1730 GMT on Thursday, but rebounded shortly after to hit a fresh all-time high of $2,760.10. Bitcoin hit a record on the BitStamp platform on Wednesday, driven by an uptick in demand for crypto-assets, with the creation of new tokens to raise funding for start-ups using blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin. So far this year, the price of bitcoin has more than doubled. Coinbase, the world's largest bitcoin company with operations in 32 countries, said the heavy traffic had caused outages at its website as well. The exchange said it was working to resolve the issues. Problems that Coinbase's platform experienced earlier this week, including card verification failures and slow load times, were resolved, its status page showed. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) || How a security researcher miraculously and accidentally killed the ‘WannaCry’ ransomware: The massive ransomware hack targeting Windows machines across the globe was stopped dead in its tracks by a security expert who inadvertently activated a “kill switch” built into the malware’s code. The ransomware, dubbed “WannaCry”, made headlines on Friday after infecting computers in nearly 100 countries across the world, with Russia and England reportedly seeing the highest number of infections. The ransomware effectively locks users out of their machines, encrypts their files, and instructs them to send $300 worth of Bitcoin in order to reclaim them. The ransomware also states that the $300 payout will increase if a prompt payment isn’t made. Don't Miss : Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen The exploit, which proliferates via email, was reportedly part of a vast treasure trove of NSA hacking tools leaked by a hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers last month. And though the exploit had since been patched by Microsoft, not everyone had updated their software accordingly. So how did the WannaCry campaign come to an end? Well, a young security researcher — known as malwaretechblog on Twitter — took a look at the ransomware’s code and noticed that it connected to an unregistered domain name consisting of a random string of characters. Out of curiosity, he registered the domain and inadvertently shut WannaCry down. The following photo via Kevin Beaumont is instructive: Detailing how the surprise discovery of the kill switch went down, The Guardian reports: The kill switch was hardcoded into the malware in case the creator wanted to stop it spreading. This involved a very long nonsensical domain name that the malware makes a request to – just as if it was looking up any website – and if the request comes back and shows that the domain is live, the kill switch takes effect and the malware stops spreading. The domain cost $10.69 and was immediately registering thousands of connections every second. MalwareTech explained that he bought the domain because his company tracks botnets, and by registering these domains they can get an insight into how the botnet is spreading. “The intent was to just monitor the spread and see if we could do anything about it later on. But we actually stopped the spread just by registering the domain,” he said. But the following hours were an “emotional rollercoaster”. For anyone curious about the nitty-gritty details surrounding malwaretechblog’s ransomware killing adventure, he posted an article detailing the experience on the National Cyber Security Centre website. It’s well worth a read. Story continues It’s worth adding that everyone shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. It’s imperative that users should backup their important files, avoid clicking on suspicious emails, and make sure that their operating system software is up to date. Trending right now: Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen New Google Pixel 2 leak shows raw power that comes with stock Android O T-Mobile’s latest smartphone deal is one of the best yet See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || What You Must Know Before Subscribing to a VPN: When the U.S. Congress voted recently to overturn a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to get a customer's permission before selling personally identifiable information, that kicked off a land rush to find virtual private network (VPN) providers to protect consumers' online privacy. There are literally hundreds of VPNs to choose from, however, and if you're not sure what these do and what they don't do, you could easily end up with a VPN that doesn't add much to your privacy except another subscription fee. The idea of a VPN is quite simple: it provides a secure (encrypted) tunnel between your device and a website, bypassing the traffic logs kept by your ISP. For example, if your ISP is in New York City, a VPN service allows you to connect with any of several servers anywhere in the world, making it look to the website that the connection is being made from one of those servers and not the ISP you use in New York. ALSO READ: Nearly 400 2017 Data Breaches Have Exposed More Than 7 Million Records Your ISP can't keep a useful log of your VPN activity because it doesn't know who requested the data or from where the requested data is coming. But your VPN knows, and that's the first thing you want to learn about any VPN provider: does the VPN keep traffic logs and, if so, what does it do with them? Some VPNs do keep traffic logs in order to provide themselves with legal protection in the event of a government request. Others keep some minimal data in order to help maintain their servers. Still others, sadly, collect the data and sell it to third parties. Because that's what you are probably trying to avoid, read the fine print and be sure to choose a service that states categorically that it does not keep logs, making sure to specify exactly the logs they don't keep. Be especially sure that the ISP does not keep activity or connection logs. ALSO READ: 14 Million Credentials Stolen from US Universities for Sale on Dark Web Story continues A good general overview of online privacy and VPNs is posted at Krebs on Security. More comprehensive tips on selecting a VPN, with more details and a comparison chart for nearly 200 VPN providers is available at That One Privacy Site. Here's a much shorter version of some of the site's guidelines: Beware of VPN review websites, which are nearly always paid reviews. Also look more carefully at affiliate VPN programs. Be aware of where the VPN service's servers are located and where in the world you will be connecting to the VPN. Check on payment methods, such as Bitcoin, cash or anonymous gift cards, that allow you to maintain your privacy. Choose a VPN that maintains its own first-party domain name server (DNS) that doesn't leak, and check it to make sure. Choose a VPN that provides an IPv6 DNS server that is only reachable through a VPN tunnel, and then test it to make sure that's true. Choose a VPN that has strong data and handshake encryption. Deciding if you want a VPN and the features of the VPN that are most important to you will take some time, and it will come with a price of around $10 a month. It's up to you to make sure you're getting the privacy protection you're paying for. Related Articles Countries Buying the Most Weapons From the US Government States Where the Most People Have Green Cards America's Happiest (and Most Miserable) States || A.I. is in a ‘golden age’ and solving problems that were once sci-fi, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says: Artificial intelligence development has seen an "amazing renaissance" and is beginning to solve problems that were once seen as science fiction, according to Amazon(AMZN)CEO Jeff Bezos.
Machine learning, machine vision, and natural language processing are all strands of AI that are being developed by technology giants such as Amazon, Alphabet's(GOOGL)Google and Facebook(FB)for various uses. For example, Amazon's voice assistant Alexa, which is in its Echo speaker, relies on natural language processing – the ability for computers to understand human speech.
These AI developments were praised by the Amazon founder.
"It is a renaissance, it is a golden age,"Bezostold an audience at the Internet Association's annual gala last week.
"We are now solving problems with machine learning and artificial intelligence that were … in the realm of science fiction for the last several decades. And natural language understanding, machine vision problems, it really is an amazing renaissance."
Bezos called AI an "enabling layer" that will "improve every business."
At Amazon, Bezos said that "cool" developments like Alexa and its Prime Air delivery drones use "tremendous amounts" of AI. But machine learning is being deployed across the company.
"I would say, a lot of the value that we're getting from machine learning is actually happening kind of beneath the surface. It is things like improved search results, improved product recommendations for customers, improved forecasting for inventory management, and literally hundreds of other things beneath the surface," Bezos said.
The Amazon CEO also said that the company is making AI techniques available to enterprise customers through its cloud division, Amazon Web Services.
Bezos is the latest tech chief executive to address the topic of AI. He did not go into some of the dangers of the technology as many of his counterparts have. For example, Jack Ma, CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba(BABA), warned that society could facedecades of "pain"due to technological advancements.
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• Stephen Hawking says humans must colonize another planet in 100 years or face extinction || Amazon's Alexa Calling is like a Jetsons version of the home phone: For what was originally supposed to be a mail-order bookstore, Amazon (AMZN) sure is doing a lot of trailblazing.
I mean, Amazon came up with the idea for the Echo—the cylinder that serves as a sort of Siri for the home—all by itself. It invented that product category, puttingGoogle,Apple,Microsoft, andSamsunginto the awkward position of being copycat followers.
Now thatmore than 10 million people have Echo devices, Amazon has just taken another trailblazing step:With a free software update, it has turned them into hands-free speakerphones. Calling Chris is as easy as saying “Alexa, call Chris” from across the room, even if your hands are goopy with flour or you can’t find your phone.
Over at Chris’s house, the ring atop the Echo pulses green, a pleasant chime sounds, and Alexa announces, “David [or whatever your name is] would like to talk.”
Chris says “Alexa, answer,” and the conversation begins.
At the end of the call, either one of you can say “Alexa, hang up” to end the chat.
So whom can you call? Anyone in your phone’s address book who has either an Amazon Echo or the free Alexa app. That’s right: The Alexa app is now an internet calling app, like Skype or FaceTime Audio. Like them, it’s free and doesn’t use any cellular calling minutes. [Update: Not to be outdone, Google has now announced thatit will bring hands-free calling to Google Home, its Alexa clone—except those calls go to regularphone numbers. No charge.]
By the way: Although the big-ticket item here is hands-free speakerphone calls, there’s also what Amazon calls messaging. It’s not what you’d think, though. It’s not sending text messages, exactly. And it’s not voicemail, exactly. It’s a cool kind of hybrid.
You say “Alexa, send a message to Chris,” and you’re invited to speak a message. You’re sending an audio recording. The ring at the top of Chris’s Echo glows green and chimes once; when Chris says, “Alexa, play my message,” your recording plays back.
But if Chris opens the Alexa app, your message also plays there, with an automated typed transcript. So it’skindalike a text message in that way. Within the app, you can also send typed texts.
It’s alsokindalike voicemail, in that you can leave a recorded message for someone—but the difference is thatyou’rein control. You decide to leave a message before you even call, rather than just hoping the other person doesn’t answer.
At its finest, Alexa Calling is like a Jetsons version of the home phone. Not only is it cordless, it’s phoneless. You don’t have to find a handset, pick it up, press buttons, hold it up to your head; you just speak into the room. You may sound pretty echoey to the other guy if you’re really far from the Echo—but if you’re within a few feet, it sounds great.
And of course, if you’re using your phone instead of an Echo, it sounds just like a speakerphone call.
It’s likely that there are some people you contact often enough that the Alexa calling thing could be handy—a sibling, parent, child, boss, lover. Alexa calling is the communication equivalent of the One-Click Buy button on Amazon.com: It eliminates so many steps, so muchfriction,that you’re inclined to use it more.
There are plenty of limitations and footnotes to Alexa calling. These don’t mean that Alexa calling is worse than our existing communication methods—only that it’s got a different set of pros and cons.
• Limited calling circle.You can call only people who have an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, or the free Alexa app. You can’t call someone who has the battery-operated Echo Tap, and you can’t call someone’s regular cellphone number. You can call only someone who’s (a) in your phone’s Contacts, and (b) has made himself available for Alexa calling. (The setup takes about five taps, and requires typing in a security code that Amazon sends you via text message.) So it’s a pretty small circle—but then again, Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Snapchat started with small networks, too.
• Everything rings simultaneously.When someone calls, all your Echos ring at once,andyour phone app “rings.” In other words, you can’t use the Echos as an intercom within your house—but Amazon tells me that feature is coming soon. Very cool.
• It’s all speakerphone.If you have an Echo, all calls are all speakerphone, all the time. Any family member can hear. Any family member can play back the messages, too. So, you know: sext with care.
Finally, at the moment, there’s no way to block incoming calls from specific people in your Contacts. You can turn on Do Not Disturb forallcalls, but you can’t block just one idiot who’s abusing the privilege.
The tech blogs are having a field day with this one, calling it a “glaring security hole” and conjuring up the prospect of unwanted incoming calls from abusive ex-boyfriends and creepy pedophiles.
Frankly, though, the likelihood of this kind of abuse seems pretty slim. Your ex would have to know that you’ve got Alexa calling installed; would have to turn it on himself; would have to call you; and, upon hearing Alexa announce, “So and so would like to talk,” you’d have to say, “Alexa, answer.”
Above all, you’d have to keep your exin your Contacts.And why would you do that?
In any case, Amazon says that it will add the option to block people within a few weeks.
I’m already using Alexa calling for quick check-ins with my wife, my mom, and my assistant; it’s just super cool, easy, quick, and free. It’s got elements of a home phone line, a cellphone on speaker, and a walkie-talkie—but it’s not any of those.
Amazon has big plans for Alexa calling. We know that you’ll soon be able to direct calls to specific people or devices within your house. We know that you’ll be able to makevideocalls using the same steps, once the new Echo Look becomes available in June. (It’s an Echo with a screen and camera.) We know that, with permission from both parties, you’ll be able to “drop in” to peek through another Echo’s camera at any time—to keep an eye on an elderly relative, for example.
And I’ll bet that soon, Alexa will recognize who in your household is speaking (as Google Home does now), and will therefore maintain different message “boxes” for different people.
In other words, I love Alexa calling. It’s free, it’s well conceived, it works flawlessly, and it’s only beginning.
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Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt:Part 1•Part 2•Part 3•Part 4•Part 5
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
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David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s poguester@yahoo.com. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#Monacoin 14.5円↑[Zaif] -円→[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 15.2999円↑[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 194,800円↑[Zaif]
05/08 19:00
口座開設はこちらで！ https://goo.gl/31dyoO || 11:00~12:00時点のBitcoin市場は反落だったようだ。
13:00は急落になる?
【AIによるコメントです:テスト中(勉強中です)@パターンB】
#BitCoin
#AI
#モデリング || Price of 1 ETC to BTC: 0.00216118 Ƀ
Past hour price change: -0.3 %
#ethereumclassic #etc $etc || RT coindesk: The latest Bitcoin Price Index is 1,599.00 USD http://bit.ly/2feIuHE http://bit.ly/2psjqiN || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$2526.92/$2530.56 #Bitstamp
$2488.00/$2490.72 #BTCe
⇢$-42.56/$-36.20
$2571.08/$2596.93 #Coinbase
⇢$40.52/$70.01 || Current price of Bitcoin is $1255.00. || One Bitcoin now worth $1175.00@bitstamp. High $1193.00. Low $1141.00. Market Cap $19.120 Billion #bitcoin || BTC Real Time Price: ThePriceOfBTC: $2303.99 #GDAX;
$2266.50 #bitstamp;
$2156.00 #btce;
$2283.89 #gemini;
$2225.70 #kraken;
$2285.33 #itBit… || $2051.62 at 21:01 UTC [24h Range: $1850.00 - $2339.94 Volume: 28496 BTC] || $1211.00 at 11:15 UTC [24h Range: $1195.00 - $1214.65 Volume: 3796 BTC]
|
Trend: up || Prices: 2175.47, 2286.41, 2407.88, 2488.55, 2515.35, 2511.81, 2686.81, 2863.20, 2732.16, 2805.62
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2022-08-17]
BTC Price: 23336.00, BTC RSI: 50.18
Gold Price: 1760.30, Gold RSI: 46.72
Oil Price: 88.11, Oil RSI: 38.60
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Yearn Finance Struggles to Find its Footing as Rates Rise The Yield Aggregator Trailblazer is Lagging Other DeFi Stalwarts and Ether: Yearn Finance is being left behind. Even as other DeFi heavyweights such as Aave, MakerDAO, and Uniswap are outperforming Ether, the pioneering yield aggregator is losing support and value. This week, as Yearn celebrated its two-year anniversary, the project has fallen out of the public eye as total value locked (TVL) has dropped even in ETH terms by 51% year-to-date, according to DeFi Llama. TVL Down 86% In 2022 USD-denominated TVL has dropped by 86% in the same time span as depressed crypto prices contribute to the fall. Yearn’s YFI token hasn’t fared much better as it has underperformed the top five assets in the DeFi Pulse Index as well as BTC and ETH year-to-date, according to The Defiant’s newly released charting feature. image 1 Yearn Finance has always been an outlier. Launched in 2020 by founder Andre Cronje, it was the first type of protocol designed to maximize profits for investors by automatically shuffling assets across other protocols. By plugging into other projects, Yearn advanced the idea of DeFi legos and the ability of a team to permissionlessly build a protocol on top of other ones’ smart contracts to create value. Recent Rate Hikes But it’s a different world now — interest rates are rising , while the eye-popping annual percentage yields (APYs) in crypto have dissolved. “Yields across DeFi have collapsed this year while yields in TradFi have risen significantly,” Ryan Watkins, the co-founder of the crypto hedge fund Pangea Fund Management, told The Defiant. “The product isn’t as attractive today as it was when double and triple-digit APYs were the norm.” Indeed, Yearn’s yields for leading stablecoins like DAI are at 2.14% as of July 19. For USDC, they’re at 1.90%. This comes at a time when U.S. 10-year Treasuries offer 3% return thanks to recent rate hikes. Cutting Costs The yield aggregator appears to be tightening its belt — a June 21 governance post by well-known Yearn developer, Banteg, called for a reduction in compensation for contributors by 67.6%. Story continues Bear market compensation. “The model for how full-timers at Yearn are compensated was set at the height of the bull market and no longer corresponds with reality,” the developer wrote. Vault Fees Banteg and six others also authored a Snapshot proposal on June 17 to address the low yields on some of Yearn’s vaults. Fundamentally the proposal, known as Yearn Improvement Proposal 69 (YIP-69), establishes a new team which can tweak fees for the yield aggregator so they don’t exceed, and thus wipe out, yield earned by depositors. According to YIP-69, if a strategy offers below a 2.5% APY before Yearn’s fee, funds will not get deployed to that strategy. This is because the protocol’s fees would wipe out the yield with nothing left over for customers. Banteg also published an overall article on building in the bear market. In it he highlighted an overhaul of the current V2, the development of a V3, in addition to pushing for further B2B efforts, launching new tokenomics, and more. It’s worth remembering that, like MakerDAO, running a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) at scale has never been done before. Yearn is still in a class of its own, or at least, at the top of its class. At $586M in TVL, DeFi Llama’s “yield aggregator” category shows the protocol ahead of the number two aggregator, Beefy Finance, by 68%. And Yearn has a resilient treasury. According to a graphic published by The Block, the yield aggregator’s treasury suffered the least percentage change from January to June among major DeFi projects. Thinking along those lines, Watkins believes public-facing yield aggregators are here to stay. “It’s an important primitive in DeFi,” the fund manager said, saying that other protocols will use yield aggregators to manage their treasuries, and users will continue to demand non-custodial yield accounts. “[I] think they ultimately co-exist alongside custodial and private yield strategies,” Watkins said. Read the original post on The Defiant || 3 Undervalued Dividend Stocks to Buy Before Wall Street Catches On: The stock market has entered a phase that no one likes. Bear markets naturally have investors wondering when things will turn around. In this bear market, investing in undervalued dividend stocks to buy is an obvious and smart investment choice. The safety margin that undervalued stocks offer is like an antidote to the risk-off investor sentiment. The theory suggests that at some point in time, undervalued stocks should converge to their intrinsic values and close the gap between observed and real stock prices. With inflation now at approximately 8%, getting paid a dividend yield of more than 8% is enough to generate passive and real income. It is time to play defense and mitigate losses in stocks, which is exactly what these three dividend stocks are about. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 7 Retirement Stocks to Buy for a Bear Market These undervalued dividend stocks offer solid financials, a forward dividend yield of more than 8% to beat inflation and a strong chance that Wall Street notices them soon. Investing early in these stocks has risks, but the reward could be big. OMF OneMain Holdings $2.78 SIRE Sisecam Resources $17.75 BAK Braskem $14.52 OneMain Holdings Image of a hand signing a paper with the loan as the title Source: shutterstock OneMain Holdings (NYSE: OMF ) is a financial services company providing loans helping its customers to plan and build a better financial future. It offers loans secured by collateral, including cars. It’s a great time to consider adding shares of OneMain Holdings to your portfolio. The shares have losses of nearly 26% in 2022 and trade at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 4.1. The company began paying dividends in 2019, and its two most recent dividends represent a 10.4% yield . The dividend yield history is not stable, but it is consistent. The forward payout ratio of 42% is very safe . The company occasionally offers special dividends such as the dividend of $3.95 back in February 2021. The business model is strong. Sales growth has been stable over the past two years, but profitability has gained a lot of traction. In 2021, OneMain reported a net income growth of 80% to $1.31 billion. Story continues The trailing 12-months price-to-earnings growth of 0.36 signals an undervalued stock with a lot of upside potential. The one year analyst target is $69.79, a likely gain of 87%. Sisecam Resources (SIRE) A photo of soda ash in crystal form. Source: Mitzxxz / Shutterstock.com Sisecam Resources (NYSE: SIRE ) is a global leading company in soda ash production. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and has a production facility located in Green River, Wyoming. Its production of soda ash started in 1962. SIRE stock offers a forward dividend yield of 11.9% and trades at a P/E ratio of 9.6. The stock is up 9% in 2022. Q1 2022 financial results were strong showing a year-over-year increase of 27.9% for net sales to $163.4 million, and a 467.9% year-over-year growth for net income to $31.8 million. The CEO of the company commented, “I am excited to report a good start to 2022, highlighted by promising net income and adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter.” 7 Long-Term Stocks That Never Go Out of Style The firm is not only consistently profitable but also generates positive free cash flows. That’s a combination that is ideal for supporting a higher stock price. Braskem (BAK) A photo of a pile of red polypropylene plastic pellets. Source: Anastasiia Burlutskaia / Shutterstock.com Braskem (NYSE: BAK ) was founded in 2002 by the merger of six companies and is now the largest producer of thermoplastic resins and polypropylene in the U.S. Braskem stock has lost 32% in 2022 and trades at a P/E ratio of 1.9. It didn’t offer a dividend in 2020 but has an otherwise healthy history of dividends . Business is good for Braskem; sales growth grew 80.42% in 2021 to $105.63 billion, and net income growth was 308.99% to $13.98 billion. The 1-year target estimate of $23.60 signals an upside potential of 42%. In its Q1 2022 results , Braskem stated that among its key goals for 2022 are to “capture value through initiatives related to Transform for Value program,” with a specific target of recurring gains for $302 million, and to “return value to shareholders via dividend distributions.” The company generated a free cash flow growth of 221.24% in 2021 to $11.37 billion, which will help it pay dividends. On the date of publication, Stavros Georgiadis, CFA did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace $200 Oil Sooner Than You Think – Buy This Now Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2… Says Buy THIS Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade “On Air” It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post 3 Undervalued Dividend Stocks to Buy Before Wall Street Catches On appeared first on InvestorPlace . || What Traders Are Saying About Bitcoin's Biggest Monthly Loss in 11 Years: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Bitcoin slid almost 38% in June to record its second-biggest monthly loss since its debut in 2009. It traded over $31,000 on June 1 and dropped to as low as $17,700 mid-month, before recovering and ending the month at $19,209, according to CoinGecko data.
The monthly decline is second only to bitcoin's plunge of 38.6% in August 2011, and pushed prices below 2017's highs.
June's losses came amid declining macroeconomic sentiment, fears of inflation and systemic risks from within the crypto ecosystem, such as thepossible insolvency of crypto lender Celsius Networkand theblowup of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
“The losses were caused by many factors," said Ali Kassab, chairman of crypto investment firm Centurion & Co. “These included monetary policies bordering on central banks' response to rising inflation fueled by COVID-19 and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.
"From Terra’s collapse to the liquidation of Three Arrows Capital and unending layoffs, the bad trend in the crypto industry weighed down the price of bitcoin,” Kassab added, noting he expected institutional investments “to pour into the asset” and create "better price performance" in July.
Others such as Chris Terry of lending platform SmartFi say they expect bitcoin to trade in a fairly narrow range in the short term. “The feeling of the trading desk is that if bitcoin stays in the $18,000 to $20,000 [range], it's going to be a long drawn out, and we could be in this trading range now for weeks,” he said.
“Everybody kind of feels that bitcoin needs to wash out and take out all the short positions and reset, which would be probably the full 80% retracement, which is typical in the markets, which would be down in the $12,000 to $13,000 range,” Terry added.
At press time the largest cryptocurrency was changing hands around $19,200, up 0.3% over the past 24 hours.
Central bankersrenewed fears of rate hikes among investorsearlier this week at the European Central Bank’s annual forum. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank's commitment to increasing interest rates to curtail inflation.
Speaking at the ECB meeting, Powell said he was more concerned about the challenge posed by inflation than about the possibility that higher interest rates could push the U.S. economy into a recession.
Powell said the Fed had to raise rates rapidly, Reuters reported, adding that a gradual increase could cause consumers to feel that higher prices of commodities would persist. About a week ago, his commentssuggested rate hikes could softenbefore next year.
Such an outlook has caused some to opine that bitcoin hasn't hit a bottom yet, although many are optimistic it will eventually recover and surge to new highs.
“I don’t think BTC has hit the bottom yet, but I am sure the bull market will come back,” said Jimmy Zhao, founder of crypto exchange ZBX. “I recommend buying bitcoin while the price is low and holding on to it, because in the next bull run, its price will hit $100,000 at least.”
Acquiring bitcoin on the cheap and holding on until the next cycle is a sentiment shared by others in the industry.
“Indicators show the market is in extreme fear condition, [with] some long-term holders capitulating and businesses defaulting,” said Anton Gulin, business director at crypto exchange AAX. “However, it’s neither the first nor the last bear cycle, and those with better long-term operational planning see it as an opportunity to build and prepare for the next bull run.
“When someone sells, it’s always someone who’s buying. I expect a continued shift of liquidity and a series of mergers and acquisitions in the coming months,” Gulin added. || Charlie Munger says buying crypto is investing in nothing - and he avoids it like a dirty sewer: Charlie Munger. CNBC Charlie Munger slammed crypto as worthless and dangerous, and urged investors to avoid it. Warren Buffett's business partner called crypto an "open sewer" and sellers "delusional or evil." Munger also brushed off inflation and the stock-market downturn, and touted fossil fuels' longevity. Charlie Munger unleashed a fresh barrage of fiery criticism at cryptocurrencies in a recent interview. He dismissed the digital coins as worthless, urged people to avoid them entirely, and compared the crypto industry to a dirty cesspool. "Crypto is an investment in nothing," Munger told the Australian Financial Review. "I regard it as almost insane to buy this stuff or to trade in it." The 98-year-old investor and Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman asserted that just because something is scarce or difficult to make more of, that isn't a compelling reason to own it. He added that stocks, which represent pieces of real businesses and claims to their profits, are a far superior investment. Munger also took aim at coin creators and exchanges, and swore off buying crypto because it undercuts the existing monetary system. "I think anybody that sells this stuff is either delusional or evil," he said. "I'm not interested in undermining the national currencies of the world." Warren Buffett's business partner, who has previously described crypto as a venereal disease and a tool for criminals, issued another damning indictment during the AFR interview. "I just avoid it as if it were an open sewer, full of malicious organisms," he said. "I just totally avoid and recommend everybody else follow my example." Bitcoin, ether, and other popular coins have plunged more than 70% from their November peak, sparking a wave of layoffs, record withdrawals, and bankruptcies in the crypto industry. Rising prices, stock moves, and fossil fuels Munger weighed in on several other market topics. He declared that he largely ignores macroeconomic trends, pays little attention to what commentators say, and instead focuses on investing his and Berkshire's capital as best he can. Story continues "All these people that are blabbering on television don't think the way that I do," he said. The billionaire investor also described inflation as a recurring issue that he's endured many times before, but suggested it would ultimately render all of the world's currencies worthless. "That's my basic cynical view," he said. Moreover, Munger shrugged off the recent slump in stocks as nothing unusual, but noted that rising interest rates are likely to materially impact stock prices and valuations. Finally, Buffett's right-hand man predicted the world would continue using fossil fuels for a long time, noting that natural gas is needed to create the nitrogen fertilizers used to grow crops. Yet he also suggested clean-energy sources would play a greater role in global power generation. "Both things are going to happen," he said. Read more: Predictable cash-flow is king according to the manager of a market-beating $500 million fund. He lays out what investors should look for in the stocks they pick and names 6 companies that fit the bill. Read the original article on Business Insider || Bitcoin Miner Marathon Digital’s Montana Operations Go Offline After Storm: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital (MARA) said its miners in Hardin, Mont., are currently without power due to a storm that passed through the region on June 11. The company has about 30,000 miners deployed in Montana, representing over 75% of the company’s active fleet.
• The miners are likely to remain offline until the damaged power generating facility can be repaired, the company said in astatementon Tuesday.
• However, some of the mining rigs might be able to come online and run at a reduced capacity as early as the first week of July, the company said.
• “Bringing miners fully back online will take time, and we are committed to doing everything we can to rebuild our hashrate and to improve our bitcoin production,” said CEO Fred Thiel in a statement. “As part of that process, we have redirected our active miners, which represent approximately 0.6 exahash, to point towards a third-party mining pool, so that we can improve our probability of earning bitcoin while we work to bring the Hardin miners back online,” he added.
• On June 9, the miner said that itexperienced energization delaysin Texas in May and ongoing maintenance issues at its facility in Hardin, leading to the production of about 47% fewer bitcoins (BTC) than initially expected.
• Marathon said in April that it wasalready preparingto move miners from the Montana facility to more sustainable sources of power during the third quarter of this year.
• Shares of Marathon were down 1.2% in after-hours trading after ending the day down 6% on a day when the S&P 500 fell 2% and the Nasdaq dropped 3%. || 6 Other Times People Predicted the End of Crypto, and How That Compares to Now: Denis-Art / iStock.com When it comes to cryptocurrency , predictions tend to be along the boom-or-bust variety. For every pundit saying bitcoin will soon hit $100,000, theres another predicting it will eventually go to zero. See: 7 Secret Money Traps at Walmart More: 10 Surprisingly Affordable Places To Own Waterfront Property However, its premature to say whether either of these extreme predictions is accurate. Only time will tell if the cryptocurrency market in general is a speculative sham that will eventually become worthless or a groundbreaking industry that will disrupt currency markets forever. Ultimately, thats a decision that each investor must make on their own. But if youre looking to hear from some well-known and powerful industry names who think that the days of crypto are numbered, read on. John Paulson Billionaire investor John Paulson, who is the president and portfolio manager of investment firm Paulson & Co., gave an interesting interview to Bloomberg Wealth on Aug. 30, 2021. Among other topics, Paulson set his sights on cryptocurrency, railing against it in no uncertain terms. According to Paulson, Cryptocurrencies, regardless of where theyre trading today, will eventually prove to be worthless. Once the exuberance wears off, or liquidity dries up, they will go to zero. I wouldnt recommend anyone invest in cryptocurrencies. Carol Alexander In December 2021, when bitcoin hovered around $50,000, Sussex University finance professor Carol Alexander was well ahead of the curve in predicting a crash. She stated that, If I were an investor now I would think about coming out of bitcoin soon because its price will probably crash next year. Alexander predicted bitcoin would ultimately tank to $10,000 in 2022, so if she continues to be right, more pain is ahead for crypto investors. The finance professor remains bearish because she claims that Bitcoin is more of a toy than an investment, and that it has no fundamental value. Take Our Poll: Do You Have a Side Gig or Other Hustle? Todd Lowenstein Todd Lowenstein, chief equity strategist of Union Banks private banking arm, didnt exactly call for the end of crypto at the end of December 2021, but was spot-on with his call for a severe correction. As quoted by CNBC at the end of 2021, Lowenstein said that, Without question, bitcoins price chart appears to track many historical asset bubbles and busts and is carrying a this time its different narrative just like other bubbles. Lowenstein went on to add that a more hawkish Federal Reserve would hurt bitcoin and other cryptos, noting, Goldilocks conditions are ending and the liquidity tide is receding, which will disproportionately harm overvalued asset classes and speculative areas of the market, including cryptocurrencies. Story continues At the time of those comments, Bitcoin was trading at about $49,000, well above todays levels of about $20,000. Warren Buffett Famed billionaire investor Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and the so-called Oracle of Omaha, has long advised investors to steer clear of cryptocurrencies. In 2018, for example, he told CNBC that cryptocurrencies were like rat poison squared, and that they will come to a bad ending. Some investors no doubt reveled in the traditional investor being wrong as Bitcoin surged to new highs shortly thereafter. But Buffett has maintained his stance and has been looking more and more prescient as the crypto market continues to implode. In his most recent comments, given at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in June 2022, Buffett again reiterated his position, saying: If you
owned all of the bitcoin in the world and you offered it to me for $25, I wouldnt take it. According to Buffett, bitcoin isnt a productive asset, but rather something that depends on the next guy paying you more than the last guy got. While not outright calling for crypto to go to zero, Buffett did say, Whether it goes up or down in the next year or five years or 10 years, I dont know. But one thing Im sure of is that it doesnt multiply, it doesnt produce anything. Its got a magic to it, and people have attached magic to lots of things. Charlie Munger Charlie Munger, co-chair of Berkshire Hathaway along with Warren Buffett, has been even more outspoken when it comes to the dark side of cryptocurrency. At the companys 2022 annual meeting, Munger told shareholders that bitcoin is stupid and evil. As Munger put it, In the first place, its stupid because its still likely to go to zero, its evil because it undermines the Federal Reserve System
and third, it makes us look foolish compared to the communist leader in China. He was smart enough to ban bitcoin in China. That followed comments reported by CNN earlier in the year in which Munger likened cryptocurrency to a venereal disease. The Chinese Government Although it may have a vested interest in cryptocurrency going away having banned bitcoin mining and developed its own digital currency the Government of China has also called for the end of crypto. As Chinese state-run newspaper Economic Daily reported, Bitcoin is nothing more than a string of digital codes, and its returns mainly come from buying low and selling high. The South China Morning Post added that according to the Chinese government, In the future, once investors confidence collapses or when sovereign countries declare bitcoin illegal, it will return to its original value, which is utterly worthless. The Bottom Line Even with all of these industry heavyweights lined up against cryptocurrency, it doesnt mean that traders or even long-term investors cant make money in the asset class. Indeed, numerous pundits feel that right now, when most cryptos are down more than 50% off their highs, is a good time to buy. In fact, according to Yuya Hasegawa, crypto market analyst at Japanese digital asset exchange Bitbank, The biggest risk factor, namely [quantitative tapering] by the Fed, has been decided and [is] likely priced in already. If true, cryptos could see a big bounce. But investors have to weigh these types of optimistic predictions against the downbeat forecasts offered by other industry experts. Even more so than with your other investments, its important to consult with a financial advisor regarding how cryptocurrency may or may not fit in with your risk tolerance and investment objectives. More From GOBankingRates 10 Best Countries To Live on Just a Social Security Check Top 10 Richest People in the World Take These 6 Key Steps Today To Retire a Millionaire How To Find Travel Insurance That Covers COVID-19 Cancellations This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 6 Other Times People Predicted the End of Crypto, and How That Compares to Now View comments || Bitcoin, Ethereum rebound pulls back amid worries of BTC dump from Mt. Gox, Celsius: Cryptocurrency prices pulled back from a strong rebound over last week as apprehensions rose over a flood of Bitcoin from potentially two large-scale dumps of the cryptocurrency into the market.Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down 3.9% in the past 24 hours to US$20,447.52 in evening trade in Asia, according to CoinMarketCap. Ethereum, the world’s second-largest crypto by market capitalization, was trading at US$1,144.15, down 3.8% in the same period. || Illegal foreign exchange trading with Bitcoin ‘Kimchi Premium’ probed in S.Korea: Prosecutors in South Korea are reportedly investigating foreign remittances of over 2 trillion Korean won (US$1.5 billion) at the country’s banks on suspicions of money laundering by crypto speculators.
See related article:US$1.5B South Korean ‘kimchi premium’ crypto scheme prompts 33 arrests
• The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office is examining foreign exchange transactions worth 1.3 trillion won at Shinhan Bank and another 800 billion won at Woori Bank after receiving relevant data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), according toYonhap.
• A considerable portion of the transactions were made to China.
• Multiplelocal media reportssaid the FSS has identified the companies involved in the transactions as indulging in illegal profit margin trading using the Bitcoin“Kimchi Premium.”
• Kimchi Premium is a term used to describe the premium at which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies trade in South Korea over global markets, as foreign investors are barred from trading locally in crypto.
• The Bitcoin price in South Korea was once20% higherthan that on a foreign exchange last year during the crypto bull run.
• Hana, KB Kookmin and NH Nonghyup Bank also show similar records and may be investigated in the near future, according to local news outletThe Asia Business Daily.
See related article:Illegal foreign exchange transactions using crypto in South Korea break record, grow fortyfold || Bitcoin Recovers to Over $19K, Nomura Warns of US, UK Recession: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Bitcoin extended its recovery to over $19,000 during European trading hours Monday after a weekend that saw major cryptocurrencies put up only moderate gains.
Ether (ETH) rose 5% in the past 24 hours to trade above $1,100. Solana’sSOLand Cardano’s ADA each added about 4%, while XRP and BNB gained over 3.5%. Total crypto market capitalization increased 2.3%, CoinGecko data showed.
Among smaller tokens, Avalanche’s AVAX and Tron’s TRX gained over 8%, while gains among other cryptocurrencies ranged from 2% to 5%. Thorchain’s RUNE added as much as 15%, continuing a run since last month’s mainnet launch.
Equity traders remain concerned about the slowing pace of growth, which could dent chances of longer recovery. Japanese financial services giant Nomura said in a Monday note that major economies could enter recession “in the next 12 months” amid tightening monetary policies and higher costs.
“Increasing signs that the world economy is entering a synchronized growth slowdown, meaning countries can no longer rely on a rebound in exports for growth, have also prompted us to forecast multiple recessions,” Nomura analysts wrote.
The analysts said they expect Europe, the U.K., Japan, South Korea, Australia, U.S. and Canada to fall into recession. They said the U.S. could experience a “shallow but long” recession of five quarters and Europe could take a much deeper hit because of Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the U.S. central bank's commitment to increasing interest rates to curtail inflation,as reported. Powell said he was more concerned about the challenge posed by inflation than about the possibility of higher interest rates pushing the U.S. economy into a recession.
The Fed’s outlook and declining equity markets have weighed on crypto prices this year, alongside systemic risks from within the market. Bitcoin has lost 57% since the start of the year, and the S&P500 has lost nearly 20% during the same period.
“Overall caution is still the name of the game,” Susannah Streeter, a markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told CoinDesk in an email. “Investors nurse wounds from a bruising first half of the year.” || Advanced Micro Devices Q2 Earnings Expected to Soar: AMD logo with white letters and black background Getty Images It's set to be another busy week for the corporate earnings calendar , with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD , $92.88), fintech firm Block ( SQ , $74.00) and online sports betting company DraftKings ( DKNG , $13.22) among the notable names reporting. SEE MORE Are We in a Recession? Here's What the Experts Say The second-quarter earnings season is proving to be "particularly important," says Argus Research analyst Jim Kelleher. This is because the April-through-July time frame "included highly dynamic conditions for inflation, interest rates, the war in Europe and resurgent COVID." And if companies are able to grow or maintain earnings in the face of these headwinds, it's likely that strong growth will resume once they subside. Through July 22, the blended earnings per share (EPS) growth rate for S&P 500 companies, which includes those that have reported and consensus estimates for those that have yet to report, is 4.8%, according to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet. This will mark the lowest earnings growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2020 (4.0%) if it holds, but it is still higher than the 4% increase in EPS expected at the end of June. AMD is Well-Positioned for Growth, Says Analyst Advanced Micro Devices is one name expected to deliver impressive year-over-year growth on both the top and bottom lines when it unveils its second-quarter earnings report after the Aug. 2 close. Analysts, on average, are anticipating EPS of $1.03 for the semiconductor stock , up 63.5% year-over-year (YoY). And revenue is expected soar 69.6% to $6.5 billion. Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. "We continue to see AMD as well-positioned to gain share in servers and also PCs," says Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson (Outperform, the equivalent of Buy). As for the former, Bryson says Advanced Micro Devices currently offers a superior product that will continue to outperform Intel ( INTC ). And the latter offers competitive advantages to other devices in the notebook market, he adds. Analyst: Block "Undervalued" Ahead of Q2 Earnings BofA Global Research analyst Jason Kupferberg says Block shares are "undervalued" heading into the company's second-quarter earnings report, set to be released after Thursday's close. This, he says, is because the quality of SQ's business model continues to be high, but sentiment – mostly due to selloff in Bitcoin – is too negative. SEE MORE The DeFi Dictionary: Your Guide to Decentralized Finance Indeed, SQ stock is down roughly 54% for the year-to-date amid a similar slide in Bitcoin. But, Kupferberg says it's the company's Cash App business that remains the most important driver of Block's share price. For Q2, the analyst sees gross profit for the money transfer app to be 20% higher year-over-year and up 84% compared to Q2 2019. Story continues Overall, consensus estimates for Block's second quarter are for earnings of 17 cents per share (-74.2% YoY) and revenue of $4.4 billion (-6.4% YoY). DraftKings' Loss Expected to Widen in Q2 DraftKings will round out the week's earnings calendar when it unveils its second-quarter results ahead of Friday's open. Analysts, on average, are targeting a per-share loss of 83 cents (-9.2% YoY) and revenue of $435.1 million (+46.2 YoY). Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas (Hold) things Q2 numbers for gaming stocks "should be fine," but the outlook seems less certain. However, DraftKings is on the path to profitability sometime next year, he adds, though investors seem impatient given the negative sentiment surrounding the stock (DKNG is down nearly 52% for the year-to-date). BofA Global Research analyst Shaun Kelley is also on the sidelines on DKGN, as evidenced by his Neutral (Hold) rating. When DraftKings reports earnings, Kelley's focus will be on three things: Costs – namely fixed and labor, given the broader macro environment; the core online sports betting product offering given FanDuel's strong hold/share; and the potential impact of trends from the Ontario market. The analyst will also be looking for updates on California's measure to legalize online gambling, which is on the state's ballot in November. SEE MORE Kip ETF 20: The Best Cheap ETFs You Can Buy You may also like What's the Tax on the Mega Millions Jackpot? Your Guide to Roth Conversions Amazon Ending a Key Perk for Amazon Prime Customers View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 23212.74, 20877.55, 21166.06, 21534.12, 21398.91, 21528.09, 21395.02, 21600.90, 20260.02, 20041.74
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2017-12-01]
BTC Price: 10975.60, BTC RSI: 81.43
Gold Price: 1278.80, Gold RSI: 48.32
Oil Price: 58.36, Oil RSI: 64.60
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Gold: Cyber attack mars launch of rival cryptocurrency: Bitcoin has split twice from the original cryptocurrency - AFP or licensors The latest rival to bitcoin has suffered a major cyber attack on its launch, crashing the new cryptocurrency's website. The digital currency, called Bitcoin Gold, is a "fork" of the main bitcoin network, designed to make it easier for normal people to mine the online currency. However as soon as it went live its website came under a sustained distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyber attack. These attacks involve a network of compromised computers, known as a "botnet", which flood a website's servers with page view requests, leaving legitimate traffic unable to get through. Bitcoin Gold was launched as part of a "hard fork" from the original bitcoin network. In theory, it means that everyone who owns bitcoin is given an equivalent amount of Bitcoin Gold, although most people who store their coins on online exchanges do not reveive it. Bitcoin, which is currently priced at more than $5,550 (£4,180) to one bitcoin, has split once before as rival developers and traders try to move the currency in a new direction. That split in July led to Bitcoin Cash , which is currently priced at around $325. FAQ | Bitcoin Mining bitcoin involves a user contributing computing power to generate more of it. Currently, only those with dozens of powerful computers and graphics processing units (GPUs) are able to profitably mine bitcoin. Bitcoin Gold is designed so that more people can participate, a move designed to democratise the currency. On Wednesday afternoon Bitcoin Gold was trading at around $150, according to CoinMarketCap . bitcoin price The attack hit early on Tuesday morning, with Bitcoin Gold issuing a statement saying their website was under a sustained attack of more than 10 million hits per minute, preventing legitimate users from accessing the site. Massive DDoS attack on our cloud site. 10M requests per minute. We are working with the providers to ban all the IPs. We will be up soon! Bitcoin Gold [BTG] (@bitcoingold) October 24, 2017 Bitcoin Gold's website was back online on Wednesday, however futures had fallen 60pc trading at around $147. The attack on the new cryptocurrency is not the first cyber attack to target new digital currencies. One currency, dubbed CoinDash, saw its website hacked over the summer and $7m worth of cryptocurrency transferred into anonymous digital wallets and stolen. || Is Now the Time to Buy General Electric Company (GE) Stock?: Ive been seeing some well-known writers and stock pickers suggest that now is the time to buy General Electric Company (NYSE: GE ), or at least start buying for a long-term hold. And maybe theyre right. But for me, I think GE stock could have a bit more downside left before being an outright buy. Lets look at why. Is Now the Time to Buy GE Stock? Source: Shutterstock General Electric CEO and Outlook CEO John Flannery has proven to be a bold, efficient leader . Hes not afraid to divest, make cuts and do what he needs to do to improve the companys position. I really like Flannery, especially what he did with GEs healthcare division before becoming CEO. In fact, he remains very committed to not missing estimates, which is admirable. But can he do it? 5 Bitcoin Stocks to Buy for Low-Risk Cryptocurrency Profits He is set to give investors an update in November, a little more than a month from now. Before that, GE will report earnings next Friday. Given all the changes that have come and that are coming, its very hard to get a sense of what General Electric will do. No one will care all that much about this past quarters results. We want to know what to expect next year. Will management kitchen sink their guidance to make for easy hurdles over the next 12 months? InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips This lack of clarity doesnt do GE stock price any favors. GE Stocks Dividend Another reason I am leery of GE is the dividend . The dividend yield is attractive at 4.1%. But with a payout ratio north of 100%, dried-up free cash flow and negative operating cash flow, where is this dividend payment going to come from? General Electric is a conglomerate, so paying the quarterly installment is not an impossible task. Assuming management decides to continue paying the dividend, they surely cant raise it, or at least, raise it in a meaningful manner. Compare this to a company like Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON ), which appears to be firing on all cylinders . Story continues Flannery and his management team have made paying the dividend a priority, but that doesnt make it a guarantee. I make cutting my lawn a priority too, but it doesnt always get done when its supposed to. Notably, analysts at JPMorgan lowered their price target on GE to $20 and said a dividend cut is increasingly likely . Turning the Ship Flannery is turning the ship around. The problem is, were not dealing with a Boston Whaler were working with an aircraft carrier. To turn this around, it will take time, patience and sacrifice. Surely theres more bad news to come. The question is, at what point will it all be priced in? I have no doubt Flannery is making good moves. I just dont know what else will hit the wires before investors decide its no longer worse than they expect. After a 25% selloff this year, long-term investors can justify starting a long position in GE stock. What is the sign we need? We need GE stock price to rally on bad news. Once General Electric makes a negative announcement and shares rally, that shows us the Street has priced in the negativity, and shares can begin the recovery process. When to Buy GE Stock GE stock chart Click to Enlarge So when will that come? It may come on earnings, or it may come after the investor meeting. Im not really sure. The one thing I am sure of is that on Monday, GE stock made new 52-week lows. After opening impressively higher on Tuesday, shares gave up their gains and closed lower on the day. Wednesday led to more losses. We said traders could buy near $25, but if that level failed, they needed to bail. That was the case, and we pointed out the next best level of support, near $22. That level has held, so far . At $22, GE stock would yield 4.4% and be at its lowest level since mid-2015. The risk/reward question investors must ask themselves now is, will GE stock fall that far? One risk is if it rallies from here, we could miss a big move higher by being too specific with our entry. General Motors (GM) to Develop Fast Fuel-Cell Electric Platform The other risk is if we buy and shares fall from $23.50 to $22. Thats a 6.3% decline, even if GE stock does find support. I would most definitely be a buyer of GE stock at the $22 level. I also wouldnt fault long-term investors for buying now and adding on a decline. Watch for $22 to hold, though. If it doesnt, all bets are off (again). Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell . As of this writing, Bret Kenwell did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace 7 Spinoff Stocks That Could Be Better Than Their Parents General Electric Company (GE) Stock Still Is the Smart Longterm Play 10 Smart Money Stocks to Sell for 2018 The post Is Now the Time to Buy General Electric Company (GE) Stock? appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Goldman's Blankfein keeps open mind on Bitcoin: Oct 3 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein is keeping an open mind on bitcoins.
"Still thinking about #Bitcoin. No conclusion - not endorsing/rejecting. Know that folks also were skeptical when paper money displaced gold," Blankfein tweeted on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/2xP543l)
His tweet follows a Wall Street Journal report on Monday that the investment bank was exploring a new trading operation dedicated to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in response to client interest. (http://on.wsj.com/2xMdWq8)
The plan was in early stages and may not proceed, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter,
Blankfein's tweet is in sharp contrast to comments made by JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon, who called bitcoin a "fraud".
Speaking at a bank investor conference in New York last month, Dimon said, "The currency isn't going to work. You can't have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart."
"It is worse than tulips bulbs," Dimon said, referring to a famous market bubble from the 1600s.
Goldman's arch rival Morgan Stanley spoke in favor of the currency, calling it "more than just a fad", FT reported last week. (http://on.ft.com/2xMStNS) (Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva) || Buying Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) Stock on the Dips is Easier Said Than Done: My InvestorPlace colleague Laura Hoy recently recommended investors consider Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) after the FANG stock reports third quarter 2017 earnings because they’re likely to be disappointing, knocking GOOGL stock for a bit of a tumble. Buying Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) Stock on the Dips is Easier Said Than Done Hear, hear. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips I’m such a big fan of buying on the dips that in February 2016 I created a theoretical portfolio of 21 stocks using Google Finance, each with a $10,000 investment, all of which had lost 20% in a single week of trading. Except for seven losers, they’ve all recovered nicely and then some. Take Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE: TRN ) as an example. It closed trading on Feb. 12, 2016 at $20.84. A week later, it finished at $15.97, down 23.4% over the intervening five days on weak guidance for fiscal 2016. I bought my theoretical shares Feb. 29 using the day’s high of $16.05 in an effort of fairness. Fast forward almost 20 months and Trinity’s trading above $34, more than double where it was right after delivering bad news. That compares to a 35% gain for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY ) over the same period. Yes, it pays to buy on the dips, making Hoy’s suggestion timely and smart. There’s Only One Problem To buy on the dips there have to be some dips. No, I’m not talking about a 20% dip like Trinity Industries’ shareholders experienced, but something more substantial than 1-2%, say 5%. 10 Smart Money Stocks to Sell for 2018 I’ve gone back over the past five years of GOOGL stock prices looking for weekly share price declines of 5% or more. Starting in October 2012, my search looked for weekly drops of $18 back then to about $50 today. Here’s what I found: Although there were a few weekly declines of 2%-3%, there were just nine dips of 5% or more, most recently a 5.7% down move the week of June 26 when it closed out the month at $929.68. The average weekly drop was 6.3% with a single decline in 2012 (three months only), two in 2014, two in 2015, three in 2016, and just one through the first nine months of 2017. As Google’s share price moves higher, a 5% decline becomes less and less plausible. However, if you’re going to pick the most likely month for this to happen, my research suggests October (three declines of 5% or more) or January (two 5% drops) are the likeliest months for it to happen. Overall, GOOGL stock fell 5% in only nine weeks out of 312 over the past five years. That’s less than 3% of the time. Story continues So, unless you feel like Alphabet’s earnings are going to fall off a log, I’m not sure how much you gain by waiting for the company to announce its earnings after the markets close on Oct. 26. Bottom Line on GOOGL Stock I’ve become less sure about GOOGL stock in recent months but not enough to swear off recommending investors buy it for their portfolios. In late September I suggested that Alphabet needs to stop picking fights with other companies and focus on its core business. It remains to be seen if it can do that. Boeing Co (BA) Must Drop Its Canadian Fight — or Else Hoy mentioned Waymo being ready to test in the Phoenix area; that’s good news for fans of the company’s self-driving cars. If successful, this could be a real boost to Alphabet’s other bets. Given what Hoy has said about a dip in late October — there will be three days of trading after the earnings release — I believe if you want to buy GOOGL stock, you buy a half position now before earnings and the rest in early November after the dust has settled on its share price. Although buying GOOGL stock on the dips isn’t easy, history suggests October is one of the likeliest times to take a nosedive. As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace 7 Spinoff Stocks That Could Be Better Than Their Parents 5 Bitcoin Stocks to Buy for Low-Risk Cryptocurrency Profits 10 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Next Decade The post Buying Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) Stock on the Dips is Easier Said Than Done appeared first on InvestorPlace . View comments || 'The train has left the station': Al Gore isn't worried about Trump's environmental rollbacks: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images
• Former Vice President Al Gore has been working on a sustainable-investment firm since 2004.
• The Trump administration has been working to unravel landmark environmental moves put in place under the Obama years.
• Gore and his business partner, David Blood, the former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, say their investment approach is unaffected by public policy.
• "The train has left the station," Gore said.
Since leaving political office, former Vice President Al Gore has been working on, among other things, an investment firm that focuses on sustainable investing.
He teamed up with the former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and others in 2004 to launch the London-based Generation Investment Management.
The $18 billion firm chooses companies it thinks will be successful in the long term. Among the requirements: The companies must provide products or services with a low carbon footprint and, in Generation's words, lead to a "prosperous, equitable, healthy, and safe society."
Werecently caught up with Gore and his business partner, David Blood, the former Goldman exec, to talk about the firm's approach and what, if anything, had changed since President Donald Trump was elected last year.
The Trump administration, under the new Environmental Protection Agency head, Scott Pruitt, hasvowed to kill Obama's centerpiece climate-change action, the Clean Power Plan, which was designed to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. The president also vowed toremove the US from the landmark Paris climate agreement.
But by and large, policy doesn't affect Generation's investments — nor has it affected the pace at which sustainable companies are looking to innovate, Gore and Blood said.
You can read the relevant excerpt from our interview below:
Rachael Levy:Since President Trump was elected in November of last year, he's had a few different rollouts that environmental activists haven't been happy about. I wonder if, in any way, this current administration has changed the way Generation views its investment strategy?
Al Gore: I think that it has affected our strategy far less than anybody might have worried at the time they took over. I think that first of all, we don't really base investments on the anticipation of policy in any case. At times, it's of course material. But again, the trends in the marketplace are so powerful and have so much momentum now. You know, the cost curves and renewable energy and batteries and electric vehicles and more important, the thousands of new efficiency improvements that are sweeping through the economy, they're almost independent of policy. It's not that policy doesn't matter, of course it does, but just to take the Paris agreement as an example. The first step on which the US could legally withdraw anyway is the first day after the next presidential election. Other governments around the world said we're still with Paris. California, New York, lots of other states, hundreds of cities, thousands of CEOs, have all said: 'Look, this train has left the station. We're still on it. We got this.' The economy is undergoing this massive shift and it's hardening in a way, but our first job again is to get the best returns for our investors by integrating these trends and our analyses — we're deeply focused on research — into the investment decisions.
David Blood: I would add ... we have never been investing based on regulation or public policy or what we expect public policy to be. Like Al said, it matters and is certainly an important backdrop, but our fundamental investing strategy is to actually not forget the core fundamentals of finance, the core fundamentals of business. What you see if you keep that focus, what you would see is that the technology change — the number of really interesting business models — that have emerged over the last five years to address the transition to a low-carbon economy, have been just spectacular. The cost curve on solar, as an example, exceeds expectations, and we expect it will continue to do so. I guess what I'm trying to say to you is the train has left the station. The number of businesses that are driving towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy, it's really absolutely mainstream now. That doesn't mean all businesses will be successful, that have taken that mantra, but it gives us an opportunity or choice to deploy capital in a way that is very exciting. It's unfortunate, the decision of the president, but as Al said, we're still in the Paris accord and it turns out there are others who are American who believe passionately that this is in our economic interests. That's another thing I want to come back to. We're passionate. We're about mission at Generation, but we see mission and the economy and really what's driving long-term growth as one in the same. In this particular instance, it's one and the same.
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See Also:
• We talked to the head of research at RBC Capital Markets about the storm headed for Wall Street
• Bitcoin futures remind one expert of the risky products that caused the financial crisis
• Al Gore and David Blood told us how it's possible to save the world while still making a lot of money
SEE ALSO:$18 billion fund manager started by Al Gore and a Goldman Sachs exec sets sights on Silicon Valley || Saudi Billionaire Prince Alwaleed Predicts Bitcoin Will 'Implode' Like Enron: As the price of bitcoin falls fromits record high above $6,000, Saudi Prince and businessman Alwaleed bin Talal is making it clear: He’s inJ.P. MorganCEO Jamie Dimon’s camp when it comes to the cryptocurrency.
On Monday, the billionaire predicted that bitcoin will eventually “implode” as an “Enron in the making.” The price of bitcoin dipped 4% on Monday, to about $5,800.
“I just don’t believe in this bitcoin thing. I think it’s just going to implode one day. I think this is Enron in the making,” Alwaleed said on CNBC. He was referring to the Enron scandal of the 2000s, in which the one-time Wall Street darling hit rock bottom after revealing that its meteoric rise had been built on a house of cards:Its growth had been achieved via accounting loopholes and offshore entitiesused to hide billions in debt. In December 2001, Enron filed for bankruptcy, with manyexecutives eventually destined for prison sentences.
“This thing is not regulated, it’s not under control, it’s not under supervision,” Alwaleed said.
His remarks came after Saudi Arabia’s financial regulator, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, said its still too early to judge, and therefore too early to regulate, bitcoin’s impact.
“I think it’s about another five years before we can really see whether there is a real impact on the currencies in general,”Abdulmalik Al-Sheikh, a senior advisor at SAMA, told CNBC on Sunday.
Alwaleed’s comments also fall in line with those previously made by J.P. Morgan’s CEO. The banking executive slammed bitcoin as a “fraud” in early September, when the price of the cryptocurrencywas about $3,800. Dimon argued that bitcoin wouldeventuallybe subject to acrackdown by world governments.
“It will blow up,” he said at the time.
Still, the price of bitcoin has defied that prediction so far this year, rising 771% over the past 12 months. || Japanese bitcoin exchange bitFlyer is coming to the US: Japanese cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer announced today it's expanding to the U.S., with approval to operate in 42 states starting today . This includes regulatory approval in New York via the state's Department of Financial Services’ "BitLicense", which only five other cryptocurrency companies currently have. For comparison, Coinbase has approval to operate in 48 states (including Washington, D.C.) and Gemini is operating in 46 states (including Washington, D.C.). The exchange is by far the biggest in Japan, trading about $180 million worth of bitcoin per day. In terms of traditional exchange volume this ranks as the 14th largest exchange worldwide, but when you add margin volume to the calculation the exchange is actually the largest in the world in terms of total exchange volume. Founded in 2014, bitFlyer has raised a total of $36 million in venture funding. At launch bitFlyer's U.S. exchange will only support bitcoin/USD pairs, but "plans to expand its cryptocurrencies to include altcoins such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Cash and more." Right now the exchange only supports deposit and withdraw via bitcoin and USD wire transfer, which means early users will likely be institutional or high net worth investors. Eventually the exchange wants to add additional forms of fund inflow and outflow like ACH transfer, making it easier for the average consumer to deposit or withdraw cash. Like most exchanges bitFlyer will have tiered verification levels. The first level asks for personal information like your name and address and email and cell phone verification, and in return you can deposit and withdraw up to $2,000 in bitcoin per day and trade up to $3,000 in bitcoin per day. The second tier asks for additional information like bank account verification and proof of identity via photo ID, and allows users to deposit and withdraw up to $50,000 in bitcoin per day and trade an unlimited amount of the cryptocurrency. With Bitcoin spiking 1,200 percent over the past year, there's a ton of demand to trade the cryptocurrency and not a lot of places to do it. While there are dozens of established exchanges around the world only a few operate legally in the United States, with the two main ones being Gemini and Coinbase. And even these exchanges get flack for slow customer service response times, an almost unavoidable byproduct of the insane spike in customers they are seeing. If bitFlyer can provide a solid trading and customer service experience, there's a lot of room for them to establish themselves in the U.S. market. || Bitcoin shoots over $9,900: Markets Insider
• Bitcoin's impressive tear continues Tuesday morning with the digital currency reaching a new high above $9,900.
• The scorching-hot digital coin was trading up 2.14% at $9,942 per coin, according to data from Markets Insider.
Bitcoinpushed closer to the much-anticipated $10,000 threshold Tuesday morning.
The scorching-hot digital currency, which has been gunning for $10,000 since the US Thanksgiving holiday, was trading up 2.14% at $9,942 a coin as of 7:03 a.m. ET.
The digital currency has gained nearly $2,000 since Friday's low of $7,958, according to data from cryptocurrency watcher CoinDesk. Traders, according to John Spallanzani, chief macro strategist at GFI Group, are eagerly awaiting $10,000.
"The BitcoinBulls really want the $10,000 print," he told Business Insider over email.
Already the coin is trading above $10,000 on some exchanges, including the CEX digital currency exchange.
As for how high bitcoin will go, billionaire businessmanMark Cuban told Business Insiderthe coin will continue to push higher as retail investors pour into the space and folks with large bitcoin holdings continue to treat it more as a collectible than a currency.
"The number of people opening up new accounts and buying bitcoin, even fractionally, is skyrocketing," he said. "Yet the people who have it as a true store of value have no reason to sell it as long as demand continues."
Since the list of merchants that accept bitcoin is still relatively small, so-called holders (or hodlers as they are referred to in bitcoin circles) don't have many places where they can spend their coins, either.
"They can't spend it, so they keep it," Cuban said. "If big holders don’t sell and the number of Coinbase users keeps going up, the sky is the limit."
Reuters/ Rick WilkingFamed hedge funder turned crypto-investor Michael Novogratzdoesn't think bitcoin will top out any time soon.
The former Fortress manager told CNBC Monday that bitcoin could potentially hit $40,000 by the end of 2018.
Novogratz, who is planning to launch his own cryptocurrency hedge fund, said a spike in interest from both retail and institutional investors could push bitcoin to his bullish price target.
"There's a big wave of money coming, not just here but all around the world," he said.
To be sure, Novogratz thinks there will be bumps on the road to $40,000, with 50% corrections along the way.
Also, not everyone is bullish on bitcoin. A number of Wall Street's most respected heavy hitters, including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, have come out against the coin.
Bitcoin is up 875% year-to-date.
Read more about blockchain, the technology powering bitcoin,here.
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See Also:
• Bitcoin heading for $10,000 as crypto market cracks $300 billion
• One of Wall Street's biggest bears just doubled his bitcoin forecast to $11,500
• Bitcoin soars to new high above $8,300 after $30 million crypto hack
SEE ALSO:NOVOGRATZ: 'Bitcoin could be at $40,000' by end of next year || Under Armour and consumer confidence — What you need to know on Tuesday: It’s the busiest week of the year.
And Monday started us off with a bang.
Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for then-candidate Donald Trump, wasindicted on Mondayby the FBI on charges of conspiracy to launder money and making false statements. And in a year of wild political headlines, Monday was perhaps the top.
Stocksalso finished the day lowerwith the small-cap Russell 2000 leading losses, dropping 1.15%.
Reports fromPoliticoandThe New York Timeson Monday also indicated that President Donald Trump will pick Jerome Powell, a current member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, to replace Fed Chair Janet Yellen, likely on Thursday.
On Tuesday, investors will likely still be dealing with a flood of headlines from Washington, D.C., as well as economic data and a bunch of big corporate earnings.
Thedata calendarbrings investors the August report on home prices from S&P/Case-Shiller, while the October reading on consumer confidence from The Conference Board and the third quarter reading on the employment cost index is also expected.
On the earnings calendar, headline results Tuesday are expected from Under Armour (UAA), Aetna (AET), Pfizer (PFE), Kellogg (K), and Mastercard (MA).
In markets, investors gotgood news about consumer spending, though the flip side of this report shows that the personal savings rate is now down to 3.1%, the lowest since 2007.
George Pearkes, a strategist atBespoke Investment Group,had a great thread on Twitteron Monday morning outlining what factors are pushing household savings down. Without getting too into the weeds, it is effectively the result of corporate and current account surpluses.
In 2017, stocks have been on a monster run.
Through the end of Monday’s close, the S&P 500 is up 15%, the Dow is up 18%, and the Nasdaq is up 24% this year. And over the last 12 months, the Dow’s and Nasdaq’s performance is almost a 30% return with the S&P 500 up 20%.
The last year has been, in a word, good for stock investors. In two words, it’s been very good.
But read the headlines of the day and you’re likely to see nothing short of a political food fight (to use Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman’s phrase) coming out of Washington, D.C.
This has led many to argue that markets are still facing huge amounts of uncertainty and political risk when it comes to any and all directives that may or not come out of the Trump administration. And yet stocks power higher.
In a post on Monday, Bespoke Investment Group compared Trump’s approval rating to the S&P 500. They are going different ways.
“Sure, the President may be unpopular, and based on his approval ratings there’s only a one in three chance that anyone reading this approves of the job he is doing,” Bespoke writes.
“Like him or not, though, never let politics impact your investment decisions. Just as a lot of investors missed out on the bulk of this bull market because they didn’t care for President Obama and his policies, another group of different investors has now likely missed out on another good year for the US equity market just because they don’t care for President Trump.”
This tension between what seems to be the country’s prevailing mood and the stock market’s performance can, however, serve to bolster the argument of some who think the action we’re seeing is a sign of froth, or the later stages of a bull market that is now in its ninth year.
Over at Oppenheimer, John Stoltzfus wrote Monday that given the aforementioned 12-month returns we’ve seen in stocks, some are asking how much longer the run can go.
“If it weren’t for what we see as decidedly improved fundamentals (economic and corporate, both stateside and in the international realm) we’d think that investors might have good reason to be concerned,” Stoltzfus writes.
And Stoltzfus adds that the market’s enduring logic of declaring all good things actually bad things lends credence to the idea that stocks need not stop going up just because some investors think “we’re due” for a correction.
“Ironic as it may seem to some,” Stoltzfus writes, “the concern and worry investors have shown about the markets’ recent gains as well as over most of the past eight and a half years since the market hit a crisis low on March 9, 2009, gives us reason to believe that ‘what’s going on’ may have a good chance to ‘go on’ for some time into the visible future.”
In any case, what happens in Washington, D.C. will likely not help when trying to foresee where markets go next.
—
Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter@MylesUdland
Read more from Myles here:
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• America’s shortage of workers is about to get ‘much worse’ || Above $4,300: Bitcoin Is Up, But Is It Out of the Woods?: The bitcoin-US dollar (BTC/USD) exchange rate is gaining altitude after the bearish Doji reversal seen earlier this week failed to keep the cryptocurrency below its 50-day moving average.
At press time, bitcoin is trading at $4,325; up 1.46 percent as per data from CoinMarketCap. The two-day sell-off ran out of steam earlier today at the low of $4,150. The subsequent rebound then gathered pace above the 50-day moving average of $4,187.
However, the rebound from the 50-day moving average support seen in the one hour indicates the fears over the event are overblown. So, is bitcoin set to fly high or is the rally a bull trap?
The price action analysis suggests the cryptocurrency is currently hovering in the no man's land.
A solid rally from the 50-day moving average support, though encouraging, is not enough. BTC needs to take the rising trend line, in which case the odds of a rally to $4,700 levels would improve significantly.
Golden crossoverwas confirmed on Tuesday. Today's rally from the low of $4,150 to $4,325 adds credence to the argument that moving average crossovers tend to work after a time lag.
But while there's reason for optimism, bitcoin is not out of the woods yet. Investors need to watch out for a failure at the resistance offered by the rising trend line as it could lead to a head and shoulders pattern.
Head and shoulders formation consists of a left shoulder, a head, and a right shoulder and a line drawn as the neckline. A break below the neckline indicates a bearish trend reversal.
View
• An end of the day close above the rising trend line would open doors for a rally to $4,700
• Meanwhile, a failure to take the rising trend line followed by a break below the head and shoulders neckline support of $4,170 would open up downside towards $3,870.
Teddy bearimage via Shutterstock
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Balance till 19-11-2017 17:35:00 UTC in Petya Hackers account is 4.1674025 BTC || #bitcoin non si ferma più? Analisi tecnica || Price of 1 LTC to USD: $53.72 (Change: -0.56 %)
Price of 1 LTC to BTC: 0.0117278 Ƀ (Change: -0.39 %)
#litecoin #LTC $LTC || #MineCryptocurrency #Cryptocurrency Mining Graphics Card Rack Bitcoin Ethereum miner with four LED fans 120M… http://dlvr.it/Ptl52q pic.twitter.com/c2Lh2tUfzX || Destination Cousins: Nine places Kirk could play in 2018 http://dlvr.it/PtsB2r Place your #bitcoin bets via → http://bit.do/CloudBet pic.twitter.com/OTqU9g7rE2 || $BTC #Bitcoin Price Watch; Here's What's On This Morning - NEWSBTC http://www.newsbtc.com/2017/10/09/bitcoin-price-watch-heres-whats-morning-44/ … || 10/13 06:00現在
#Bitcoin : 593,160円↑
#NEM #XEM : 23.2円↑
#Monacoin : 295円↑
#Ethereum : 34,020円↑
#Zaif : 0.499円↓ || #bitcoin non si ferma più? Analisi tecnica || RT StakepoolCom "Bitcoin Wave Check it out! http://ift.tt/2i3hwpO #cryptocurrency #steem #blockchain" || 11/08 17:00 Crypto currency sentiment analysis.
BTC : Positive
BCC : Positive
ETH : Neutral
ETC : Positive
https://goo.gl/5hp6Cz #BTC
|
Trend: up || Prices: 11074.60, 11323.20, 11657.20, 11916.70, 14291.50, 17899.70, 16569.40, 15178.20, 15455.40, 16936.80
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-07-31]
BTC Price: 7780.44, BTC RSI: 56.90
Gold Price: 1223.70, Gold RSI: 34.97
Oil Price: 68.76, Oil RSI: 46.79
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Salesforce's 3-Year Growth Streak Is More Impressive Than It Appears: In what's becoming a quarterly event,salesforce.com(NYSE: CRM)reported yet another earnings beat. The cloud-based, customer-relationship-management provider beat on the bottom line by reporting $0.52 in adjusted earnings per share, a figure 13% higher than analyst estimates of $0.46. Salesforce also reported a top-line beat, as revenue of $3.01 billion topped analyst expectations by $70 million.
If you follow Salesforce on any level, another quarter of better-than-expected performance is quickly becoming a misnomer, because it is now expected. In fact, Salesforce has beaten revenue-growth expectations for 12 consecutive quarters, a three-year streak. However, that's not the most impressive part of Salesforce's three-year run.
Image source: Getty Images.
More interesting than beating estimates from Wall Street analysts is the fact Salesforce continues to grow at an increasing clip. Last quarter's revenue growth rate of 26% was 3.2 percentage points higher than in 2015's corresponding quarter. However, the company's revenue has doubled since then. This isn't a one-off quarter: As the chart below shows, Salesforce has grown revenue more than 20% every quarter during this period.
Data: Salesforce 10Qs. Author's chart.
For fiscal year 2019, the company forecasts $13.1 billion in revenue, a year-over-year growth rate of approximately 30%. Not all this growth is organic:A portion will be due to the $6.5 billion Mulesoftacquisition, which closed days after the quarter ended. In the year before Salesforce deal closed, Mulesoft reported approximately $300 million in revenue with 58% year-over-year growth, so it's likely to comprise a small but significant portion of Salesforce's $3 billion revenue increase, with the rest coming organically.
Due to a new ruling by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, analysts have a new disclosure to evaluate Salesforce. Topic 606 requires the company to disclose future revenue under contract that has not been recognized as revenue on the income statement, giving investors insight into future revenue.
FASB calls this remaining transaction price, or RTP. Much like balance sheet presentation of debt, RTP figures are broken down into current and noncurrent with the former being less than 12 months and the latter more than 12 months.
[{"Salesforce RTP": "Current", "Q1 2018": "$7.6 billion", "Q1 2019": "$9.6 billion", "Growth": "26%"}, {"Salesforce RTP": "Noncurrent", "Q1 2018": "$7.4 billion", "Q1 2019": "$10.8 billion", "Growth": "46%"}, {"Salesforce RTP": "Total", "Q1 2018": "$15 billion", "Q1 2019": "$20.4 billion", "Growth": "36%"}]
Data Source: Salesforce's first-quarter financial update.
As you can see, the company has approximately $20.4 billion in non-cancellable (eventual) revenue that it's not showing on its books. The current portion shows a substantial growth rate, but the noncurrent growth rate is 20 percentage points higher. While it's important to note this is not a 1-to-1 relationship with future revenue growth due to contracts signed post-period and other, non-contractual revenue, it's a good barometer of future growth.
The upshot is Salesforce is not only performing better than Wall Street analysts think -- for the last three years -- but it is continuing to grow at a rapid clip and appears that growth will not end anytime soon. CEO Marc Benioff has an audacious goal of reporting$60 billion of annual revenue by 2034. At this rate, even he may be underestimating Salesforce just like the Wall Street analysts that cover his company.
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Jamal Carnette, CFAhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Salesforce.com. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Apple's iOS 12 Public Beta Released as iPhone Price Cut Takes Shape: Appleis inching closer to an iPhone release later this year. And there’s a chance the iPhone may be even cheaper than you’d expect.
The company this week released the iOS 12 Public Beta, allowing you to try out what it has planned for its upcoming mobile software release. The release came as reports surfaced that said Apple is considering the lowering the price on this year’s iPhones after the $1,000 iPhone X it released last year failed to sell as well as expected.
This is Fortune’s latest weekly roundup of the biggestApplenews.Here’s last week’s roundup.
But it wasn’t only about iPhones this week. Apple also revealed a new section for its News app that highlights coverage for this year’s midterm elections. And the company may even have a new HomePod speaker in the works.
Read on for all of that and more in this week’s Apple news roundup:
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1. If you’re interested in trying out the new iOS 12 beta, now’s the time.Apple this week released the beta to the public, allowing anyone to try out the operating system’s new features, includinga tool that analyzes how often you use your phoneand which apps you’re most likely to use. Apple’s operating system is still being tested, however, so it could suffer from some bugs that could make your iPhone or iPad user experience a bit annoying. Keep that in mind.
2. Apple may drop the starting iPhone X price to $900 this year, a $100 savings on last year’s iPhone X,Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty predicted this week. Huberty told investors in a research note this week that Apple’s iPhone X was too expensive for some customers and by dropping its price to $900, the company could attract shoppers who think a $1,000 smartphone is too expensive.
3. Apple News, the tech giant’s news-curation service, hasadded a new Midterm Elections section. The new area within the appprovides the latest news and analysison all the races in the upcoming midterm elections. Apple said that the content will include “fact-based stories” and include news from a variety of sources, including Fox News, Vice, andThe New York Times.
4. After waging a court battle spanning seven years and several continents,Apple and Samsung this week finally ended their patent dispute. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, thecompanies agreed to end all lawsuitsthat claimed patent infringement against each other over technology in their smartphones.
5. Apple is working on new AirPods wireless earbudsthat would offernoise-canceling and water-resistance, according to a Bloomberg report. The noise-canceling would reduce the amount of ambient noise you’d hear while wearing the AirPods and the water-resistance would mean you could wear the headphones in rain, according to the report. Additionally, Apple is said to be working on a new version of its HomePod smart speaker to be released in 2019. Details are limited about the HomePod, but Bloomberg said that Apple could switch to manufacturing company Inventec to produce it.
One more thing…Apple co-founderSteve Wozniak isn’t so fond of blockchain, the digital ledger that plays an important role in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, among other technologies. He said at the NEX technology conference this week that he believesblockchain could meet the same fate as the dot-com bubbleof the early 2000s. || Goldman Sachs Has Big Plans in Consumer Banking: Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is a massive investment bank, and most people think of it as such. However, one of the bank's most exciting long-term growth catalysts has little to do with Goldman's traditional business segments. Over the past few years, Goldman has been quietly focusing more and more of its efforts on expanding its consumer banking businesses, mainly through its Marcus by Goldman Sachs platform, which offers personal loans and high-yielding deposit accounts. However, recent comments by President and COO David Solomon indicate that Goldman's consumer banking business could still be in its infancy. Young couple shaking hands with banker. Image Source: Getty Images. Impressive growth so far Although it's still rather young, Goldman Sachs' consumer banking platform has grown rapidly. Since launching the Marcus by Goldman Sachs platform in late 2016, the bank has already originated more than $3 billion in loans and serves about 1.5 million customers. In addition, since acquiring General Electric's deposit portfolio in early 2016, Goldman has grown its deposit base from about $9 billion to more than $20 billion. Lots of possibilities for future growth Even though Goldman's consumer banking growth has been impressive, the bank's platform is still quite small relative to those of the other big banks. I mentioned that Goldman has originated over $3 billion in loans and has over $20 billion in consumer deposits. For comparison, Bank of America 's consumer banking division has about $280 billion of loans and nearly $675 billion in deposits. So, there's lots of room to grow Goldman's existing consumer banking business. However, the real potential could be the other areas of consumer banking that Goldman could potentially expand into. "We have the ambition to build a large, differentiated, highly profitable digital consumer finance platform. We're working to build an open architecture storefront that allows us to work with consumers to help them spend, borrow, save and protect in an integrated, coordinated way," Goldman Sachs' President and COO David Solomon said in a recent presentation. Story continues In the presentation, Solomon highlighted some future areas of potential growth for the bank's Marcus platform and other consumer banking initiatives. Specifically, the presentation mentioned that Goldman could offer checking accounts, payment solutions, credit cards, mortgages and auto loans, and insurance products. Graphic of Marcus by Goldman Sachs' current and future possible consumer banking business segments. Image source: Goldman Sachs. Some of these may already been in the works. For example, it was recently reported that Goldman Sachs is gearing up to become Apple 's credit card co-branding partner to offer an Apple Pay credit card product. This is a huge partnership, and it could result in Goldman's credit card business growing from zero to billions of dollars in loans in a relatively short period of time. Similar initiatives could be in progress for other areas as well. As Solomon put it, "As the brand continues to build our consumer platform, we're looking at expanding into several businesses that are adjacent to our core franchises and allow us to take advantage of our relationship or our position and add products and services that allow our clients to get a more wholesome approach from Goldman Sachs." Goldman's competitive advantages Here's the billion-dollar question for investors: Why is Goldman in such a strong position to grow its consumer banking business in such a rapid manner? First of all, Goldman has been able to design its consumer banking business from the ground up. As Solomon pointed out, Goldman has no legacy infrastructure to worry about. There is no branch network, and before it acquired GE's deposit platform and started making loans through Marcus, it had virtually no consumer banking operations at all. This allows Goldman to build a consumer banking business tailored to today's customers, as well as to the current banking environment. A branch-free structure, for example, gives the bank a major cost advantage over rivals and also allows Goldman to offer deposit interest rates that rival even the best online banks. In fact, as of this writing, Marcus' 1.70% APR on an online savings account is the highest among any major online bank. Second, while there are online-only banks that have a similar advantage, none of them have the balance sheet and brand recognition that Goldman does. Third, Goldman has a long history of developing its risk-management culture, giving it a key advantage over newer competitors. In other words, Goldman already knows how to responsibly lend money while maximizing profits. In simple terms, Goldman's consumer banking efforts enjoy the low cost structure of an online bank, combined with Goldman's strong balance sheet and rock-solid brand name. How big could Goldman's consumer banking get? To be clear, I don't think Goldman Sachs' consumer banking operation is going to be anywhere in the ballpark of Bank of America's, JPMorgan Chase 's, or Citigroup 's anytime soon. However, the long-term potential to grow into a massive consumer bank is certainly there. Only time will tell, but suffice it to say that the next few years could be very interesting for Goldman Sachs' consumer banking expansion. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Matthew Frankel owns shares of Apple and Bank of America. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Did Investors Shrug Off Palo Alto Networks' Impressive Quarter?: Going into its quarterly financial report, Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) had been on an impressive run. The company's stock price has surged, driven by four consecutive quarters of better-than-expected results and rising demand for its flagship cybersecurity solutions. This had investors hoping that the company could add to its string of recent wins. The company delivered solid results once again, as Palo Alto reported both top and bottom-line growth that exceeded its own forecasts as well as analyst expectations. A padlock overlaid with illuminated images of computer circuits. Image source: Getty Images. Palo Alto Networks results: The raw numbers Metric Q3 2018 Q3 2017 Year-Over-Year Change Revenue $567.1 million $431.8 million 31% Operating income (loss) ($51.6 million) ($49.1 million) N/A Net income (loss) ($46.7 million) ($60.9 million) N/A Diluted earnings (loss) per share ($0.41) ($0.28) N/A Data source: Palo Alto Networks t hird-quarter 2018 financial release . Chart by author. What happened at Palo Alto Networks this quarter? For the just-completed third quarter, Palo Alto's reported revenue blew past the high end of its own forecast of $548 million, as well as analysts' consensus estimates of $546 million. Product revenue increased 31% year over year to $215 million, well above management forecasts for growth between 18% and 19%. Subscription and support revenue were up an impressive 32% year over year, too. This led to adjusted net income of $95.1 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.99, again topping both Wall Street and management guidance. The results were broad-based, with revenue in the Americas up 29%. Sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) increased 35%, and Asia-Pacific revenue jumped 37%. The company reported billings that grew 33% to $721 million, and deferred revenue that climbed to $2.2 billion, up 34% year over year. Palo Alto continued to build up its impressive list of client gains, adding about 3,000 customers during the quarter, increasing the running total to 51,000. The company also made progress with existing accounts -- its top 25 customers increased their lifetime spending by $28.7 million during the quarter, up 43% year over year. Story continues And Palo Alto Networks recently welcomed Nikesh Arora as the new chairman and CEO. Arora previously served as chief business officer at Google and as president of SoftBank . Current CEO Mark McLaughlin said: "We delivered strong fiscal third-quarter results with record revenue, deferred revenue and billings, while continuing to capture market share at rates that far outpace the competition. Our security operating platform utilizes software, the cloud, and analytics to deliver increasingly better prevention through automation and ecosystem leverage, while dramatically reducing the complexity of the consumption model for customers." Looking ahead For the upcoming fourth quarter, Palo Alto is expecting revenue in a range of $625 million to $635 million, which would represent year-over-year growth between 23% and 25%. The company also expects adjusted earnings per share in a range of $1.15 to $1.17, which would be an increase of between 25% and 27% compared to the same period last year. So why did investors initially shrug off the respectable growth? At the time of the report, the stock was already up over 40% year to date, stretching the company's valuation. The stock sports a price-to-sales ratio of nearly 9x, when 2x or less would be considered "good". Then, there's the transition to a new CEO that introduces a level of uncertainty about the future -- and the market loathes uncertainty. While these issues certainly bear watching, I think the results speak for themselves, and Palo Alto stock is a keeper. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Danny Vena owns shares of Alphabet (A shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool recommends Palo Alto Networks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Opinion: The Bulls Are Back In Town: bitcoin price On my last piece during the previous week , I analysed how the northern hemisphere summer time is usually kind on Bitcoin. Of course there was the 2011-2012 exception, when the entire market was bearish for almost 2 years in a row, but lets ignore that for now. If we enter a dry season there is nothing to be done except patiently wait for the mercy of institutional money. For obvious reasons, today we tell a different story. One month after the June mini-bull run, were finally starting to see some positive action. New, fresh money is coming into bitcoin and that has given the market a nice pump back into the USD 7400 price level. Do you know what that means? this article shouldnt be taken as financial advisement as it represents my personal opinion and views. I have savings invested in cryptocurrency so take whatever I write with a grain of salt. Do not invest what you cannot afford to lose and always read as much as possible about a project before investing. Never forget: with great power, comes great responsibility. Being your own bank means youre always responsible for your own money Bitcoin Gone Wild When the market turns around there are many signs you can check for, in order to have funds available to put into cryptocurrency. I wont go into much detail about historical prices, as Ive covered that already, but its worth mentioning again the two key factors for success: Timing , or better yet, buying/selling at the right time; Sentiment , as you need to understand market behavior in order to predict price movements. If you master both, then youll have a fair chance at beating the market. However, make the correct prediction at the wrong time, and it can cost you your hard-earned cash. Remember what almost happened to Michael Burry? He was absolutely correct when predicting the subprime mortgage crisis, except he thought it would start sooner than what it did. That tiny miscalculation almost cost him his fortune. Story continues Now, back to what matters. Whats going on with Bitcoins price? On July 17 th , at its lowest, volume was around USD 4,242 Billion. Fast-forward a couple of hours and around USD 1 Billion was added to the market. This drove Bitcoin prices to rise around 8%, from USD 6700 to USD 7300. If youre wondering what or who may have caused this, I really cannot be of much help. Most likely, we can blame the usual culprit: smart-money, so institutional investors, large hedge funds, banks, etc. When we check some professional traders and investors, like Alessio Rastani, Mati Greenspan or Daniel Jeffries, we can see not only were they hedging in favour of Bitcoin, but also expecting a price movement like the one that just happened. Ill do my best to explain how this price action was predicted and how can you leverage that knowledge for the next bull-run. Never follow dumb-money One of the most widely accepted facts is that, usually, traditional media channels provide completely inaccurate cryptocurrency market predictions. The reason being, their experts panels are generally composed by people who do not understand cryptocurrencies. Sure, I really do not doubt for a second many of these panelists do possess a degree of financial knowledge it would put me in a corner. Except, if you use that knowledge and try to apply it to different fields, like cryptocurrency, your predictions an analysis might not be as accurate as you might think. Ignoring the underlying technology mechanics, when comparing traditional financial markets vs modern cryptocurrency markets, is a problem too few people care about. Mixing ignorance with power is a great recipe for disaster. If you are one of those folk who usually listen to CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, etc you might end up having a bad time, when it comes to advise on how to invest in Bitcoin. A key rule for any successful crypto-trader or investor is to never listen to the news. Partnerships are usually bull-crap (look at the many examples of the recent past), most expert analysis is paid by companies, success is measured by funds raised and not product development, usefulness, nor market reach and, last but not least, traditional news-sites usually need to please a greater reach of readers, meaning, its much easier to have click-bait news than actual real news. Like: How Bitcoin Is Just A Scam Want another example of why you shouldnt follow media advice? Shorting Bitcoin: best advice ever The image above, taken from one of Alessios latest youtube analysis , shows the volume of CBOEs futures contracts. As you can see, dumb-money was betting heavily on shorting Bitcoin at the USD 4500 level (non-commercials). Im pretty sure the recent news explaining and why you should be shorting bitcoin had a little influence on this outcome. Should you follow the herd, or bet against it? You already know the answer. Enjoy the epic short-squeeze! This is, when short traders get destroyed by large quantities of fresh money coming into the market, pushing prices back up. Another point that I would like to bring to your attention, is the importance of the time-axis. If we were looking for a trigger that could potentially help us learn when a big price movement was about to happen, a strategy that could be of use is the LT indicator . Im not saying this technique is always accurate nothing is in fact but it can let us know, with a high degree of certainty, when a shift is about to happen. The LT analysis takes into account price walls and when theyre likely to be met, meaning, given a certain amount of time, the pressure of either sell or buy orders will push price downwards or upwards and the LT indicator measures when both walls meet. What happened a few days ago was clearly a massive price wall pushing prices forward while eating away all bitcoin shorts. In a sense, when buy orders pressure price upwards whoever is shorting bitcoin gets burned. Is it so surprising the impressive 8% gains we saw last week? I really dont think so. If youre low on memory and dont remember what happened, during December last year most leading traders and investors were warning us for an upcoming correction were currently experiencing. Just like with any other good bubble, sometimes it needs to burst so that a newer and more massive bubble can form. Right now it feels like the market is gathering resources like people, knowledge and capital; soon the work of the past few months will bear fruit and new implementations like the Lightning Network, Segwit, side-chains and decentralized exchanges will help pushing prices higher up. I believe this is just the beginning. Keep in mind this bull-run wont likely be hassle-free; there will be opportunities to make some small purchases, here and there, in the hopes price will continue to raise past the USD 20k level. Historically, ups and downs are what keeps the market alive and how you can make some money, so take into consideration as many different analysis and indicators as possible. In regards to Alessios LT analysis, when we see trading parameters on both the price and time axis come together at the same moment, we are looking at the highest probability, lowest risk trade setups in the marketplace. This happens because there are both price and time walls which will collide in an epic pull/push of prices. As you can see above, the date ranges are accurate with what happened, as the major price push was on the 17 th July. What else drives Bitcoin prices? If you want to better understand the range of possibilities that can lead to wide price movements, its crucial you have an understanding of big players that can drive adoption forward. One of these players is, of course, BlackRock . Being the worlds largest asset management firm, surely any allocation BlackRock makes into cryptocurrency will most likely be tied to bitcoin (via a bitcoin ETF, for example?). This will, in turn, bring not only institutional investors, but probably an insane amount of dumb-money as I wouldnt expect anything less than a massive hype generated by media daily updates, pushing people to buy more bitcoin like we saw in December, remember? The hypothesis is as follows: smart-money attracts dumb-money. If BlackRock does end-up creating a Bitcoin ETF I would expect a massive rally to take place. Will Bitcoin suffer the same fate as gold? Hopefully! That doesnt seem that bad at all! Now, if we want to look from a different angle and forget about money for a second, to focus on regulation and political pressure, we can see the world is currently divided. In one side, we have people like Andreas Antonopolous talking to the Senate , explaining how cryptocurrency can make the world a better, fairer place; while in the other we have traditional lobbyists, who put their donors interests before peoples. Of course my opinion is 100% biased, Im much more of a libertarian than someone who loves control. A little bit of uncertainty is much better than blindly following rules for the sake of following rules. Now, does it mean I shouldnt listen to people who disagree with me? Well, it depends on the arguments. During one of the SECs latest hearings this guy, Mr. Brad Sherman, was extremely bearish on bitcoin, extrapolating the same-old boring conclusions that crypto is just for criminals and people who want to evade taxes. Right. I thought we were pass that? Interestingly enough, SunnyDecree published on one of his latest videos how this guy, a US Senator, despite heavily criticizing bitcoin the safest currency out there is actually accepting donations from Allied Wallet , a digital online payments business, kind of Bitcoins nemesis. Want to know what the best part is? These guys got fined a couple of years ago for money laundering . Double-standards much, Mr. Sherman! What will happen to Bitcoins price momentum? We could think bad news like the above, or news sites reporting idiotic things like Bitcoin is dead, could be catalysts for people running away from cryptocurrencies. Of course smart-money doesnt care about trends because it usually sets them and dumb-money usually follows the wrong trend anyways. What do I think it will happen? Well, right now, momentum keeps building and the good news do not stop there: I wouldnt expect Bitcoin price to go down, especially when the RSI being oversold doesnt start the usual correction. My conclusion is that Bitcoin will keep going for a few days or until we see less green volume, sustaining the latest positive price action. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Bitcoin Opinion: The Bulls Are Back In Town appeared first on CCN . || What Percentage of Americans Have Nothing Saved for Retirement?: The older you are, the better the odds that you have at least begun to set some money aside for retirement. Even so, there remain significant numbers of Generation Xers -- and even baby boomers -- who have nothing saved for their golden years, according to new research from Personal Capital . Among millennials, 39% had a goose-egg in the retirement savings column. That number gets a little lower for Gen Xers, to 34%, and still further to 32% for baby boomers, according to the online survey of 2,008 U.S. adults. But that's still essentially 1 in 3 older workers totally unready for the next phase of their lives. "Saving for retirement isn't what it used to be: strategies that set the standard 20 years ago, like Social Security and pensions, are no longer safety nets for funding Americans' retirement dreams," said Personal Capital CEO Jay Shah in a press release. "With the retirement landscape changing, it's more important than ever for Americans to improve and act on their financial knowledge." An older couple walks on a beach. It takes long-term planning to retire with financial security. Image source: Getty Images. How do they plan to fund their retirement? Roughly a quarter of the 1,630 pre-retirees surveyed said they believe Social Security will be their primary source of retirement income (with 15% of millennials and 29% of Generation X feeling that way). That group either doesn't understand how much they can expect to receive from Social Security, or they're planning for fairly modest lifestyles. "On average, retired workers walked away with a monthly check of $1,406.91, or $16,882.92 a year," wrote the Motley Fool's Sean Williams in an article detailing January's payouts from the program. The study also found distinct differences between men and women when it comes to how they understand their financial needs. Significantly m ore women than men (62% vs. 47%) agreed " that sticking to a comprehensive financial plan" is key when it comes to properly preparing for retirement. Yet 40% of women said they had nothing saved or retirement compared to 33% of men. Story continues "Women have the know-how to save for retirement, but the cards are stacked against them: they have longer lifespans that require higher savings goals, are frequently in lower-paying careers, and don't have the same plan options afforded to them as many of their male counterparts," said Personal Capital Vice President Michelle Brownstein in the press release. What can you do? It's important for workers of any age to recognize the limits of Social Security . You might be on track for a higher-than-average payout, but if that's the case, it's because you're earning an above-average income, so your standard of living may be higher. Before you can make a plan to save for retirement, you need to figure out how much you're likely to need. That's a task you can do on your own if you put in the research time, or it's something you can hash out with a financial planner. Be realistic. If you plan to downsize or move someplace less expensive, factor those anticipated savings in -- but don't assume your expenses will fall dramatically. The other side of the equation features any number of areas where your expenses might rise. The longer you live in a home, the more likely you are to be hit with a major repair bill, for example, and most of us won't go through our elder years without a health crisis or several. Once you have a financial target -- perhaps you want to replace 80% of your before-retirement income -- you need to make a savings plan that can get you there. That may require sacrifice -- especially if you're not in your 20s and 30s -- but the sooner you get out of that chunk of your demographic that's totally unready for their post-working lives, the better. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin – In Desperate Need of a Weekend Rally: Bitcoin fell by 3.85% on Friday, partially reversing Thursday’s 5.38% gain, to end the week down 5.61% to $6,378.6.
Following a late in the day rally on Thursday, Bitcoin saw a pullback through the early part of the day on Friday, falling through to a morning low $6,450 following a trend bucking, late morning intraday high $6,659.
In spite of the attempts at a run at the day’s first major resistance level at $6,823.63, the bearish trend continued through the day, with Bitcoin falling through the day’s first major support level at $6,356.63 to a late intraday low $6300.2, before moving back through the day’s first major support level to the day’s ending $6,378.6.
Falling well short of the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,026 and failing to test the day’s first major resistance level at $6,356.63 continued to support the extended bearish trend formed at early May’s swing hi $9,999, with Bitcoin now having failed to hit $7,000 levels for a 5thconsecutive day.
There was no particularly negative news to hit the wires through the day to bring about the reversal, with investors continuing to lock in profits in fear of another sell-off, which has continued to drive volatility across Bitcoin and the broader market.
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At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up 0.63% to $6,425, in what’s been a relatively range bound start to the day, Bitcoin rising to a morning $6,457.3 high off the back of a start of the day $6,378.6 low, the moves through the early hours leaving the day’s first major support level at $6,232.87 and first major resistance level at $6,591.67 untested.
For the day ahead, a move back through $6,445.93 would support a run at the day’s first major resistance level at $6,591.67, though for the Bitcoin bulls, breaking through the first major resistance level won’t be enough to begin reversing the extended bearish trend, the first target of $7,000 and the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,026 some way off when considering current sentiment across the cryptomarket.
Failure to move back through $6,445.93 could see Bitcoin take another hit through the day, with the day’s first major support level at $6,232.87 very much in play should the Bitcoin bulls not be able to make a move through the morning. As was the case on Friday, range bound moves through bearish trends tend to lead to pullbacks and, when considering the fact that Bitcoin’s losses through the week were mild relative to its peers, the Bitcoin bears could play catch up later in the day.
Elsewhere in the cryptomarket, it was a mixed start to the day, with Ripple’s XRP, NEO and Stellar’s Lumen bucking the trend in the early hours, the trio seeing red, while Ethereum and DASH had a solid start to the weekend, with gains of 1.65% and 1.61% respectively to lead the way amongst the majors.
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Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver markets giveback massive gains during the week || Why J.C. Penney Stock Lost 17% in May: What happened J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) stock underperformed the market last month, shedding 17% compared to a 2% increase in the S&P 500 , according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence . ^SPX Chart ^SPX data by YCharts . The dip pushed shares back into negative territory for 2018, with the retailer's stock having lost over 80% of its value since the middle of 2013. So what May was a difficult month for the business, beginning with a first-quarter earnings report that sent shares 10% lower. In that announcement, J.C. Penney revealed flat sales growth that missed management's targets. Empty shopping mall Image source: Getty Images. The company struggled on the profit side of the business, too, with operating income stopping at just $3 million, or roughly 1% of sales. Investors reacted harshly to news that the gross profit margin, a key reflection of the retailer's pricing power, worsened by 2.4 percentage-points to 33.7% of sales. Later in the month, J.C. Penney announced that CEO Marvin Ellison would be leaving the company to take the top spot at Lowe's . Now what The CEO responsibilities will be shared by four executives going forward, and the management team believes its goal of modest sales growth in 2018 is attainable. As for the earnings challenges, "gross margin improvement is a major focus for the company," executives explained in their quarterly conference call . But it's hard enough to improve margins when customer traffic is robust, and harder still to achieve that result when market share is falling. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Demitrios Kalogeropoulos has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 2 Top Stocks in the Oil Patch: Oil prices have improved dramatically over the past year asOPEC's move to drain off the supply glutproved more successful than envisioned. That rising tide has lifted most oil stocks. However, that doesn't mean investors have missed the boat, since many oil stocks still have ample upside. Two top ones where that's the case areDevon Energy(NYSE: DVN)andEnbridge(NYSE: ENB).
Devon Energy got 2018 off to a rough start afterreporting production problemsat the end of last year, which caused itsstock to stumble out of the gate. While shares have almost fully recovered, they've still underperformed both the price of oil and most other energy stocks this year. For perspective, Devon's stock is flat, while oil is up about 9% and theVanguard Energy ETF, which holds more than 140 energy stocks, is up about 4%.
Image source: Getty Images.
Devon, however, could significantly outperform in the coming year due to the fuel provided by its stock-buyback program. Devon initially announced that it would repurchase $1 billion of its shares earlier this year, which was enough to retire 6% of its outstanding stock at the time. However, the company recently sold some assets, which will give it the cash toboost that program up to $4 billion. That's enough to extinguish a jaw-dropping 20% of its shares at the currentdirt cheap price.
That repurchase program could send Devon's stock price soaring over the next several months, given what similar repurchase programs have done for peers since they launched their buybacks in the recent past:
[{"Oil Stock": "Anadarko Petroleum(NYSE: APC)", "Return Since Announcing Buyback": "55.6%", "Peer-Group Return Over Time Frame": "11%", "Devon Energy's Return Over That Time Frame": "18.7%"}, {"Oil Stock": "ConocoPhillips(NYSE: COP)", "Return Since Announcing Buyback": "46.4%", "Peer-Group Return Over Time Frame": "5.4%", "Devon Energy's Return Over That Time Frame": "-4.2%"}, {"Oil Stock": "Hess(NYSE: HES)", "Return Since Announcing Buyback": "40.4%", "Peer-Group Return Over Time Frame": "11.8%", "Devon Energy's Return Over That Time Frame": "8.5%"}]
Data source: ConocoPhillips, Anadarko Petroleum, and Hess. Peer-group return as measured by the Vanguard Energy ETF.
While all three of those large U.S. oil producers announced significant repurchase programs, they pale in comparison to Devon's. ConocoPhillips, for example, bought about 5% of its shares last year and is on pace to repurchase another 4% this year. Anadarko, meanwhile, initially authorized enough cash to retire 10% of its outstanding shares, and Hess' repurchase program also is for around 10% of its outstanding stock. With Devon's buyback roughly twice their size, its stock could have much more upside as the company continues reducing the share count over the next year.
Image source: Getty Images.
Canadian oil pipeline giant Enbridge has been under pressure for much of the past year, with shares falling more than 17%. That decline comes even though the company put 12 billion Canadian dollars' ($9 billion) worth of growth projects into service last year. Those expansions, and the ones the company expects to finish this year, position it to grow cash flow by 15% in 2018. Meanwhile, it has CA$22 billion ($16.5 billion) of projects currently underway, which should fuel 10% compound annual cash flow growth through 2020, supporting Enbridge's view that it canincrease its dividend at a similar rate.
With Enbridge's stock selling off over the past year, shares currently trade at less than 10 times cash flow and offer a dividend yield of 6.7%. That valuation is toward the bottom of its peer-group average of more than 11 times cash flow.
One of the weights holding down Enbridge's stock over the past year is its leverage ratio, which is a bit elevated at the moment due to the amount of money it's investing in expansion projects. That number should come down as those projects start generating cash flow.
However, the company recently took steps to improve its balance sheet more quickly byselling some non-core assets. As that pressure on its balance sheet starts to dissipate, shares should start heading higher. That upside potential, when combined with its growing income stream, makes Enbridge a compelling oil stock to buy these days.
These oil stocks have two things that set them apart from most others: a clear catalyst on the horizon and a lower valuation than peers. Because of that, shares have more upside potential in the near term, making Devon Energy and Enbridge among the top oil stocks to consider buying now.
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• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
Matthew DiLalloowns shares of ConocoPhillips and Enbridge. The Motley Fool owns shares of Enbridge. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Better Buy: The Coca Cola Co (KO) vs. Procter & Gamble Co (PG): Few stocks have been chosen as the cornerstone in retirement portfolios as often as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) . These dividend-paying stalwarts are looked on to provide safety and stability for nest eggs -- and for good reason: between mid-2000 and the end of 2014, they returned an average of 229% for investors -- including dividends. That far outpaced the S&P 500 's return of just 80%. But the past three years haven't been as kind to shareholders. While the market has continued to zoom ahead -- returning 42% for shareholders -- Coke and Procter & Gamble have lagged, returning 17% and losing 4%, respectively. Is this an aberration, or a sign of trouble to come? And are either of these stocks still worthy of a spot in your nest egg? A golden egg with a hundred dollar bill sticking out of a crack in it. Image source: Getty Images. These are the questions I'm aiming to answer today. By comparing these two stocks on three different facets, we can get a better idea of what we're getting if we buy shares. Financial fortitude There's no telling when the next crisis will hit. It could be company-specific, or affect the entire economy. As investors, we want to know that our companies will not only survive, but -- ideally -- thrive as a result of such volatility. That's why measuring financial fortitude is so important. It can help you narrow down the number of potential investments to the tiny few that can survive and thrive in a meltdown. Here's how the two stack up. Company Cash Debt Free Cash Flow Procter & Gamble $16 billion $22 billion $10.4 billion Coke $44 billion $30 billion $5.3 billion Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Cash includes long and short-term investments. Free cash flow presented on trailing-12-month basis. Each company has its own strengths and weaknesses here. Coke has a much stronger net cash position of $14 billion, while Procter & Gamble actually has more debt than cash on hand. At the same time, Procter & Gamble's cash flows are twice as strong as Coke's, meaning the company has far more coming into its coffers every year. Story continues Taking these two things together, I would say that each company is "robust" in the face of a financial crisis: they are strong enough to not be mortally wounded by a downturn, but have high enough debt levels -- or low-enough relative free cash flows -- that they wouldn't be huge beneficiaries either. Winner = Tie Valuation Next, we have valuation -- which can be a tricky aspect of investing to nail down. In order to give us as wide a view as possible, here are five metrics I like to use when evaluating dividend-paying stocks, and how the two companies compare. Company P/E P/FCF PEG Ratio Dividend FCF Payout Procter & Gamble 19 19 2.7 3.7% 70% Coke 23 35 2.9 3.6% 118% Data source: Yahoo! Finance, E*Trade. Non-GAAP earnings used to calculate P/E when applicable. Here we have a clear winner. Procter & Gamble has more favorable values on every metric. It is cheaper based on earnings and free cash flow -- even after taking growth into consideration ( PEG ratio ). Additionally, while Procter & Gamble's dividend yield is only slightly higher, it is currently much more sustainable than Coke's -- as it eats up roughly 70% of the company's free cash flow. Coke, on the other hand, is actually using up all of its free cash flow -- and then having to tap its cash hoard -- to pay its shareholders. That might be all right over the short term, but it's not sustainable over the long run . Sustainable competitive advantages But nothing should be more important to long-term investors than the strength of a company's sustainable competitive advantage, or moat . Both Procter & Gamble and Coke rely primarily on the power of their brands to provide a moat. According to Forbes , Coke has the world's fifth most valuable brand -- worth roughly $57 billion. The company's products include not only its namesake regular and diet-branded sodas, but also Minute Maid, Powerade, and Dasani water, among others. Two of Procter & Gamble's biggest brand names -- Gillette razors and Pampers diapers -- also broke the top 100 list on Forbes , placing 32nd and 57th, respectively, and worth a combined $29 billion. The company's brand umbrella also includes familiar names like Tide, Olay, and Head & Shoulders. On an absolute basis, it would seem like Coke has the advantage. But I personally think that consumer-packaged goods companies that rely on the power of brands are in trouble. As former hedge fund manager Mike Alkin pointed out in January , millennials are becoming the most powerful consumers, and they favor consumer products that are from small, local, and (when possible) organic companies. Neither company has brands that fall under those categories. And the trends are proving Alkin's thesis out -- revenue at both companies is down 20% or more over the past five years. Those aren't encouraging trends. Winner = Tie My winner is... So there you have it: both stocks have solid financials, and narrowing moats, but Procter & Gamble wins based on its more favorable valuation. That gives it the edge in this competition. But if forced to choose, I don't think either stock has particularly promising prospects -- so I don't own, and am not willing to make a positive CAPS call -- for either company. I think there are better places for your hard-earned nest-egg cash. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Brian Stoffel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#HALFEST How do you get money from bitcoin? http://bit.ly/2E9CiuR pic.twitter.com/RJOpd9JhJj || 【仮想通貨速報】
BTC: 837,779円
ETH: 66,891円
LTC: 13,508円
BNB: 1,550円
NEO: 6,032円
BCH: 126,149円
LSK: 1,045円
TRX: 6.6円
WAVES: 456.84円
XRP: 73.08円
MONA: 373.69円
XEM: 27.79円
ZAIF: 0.7円
NANJ: 0.2円
XP: 0.01円
EOS: 1,531円
https://kasoutsuukachan.com/ || Installez CryptoTab et minez des Bitcoin! https://getcryptotab.com/1488036 || Big airdrop Javatoken airdrop get 80,000 jtokens Hurry up its limited Joining link herehttps://goo.gl/nxnduC#TokenSale #ICO #bitcoin #ethereum #crypto #cryptocurrency #ecommerce#airdrop #bounty #BTC #xrp #javatoken || http://bube64.jolly5blog.com/all-public-blog/bfa84333-50a0-4982-99b0-f9d72f1a502f …
#xpander #neverstop #excellent #system #jollycoin #x1 #x2 #BTC #bitcoin #cryptoland #cryptocurrency || Twitter Cryptocurrency Attack: No Account Is Safe As A Bitcoin War On Twitter Is At Hand -Mon Jun 04 https://criptocurrencycertification.com/twitter-cryptocurrency-attack-no-account-is-safe-as-a-bitcoin-war-on-twitter-is-at-hand-mon-jun-04/ … || I also find it very useful to listen to less skeptical shows like @TheLTBNetwork and @epicenterbtc to keep up with snake oil scams. It might be fun to go back & listen to some Bitcoin Uncensored shows or the current Junseth's World (you have to search those, don't have a handle) || 2018/07/14 18:00
#Binance 格安コイン
1位 #BCN 0.00000045 BTC(0.32円)
2位 #NPXS 0.00000053 BTC(0.37円)
3位 #DENT 0.00000060 BTC(0.42円)
4位 #SC 0.00000164 BTC(1.15円)
5位 #NCASH 0.00000190 BTC(1.33円)
#仮想通貨 #アルトコイン #草コイン || 2018/07/27 03:00
#Binance 格安コイン
1位 #HOT 0.00000011 BTC(0.1円)
2位 #BCN 0.00000037 BTC(0.34円)
3位 #DENT 0.00000038 BTC(0.35円)
4位 #NPXS 0.00000040 BTC(0.36円)
5位 #SC 0.00000131 BTC(1.19円)
#仮想通貨 #アルトコイン #草コイン || Get 22222 IMT Token ( worth $100 ) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSciAEfeTKvcdM-IQc9BNgAtXt4jZNRhNBFtw4_M0knJ6upcxw/viewform … #ICO #airdrop #bounty #BTC #xrp #token #Crypto #ETH #NEO #Blockchain #ripple #trx #tron #trx #binance #crypto #airdrops #token #cryptocurrency #freetoken #mew #erc20
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Trend: down || Prices: 7624.91, 7567.15, 7434.39, 7032.85, 7068.48, 6951.80, 6753.12, 6305.80, 6568.23, 6184.71
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-07-23]
BTC Price: 276.05, BTC RSI: 53.52
Gold Price: 1094.00, Gold RSI: 22.24
Oil Price: 48.45, Oil RSI: 25.65
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Which Crisis Is Worse: Greece Or China?: It is an uncertain time for markets as turmoil in two of the world's largest markets, China and Europe, has rocked investors' confidence. Both regions share markets are suffering, although for two very different reasons. Greek Bailout In Tatters In Greece, bailout negotiations all but fell apart over the weekend after Greeks voted down the EU's latest funding proposal, giving Syriza-backed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras more bargaining power. This week, EU leaders have been urging Tsipras to submit a new proposal that will meet their standards in hopes of striking an eleventh hour deal before the nation defaults on an upcoming European Central Bank loan repayment. The nation's financial system is teetering on collapse with capital controls restricting the movement of money keeping Greek banks together by a thread. Bailout Request On Wednesday, Greek officials requested a three year bailout from the region's emergency rescue fund in exchange for some of the structural reforms that Greece's creditors have been demanding. The offer has yet to be accepted by Greece's EU creditors, who have been demanding that the nation show a real commitment to reform. So far, Tsipras has been unwilling to budge on things like pension cuts and tax increases, which EU leaders say are necessary. China's Market Decline Chinese share markets have been on the decline since mid-June and the government's attempts to keep the market afloat have proven futile so far. On Wednesday, the Shanghai Composite Index finished 5.9 percent lower despite new emergency measures designed to stem the fall. Chinese regulators have made it illegal for those holding more than 5 percent of a company's shares to sell after buying up large numbers of small-cap stocks in an effort to slow the market's fall. A Crisis Of Confidence In both China and Greece, a question of confidence has been at the root of investors' concerns. However, many believe that the situation in China is much more dire. Story continues Traders are beginning to lose faith in the government's ability to stop the market's decline and some are beginning to talk of a bubble burst. Chinese markets have been rife with investor loans and many saw shares as overvalued, so some believe that the rapid decline has been a consequence of an overinflated market. See more from Benzinga Can The Fed Really Raise Rates Amid All This Chaos? When Luxury Goes Digital MovieTickets Sees Benefit In Adding Bitcoin © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Banx Capital Joins the BitShares Exchange Network: LEICESTERSHIRE, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 23, 2015 /Banx Capital announced today it is joining the BitShares Exchange Network when BitShares 2.0 is released this summer.
"It just made too much business sense," said Banx CEO Mark Lyford, "What a way to cut costs, expand our available services and multiply our network effect!"
About a year ago Banx began launching a whole portfolio of cryptocurrency businesses including a crypto currency exchange, a mining company, a trading company, a physical coin company and a half dozen other enterprises intended to span the industry.
Banx put its own shares up for trading by qualified investors on what quickly became a top ten crypto-currency in its own right. You probably know it already as BanxShares on coinmarketcap.com.
"I've been watching BitShares for over a year now," he confided. "But when I got a preview of whatCryptonomex.comhad in store with BitShares 2.0 I knew I had to move fast. As a result of some pretty aggressive negotiations, both BanxShares and Banx.io will upgrade simultaneously when BitShares 2.0 launches this summer. I consider that a bit of a personal coup."
What made him move so fast?
"I can smell a revolution coming," said Lyford. "I want to be riding that wave when it hits the shore, not sitting on the beach."
He went on to explain the nature of that revolution. "Everybody knows the limitations of current exchanges. Despite their best intentions, people aren't sure if exchanges can be trusted any more. Some of the biggest have been hacked and the rest are looking over their shoulders. We can hire the best cryptogeeks on the planet and they still can't promise we are safe. On top of that, users really have no way of knowing whether an exchange is solvent. Cypto currencies are supposed to be super-secure, but the exchanges are the weak link. This is going to kill the whole industry if we don't get it fixed quick."
"BitShares has been claiming that they have solved these problems by offering a decentralized exchange on a blockchain since last summer. Incorruptible. Unhackable. Transparent. That's all quite impressive, but it just made them another one of my worries as a future competitor."
Leaning forward as if to tell me a secret, Lyford went on, "But that wasn't their killer business model at all! Sure, they are a stand-alonedecentralized exchangeon a blockchain that you can interact with from your own wallet just like Bitcoin, but that was just their prototype demo.
This year they are upgrading to an industrial strength platform that can handle every transaction in the whole crypto industry with enough bandwidth left over to host everything Visa is doing as well! And their transactions verify in 1 second not 1 hour."
Why do they need that kind of bandwidth?
"Because they are offering their 'Smartchain' as a safe, level playing field for use by the whole industry. It can serve as backbone network to all the exchanges as a way for them to trade with and against each other. Instead of keeping their order books in a dark, closed, isolated, hackable stovepipe, they can put them all out there in the transparent open where all their combined customers can trade against all their combined assets!"
He sat back as if he had just explained The Universe and Everything.
"Don't you see," he went on, "With shared order books we have deeper markets, tighter spreads, and greater liquidity. And since our customers keep their own keys while trading on this network we can't get hacked! Not only that, with BitShares easy to use hierarchical multi-sig capabilities, even our customers can't get hacked."
But what exchange would want to give up its customers to some global pool?
"That's the thing that clinched the deal," he smiled. "With theBitShares referral programwe keep our customers and our share of their fees. So there was really nothing to lose and everything to gain. I get the benefits of selling other member's products and services to my customers while outsourcing most of the costs and risks of this business. That lets me concentrate on what I do best – developing new innovations, recruiting more customers and keeping them happy."
Then he paused for a moment, as if to shift gears. "But that's just what's in it for Banx.io. The key is what all customers will be demanding a year from now once they get a taste of the new levels of transparency and safety and the quality and variety of services our networked exchanges can offer together. Banx.io along with CCEDK, Bit-X, Cryptonomex.com (and maybe a few more) are just the network's Founding Members. We expect a lot of smaller exchanges to use this as a way to become big exchanges in the coming year." Leaning back in his chair he grinned again, "Like I said, I'd rather be riding the tsunami than sitting on the beach."
Contact Banx Capital Ltd:
Zoe Hart(+44) 01530 215015zoe@banxcapital.comMarketing Dept First Floor, 81 Market Street Ashby De La Zouch Leicestershire, LE65 1AH United Kingdom
SOURCE:Banx Capital Ltd || Could Marijuana Help House Prices?: In states where marijuana has been legalized, many homeowners have complained that the opening of pot dispensaries could bring down property values. However, in Colorado, where both medical and recreational marijuana has been legalized, some claimthe opposite is true.
New Jobs
In Denver, home prices have risen 10 percent since March 2014, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.Some saya large part of that rise can be attributed to the marijuana industry.
The new industry has created thousands of jobs across a variety of sectors. Not only are businesses directly linked to pot – like growers and dispensaries – taking on new employees, but security companies, electricians and hotels have all seen an influx of business due to marijuana.
Related Link:Marijuana Industry Blazes The Path For A New Kind Of Lawyer
Access To Marijuana
The rental market in Colorado has also been booming as people from out of state come in looking for access to marijuana. Some families are interested in obtaining medical marijuana to treat a chronic condition, while others are keen to live in Colorado to enjoy the relaxed lifestyle the new laws permit.
Still Some Concern
While the real estate market in Colorado appears to be booming, some warn that it will fizzle as the long-term problems with pot settle in.
For one, laws allowing people to cultivate up to six plants means prospective buyers will need to look for a new set of issues when it comes to home inspections. Buyers will need to check for tampering with the home's electrical systems and mold issues associated with marijuana growing before committing to a new home.
Another concern is increased traffic in neighborhoods where marijuana is being grown. Many people disregard the state's limit of six plants and set up illegal grow houses, which could decrease the value of properties in the area.
Image Credit: Public Domain
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || A massive wave of startups is coming to crush the big banks: Wave crashing (Reuters/Rafael Marchante) Startups are chipping into every line of business big banks enjoyed leading up to the financial crisis. The banks know it. A recent Goldman Sachs report suggested that $4.7 trillion of the financial-services industry’s business is jeopardized smaller competitors. Online brokerages threaten banks’ broker-dealer businesses. Wealth management apps have sprung up to claim millennials that are distrustful of big money managers. Personal-finance startups are helping consumers balance their checkbooks online. Refinancing startups are taking advantage of cheap debt to offer students better rates on loans . All of it is taking bit business away from banks. And the biggest firms on Wall Street are employing all sorts of tactics to defend their top line from invasions taking place on both coasts. Virtually every big bank has invested in startups. Increasingly, seed-stage ventures and accelerators have been formed as Wall Street firms snap up a piece of hundreds of pre-IPO companies. After launching its first finch incubator in Tel Aviv in 2013, by the end of 2014 Citi Ventures had expanded accelerator efforts to Spain, Germany, Singapore, Brazil, and the US. Barclays Accelerator operates in two countries, in part thanks to TechStars’ management expertise. Even Capital One has an accelerator of its own, Capital One Labs. Wells Fargo has backed a handful of startups through its accelerator. One has the potential to help big banks get slimmer on staffing. Kasisto is a platform for financial institutions providing clients virtual personal assistants. And Bank of America has sponsored tech accelerators in New York, London, and Charlotte. Commerce.Innovated is another accelerator run by Silicon Valley Bank and MasterCard. Hardeep Walia, Motif Investing CEO (Hardeep Walia, Motif Investing CEOCourtesy Hardeep Walia) Sometimes banks wind up jointly investing in the same startup, like Motif Investing , an online broker. Both JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs backed that platform. Story continues JP Morgan also backed Square, along with numerous big banks’ investment arms. (Morgan Stanley joined in that investment, as well.) And even Morgan Stanley, which has had a relatively muted presence in the investing scene, has struck deals to back companies like the messaging platform Perzo and Eris Exchange. Eris sells interest-rate-swap futures. Goldman Sachs also backed Square, along with other big startups. Other deals for the bank have included Kensho, a market-data-analytics firm. Goldman is even backing Bitcoin startups. Some view it as Wall Street finally acknowledging that customer acquisition requires their not being deaf to Silicon Valley. Others think it is less about changing culture than it is about suppressing competition. “Because we’re a not a retail bank, we view all disruption opportunities as being great,” Reetika Grewal, head of payments strategy and solutions at Silicon Valley Bank said. She works with Commerce.Innovated. But not everyone does. We spoke with a number of players in the startup space, as well as Wall Street veterans. Here’s what they had to say: “Banks are looking towards earlier stage investments and opportunities,” says one investor who has worked with banks on deals. “Even if they don’t take equity in the companies but rather use the accelerator as a way to understand the innovation going on outside of their walls, it's totally worth it. The investment is relatively minuscule in relation to the insight they'll gain." “One of the reasons some firms may be eager to do more early stage deals is that banks are being regulated out of building larger stakes in pre-IPO companies,” a banking-sector source said. He referred to this in the broader scope of post-crisis regulation like the Dodd Frank Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It requires that banks either fund outside investments entirely with their own money, or with 3% of client funds. That, the source said, makes it very difficult for banks to participate in late-stage investing. One investor notes that part of banks’ strategy of backing early stage companies is to reap future business . “[Banks] have always tried to service early tech companies as much as possible as lead generation,” one Silicon Valley source said. "There’s this appetite for credit that banks can’t satisfy,” the investor said. "Banks either need to build competing products or invest in new ones.” “Banks are finally admitting they don't have it all figured out,” says another investor in the space. NOW WATCH: Google opens up a 21,000-square-foot campus in South Korea for startups More From Business Insider DIMON: 'We are creating generations of citizens who will never have a chance' DIMON: 'The United States of America is truly an exceptional country,' but 'something is wrong' Morgan Stanley just named a Wall Street legend as the head of a new group || Debate Deepens On Usage Of Confederate Flag: Southern states that fly the Confederate flag are facing public backlash after a white man shot and killed nine black worshipers in a church last week. The man posted pictures of himself with the Confederate flag online, where he also wrote a racist manifesto.
The incident has highlighted the negative connotations that go along with the confederate flag, leading many to call for its removal from state buildings.
Lawmakers Squabble
This week lawmakers in Congressdebatedthe issue, with Mississippi Representative Bennie Thompson calling for all state flags that feature some part of the Confederate flag to be removed from the House side of the Capitol. However, Republicans blocked the move as many states consider the flag to be a remembrance of the southern soldiers killed during the Civil War. Another proposal calls for reduced funding for states who allow drivers to purchase especially made confederate flag license plates, in an effort to discourage states from encouraging the flag to be flown.
Related Link:EBay To Ban Confederate Flag Listings; Amazon Sales Skyrocket
Private Sector Weighs In
For private companies, the Confederate flag issue is a choice. Some major retailers have already begun removing the flag from their inventory— botheBay Inc(NASDAQ:EBAY) andAmazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) have made an effort to take down products flaunting a Confederate flag.
Apple Steps Up
Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) voiced its view on the flag-debate byremovingall Civil War games that feature a Confederate flag. Game makers say the flag is essential to maintain historical accuracy, and plan to resubmit their games with an earlier version of the flag.
Sales Increase
Meanwhile, other retailers are making huge profits as the renewed focus on the confederate flag and subsequent bans have made it a hot-ticket item. San Antonio-based Dixie Flag Company sold 25 of the flags in just 24 hours, a major jump from the site's typical sales of just three flags per week.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || A bitcoin start-up has made exchanging currency free: A bitcoin(:BTC=)start-up has launched a service that will allow people to carry out foreign exchange transactions for free, dodging the expensive commission often charged by major financial institutions.
Bitreserve, a company founded last year by CNET and salesforce.com co-founder Halsey Minor, allows people to convert bitcoin into normal currencies and precious metals. The start-up used to charge a 0.45 percent commission for bitcoin-to-dollar transactions, but has now cut its fees entirely.
The move is likely to give it an edge in the hotly contested "fintech" market where a number of companies such as U.K.-based Transferwise are contesting the currency transfer and mobile payments space.
Users of the platform will be able to make currency exchanges in eight major currencies: euros, dollars, pounds, yuan, yen, pesos, rupees, swiss francs. People will also have the ability to convert the currencies into gold, silver, platinum and palladium, depending on the market price. Bitreserve offers the mid-market rate for currencies.
"Those in society who can least afford it have to spend so much for things that are so commonplace," Anthony Watson, president and chief operating officer of Bitreserve, told CNBC by phone.
"If you look at a Mexican immigrants, they send approximately $30 billion home every year and they pay just under $3 billion for the privilege of sending that money home. That is 10 percent and that is disgusting."
Bitreserve's service comes with a catch however - you have to own bitcoin to use the service in order to make an initial deposit and then convert it to another asset. Plus, when users receive money, they can only spend it in bitcoin.
This could put it at a disadvantage to other companies that allow people to sign up with bank accounts and send money for still a small commission.
One use case of such a technology is remittances, which reached $436 billion in 2014, according to the World Bank. Since its inception in October 2014, Bitrserve has been responsible for $14.5 million worth of transactions globally, according to its website.
But not all experts agree that a free model is sustainable in the currency exchange business.
"No business that offers its services for free can do so sustainably over a long period of time without other revenue sources," Stan Stalnaker, board member of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority, a self-regulating body for digital currencies, told CNBC by email.
Read MoreThis is why bitcoin won't go away anytime soon
"The real question, in an age of free transactions, is about business models - what other products and services can Bitreserve launch that it will charge for, and how successful will that be on the back of very low cost remittances?"
Watson said the company was looking to partner with traditional financial institutions to allow people to move the money into traditional bank accounts, as well as retailers so people can buy items using regular currencies.
"We are in conversation across the world with not only banks but different financial services providers. We are talking to a myriad of companies. We don't see ourselves as a threat to banks we see ourselves as complimenting what they do," Watson, the former Nike CIO, said.
Another use of Bitreserve's technology is to store bitcoin in a stable currency like the U.S. dollar.
"A lot of people are putting money on reserve and moving it into currency and moving bitcoin into a stable form of currency. Bticoin bounces around like a jack rabbit," Watson added.
A number of companies such as Coincove and ArtaBit are offering similar services, but only allowing people to send bitcoin to converted to one currency.
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• CNBC.com Earnings Central || New York regulator issues final virtual currency rules: By Karen Freifeld and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state issued on Wednesday extensive new rules for companies that operate in virtual currencies such as bitcoin but did little to accommodate complaints that overly tight regulation could hamper the nascent industry. The new rules, the first by a state, create comprehensive guidelines for regulating digital currency firms, according to the state's Department of Financial Services, which developed the regulations. It means that digital currency companies operating in New York state that hold customer funds and exchange virtual currencies for dollars or other currencies are required to apply for what is known as a state "BitLicense." "There is a basic bargain that when a financial company is entrusted with safeguarding customer funds and receives a license from the state to do so, it accepts the need for heightened regulatory scrutiny to help ensure that a consumer's money does not just disappear into a black hole," Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York state regulator, said in a speech Wednesday at the BITS Emerging Payments Forum in Washington. The "BitLicense" rules include consumer protection, anti-money laundering and cybersecurity protections. The regulations come as digital currencies have drawn criticism for attracting drug dealers and other criminal elements, while failing to safeguarding consumer funds. Last year, bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox collapsed after it claimed to have lost $500 million worth of customer bitcoins after being hacked. Overall, industry participants said New York's new rules are still problematic but nonetheless an improvement over the original proposals laid out in July and revised in December. Digital currency companies are required to obtain prior approval for material changes to their products or business models, such as wallet firms offering exchange services. They would also need approval for new controlling investors. Story continues But they would not need approval from the state for every round of venture capital funding or standard software updates. "We have no interest in micro-managing minor app updates. We're not Apple," said Lawsky. Companies that want both a BitLicense and a money transmitter license can work with the state regulator to have a "one-stop" application submission to cover the requirements for both. Jerry Brito, executive director of non-profit research group Coin Center, called the final regulations "far from perfect," specifically citing what he said were vague state-level anti-money laundering obligations that go beyond federal regulations. He said the group was working with other states "to ensure they do not repeat the mistakes made here." The rules do not apply to software developers, individual users, customer loyalty programs, gift cards, currency miners, or merchants accepting bitcoin as payment. Lawsky, meanwhile, has come under fire from the bitcoin community for issuing the rules shortly after announcing he was leaving the agency to set up a consulting company that will advise companies on financial matters that could possibly include digital currencies. The most prominent virtual currency now is bitcoin, often used as an investment or to pay for goods and services online. Bitcoin prices have been steady of late, at $225.77 on the BitStamp platform on Wednesday. The price rose as high as $1,123 in December 2013. "I think (the rules) are going to increase the costs to entry for businesses," said New York attorney Reuben Grinberg, who specializes in virtual currency. "But I think it's going to give consumers greater peace of mind and will end up promoting investment in this area much more so than it hurts." (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Steve Orlofsky) || Microelectronics Plans Expansion Through Reduced Electrical Expense: MONARCH BAY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 29, 2015 / Microelectronics Technology Company ( MELY ) announces pending planned expansion in its Bitcoin server mining operation. The Company is moving forward in the next phase of its planned expansion of its Bitcoin mining operation, as it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire electricity at the lowest price available to a bitcoin mining operation in the United States. The letter of intent outlines up to 10 Mega Watts of electrical power dedicated specifically to the needs of Microelectronics Technology Company. The electrical rate for this power averages 2 cents per kilowatt, the lowest rate in the Country. The electrical provider rates reliability of the electrical power at 99.99%. "With this amount of electrical power available to the Company we can now move forward with our expansion plans of a site designed and constructed with a bitcoin mining operation in mind," stated Brett Everett, President of the Company. "With the new chip technology coming to the market, this also increases the amount of Hash Rate the Company can run with 10 Mega Watts of electrical power, providing us with some very unique options." The timing for finalization for delivery of the contract for the power is June 16, 2015 in accordance with the terms outlined in the Letter of Intent. https://www.facebook.com/btcpoolparty Additional photos and videos can be viewed at the company's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MELYPK . Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are made to convey Company progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially and are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ include without limitation: dependence on key personnel and suppliers; MELY's ability to commercialize its technology; ability to defend intellectual property; material and component costs; competition; economic conditions; consumer demand and product acceptance, and availability of growth capital. Story continues Additional considerations and risk factors are set forth-in reports filed on Form 8-K and 10-K with the SEC and other filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements; historical information is not an indicator of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements. CONTACT: For further Information: Microelectronics Technology Company President: Mr. Brett Everett 888-681-9777 ext. 5 info@melypk.com www.melypk.com SOURCE: Microelectronics Technology Company || Your first trade for Wednesday, June 17: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour was a seller of the IWM(NYSEArca: IWM.
Steve Grasso was a buyer of DECK(NYSE:DECK-News).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of UA(NYSE:UA-News).
Guy Adami was a buyer of ADBE(NASDAQ:ADBE-News).
Trader disclosure: On June 16, 2015 , the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long AAPL, T, BAC, C, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, SUNE, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO. Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BAC, DD, DECK, EVGN, MJNA, PFE, T, TWTR, GDX firm is AVP, TWTR his kids own EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Brian Kelly is long DXGE, BTC=, BBRY, U.S. Dollar, he is short Australian Dollar, he is short Canadian Dollar, he is short Euro. he is short Yen, he is short Yuan. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• CNBC.com Earnings Central || 5 trades on Costolo's Twitter departure: The timing of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) 's leadership shake-up bodes well for investors looking to buy into the stock, CNBC "Fast Money" traders said. Embattled Twitter CEO Dick Costolo will step down on July 1, the company announced Thursday. Co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey will take over on an interim basis until the position is filled. "It is interesting. I do think there is change here that is needed that opens the door," said trader Karen Finerman, who noted that she would consider taking a stake in Twitter. Many investors and analysts have called for a change amid a sluggish run for Twitter's stock. The company has struggled to expand its user base and grow revenue through advertising and other streams. But Dorsey said in a conference call Thursday that Costolo's departure did not reflect the company's near-term results. Read More After CEO exit, Twitter says no strategy change Still, traders felt the stock has room to climb higher; it closed Thursday below $36 per share. Investors should stay long in the stock using $35 as a stop, trader Guy Adami said. Twitter will likely rise during Dorsey's interim tenure, trader Brian Kelly added. Trader Dan Nathan-who owns Twitter stock-said he would stick with the name. Adami added that regardless of whether Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) will see a flood of advertisers or other business after Twitter's shake-up, it stands to move higher. The stock closed Thursday just below $82 per share. Read More Twitter employees flood Twitter with tweets for @dickc Disclosures: Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long DXGE, BTC=, BBRY, U.S. dollar and oil. He is short Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, euro, yen and yuan. Today he entered into short euro. Today he closed out his short U.S. 30-year bonds and short DAX. Dan Nathan Dan is long SPY June put fly, TWTR, BBRY June calls, SO, DE June put fly, INTC July put, WMT June call fly, LVS July Aug put spread, TWTR Sept call spread, GRRO June put fly and CAT July/August put spread. He is short SO Aug calls. Today, he bought CAT July/August put spreads. Karen Finerman Karen is long BABA, BAC, C, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, KORS, M and URI. She is short SPY. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, FBT, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, GPS, IBB, JPM, KORS, M, SUNE, URI, XBI, KORS calls, URI calls and SPY puts. Her firm is short IWM, SPY, MDY and M calls. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Guy Adami Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS and INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Current price: 164.65£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-07-01 18:00:06 BST || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 17441.00 INR Sell : 16905.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 22 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,268.13 #bitcoin #btc || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 15733.00 INR Sell : 15249.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || $1=5450 #dogecoin, 1 #DOGE = $0.00018 or 66 satoshi ( Vircurex:68 BTER:65 ), Coinbase BTC = $278.00 || $235.80 at 04:15 UTC [24h Range: $234.00 - $237.35 Volume: 8521 BTC] || Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis – Retest of 235.00 Likely - http://ift.tt/1GDneCe || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000005
Bittrex: 0.00000006
Average $1.2E-5 per #reddcoin
11:00:02 || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000006
Bittrex: 0.00000006
Average $1.4E-5 per #reddcoin
04:00:02 || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 17968.00 INR Sell : 17413.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin
|
Trend: down || Prices: 288.28, 288.70, 292.69, 293.62, 294.43, 289.59, 287.72, 284.65, 281.60, 282.61
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Hackers Refining Tools For Attacking Banks: A letter from the Swift network to member banks warns hackers are refining their cyberattack tools and the global bank transfer system remains vulnerable. Reuters reported Monday the letter, dated Nov. 2, warned the threat is very persistent, adaptive and sophisticated and it is here to stay. Reuters said the letter is evidence the Belgium-based cooperative Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication remains vulnerable a year after $81 million was stolen from Bangladeshs central bank. Among the tactics now being used by hackers is software allowing technicians access to computers for technical support. "We unfortunately continue to see cases in which some of our customers environments are being compromised," the letter said, noting a meaningful number of attacks have been made on both central and commercial banks, and 20 percent of them have resulted in stolen funds. Bangladeshi officials told Reuters several central bank officials enabled the theft, which was the result of malware inserted into the banks system. Bitcoin News Service reported the central bank has managed to recoup a portion of the stolen funds from a casino in the Philippines. Investigators determined the money was sold on the black market to a foreign exchange broker who transferred the funds to three casinos. A Philippines court ordered the Solaire Resort and casino to surrender the money to Bangladesh. Some $10 million was handed over. A commercial bank in Ecuador said it was held up for $12 million last year. In Vietnam thieves tried and failed to make off with $1.1 million in what investigators said may have been a practice run for the attack on Bangladesh. Russia security services warned earlier this month that foreign spy agencies were preparing attacks on Russian banks in dozens of cities to destabilize the financial system of the Russian Federation. The Federal Security Bureau didnt specify who was preparing the attack. Related Articles After Hacks, Banks Push Swift To Boost Security New York Governor Issues Cybersecurity Proposal || Bitcoin Activity in India Has Doubled Since the Banknote Ban: 1000 Rupee Note Early in November, India abolished the 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes in an effort to fight corruption and so-called " black money ". Since then, interest in Bitcoin appears to be increasing in the Asian country based on a variety of different metrics. Although there was already a vibrant Bitcoin community in India, the recent move to clamp down on illegal income and tax evasion seems to have sparked new interest in the peer-to-peer digital cash system. Who Uses Bitcoin in India? So who uses Bitcoin in India? According to Sunny Ray , who is the president and co-founder of Indian bitcoin exchange Unocoin , there are two main categories of Bitcoin users in the country. In an interview with Bitcoin Uncensored co-host Chris DeRose just before the large denomination banknote ban was put into place, Ray claimed that 40 to 50 percent of their users are savers who view bitcoin as a digital gold. "India is the largest gold market in the world," said Ray. "If you couple that with—I think it's something like 20 or 25 percent of the world's programming and IT population also live in India—digital gold is obviously something that I think people have the capacity to get." Ray also noted that roughly 20 percent of Unocoin's users are freelancers who use Bitcoin as a cheaper alternative to PayPal. Ray noted that Bitcoin currently offers what are essentially negative fees for freelancers based in India because of the relatively higher price bitcoins sell for in the country. During the Bitcoin Uncensored interview, Ray stressed that his estimates should be taken with a grain of salt, as the very nature of Bitcoin makes it difficult to get real user data. Trading Volume Has More Than Doubled Since the Ban So what's happened since India got rid of the 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes? For starters, Ray told CoinJournal that Unocoin has seen a doubling in traffic and trading volume over the past 30 days. An increase in trading volume can also be seen on LocalBitcoins , where the daily volume has increased from around 1.25 million rupees (around $18,500) per day before the cash ban to around 2.5 million rupees per day in early December. There was also an all-time high of more than 5.5 million rupees (just over $81,000) worth of bitcoin traded on November 26th. Story continues It's important to remember that LocalBitcoins trading volume is a rather rough metric because many traders continue exchanging bitcoins off of the site after finding someone they trust. Bitcoin currently trades at a high premium in India due to capital controls in India, which make it difficult for Bitcoin companies, such as Unocoin, to settle against foreign exchanges; however, Unocoin is currently working on a method to bring more bitcoin liquidity into the Indian market. In a blog post on their website, BitGo has noted the value of India-based transactions co-signed by them has increased by 240 percent since September. Larger Effects May Be Seen Over the Long Term While there's been a nice uptick in Bitcoin activity in India over the past month or so, Ray believes the larger effects of India's removal of the 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes from circulation will be seen over the long term. "Right now, people are being very careful with their spending," said Ray. "We think it will be long term because with all of the restrictions, the push towards digital money, and the amount of new money that's entering the banking system, some of that will find a home in bitcoin." || A 26-year old Bitcoin entrepreneur was handed prison time, and the experience only confirmed his belief in the cryptocurrency: (Wikimedia)
The rise of 26-year old Charlie Shrem was swift. So was his fall.
The self-professed computer geek turned divisive digital currency entrepreneur won notoriety as the founder of BitInstant. The firm took off, attracting investors like theWinklevoss twins, and helping popularize bitcoin.
Then, his whole world came crashing down. He was charged with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. He pled guilty, and was given prison time.
He had "knowingly transmitted money intended to facilitate criminal activity– specifically, drug trafficking on Silk Road," according to apress release by the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York.
Shrem got of prison earlier this year, and his experience there hasn't deterred his faith in bitcoin and blockchain, the technology behind it. In fact, an incident with a prison guard andmackerels, the currency of choice in prison, only confirmed his belief in an alternative currency system.
Shrem opened up about his prison experience and his past onWall and Broadcast, apodcast hosted byTABB Group COO Alex Tabb, TABBForumproducerAnna StumpfandVested CEO Dan Simon.
Raised in a deeply religious orthodox Jewish household, Shrem describes himself as an "outcast" at Yeshiva high school. "I just loved computers," he said in the podcast. "I would hang out in the internet chat rooms and all of the places where all socially awkward people hang out."
Shrem first heard about the concept of Bitcoin from a friend in an internet forum he was a part of. "There was no website or anything," he said in the podcast. "Only a white paper," referring to the research paper released under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakimoto that unveiled the concept.
Bitcoin is a digital currency in which transactions occur peer-to-peer, meaning no government or third party is involved.Shrem was immediately interested and purchased a few thousand bitcoin - at the time worth very little.
(Flickr/Kosala Bandara)He caught the entrepreneurial bug early, foundingDaily Checkout, adaily dealwebsite that sold refurbished used goods, at 18. He also attended night school at Brooklyn College and got introduced to the Austrian School of Economics, an economic theory that promotes laissez-faire ideals and the elimination of government intervention.
In his mind, something clicked. "I realized that bitcoin was taking all of that Austrian economic theory and putting it into practice," he said in the podcast.
It was on Bitcointalk.org that he got the idea for a way to make the purchasing of bitcoin faster and more accessible to the every day consumer. He launchedBitInstant, which partnered with payment processors that had physical locations at CVS, Duane Reade, Walmart, Walgreens and 7-11, among others. The site allowed people to buy small amounts of bitcoin (with an average ticket size of $300-500) and charged customers a small fee for each transaction.
"Within a few months, we enabled people to be able to buy bitcoin at almost a million locations in the US," Shrem said in the podcast. "And overnight volume exploded."
The company achieved an average growth rate of 1.5x per month, according to Shrem, with advertising limited to word of mouth.At one point, the company was facilitating transactions worth a million dollars a day, he said.
The growth of BitInstant attracted investors like theWinklevoss twinsand angel investor Roger Vere. They moved into bigger offices, shrouded in secrecy. "We needed an army security guard, our own floor, and shaded windows," he said.
Soon the two man band become a 30 person office, and he admits in the podcast interview that he let the success get to his head.
( Entrepreneurs Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss arrive at the Met Gala in New York Thomson Reuters)"I started drinking too much," he said. "I invested in my friend's nightclub. In fact, I lived upstairs in the nightclub."
The fall of BitInstant was just as quick as its rise.
In March 2013, regulators enforced a ruling that outlined what type of companies were now considered money transmitters.
Suddenly, BitInstant was operating without a license. "We couldn't take the risk of operating illegally," Shrem said in the podcast, "so we shut down...It was heartbreaking."
Eight months later, Shrem travelled to Amsterdam to speak at a conference. It was when he returned toJFK airport that he was confronted by a dozen law enforcement officials, a joint task force of the FBI, IRS, DEA and other officials, he said in the podcast.
Shrem had knowinglyfacilitated transactions to a re-seller, Robert Faiella, whose customers were using the Silk Road, an underground bitcoin only marketplace where people buy and sell illegal drugs. The re-seller was also trying to deposit more money than the new money transmitter laws allowed for, and these transactions were done behind the scenes to get around reporting requirements.
On September 4 2014, Faiella and Shrem both pled guilty in connection with the sale of approximately $1 million in bitcoins for use on the Silk Road website.
“Robert Faiella and Charlie Shrem opted to travel down a crooked path – running an illegal money transmitting business that catered to criminals bent on trafficking narcotics on the dark web drug site, Silk Road," Prett Bharara,United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement at the time.
Shrem, who was also Chief Compliance Officer of BitInstant and thus in charge of compliance with federal anti-money laundering (AML) laws, was fully aware that Silk Road was a drug-trafficking website andthat he was operating a Bitcoin exchange service for Silk Road users.
Nevertheless, he "knowingly facilitated Faiella’s business with the company in order to maintain Faiella's business as a lucrative source of revenue, " according to the court report.
"Even though it was Shrem’s job to enforce the Company’s AML restrictions...[he] failed to file a single suspicious activity report with the US Treasury Department about Faiella's illicit activity...and deliberately helped Failla circumvent the Company’s AML restrictions."
Shrem knew what he was doing, he said in the podcast, and he admits his guilt.
Prison "was no country club, but it wasn't Rikers Island either," he explained in the podcast.
One out of every ten prisoners were white collar criminals - a state senator, a judge, and a few law enforcement officials were among his group. They were all nonviolent offenders so the fear wasn't as great as in maximum security persons.
That's not to say it was easy settling in.
"Everything here is word of mouth," he said in the podcast. "There is no Google, information is trickling in. I think the hardest part is learning to use my own resources to grow, and not the internet."
On the outside, he had this Bitcoin celebrity status, he said, and in the prison, nobody knew him nor did they care about him. "I needed to humble myself."
Of particular fascination to Shrem was the prison currency system, which involved bartering mackerels. According to anarticle in the Wall Street Journal, there hasbeen a mackerel economy in federal prisons since about 2004, when federal prisons prohibited smoking and, by default, the cigarette pack, which was the earlier gold standard. Prisoners need a proxy for thedollar because they're not allowed to possess cash.
Every inmate can only buy 14 mackerels per week, said Shrem, so there is a certain number in circulation in the prison. Also, not all mackerels are created equal. The fish expire after about 3 years, after which their value depreciates. Expired mackerels, referred to as "money macks," retain 75% of the value of the "eating macks," or non-expired fish, explained Shrem. There were currency exchanges between the two, and everything had two prices in the prison.
(Wikimedia Commons)
One day, a large number of mackerels were confiscated by prison guards and left out for any prisoner to take. Overnight, the guards essentially introduced hyperinflation, said Shrem, and flooded the market. They lost all of their value.
This got Shrem thinking. He started to think about the value of digitizing the prison economy and putting it on theblockchain.
If there was a shared, distributed ledger among say adozen inmates, everyone would have a real-time record of all transactions that occurred in the prison. All members would have to verify and validate a transaction to make sure it was legitimate before taking place.
"Everyone has a financial incentive to make sure the system maintains its integrity," said Shrem.
The experience reminded him of how blockchain could not only be useful, but also necessary - not only in the financial services world, but in the prison world. "Itavoids the guards having power over the value of the mackerel.
Shrem's belief in the power of the bitcoin blockchain and the elimination of the middleman continues. He sees the digital currency as a "great equalizer" and believes that bitcoin will do to money what email did to the postal service. "It will allow everyone to be equal."
Despite Shrem's optimism, the hype around Bitcoin seems to have died down from initial levels. Now, the investment and the excitementseems to be focused on theblockchain, the technology behind bitcoin.
Digital currencies have also been challenged by recent security issues.In August, hackers stole $72 million worth of bitcoin from accounts at the Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. And in June, hackers stole $55 million worth of ether, a bitcoin rival. The nonprofit that runs ether, Ethereum Foundation, just rolled back the chain. It's as if the hack never took place, and business returned to normal. But that worries purists like Shrem.
He continues to be a staunch believer in the integrity of the blockchain and denounces Ethererum's decision to roll back the chain, even though he said he is friends with the founder."Once you change the ledger for one specific reason, then you've already set the precedent."
"I used to be a bitcoin maximalist, thinking bitcoin is the one and only blockchain," he said to Wall & Broadcast. "Now I believe that alternate chains can and do exist."
NOW WATCH:A Harvard business professor explains a legal form of 'insider trading' in America
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• Here's why the Chinese love bitcoin || Award Winning Flow Lend Issues Over US$1M in Mobile Credit in Less than Six Months: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Dec 20, 2016) -Flowhas been keeping its prepaid mobile customers connected with its cashless mobile top-up app,Flow Lend, which advanced more than US$1Million in less than six months in mobile credit -- and, in partnership withJUVO, won theMondato Innovation Award for Digital Finance and Commerce (DFC)earlier this month.
James McElvanna, VP Products,Cable and Wireless, operator of Flow said, "We are proud to have partnered with JUVO to develop an app that addresses the needs of our customers, which in this case is anytime, anywhere access. Since many of our prepaid customers don't use credit cards, and usually rely on in-store cash top ups, Flow Lend gives them the assurance that they can always stay connected, even when they are out of cash and can't make it to a top-up station. We're happy to provide this convenient option to our customers, and we're honoured to be recognized for our efforts and investment in technology that has transformed our customers' experience."
Steve Polsky, Founder and CEO of JUVO said, "C&W is a true partner and we are thrilled to be working with their team to offer Flow customers real time access to credit to help them stay connected. Receiving the Mondato Innovation Award, along with the high volume of credit advances issued via Flow Lend, reaffirms the real need for this solution -- and we're excited to provide the Identity Scoring technology that powers it."
All prepaid mobile customers who top up regularly are eligible for credit advance from Flow Lend. The app tracks the frequency of top ups and other usage patterns to determine which customers have met the requirements for an advance. Once approved, customers can use Flow Lend to request instant, interest-free credit when they're running low. The loan amount must be repaid within 30 days via any regular Flow top up method. By consistently paying back on time, they can gradually borrow more and never have to worry about running out of credit.
"We are addressing a real need for many of our customers who may have little or no credit and may be caught in a situation where they desperately need to be in contact," said McElvanna, highlighting the app's benefits. "For example, the mother who needs to call the doctor's office to make an appointment for her sick child no longer has to wait until she has the cash to go buy credit; the teenager who's nearing a low balance late at night doesn't have to leave the comfort and security of his/her home to visit a top up centre. Regardless of the circumstance, Flow Lend is available to our customers, anytime, anywhere."
Flow Lend isavailable in all Flow's mobile markets across the regionfor bothAndroidandiOSsmartphones.
EDITORS NOTE:About Mondato Innovation Award for Digital Finance and Commerce (DFC)The Mondato Awardswere created to recognize excellence and innovation in Digital Finance and Commerce (MFC) andDigital Finance Plus (DF+). The winners represent some of the most innovative DFC and DF+ solutions from emerging startups, as well as established companies paving new paths in the industry. C&W Communications in partnership with Juvo received the 2016 award.
Juvo was founded with an overarching vision: to establish financial identities for the billions of people worldwide who are creditworthy, yet financially excluded. In partnership with mobile network operators, Juvo's proprietary Identity Scoring technology uses data science, machine learning and game mechanics to create an identity-based relationship with anonymous prepaid users, opening up access to otherwise unattainable mobile financial services.
Juvo is a privately held company backed by global business leaders and luminaries in the world of tech, mobile and finance. Its executive team comprises accomplished industry leaders across the data science, consumer internet, financial services and mobile telecom fields.
Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Miami, London, Buenos Aires, Manila, Jakarta and Hanoi, Juvo has a reach of over 100 million subscribers across four continents and is deployed in 23 countries. For more information, follow us onTwitterorLinkedIn, or find us atwww.juvo.com
All trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
About C&W CommunicationsCWC is a full-service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty GlobalLiberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband, internet, and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) and (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com.
Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3093327Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3093322Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3093330 || Here's how traders are positioned ahead of Election Day: The " Fast Money " traders shared their strategies before Americans pick either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton as the next president. Trader Steve Grasso cautioned investors to wait for closure from the election before shuffling their portfolios. He said he would mostly hold cash going into the election. Trader Brian Kelly said he is holding gold going into the election. For one, it works as a tail-risk hedge in the situation where Trump wins, but Kelly explained that both major party candidates will push up inflation expectations. For investors looking to stay long in the financial sector, trader Guy Adami said to look at U.S. Bancorp as it's "the most conservative bank out there." Disclosures: GUY ADAMI Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and silver futures, US Dollar UUP. He is short the Japanese yen and the euro. STEVE GRASSO Steve Grasso is long: BA, CC, CHK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MON, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. His children own: EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. No shorts. Grasso's firm is long: APC, VIRT, DVN, LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, GE, AIR FP. TIM SEYMOUR Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, CVX, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: EEM, SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, TCEHY, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, and short EWG, HYG, IWM. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Bitcoin's total value hits record high above $14 billion: By Jemima Kelly
LONDON (Reuters) - The total value of all bitcoins in circulation hit a record high above $14 billion on Thursday, as the web-based digital currency jumped 5 percent on the day to its highest levels in three years after more than doubling in price this year.
The price of one bitcoin reached $875 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its strongest level since January 2014, putting the cryptocurrency on track for its best daily performance in six months.
That compared with levels around $435 at the start of the year, with many experts linking bitcoin's rise with the steady depreciation of the Chinese yuan, which has slid almost 7 percent this year.
Data shows the majority of bitcoin trading is done in China, so any increase in demand from there tends to have a significant impact on the price.
Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" that can move money across the globe quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority. That makes it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's.
The digital currency is still some way off the peaks it scaled in late 2013, when it traded as high as $1,163 on the Bitstamp exchange.
But because more bitcoins continue to be added to the system, currently at a rate of 12.5 every 10 minutes, its total value - or "market cap" - on Thursday surpassed the 2013 peak of around $14.01 billion. That puts its total value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company.
Charles Hayter, founder of data analysis website Cryptocompare, said bitcoin had been helped higher by demonetization in India, and by global political uncertainty.
"If that trend continues, bitcoin is a good thematic play on the fracturing of our global norms as a flight to safety," he said.
(Reporting by Jemima Kelly, editing by Nigel Stephenson) || The 'failure' of election polling was about 3 key things: Before voting began on Election Day, nearly every major poll was predicting a Hillary Clinton win by 2-4 percentage points. When the smoke cleared Wednesday morning, Donald Trump had won.
In the wake of Trump’s surprise win, arguably the biggest fascination has been the failure of the polls.Politicoasked, “How did everyone get it so wrong?”Fusionasked how it went “so, so, so wrong?”Harvard Business Reviewwrote that pollsters were “completely and utterly wrong.”
Yes, the polling was wrong—but the reasons why are numerous, and nuanced, and will take a long time to fully parse and understand. In addition, it wasn’t just the polls that went wrong, but also the media’s interpretation of the polls.
One of the biggest theories as to what the polls missed was the idea of “shy Trump voters” who didn’t want to say when polled that they were planning to vote for Trump, but always knew.
White women, in particular, proved to be a surprise: 53% of them voted for Trump overall, led by those without a college degree, who went for Trump by a 2-1 margin. White women with a college degree went for Clinton, but only barely, by six percentage points. “There’s your shy Trump vote,”tweeted Kristen Soltis Anderson, a pollster at Echelon Insights.
Andersonlater addedthat a bigger problem than secret Trump voters was “a phony mirage of a Clinton vote.” Trump got fewer votes than McCain did in 2008 and Romney did in 2012 and won anyway, because too many Democrats didn’t vote.
Indeed, polling also fails to account for turnout, which was the lowest overall it has been since 2000. (Latino turnout was up from 2012 and skewed toward Clinton, but not by enough to beat Trump.) All non-white ethnic groups went for Clinton, as did millennials—but not enough of them voted.
AsHarvard Business Reviewpoints out, “People tend to say they’re going to vote even when they won’t… the failure of a complex likely voter model is why Gallup got out of the election forecasting business.”
As much as big data (and the technology to sift through it) has advanced, our methods of gathering data are still dated. Most of the national polls are still done by landline telephone. And that has been a problem for over a decade now.
In 2003, Gallup wrote a post about thefalling response ratesin polls. If you start with a target sample size of 1,000 households, Gallup wrote, at least 200 households fall out because they are businesses or non-working numbers. Of the 800 left, another 200 “may be unreachable in the time frame allocated by the researcher… household members at these numbers may use caller ID or other screening devices and refuse to answer.” Now you’re down to 600, of which 200 more people may pick up the phone but refuse to participate in the poll. Suddenly, the sample size has shrunk from 1,000 to a mere 400 households. Declining to pick up the phone, or declining to participate in the poll, may have been a particular problem with this election polling.
The shrinking sample size is a significant problem. As pollster Andersontweeted, the “only way you can bring down margin of error is to raise sample size.” That’s not easily done.
In an interview withBloomberg, Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer pointed to “the continuing barrier of the lack of landlines, the erosion of landlines” as a particular problem this cycle. Bloombergwrote it in October: “Your mobile phone is killing the polling industry.” And Matthew Nisbet atThe Breakthroughnoted back in 2012, “Other under-reported sources of error also factor into a poll’s accuracy, including the greater reliance on cell phones.”
Online polling is a newer method, but has its own problems. Trump campaign managerKellyanne Conway said back in August, after a Trump dip in the polls, that the candidate “performs consistently better in online polling where a human being is not talking to another human being about what he or she may do in the elections.” TheWashington Postpointed out that this wasn’t the case overall—on average, Trump wasn’t doing better in online polls than in telephone polls.
However, a Morning Consult post from Nov. 3 (with nearly the now-suspect headline, “Yes, there are shy Trump voters. No, they won’t swing the election”) pointed out that Trump was doing 1% better in online polls than phone polls, a difference small enough to be dismissed. But here was the key line in the Morning Consult post: “Trump’s edge over Clinton online instead of in phone polling is especially pronounced among people with a college degree or people who make more than $50,000… more-educated voters were notably less likely to say they were supporting Trump during a phone poll than in an online survey.” That was the exact slice of voters that went for Trump more than anyone expected.
So it isn’t black-and-white whether phone or online polls are better, and it isn’t clear that phone polls should die; but it is clear that methods of polling need to evolve and improve, and that the best route to get as many data sets as possible is a combination of different methods.
After an initial immediate backlash to the polls, a newer narrative is already emerging: the polls didn’t fail as terribly as everyone is saying they did.
Many are pointing out that Clinton looks likely to win the popular vote (although barely, and by a smaller margin than Gore won it in 2000). If Clinton does win the popular vote by around one percentage point, then polls that showed Clinton winning by two or three points were only one or two points inflated. Moreover, polls come with a margin of error that in many cases did cover the eventual difference.
The problem is that in a 140-character media landscape, margin of error is often left out, or squeezed into posts and articles as an asterisk.
The election polls were actually off by less than Brexit polls were off. And Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight pointed out on Thursday morning that this year’s polls were in fact more accurate than in 2012. That year, polls generally predicted a slim Obama win margin of 1 percentage point, and he won by 4 points. This time, the polls gave Clinton a margin of 3-4 points, and she looks likely to win the popular vote by 1 or 2.
Of course, that defense won’t exactly quell outrage over the polling (just look at the replies to Silver’s tweet), because the polls in 2012 didn’t call the wrong winner. There’s a big difference between Obama winning by a larger margin than polls said he’d win by, and Trump winning when polls said Clinton would win.
And to be sure, a fair retort to Silver and others claiming that the polls weren’tthatwrong is that the result here was binary: polls could either predict the right winner or the wrong winner. Almost all of them predicted the wrong winner.
Polls are estimates. They are aprojectionof what appears likely to happen, within a margin of error. But we take them too literally. As Fairleigh Dickinson University professor Peter Woolleytold Bloomberg, “We tend to over-report the accuracy of the poll, and tend to forget very quickly that it’s an estimate within a range.” The biggest problem with the polls this time around, then, wasn’t actually the polls, but our interpretation of them.
Because the vast majority of the polls (all of them but two, from USC/LA Times and IBD/TIPP) had Clinton winning, the media and the public counted on a Clinton win, ignoring the fact that most polls had her winning only slightly, and many had a margin of error that allowed for the opposite result. The volume and noise drowned out nuance.
In a September article inThe Atlantic(appropriately headlined, “Taking Trump seriously”), Salena Zito wrote of Trump, “The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” The media spent time picking over everything Trump said as though he were serious, when he often wasn’t, and didn’t take him seriously as a legitimate threat to Clinton; his voters didn’t worry too much about each individual shocking sound bite, but took him seriously as a candidate.
In a column published after Trump’s victory,Maureen Dowdof The New York Times pointed to Zito’s line as a “prescient” one, and it truly was—it describes not just the result of the election, but the problem with how the media embraced the polls. Pundits – and the public – took the polls literally.
Many are now asking whether polls are even useful if they can be so wrong. Does the Trump surprise win kill the polling industry? Hardly. Polling isn’t going anywhere, but the methods need to improve, and we must temper our embrace of the predictions they yield. They are only that: predictions.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
Read more:
Trump ‘trounced’ Clinton in his use of Facebook video
Facebook and Twitter played very different roles in the 2016 election
Bitcoin price flies after Trump is elected
What it was like to listen to Trump and Clinton debate on the radio || American Express is increasing its late fees: (BI Intelligence)
This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, pleaseclick here.
American Express will be the first major credit card issuer to raise its late payment fees under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s updated allowable limit, according to theWall Street Journal.
At the start of 2017, Amex will begin charging a fee of up to $38 to customers with more than one late payment in a six month period. That's $1 more than what was previously charged by the card issuer, but could give the firm a solid revenue boost.
Late fees could prove to be very lucrative in the current card market.
• As credit card usage increases, it's likely the number of delinquent accounts will also grow. Credit card accounts and usage are close to pre-recession numbers once again,accordingto Forbes. That's leading to a big rise in usage — US credit card debt is on track to hit $1 trillion this year, according to theWall Street Journal. That could help explain the rise in delinquent accounts — since 2013, the percentage of accounts at least 90 days delinquent six months after origination has increased, according to Forbes.
• Late fees could be a vital revenue source. Nearly one in five active credit-card accounts incur a late fee, according to CFPB data used by the Wall Street Journal. This is significant, considering credit card companies were able to collect roughly $10.8 billion in fees during 2015 from these late payments.
And for Amex, that revenue could be critical as the issuer grapples with the loss of Costco.Based on 2015 numbers, if Amex is able to capture just 1% of the late fee market, that's roughly $100 million in revenue — a figure that could grow as the market expands following the updated allowable limit. Although this revenue could boost any card network, it could be particularly beneficial to Amex in light of the firm's sale of its Costco cobrand portfolio to Citigroup earlier this year.
Costco had 11.6 million cardholders and accounted for 8% of the firm's $1 trillion global billed business in 2015. As the firm realizes the impact of the Costco sale, it is looking for additional sources of revenue. Finding a way to capitalize on growing card spend and delinquencies could be one such way among a variety of strategies.
The CFPB's new guidelines could have a significant effect on the payments ecosystem, which has grown in the last several years to include merchants, issuers, acquirers, processors, and more.
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compileda detailed report on the payments ecosystemthat drills into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
• 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices.
• Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play.
• Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified.
In full, the report:
• Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond.
• Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers.
• Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step.
• Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more.
• Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >>START A MEMBERSHIP
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the payments ecosystem.
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• THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY EXPLAINED: The Trends Creating New Winners And Losers In The Card-Processing Ecosystem
• THE DIGITAL REMITTANCE REPORT: The new platforms disrupting a $600 billion industry
• Credit cards are going the way of fax machines || Bitcoin is flying after Donald Trump's victory: In May, a Juniper Research study (“Will Bitcoins Bite Back?“) predicted that the price of the digital currency bitcoin would jump if Donald Trump were elected. On Tuesday, Trump was elected, and bitcoin jumped. The currency is up nearly 3% since Tuesday night, hovering around $725.
“If Donald Trump becomes President of the US,” said Dr. Winslow Holdenin a statement with the study, “there is the very real prospect of turmoil on world markets… Bitcoin would thrive in such an environment.”
Bitcoin has in fact been on the rise all fall,not only because of the election. The price is up 19% in the last month, 23% in the last three months, and 68% in 2016. But in the next few days and perhaps months, the uncertainty after Trump’s win will likely serve as an accelerant.
Investors see bitcoin as a safe haven from fiat currencies (hence why it rises when the Chinese yuan falls), and an asset largely untied to mainstream markets. Gold typically behaves the same way, and indeed,gold shot up to $1,320 on Tuesday night as Trump closed in on the presidency, though it fell back to earth on Wednesday and is now at $1,275.
Bitcoin’s October rise has been mostly due to heightened activity in China, where the yuan is falling and the government has tightened capital controls. Bitcoin prices also spikedduring the bank shutdown in Greecelast year.
Juniper Research says the Brexit vote, back in June, is still having an impact as well: “The ongoing ramifications around Brexit are also likely to act as an additional spur for higher activity levels.”
IfBrexit helped contribute to a bitcoin bump, then Trump’s win is likely to do it, too. Many were quick to compare the surprising result of the US election to the EU referendum result. Trump, in the days before the election, told crowds that his win would be like “Brexit plus plus plus,” and nicknamed himself “Mr. Brexit.”
While Trump and bitcoin might seem to have something in common (Coin Telegraphmade the case that Trump would eventually cozy up to the coin), his campaign never accepted donations in bitcoin. Hillary Clinton’s campaign considered accepting donations in bitcoin, aleaked email thread revealed,but John Podesta was more intrigued by the digital currency Ven, writing that bitcoin suffers from a “libertarian Ayn Rand schtick.” Sen. Rand Paul and Gov. Gary Johnson were the only two presidential candidates to accept bitcoin.
It doesn’t matter now: Trump won, and bitcoin benefited without his support. The coin doesn’t need Trump to champion it in order to succeed.
The defining word of this US election is the same word that defined the Brexit vote: “uncertainty.” As the Juniper Research report noted, bitcoin’s price rose in the weeks leading up to the Brexit vote, then fell a little bit just before the vote when the outcome looked clear, then spiked when the outcome was, in fact, a big surprise. Expect the same to happen after Trump’s win.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
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The latest bitcoin price surge isn’t just about Brexit
Here’s where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || Garfield Sinclair Appointed Head of Caribbean for C&W: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Dec 16, 2016) - Garfield (Garry) Sinclair was today announced as President, Caribbean for Cable & Wireless Communications ("C&W" or "The Company"). The position has responsibility for operations in 15 territories across the region, including C&W's Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados markets. John Reid, CEO of C&W, who was recently confirmed as top executive of the region-leading full service operator, said: "Our business is entering a new phase of its development and evolution, and I am excited about the expertise, experience and passion for customers that Garry brings to what is a critical role." As head of the Caribbean, Sinclair will be responsible for the strategic execution, financial performance and reputation of the Caribbean business, developing the Company's growth opportunities, in particular triple-play, mobile data and fixed-mobile convergence, as well as capturing the growing demand for business-to-business services. Sinclair, a Jamaica national, is uniquely qualified to lead the Caribbean business given his twenty years' experience in developing growth opportunities and transformation in organizations across the region. In his role as President and COO of investment bank Dehring Bunting & Golding, Garry grew a start-up business to be key player in the Caribbean financial services industry. More recently, for the past seven years as CEO of Cable & Wireless Jamaica he has successfully led the operation's transformation, growing the mobile subscriber base from two hundred thousand to almost one million customers, as well as leading the Company's 800+ employees through the integration of the Columbus and C&W businesses to become the country's leading converged telecoms operator. In addition, his range of Board appointments including financial institutions, youth empowerment and the Jamaica Football Federation demonstrates Sinclair's leadership experience and passion for Caribbean development, qualities key to C&W's development and growth across the Caribbean. Story continues "I am honored to lead our Caribbean business into the next chapter of its development. I look forward to working with our 3,300 employees across the region as we look to seize the opportunity to develop our products and services, continue the transformation of our operations, and lead the region in innovation and quality of customer experience," said Sinclair. Sinclair's appointment will take effect on January 1, 2017; in addition he will continue to oversee C&W's Jamaica business directly until the appointment of new leadership for that operation later in the New Year. About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Liberty Global invests in the infrastructure that empowers its customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Liberty Global's scale and commitment to innovation enables it to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect its 29 million customers who subscribe to 60 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. Liberty Global also serves over 10 million mobile subscribers and offers WiFi service across seven million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) and ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for its European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of its operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3092379 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3092382
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
¿Tienes un #proyecto bitcoin y aun no haz podido empezar? Conoce algunas formas en las que puedes financiarlo http://ow.ly/OIER307eatX || ¿Qué es Bitcoin? Y las monedas virtuales (en Español) http://bit.ly/1GzRRch #inversión #Finanzas || $704.05 at 12:00 UTC [24h Range: $699.66 - $707.43 Volume: 2975 BTC] || MMMBTC || #bitcoin Commerce Will increase by 1,800% at BitPay http://bitcoinagile.com/9FB2C5/bitcoin-commerce-will-increase-by-1800-at-bitpay_stream …pic.twitter.com/vrcOqrLtRw || MISSED BITCOIN DONT MISS THIS
PR REG NOW legal block chain DO NOT MISS THIS
http://tcpros.co/5XhMx #crypto #blockchain #money #uk || What are people saying about SegWit? via /r/Bitcoin http://bit.ly/2h2QXhs pic.twitter.com/VCtJzSN4SD || MMMBTC || $753.38 #bitfinex;
$740.99 #btce;
$752.49 #GDAX;
$750.82 #bitstamp;
$752.00 #kraken;
$751.92 #itBit;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || #TrollCoin #TROLL $0.000043 (-1.79%) 0.00000006 BTC (0.00%)
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Trend: up || Prices: 896.18, 907.61, 933.20, 975.92, 973.50, 961.24, 963.74, 998.33, 1021.75, 1043.84
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
First Mover Asia: Bitcoin Continues Narrow Trading Range; Ether Pops Back Into the Green: Good morning. Here’s what’s happening: Market moves: Bitcoin continued to range, while ether turned to green. Technician’s take: Some price-chart indicators show the potential for a short-term BTC bounce if support holds. Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis. Prices Bitcoin ( BTC ): $45,856 -1.25% ( ETH ): $3,790 +0.70% Markets S&P 500: 4,793 -0.063% DJIA: 36,799 +0.59% Nasdaq: 15,622 -1.33% Gold: $1,814 +0.60% Market moves Bitcoin continued to trade in a narrowed range during U.S. trading hours on Tuesday, while ether reversed Monday’s loss, turning to green. At the time of writing, bitcoin, the oldest cryptocurrency, was trading slightly above $46,000 little changed in the past 24 hours, according to data from TradingView and Coinbase. Data from blockchain data firm Glassnode shows that with bitcoin’s little movement, short-term holders are bearing most of the pain, which creates increased sell-side pressure. Credit: Glassnode The realized price, a metric that values each bitcoin at the time when it was last spent on the blockchain, of bitcoin’s short-term holders was trading at roughly $51,400, according to Glassnode vs. $24,400 and $17,700 for the overall market and long-term holders, respectively. Bitcoin’s short-term holders “on aggregate [are] underwater on their investment, and are the most likely to create sell-side resistance,” Glassnode wrote in its newsletter on Jan 3. Ether, meanwhile, recovered some losses yesterday, moving above $3,800 at the time of writing, according to data from TradingView and Coinbase. A few other layer 1 tokens also gained on Tuesday: Tokens of smart contract platforms such as Internet Computer, Cosmos, and Celo were among some of the biggest winners of the day, based on data from Messari. The de-correlation of alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) with bitcoin’s price may also put further pressure on bitcoin’s price, according to an analyst. “The bull case remains for bitcoin, but it will be a much harder year as many traders will also focus on altcoins,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, the Americas, wrote in his daily market update on Tuesday. Story continues Technician’s take Bitcoin Declines Toward Support at $44K-$45K as Analysts Await Price Bounce Bitcoin (BTC) was declining toward the $44,000-$45,000 support zone at the time of writing and is roughly flat over the past 24 hours. Indicators suggest a possible price bounce, albeit limited toward the $55,000 resistance level. BTC has been stuck in a month-long trading range after a near 20% crash in early December discouraged some buyers. Since then, the relative strength index ( RSI ) signaled a few oversold readings, although price gains have been muted compared to prior signals. Katie Stockton, managing partner at Fairlead Strategies , a technical research firm, also noticed counter-trend signals which typically precede a price bounce. A daily price close above $46,334 (at 8 p.m. ET) would confirm a positive signal, which would increase the possibility of a rise toward $55,644, according to Stockton. CoinDesk TV In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of “First Mover” on CoinDesk TV : Breaking Down Web 3., The Near Foundation, Kavita Gupta’s New Fund “First Mover” dove into Web 3, what it means to different blockchain leaders, and do their plans include Ethereum? Joining the show to discuss this major theme of 2022 were the Near Foundation’s new CEO, Marieke Flament, and Kavita Gupta, founder of the new Delta Blockchain Fund. Also, Ronnie Moas of Standpoint Research shared his crypto markets analysis. Latest Headlines CoinDesk Joins Court Case Seeking Access to NYAG Tether Documents Tether wants the state Supreme Court to stop the attorney general’s office from sharing documents requested by CoinDesk. CoinDesk is now a party to the proceedings. Nvidia Makes Its Metaverse-Building Software Free for Individual Creators The tech giant also added new features and partners to Omniverse, its real-time 3D design collaboration and virtual world simulation platform. Today’s crypto explainer: How to Invest in the Metaverse || How the Economics of Bitcoin and Ethereum Shape Their Cultures: Cryptocurrencies are cryptocultures. These cultures express themselves through different means, but the primary form of cultural expression is economics. Each blockchain represents an experiment in economics and the implied society this economics will create. The most famous and well-known experiment is bitcoin. Satoshi Nakamoto introduces bitcoin with the term “electronic cash.” Originally , bitcoin is presented as a complete money that has both cash-like properties and, as a consequence of its consensus mechanism, gold-like properties. Bitcoin will act in parallel as a medium of exchange and a store of value. This article is part of Culture Week , which explores how crypto is changing media and entertainment. Nakamoto displayed cypherpunk and libertarian instincts. Cash-like properties in a digital money secures privacy – in theory, at least – and gold-like properties ensure scarcity. Implied in diminishing block reward returns is a maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins. The cash narrative has had mixed fortunes. Many users did not use Bitcoin as intended and opted to use centralized exchanges as their wallets, undermining privacy. The appreciating price of bitcoin also ensured nobody would spend them on coffee. We see flickers of bitcoin as cash in places like El Salvador, but arguably at the price of contradiction, as non-state money becomes state money. Another cultural sticking point is that it is a monetary network with a monetary policy that cannot be altered. That there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins has fostered a subtle belief in what I call monetary minimalism. Monetary minimalism places the governance of money in a decentralized software system and minimizes human interference beyond the upkeep of the system. In order to introduce a monetary policy change, like raising the maximum supply of bitcoins, it would be necessary for the majority of stakeholders to adopt the new consensus rules. It is conceivable bitcoin culture evolves in such a way, but right now such a radical alteration of the monetary policy is highly unlikely . Since bitcoin users are attracted to it precisely as an alternative to the managed monies of the fiat currency system, this situation would mean bitcoin had ceased to be bitcoin, as originally intended. Story continues Ethereum’s economics are an interesting contrast to bitcoin’s monetary minimalism. It is important to state, especially in today’s needlessly adversarial environment, that Ethereum is not primarily concerned with economics. Rather, Ethereum is first and foremost a distributed world computer with its own native currency. However, it can be imagined as a kind of home for the vast token economy built on top of it: DAOs, DeFi, NFTs (or decentralized autonomous organizations, decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens, respectively). Ethereum’s native token, ether or ETH, is framed in the white paper in quite pragmatic terms. It has a “dual purpose.” The first is to act as a “liquidity layer to allow for efficient exchange between various types of digital assets.” The second is that small amounts called “gas” are required when making transactions or deploying and using smart contracts. Ether is framed as functional and comes across more like money in the contemporary understanding. Its productive use enables the expansion of economic activities. Since the Ethereum project is not primarily money-oriented, we find ether discussed more as a tool to be managed. Ether does not have a maximum supply – it is not designed as libertarian’s store-of-value – but issuance has been decreased at times and a mechanism for burning ETH (EIP-1599) has some deflationary effects. In these cases, the native currency has been managed in order to address current technical problems or to prepare for long-term improvements, such as the transition to The Merge (an upcoming upgrade that will shift Ethereum to a new consensus mechanism called proof-of-stake ). This is a form of monetary minarchism . Monetary minarchism allows limited management of a world computer’s native currency in order to improve the world computer. The competing economic visions offered here are, I claim, temporal ones. Bitcoin, as writer Lana Swartz puts it, is a ”theory of society” involving the collapse of the fiat system and bitcoin as the beneficiary of that collapse. Bitcoin is presented as a hedge against what the community sees as inherent contradictions of fiat currencies. It is, in this narrative, an inevitability. See also: You Can Be a Bitcoin Maximalist and Like Ethereum, Too | Opinion However, the contemporary bitcoin community does not suggest this as an immediate concern, but an event on the horizon. The task of the bitcoin user is therefore to forego now – save, accumulate, don’t spend – in order to benefit later (inverting the time-preference theory ). Following accumulative strategy, the stereotypical “hodler” may appear to outsiders as almost evangelical and his emphasis on saving, ascetic. But with rising interests rates it is arguable that the deflationary alternative of bitcoin may become more and more attractive to the general public. The economics of Ethereum have a more immediate attraction. Because Ethereum is the meta-economy housing smaller sub-economies (DAOs, DeFi, NFTs) it offers a different escape route from economic stagnation. Ether has the characteristics of a productive asset where interesting work (DAOs), attractive interest rates (DeFi) and scarce digital assets (NFTs) can be discovered. This productive stance – the stereotypical “degen” – can appear to outsiders as almost reckless and the emphasis on spending irresponsible, but with a stagnating economy it is arguable that the productive alternative of Ethereum may become more and more attractive to the general public. Monetary minimalism and minarchism are distinct, but we would do well to remember both are on the same side, standing opposite to the fiat monetary system. || Bitcoin Drops to 6-Month Low, Ether Eyes Bearish Cross as US Stock Index Futures Erase Early Gains: Bitcoin, ether and the broader crypto market faced another wave of selling during Monday's European trading hours as U.S. stock index futures erased early gains, signaling an extension of last week's risk declines. Bitcoin fell to $33,600, its lowest level since July 24, even as technical indicators signaled oversold conditions. The leading cryptocurrency has declined 27% this month and is struggling to find a price floor with whales or large investors staying on the sidelines . Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, slid 10% to $2,270, the lowest since July 28, according to CoinDesk data. The native token of Ethereum's blockchain has lost 38% this month. Ether could soon see a bitcoin-like death cross, a bearish cross of the 50- and 200-day moving averages. Bitcoin has dropped over $10,000 since confirmation of the negative crossover earlier this month. Other prominent coins like Solana' SOL, Cardano's ADA and Polkadot's DOT fell 12% to 15%. The latest sell-off comes after Goldman Sachs predicted a faster pace of Fed tightening if inflation continues to rise. The heightened geopolitical tensions between U.S. and Russia could be adding to bearish pressures around risk assets, in general. We see a risk that the [Federal Open Market Committee] will want to take some tightening action at every meeting until the inflation picture changes, Goldman economist David Mericle said in a note to clients on Saturday, according to CNBC . The investment bank has penciled in four quarter-percentage-point rate hikes for this year. Fed fund futures are priced for nearly five rate increases. Most commentators have tipped the first increase in borrowing rates in March followed by three more at subsequent quarterly meetings. The ultra-hawkish expectations perhaps leave the door open for a relief rally if the central bank disappoints market expectations later this week by sticking to its December projection of three rate hikes in 2022. The Feds January policy meeting is due to start on Tuesday and the statement and interest rate projections will be published on Wednesday at 19:00 UTC. UPDATE (Jan. 24, 11:39 UTC): Adds bitcoin large investors in second bullet point, monthly drops; adds Fed background starting in eighth bullet. || US STOCKS-Nasdaq extends declines to fourth day on Netflix letdown: (For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Netflix plunges, weighs on other streamers
* Wall Street main indexes headed for weekly declines
* Indexes down: Dow 0.05%, S&P 0.49%, Nasdaq 0.81% (Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Bansari Mayur Kamdar
Jan 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell on Friday, with the Nasdaq set for its fourth straight day of declines after a weak forecast from Netflix sent its shares along with other streaming companies spiraling lower.
Netflix Inc plunged 22.7% after the streaming giant fell short of market forecast for new subscribers at the end of last year and offered a downbeat outlook for early 2022.
Shares of technology and media companies including Walt Disney Co, ViacomCBS and Roku that have invested heavily in streaming also fell between 4.3% and 5.0%.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors fell, with communication services down 1.7% at an eight-month low.
Analysts on Thursday raised doubts about business prospects of pandemic market favorites including Netflix and Peloton Interactive.
However, shares of Peloton recovered somewhat from the previous day's fall, gaining 4.2% after its chief executive denied a report that the exercise bike maker was halting some production and raised second-quarter revenue forecast.
"The pandemic winners are under pressure and that will likely continue. If everybody already has Netflix, it's hard to improve subscriber growth," said John Lynch, chief investment officer for Comerica Wealth Management in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Perhaps investors' expectations were a little stretched."
Other megacap growth companies such as Microsoft, Tesla and Apple are scheduled to report earnings next week.
Wall Street's main indexes tracked at least their third straight weekly declines, with the Nasdaq Composite set for its worst week since March 2020. The Nasdaq on Wednesday closed more than 10% below its all-time high hit in November, confirming it was in correction territory.
The tech-heavy index has particularly come under pressure after rising Treasury yields and expectations of a more aggressive Federal Reserve in controlling inflation hit growth shares.
The central bank's policy meeting next week will offer more clarity on its fight against surging inflation, after data earlier this month showed consumer prices rising to its highest level in four decades in December.
"Maybe by the middle of next week if we get some clarity from (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell, some of that pressure on stocks can subside as investors get more comfortable" Lynch added.
At 9:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 17.77 points, or 0.05%, at 34,697.62, the S&P 500 was down 21.93 points, or 0.49%, at 4,460.80 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 114.42 points, or 0.81%, at 14,039.60.
Single stock options totaling about $1.28 trillion were set to expire on Friday, potentially driving sharp market movements and impacting stocks that have very large call positions like Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google-parent Alphabet.
Bitcoin fell sharply on Friday, as investors moved away from riskier assets and after Russia proposed a ban on the use and mining of cryptocurrencies, dragging down crypto-linked stocks such as miner Hut 8 Mining Corp and crypto exchange Coinbase Global more than 10%.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.44-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 2.61-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and 17 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded four new highs and 624 new lows. (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) || CBD Life Sciences, Inc. (CBDL) Introduces First Bitcoin ATM Machine at Retail Location: SCOTTSDALE, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2021 /Today CBD Life Sciences (OTC PINK:CBDL) through its wholly owned subsidiary, LBC Bioscience Inc. announces that the company is going to be placing a Bitcoin ATM Machine in one of its retail locations in the upcoming weeks.
CBD Life Sciences Inc. has been producing several effective strategies and one of these strategies is to place a Bitcoin ATM Machine in one of its retail locations and as time goes on put about a dozen more machines in other CBD locations along with Medical Marijuana Facilities as the company moves forward. The Bitcoin ATM Machine CBD Life Sciences Inc. is working with is called the Finney3 which is the newest machine out on the market as of today. A bitcoin ATM allows customers to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The use of "ATM" is a misnomer. The machines are not actually ATMs and do not dispense cash. Rather, they are kiosks that connect to the bitcoin network and allow customers to purchase crypto tokens with deposited cash. Bitcoin ATMs are rarely operated by major financial institutions and do not connect customers to a bank account. President & CEO Lisa Nelson states "Overall, cryptocurrency is the future and by placing these kiosks in multiple locations, it will bring more foot traffic into someone's store." Lisa Nelson also states, "As a team, our goal is to be one step ahead of the competition and I think this is a great idea to help not only us, but other companies as well that may be interested in getting one of these machines in their store."
One of the most popular benefits of Bitcoin ATMs is the privacy they offer. Bitcoin was designed to be a private, secure, and decentralized unit of exchange. When you transfer Bitcoin from one wallet to another, the record of this is visible for anyone to see. However, as there is no link between your wallet and your identity, transactions are kept 100% private. Another reason for using Bitcoin ATMs, is they are very secure. While exchanges are commonly hacked and scams abound online, physical Bitcoin ATMs are pretty much tamper-proof. Besides being highly secure, Bitcoin ATMs also offer an instant way to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. Although transactions on online exchanges are speedy, the signup process can be very drawn out.
The number of benefits CBD has is tremendous! These benefits may help with behavioral/neurological complications such as ADD/ADHD, anxiety, autism, bipolar, OCD, PTSD, epilepsy, Parkinson's, osteoporosis, and ALS. CBD may also benefit pain management that can stem from headaches/migraines, arthritis, cramps, spinal injuries, and fibromyalgia. CBD has been found to also have gastrointestinal benefits with gastro-disorders and complications such as anorexia, cachexia, Crohn's, diabetes, and nausea. Physical complications/disorders such as muscular dystrophy and even immune system-based deficiencies and other complications such as cancer and hypertension even our bodies way and ability to maintain homeostasis have all been said to benefit from CBD.
LBC BIOSCIENCE INC. ONLINE STORE
LBC BIOSCIENCE'S Online Emporium
LBC Bioscience Inc. is well stocked already as it is with some very high-quality CBD offerings - all at very reasonable prices. Check out LBC Bioscience Inc's newest product offerings including its: 100MG CBD Bath Bombs in a variety of scents, Delta 8 Gummies, 1500 MG Premium Berry Drops, and a variety of all-new Skincare products. Or shop our top selling products (based on order frequency) which include our CBD Pain Cream, CBD Oils and CBD Pet Treats.
Become a Distributor
• Large Selection of Products (over 50 items and growing)
• 100% USA Made Products "organic & kosher."
• All Products are THC-FREE (they contain 0.00% THC)
• Weekly Deals (new deals every week)
• 25% off on all products using code "LBC25."
LBC Bioscience Inc. accepts: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover etc.
Shareholders and interest holders may also stay current with LBC Bioscience Inc Updates:
LBC Bioscience Inc's Main Website atwww.lbcbioscienceinc.comTwitter:https://www.twitter.com/lbcbioscienceFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/lbcbioscienceInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/lbcbioscience
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shops/lbcbioscienceinc
eBay: https://www.ebay.com/usr/lbcbioscience
Alibaba: https://lbcbioscience.trustpass.alibaba.com/
About LBC Bioscience Inc.LBC Bioscience Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CBD Life Sciences Inc. LBC has developed and is retailing/wholesale a full line of cannabidiol based organic products including CBD Drops, Gumballs, Honey Sticks, Pain Relief Creams, Anxiety & Sleep Supplements, Edibles, Coffee, Skincare Line, Pet Line, Tablets and more. LBC's products can be viewed and purchased on the Company's website atwww.lbcbioscienceinc.com.
Ten Associates LLCContact: Thomas E. NelsonTelephone: (480) 326-8577Email:tenassociates33@gmail.comWebsite:www.tenassociatesllc.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. See CBD Life Sciences, Inc's, Inc.'s filings with OTC Markets, which may identify specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflects management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Some of these factors include: general global economic conditions; general industry and market conditions, sector changes and growth rates; uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; increasing competition; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of services; changes in the economy; changes in laws and regulations, including codes and standards, intellectual property rights, and tax matters; or other matters not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
SOURCE:CBD Life Sciences Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/677390/CBD-Life-Sciences-Inc-CBDL-Introduces-First-Bitcoin-ATM-Machine-at-Retail-Location || Bitcoin Hash Rate Nears All-Time High as Mining Resettles: BeInCrypto The global hash rate is approaching an all-time high, as Bitcoin mining resettles in new countries following the vacuum left by China. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || Retirees Beware: Social Security Scams Poised To Increase in 2022 — Brush Up on the Latest Techniques: In 2021, internet scams were legion. Fromdating app scams,crypto and investment fraud, data breaches and evenGoogle ad thefts, chances are you or someone you know has been a victim. In 2022, some experts warn thatSocial Securityscams will be on the rise.
The Year in Review:The COLA Increase and Other Big Social Security DecisionsLearn:How To Tell If That Call From Social Security Is a Scam
The FBI reported that it receives more than 800,000 internet crime reports every year, which adds up to an estimated $4 billion in losses. Therefore, it’s of the utmost importance to be on the lookout for impostors who will say they’re from the IRS,Social Security Administration(SSA), lottery promoters, utility companies, banks and card companies, or even a friend or relative in distress. They’ll ask for payment using some untraceable methods such as money wiring services, Bitcoin payments,gift cardsand cash, according to the Rockford Register
Fortunately, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the SSA provide tips to protect consumers.
Social Security Scams:3 Common Requests and How To Report Them
First of all, the FTC reminds people on its website that the SSA will never call to request you to pay anything, nor threaten your benefits. Your caller ID might show the SSA’s real phone number (1-800-772-1213), but that’s not the real SSA calling. Computers make it easy to show any number on caller ID. “You can’t trust what you see there,” according to the SSA.
It also warns to never give your Social Security number to anyone who contacts you — not even the last 4 digits. Giving a bank account or credit card number to anybody who contacts you also goes against your best interest and shouldn’t be done under any circumstance.
“Remember that anyone who tells you to wire money, pay with a gift card, or send cash is a scammer. Always. No matter who they say they are,” it says.
Related:Social Security: When Your Provisional Income Can Lead to 100% Tax-Free Benefits
In addition, the SSA reminds people on its website that “if there is a problem, we will mail you a letter. Generally, we will only contact you if you have requested a call or have ongoing business with us.” The site adds that the latest scam trick of using robocalls or live callers has increased.
The SSA notes that scammers may threaten arrest or other legal action, or may offer to increase benefits, protect assets or resolve identity theft. They often demand payment via retail gift cards, wire transfers, pre-paid debit cards, internet currency or mailing cash.
“Our employees will never threaten you for information or promise a benefit in exchange for personal information or money,” it adds.
See:How To Avoid Being Scammed After a Natural DisasterUnemployment Fraud:Thieves Use Fake Job Ads To Collect Benefits
In summation, the SSA will never suspend Social Security numbers (SSN); demand immediate payment; require payment by cash, gift card, pre-paid debit card, internet currency, or wire transfer; or ask for personal details or banking information to give you acost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
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• 9 Easy Things You Can Do To Start Preparing For Retirement Now
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Retirees Beware: Social Security Scams Poised To Increase in 2022 — Brush Up on the Latest Techniques || Elon Musk Claims He Is Not the Creator of Bitcoin: During this year, Elon Musk has been very involved in the crypto world, especially in the Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) ecosystems. Yesterday, he was interviewed by Lex Fridman on his podcast and they discussed SpaceX, Mars, Tesla autopilot function, crypto and more. In the interview, during the crypto related part, they talked about Bitcoin and Dogecoin and Satoshi Nakamoto. He confirmed that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, but he talked about who might be. This is not the first time Elon Musk disclosed that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, back in November 2017 Sahil Gupta, an intern who worked at SpaceX, wrote on Medium that Elon Musk was Satoshi Nakamoto, but Elon denied it and said that he received some bitcoin a few years back but he had lost it. Elon Musk reveals who could be Satoshi Nakamoto This part was one of the most trending ones during the podcast, he said that Nick Szabo could be Satoshi Nakamoto, because of his evolution of the ideas behind Bitcoin. It seems as though Nick Szabo is probably, more than anyone else, responsible for the evolution of those ideas. He claims not to be Nakamoto, but Im not sure thats neither here nor there. But he seems to be the one more responsible for the ideas behind bitcoin than anyone else. Elon Musk said. In 2014 a group of linguistic researchers studied Bitcoin Whitepaper together with the writing of Nick Szabo and other 10 other possible creators, and the results were unquestionable. The number of linguistic similarities between Szabos writing and the bitcoin whitepaper is uncanny, the researchers said, adding that none of the other possible authors were anywhere near as good of a match. Bitcoin and Dogecoin on Musks point of view Elon Musk said in the interview that he thinks about Bitcoin as a store of value and not as a currency because when a currency is too deflationary and is expected to increase value over time, people prefer to HODL it instead of spending it. Musk also commented that Dogecoin has much higher transaction volume capability than Bitcoin, as well as lower transaction fees than Bitcoin, calling Bitcoins speed comically slow. Story continues Right now, if you want to do a Bitcoin transaction, the price of doing that transaction is very high so you could not use it effectively for most things, and nor could it even scale to high volume Elon said to Fridman Although Nick Szabo has denied many times that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, some facts continue to point at him as the creator of Bitcoin. It has been 13 years of Bitcoin creation and it is still unknown who created it and continues to be anonymous. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Silver Price Forecast Silver Markets Get Hammered on Wednesday Gold Price Prediction Prices Whipsaw on Profit Taking Natural Gas Price Prediction Prices Drop as Demand Declines The iShares U.S. Industrials ETF Eyes $115 as Rally Continues S&P 500 Price Forecast -Stock Markets Drifting Into the Holidays USD/CAD Exchange Rate Prediction The Dollar Slips Toward Support || IMF Urges El Salvador to Drop Bitcoin as Currency, Citing Financial Stability Risks: BeInCrypto – The International Monetary Fund is urging El Salvador to stop using Bitcoin as legal tender citing financial stability risks. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || Bluesky Provides Bitcoin and Ethereum Mining Update for November: Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 13, 2021) - Bluesky Digital Assets Corp., (CSE: BTC), (CSE: BTC.PR.A), (OTCQB: BTCWF), ("Bluesky" or the "Corporation") announced today that the Corporation had mined an implied and combined unaudited total of $379,331 CDN worth of cryptocurrencies for the month of November which was achieved via the mining of 2.66 Bitcoin ("BTC") and via the mining of 31.88 of Ethereum ("ETH"). For further clarification, implied valuations are based on the booking price of the virtual associated cryptocurrency value at the time the mining reward is realized by the Corporation from its mining activities.
The implied valuation of the BTC amounted to $201,740 CDN and the implied valuation of the ETH amounted to $177,591 CDN for the month of November. The Corporation averaged a daily mining rate of approximately 1.06 ETH and 0.09 BTC per day in November. The percentage split on mining was 53% BTC and 47% ETH. Costs associated in the mining of the 2.66 BTC and 31.88 ETH for the month of November amounted to approx. $135,000 CDN. The costs include electrical, bandwidth, rent, and does not include depreciation on equipment.
The Corporation achieved a $12,644 CDN per day gross mining average from its active mining operations in November vs. the $12,056 CDN gross mining average per day achieved in the month of October which represented a slight increase of 4.64% over October 's daily total.
As At the date of this press release, the Corporation's crypto reserve comprised of 15.16 BTC and 285.34 ETH and was valued at $2,374,317 CDN which represents an increase of 63% over the valuation stated in the Corporation's Q3 interim financial statements.
Ben Gelfand Stated:"The Corporation has now successfully mined a combined total of $753,045 CDN worth of crypto currencies in the first two months of Q4 and we are on pace to supersede Q3's record result of $1,047,909 CDN worth of crypto currencies mined. We fully anticipate that for the next two quarters we will continue the trend of increased results."
About Bluesky Digital Assets Corp.
Bluesky Digital Assets Corp, is building a high value digital currency enterprise. Bluesky mines digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ether, and is developing value-added technology services for the digital currency market, such as proprietary technology solutions. Offering a complete ecosystem of value-creation, Bluesky is targeting reinvesting appropriate portions of its digital currency mining profits back into its operations. A percentage of the profit will be invested in the development of a proprietary Artificial Intelligence ("AI") based technology. Overall, Bluesky takes an approach that enables the Corporation to scale, and respond to changing conditions, within the still-emerging Blockchain industry. The Corporation is poised to capture value in successive phases as this industry continues to scale.
For more information please visit Bluesky at:https://www.blueskydigitalassets.com
For further information please contact:
Mr. Ben GelfandCEO & DirectorBluesky Digital Assets Corp.T: (416) 363-3833E:ben.gelfand@blueskydigitalassets.com
Mr. Frank KordySecretary & DirectorBluesky Digital Assets Corp.T: (647) 466-4037E:frank.kordy@blueskydigitalassets.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. The forward- looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made as of the date of this document and the Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. Although management believes that the expectations represented in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such. Neither CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. We seek safe harbor.
- 30 -
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/107468
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 37917.60, 38483.12, 38743.27, 36952.98, 37154.60, 41500.88, 41441.16, 42412.43, 43840.29, 44118.45
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-07-21]
BTC Price: 275.83, BTC RSI: 53.56
Gold Price: 1103.40, Gold RSI: 22.74
Oil Price: 50.36, Oil RSI: 30.28
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
A bitcoin start-up has made exchanging currency free: A bitcoin (:BTC=) start-up has launched a service that will allow people to carry out foreign exchange transactions for free, dodging the expensive commission often charged by major financial institutions. Bitreserve, a company founded last year by CNET and salesforce.com co-founder Halsey Minor, allows people to convert bitcoin into normal currencies and precious metals. The start-up used to charge a 0.45 percent commission for bitcoin-to-dollar transactions, but has now cut its fees entirely. The move is likely to give it an edge in the hotly contested "fintech" market where a number of companies such as U.K.-based Transferwise are contesting the currency transfer and mobile payments space. Users of the platform will be able to make currency exchanges in eight major currencies: euros, dollars, pounds, yuan, yen, pesos, rupees, swiss francs. People will also have the ability to convert the currencies into gold, silver, platinum and palladium, depending on the market price. Bitreserve offers the mid-market rate for currencies. "Those in society who can least afford it have to spend so much for things that are so commonplace," Anthony Watson, president and chief operating officer of Bitreserve, told CNBC by phone. "If you look at a Mexican immigrants, they send approximately $30 billion home every year and they pay just under $3 billion for the privilege of sending that money home. That is 10 percent and that is disgusting." Bitreserve's service comes with a catch however - you have to own bitcoin to use the service in order to make an initial deposit and then convert it to another asset. Plus, when users receive money, they can only spend it in bitcoin. This could put it at a disadvantage to other companies that allow people to sign up with bank accounts and send money for still a small commission. One use case of such a technology is remittances, which reached $436 billion in 2014, according to the World Bank. Since its inception in October 2014, Bitrserve has been responsible for $14.5 million worth of transactions globally, according to its website. Story continues But not all experts agree that a free model is sustainable in the currency exchange business. "No business that offers its services for free can do so sustainably over a long period of time without other revenue sources," Stan Stalnaker, board member of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority, a self-regulating body for digital currencies, told CNBC by email. Read More This is why bitcoin won't go away anytime soon "The real question, in an age of free transactions, is about business models - what other products and services can Bitreserve launch that it will charge for, and how successful will that be on the back of very low cost remittances?" Watson said the company was looking to partner with traditional financial institutions to allow people to move the money into traditional bank accounts, as well as retailers so people can buy items using regular currencies. "We are in conversation across the world with not only banks but different financial services providers. We are talking to a myriad of companies. We don't see ourselves as a threat to banks we see ourselves as complimenting what they do," Watson, the former Nike CIO, said. Another use of Bitreserve's technology is to store bitcoin in a stable currency like the U.S. dollar. "A lot of people are putting money on reserve and moving it into currency and moving bitcoin into a stable form of currency. Bticoin bounces around like a jack rabbit," Watson added. A number of companies such as Coincove and ArtaBit are offering similar services, but only allowing people to send bitcoin to converted to one currency. More From CNBC CNBC.com News Page CNBC.com Blogs Page CNBC.com Earnings Central || Getting mobile with Bitcoin: This article, Getting mobile with Bitcoin , originally appeared on TechRepublic.com . If you haven't heard of Bitcoin, you might be living on another planet. It's a cryptographic-based currency which isn't actually printed or minted but exists solely in electronic (digital) form. The advantages to Bitcoin are that it is internationally-based (no currency exchange or other fees) and used, it is not subject to laws or regulation from one individual entity, and it can purchase goods or services from businesses and fellow consumers. Bitcoins can be converted into any local currency via exchange rates (at the time of this writing one bitcoin is worth $237.47 in U.S. dollars). You can even generate your own bitcoins through a process called "mining" whereby special high-speed computer systems run software to verify a set of bitcoin transactions (known as a "blockchain"). The more work these systems contribute to this effort, the more bitcoins can be earned (however there is a finite number of bitcoins that the world can generate; approximately 21 million). Bitcoins are generally stored in and utilized by an application or mobile wallet. Two such examples are Bitcoin Wallet for Android and Bither for iOS , either of which can be used to obtain, use, sell and track Bitcoins: figurea.jpg Image: Google Play The concept of Bitcoin Wallet is the same as any other mobile payment system; Bitcoins are accessed via a centralized account (not actually stored on the device per se, meaning your device isn't required nor must be powered up for someone to send you Bitcoins). The app is just a front end to manage the Bitcoins. As it enters its sixth year of existence, the Bitcoin has rolled forward with steady momentum and its popularity continues to grow. As is usually the case with technological advancements, new possibilities are also arising for those savvy enough to stay ahead of the curve. Entire industries are springing up around Bitcoin and one such example involves a merger between two companies called The Bitcoin Shop and Spondoolies-Tech. Story continues The Bitcoin Shop (aka "BTCS") provides Bitcoin (and other digital currency) transaction verification services. It's goal is to build a universal platform for digital currency to provide a single point of access for users to engage in their ecosystem. Consequently, BTCS is investing $1.5m in a transaction verification server manufacturer named Spondoolies-Tech Ltd (aka "Spondoolies"). The motivation behind the merger is to "create the world's first publicly traded company to produce Bitcoin transaction verification equipment and deploy Bitcoin mining resources." I spoke with Charles Allen, CEO of BTCS to find out more about Bitcoin and the details of the BTCS-Spondoolies merger. Scott Matteson: "How do Bitcoin mobile apps work (specifically via Bitcoin Shop's context)?" Charles Allen: "Bitcoin Shop ("BTCS") does not currently have a mobile app. However many digital companies offer iPhone and Android compatible apps most of which are bitcoin wallets or price feeds." SM: "What is the advantage of Bitcoin over traditional currency?" CA: "There are many advantages of Bitcoin compared to fiat currency. Below are some key differentiators: Highly divisible compared to fiat currencies Globally transferable - e.g. in the current system, money can be sent around the world in a matter of days via wires but this is costly for small transactions and slow in today's age. With bitcoin, for example, one can send their bitcoins from anywhere (e.g., from the Japan to the U.S.) instantly for free. Scarce - the supply of bitcoin is predetermined so inflation is factored in. Not government issued - with fiat currencies in a fractional reserve system there is a real risk that a country will make poor decisions over time and devalue their currency." SM: "What security controls are in place to protect customers and vendors/suppliers/businesses (ties into the transaction verification equipment)?" CA: "Apart from sourcing servers and building our data center, customers / suppliers / vendors are not directly involved in the BTCS' operations so I'm not sure the question is relevant to our transaction verification services operations." SM: "Can you elaborate on what to expect from the Bitcoin Shop/Spondoolies merger?" CA: "The digital currency ecosystem is similar to the Internet in 1995, i.e. very few companies are generating revenue. As a combined company, we plan to build a fully integrated transaction verification services business, which will be our revenue and profit engine (similar to Google with advertising) as we explore and develop other blockchain technologies. Spondoolies recently announced 2014 revenue of $28 million, and we believe our fully integrated mining efforts should allow us as combined company to continue to grow revenue and earnings and capture additional margin. Further BTCS has an 83,000 square foot facility to expand mining operations into." SM: "What is the future of Bitcoin?" CA: "Bitcoin - and more importantly blockchain technologies - have the ability to fundamentally change the world in the same way the Internet did. The 'genie is out of the bottle' and it is likely not going away." SM: "Why are hackers/ransomware/cyber-criminals so interested in being paid in Bitcoin?" CA: "Bitcoin is essentially digital cash, and once you have it, you own it. The downside is that every transaction is recorded on the blockchain, so identities can be associated to public addresses, meaning owners of stolen bitcoins can be found. In the long run, bitcoin is a poor means for cybercrime, as there is a public ledger of who owns what." SM: "Can you elaborate a bit more on how BTCS performs transaction verification services?" CA: "Please watch video #1 and video #2 for the best details. BTCS runs ASIC servers (see video #1) in a repurposed 83,000 square foot manufacturing facility in NC - see video #3 (it is now filled with servers, so we are working on an updated video). 93% of our equipment is currently manufactured by Spondoolies." SM: "Can you also elaborate on the Spondoolies server product and how they are specifically tailored towards transaction verifications?" CA: "Currently we do not manufacture ASIC servers. Spondoolies is one of only 4-5 companies that manufacture ASICS servers. There are many companies that run data centers with ASIC servers but very few that manufacture them. The big competitors to Spondoolies are Bitmain, Bitfury, and KNC Miner. However, all of these companies are involved in the design, manufacturing and deployment of ASIC servers. Pre-merger, BTCS is engaged in the deployment of ASIC servers and not the design and manufacturing of them, while Spondoolies is engaged in the design and manufacturing of ASIC servers and not the deployment. As a merged entity, we will be fully integrated similar to Bitmain, Bitfury, and KNC Miner and be able to capture the margin on both sides. To put this in perspective, Spondoolies achieved $28m in revenue in 2014 and many of their customers have had a tremendous return on investment (depending on when they started and their cost structure)." SM: "Can you walk me (briefly) through how a transaction involving Bitcoin via BTCS will work at present? Same question for after the merger (if different)?" CA: "The transaction verification services process is not a business-to-consumer endeavor. We simply maintain the network and are rewarded by the network for doing so. Consumers / users of bitcoin never directly engage with us." SM: "Can you tell me a little more about blockchain technology and how it applies to BTCS? CA: "Bitcoin is based on blockchain technology ( see video #2). Many technologies are being built upon Bitcoin's blockchain and we are a participant in securing the blockchain through our transaction verification services business (or often referred to as mining). In our opinion, this is the core of the technology as well as the cash cow in the business. Many bitcoin companies are "pre-revenue" and will be for years to come. To draw a parallel, Google's cash cow is advertising, hence, they have yet to pollute the elegant and simplistic search interface. Yet they experiment with all sorts of other technologies many of which fail i.e. Glass, Answers, iGoogle, etc. and some that succeed i.e. Maps, Android etc. We believe as a merged company, fully integrated mining / transaction services will be our cash cow which catapults our business to the next level and allows us to venture into other Hopefully you've found this discussion engaging and it has helped advance your understanding of the Bitcoin environment. I'd like to thank Mr. Allen for the time he spent on the topic with me. See also: 5 Bitcoin and finance startups to watch from DEMO 2014 Pay with Bitcoin: 10 of the most interesting places to spend it 10 things you should know about Bitcoin and digital currencies 10 mobile payment systems you need to know || Switching to the drachma will be a nightmare for Greece: (Pictoscribe - Home again on flickr)
Switching back to the drachma would be chaotic if Greece has to ditch euros.
The country will hold a crucial referendum on Sunday.Millions of citizens will vote "Yes" or "No" on whether their government should accept a set of conditions that would unlock a fresh bailout program from euro-area creditors, and inject cash into the economy.
A "No" vote would leave Greece without emergency funding, the inability to continue to pay pensions, andcould lead to further defaults down the road.
It could also mean ditching the euro as a currency and going back to the drachma.
ABloomberg report on Saturdaynotes that recent instances where countries adopted new currencies (like the launch of physical euros in 2002) took several years of planning, and the support of the majority of citizens.
These two things aren't guaranteed for Greece.
The government has said it would retain the euro in the event of a "No" vote. But as Bloomberg notes, Greece's banking system relies on support from the European Central Bank that could be removed if the country votes "No."
And so, if Greece votes to reject creditors' proposals, it may be forced to revert to its old currency.
In aninterview on Australian public radioThursday, Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said the country "smashed the printing presses" when it joined the euro.
This was to demonstrate that the newly formed monetary union was permanent and not an experiment.
Bloomberg reports that the government still has a press in Athens that prints euros. But switching to a new currency could take anywhere between six months and two years.
Apart from the logistical challenges, the drachma would likely start out very weak against the euro and other major currencies.
A report by Greece'sKathimerininewspaper on Saturday indicates that interest in Bitcoin has surged to hedge against a weak drachma in the event of a switch.
And so, while the government is advocating a "No" vote with Greece remaining in the euro, the economic realities of that decision may mean the drachma makes a painful comeback.
Head over to Bloomberg for the full story »
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• And now the euro is surging || Your first trade for Wednesday, June 17: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour was a seller of the IWM(NYSEArca: IWM.
Steve Grasso was a buyer of DECK(NYSE:DECK-News).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of UA(NYSE:UA-News).
Guy Adami was a buyer of ADBE(NASDAQ:ADBE-News).
Trader disclosure: On June 16, 2015 , the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long AAPL, T, BAC, C, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, SUNE, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO. Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BAC, DD, DECK, EVGN, MJNA, PFE, T, TWTR, GDX firm is AVP, TWTR his kids own EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Brian Kelly is long DXGE, BTC=, BBRY, U.S. Dollar, he is short Australian Dollar, he is short Canadian Dollar, he is short Euro. he is short Yen, he is short Yuan. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
• CNBC.com News Page
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• CNBC.com Earnings Central || Your first trade for Wednesday, July 1: The "Fast Money" traders delivered their final trades for June.
Pete Najarian was a buyer of GILD(NASDAQ: GILD).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of SPY(Singapore Exchange: SPY-SG)puts.
Karen Finerman was a buyer of KORS(NYSE: KORS).
Guy Adami was a buyer of KITE(NASDAQ: KITE).
Trader disclosure: On June 30, 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Karen Finerman is long BABA, BAC, C, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, KORS, M, TACO, URI, she is short SPY, Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, DRI, FBT, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, GPS, IBB, JPM, KORS, M, SUNE, URI, XBI, KORS call spreads, URI calls, SPY puts, her firm is short IWM, SPY, MDY, Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Pete Najarian is long AMAT, AAPL, BABA, BAC, BMY, BP, CSX, DISCA, DKS, FOXA, GE, KKR, KO, LLY, MRK, PEP, PFE, he is long calls AAPL, ABX, BAC, BBY, C, DAL, ETFC, FCAU, GS, HYS, INVN, JPM, LULU, NUAN, OC, PNR, S, SPY, SXC, SYY, UAL, UBS, USB, VOYA, VZ, WYNN, XLF, ZIOP. Today he bought SPY calls and WYNN calls. Today he sold DE calls. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, BTC=; TAN, TSL; he is short Euro, Yuan, and Yen. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Managing Dir. & Analyst Robert Peck: An affiliate of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. has received compensation for products or services other than investment banking services from the following company within the last 12 months: TWTR-US.
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• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Getting mobile with Bitcoin: This article, Getting mobile with Bitcoin , originally appeared on TechRepublic.com . If you haven't heard of Bitcoin, you might be living on another planet. It's a cryptographic-based currency which isn't actually printed or minted but exists solely in electronic (digital) form. The advantages to Bitcoin are that it is internationally-based (no currency exchange or other fees) and used, it is not subject to laws or regulation from one individual entity, and it can purchase goods or services from businesses and fellow consumers. Bitcoins can be converted into any local currency via exchange rates (at the time of this writing one bitcoin is worth $237.47 in U.S. dollars). You can even generate your own bitcoins through a process called "mining" whereby special high-speed computer systems run software to verify a set of bitcoin transactions (known as a "blockchain"). The more work these systems contribute to this effort, the more bitcoins can be earned (however there is a finite number of bitcoins that the world can generate; approximately 21 million). Bitcoins are generally stored in and utilized by an application or mobile wallet. Two such examples are Bitcoin Wallet for Android and Bither for iOS , either of which can be used to obtain, use, sell and track Bitcoins: figurea.jpg Image: Google Play The concept of Bitcoin Wallet is the same as any other mobile payment system; Bitcoins are accessed via a centralized account (not actually stored on the device per se, meaning your device isn't required nor must be powered up for someone to send you Bitcoins). The app is just a front end to manage the Bitcoins. As it enters its sixth year of existence, the Bitcoin has rolled forward with steady momentum and its popularity continues to grow. As is usually the case with technological advancements, new possibilities are also arising for those savvy enough to stay ahead of the curve. Entire industries are springing up around Bitcoin and one such example involves a merger between two companies called The Bitcoin Shop and Spondoolies-Tech. Story continues The Bitcoin Shop (aka "BTCS") provides Bitcoin (and other digital currency) transaction verification services. It's goal is to build a universal platform for digital currency to provide a single point of access for users to engage in their ecosystem. Consequently, BTCS is investing $1.5m in a transaction verification server manufacturer named Spondoolies-Tech Ltd (aka "Spondoolies"). The motivation behind the merger is to "create the world's first publicly traded company to produce Bitcoin transaction verification equipment and deploy Bitcoin mining resources." I spoke with Charles Allen, CEO of BTCS to find out more about Bitcoin and the details of the BTCS-Spondoolies merger. Scott Matteson: "How do Bitcoin mobile apps work (specifically via Bitcoin Shop's context)?" Charles Allen: "Bitcoin Shop ("BTCS") does not currently have a mobile app. However many digital companies offer iPhone and Android compatible apps most of which are bitcoin wallets or price feeds." SM: "What is the advantage of Bitcoin over traditional currency?" CA: "There are many advantages of Bitcoin compared to fiat currency. Below are some key differentiators: Highly divisible compared to fiat currencies Globally transferable - e.g. in the current system, money can be sent around the world in a matter of days via wires but this is costly for small transactions and slow in today's age. With bitcoin, for example, one can send their bitcoins from anywhere (e.g., from the Japan to the U.S.) instantly for free. Scarce - the supply of bitcoin is predetermined so inflation is factored in. Not government issued - with fiat currencies in a fractional reserve system there is a real risk that a country will make poor decisions over time and devalue their currency." SM: "What security controls are in place to protect customers and vendors/suppliers/businesses (ties into the transaction verification equipment)?" CA: "Apart from sourcing servers and building our data center, customers / suppliers / vendors are not directly involved in the BTCS' operations so I'm not sure the question is relevant to our transaction verification services operations." SM: "Can you elaborate on what to expect from the Bitcoin Shop/Spondoolies merger?" CA: "The digital currency ecosystem is similar to the Internet in 1995, i.e. very few companies are generating revenue. As a combined company, we plan to build a fully integrated transaction verification services business, which will be our revenue and profit engine (similar to Google with advertising) as we explore and develop other blockchain technologies. Spondoolies recently announced 2014 revenue of $28 million, and we believe our fully integrated mining efforts should allow us as combined company to continue to grow revenue and earnings and capture additional margin. Further BTCS has an 83,000 square foot facility to expand mining operations into." SM: "What is the future of Bitcoin?" CA: "Bitcoin - and more importantly blockchain technologies - have the ability to fundamentally change the world in the same way the Internet did. The 'genie is out of the bottle' and it is likely not going away." SM: "Why are hackers/ransomware/cyber-criminals so interested in being paid in Bitcoin?" CA: "Bitcoin is essentially digital cash, and once you have it, you own it. The downside is that every transaction is recorded on the blockchain, so identities can be associated to public addresses, meaning owners of stolen bitcoins can be found. In the long run, bitcoin is a poor means for cybercrime, as there is a public ledger of who owns what." SM: "Can you elaborate a bit more on how BTCS performs transaction verification services?" CA: "Please watch video #1 and video #2 for the best details. BTCS runs ASIC servers (see video #1) in a repurposed 83,000 square foot manufacturing facility in NC - see video #3 (it is now filled with servers, so we are working on an updated video). 93% of our equipment is currently manufactured by Spondoolies." SM: "Can you also elaborate on the Spondoolies server product and how they are specifically tailored towards transaction verifications?" CA: "Currently we do not manufacture ASIC servers. Spondoolies is one of only 4-5 companies that manufacture ASICS servers. There are many companies that run data centers with ASIC servers but very few that manufacture them. The big competitors to Spondoolies are Bitmain, Bitfury, and KNC Miner. However, all of these companies are involved in the design, manufacturing and deployment of ASIC servers. Pre-merger, BTCS is engaged in the deployment of ASIC servers and not the design and manufacturing of them, while Spondoolies is engaged in the design and manufacturing of ASIC servers and not the deployment. As a merged entity, we will be fully integrated similar to Bitmain, Bitfury, and KNC Miner and be able to capture the margin on both sides. To put this in perspective, Spondoolies achieved $28m in revenue in 2014 and many of their customers have had a tremendous return on investment (depending on when they started and their cost structure)." SM: "Can you walk me (briefly) through how a transaction involving Bitcoin via BTCS will work at present? Same question for after the merger (if different)?" CA: "The transaction verification services process is not a business-to-consumer endeavor. We simply maintain the network and are rewarded by the network for doing so. Consumers / users of bitcoin never directly engage with us." SM: "Can you tell me a little more about blockchain technology and how it applies to BTCS? CA: "Bitcoin is based on blockchain technology ( see video #2). Many technologies are being built upon Bitcoin's blockchain and we are a participant in securing the blockchain through our transaction verification services business (or often referred to as mining). In our opinion, this is the core of the technology as well as the cash cow in the business. Many bitcoin companies are "pre-revenue" and will be for years to come. To draw a parallel, Google's cash cow is advertising, hence, they have yet to pollute the elegant and simplistic search interface. Yet they experiment with all sorts of other technologies many of which fail i.e. Glass, Answers, iGoogle, etc. and some that succeed i.e. Maps, Android etc. We believe as a merged company, fully integrated mining / transaction services will be our cash cow which catapults our business to the next level and allows us to venture into other Hopefully you've found this discussion engaging and it has helped advance your understanding of the Bitcoin environment. I'd like to thank Mr. Allen for the time he spent on the topic with me. See also: 5 Bitcoin and finance startups to watch from DEMO 2014 Pay with Bitcoin: 10 of the most interesting places to spend it 10 things you should know about Bitcoin and digital currencies 10 mobile payment systems you need to know || Snoop Dogg Moves Forward With His Pot-Based Fund: Earlier this year, Calvin Broadus, more commonly known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, announced that he was planning to launch a fund that would invest in cannabis startups. The famous rapper has been open about marijuana use throughout the course of his career, but now he is hoping to profit even further from the newly legalized substance. Casa Verde Last week, Snoop Dogg continued his efforts to establish the fund by filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a manager of the new fund, to be called Casa Verde Capital, L.P. Casa Verde, which translates from Spanish to "Green House," is planning to raise $25 million from outside investors, which will be used to support pot-based startups. However, the fund hasn't raised any money just yet. Related Link: The Business Of Marketing Marijuana Celebrities Get Behind Marijuana Snoop Dogg isn't the first famous face to throw his money behind the growing marijuana industry. Willie Nelson also entered the space this year with his own brand, called Willie's Reserve. The country music star also released a single, "It's All Going To Pot," in order to raise awareness for his new venture. Famous pot-smoker Bob Marley's family is also hoping to capitalize on the late reggae singer's popularity in the marijuana community by creating the Marley Natural brand, which offers everything from marijuana infused massage oils to a smokable signature marijuana blend. Image Credit: "Snoop Dogg in car" by dodge challenger1 - Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons See more from Benzinga A New Cryptocurrency Draws Its Power From Unicorns Is Bitcoin Expanding Its Reach? Edible Marijuana Products Get The 'Okay' In Canada © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Glitch Costs Miners Thousands: This weekend, bitcoin miners suffered a setback after it wasrevealedthat those running some software clients which were out of date were creating invalid blocks, or transaction records.
The glitch gave miners the impression that they had earned bitcoins for adding to blockchain, when in actuality, the invalid blocks weren't accepted.
Warning
Bitcoin.org issued awarningregarding the invalid blocks over the weekend. The notice said that an initial invalid block has been built upon by other miners, who don't fully validate their blocks. The practice, called Simple Payment Verification (SPV) mining, has caused several large mining operations to loose more than $50,000 dollars in mining income so far due to the glitch.
Related Link: Minecraft Teaches Kids To Use Bitcoin
To combat the problem, Bitcoin.org recommended that all miners update to the latest software to ensure that the invalid blocks are detected. The site also encouraged those using Web-based wallets to make sure they are using the most up-to-date version as well.
How Did It Happen
SPV mining means that the verification of new blocks relies on a connection to a trusted node. However, since the software was unable to detect invalid blocks, it allowed miners to continue building strings of blocks on top of an invalid one, rendering all of them worthless.
Effects?
While the effects of this glitch appear to be concentrated on mining firms, some worry that it could refuel worries about bitcoin's safety and security. The cryptocurrency already has a reputation for being unreliable and many fear that this incident will contribute to that stigma.
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• Sealed Air Just Took Away A Guilty Pleasure For Millions
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Marathon Predicts Greece's 'Yes' Vote, Tsipras Out Next Month: With every passing minute, the Greece debt crisis seems to take a new turn. According to latest reports, the Greek government is seeking a last-minute deal from the eurozone. However, according to Bruce Richards, CEO of Marathon Asset Management, regardless of what happens, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will be out soon. Richards was a guest on Wall Street Week's latest edition. He was again on Wall Street Week's 'Web Extra' recently to discuss the Greece debt crisis and the best case scenario for the country in the next few weeks. Getting Very Dire "Thirty days from now – Syriza party, which is Alexis Tsipras, who is the prime minister, probably won't be in office," Richards began. "He has taken the country to a point of brink where hopefully there's a point of return in terms of its economy turning around. But right now, it's getting very dire." Related Link: Has Greece Had Its "Lehman Moment?" The Best Case Richards was asked his best case scenario for this crisis in the next few weeks. He replied, "So, what I think happens: There is a small probability he (Alexis Tsipras) resigns, small probability he strikes a deal. What's most probable is, you go to a referendum on Sunday, referendum that the people want to vote for. If the people vote yes, that is a very positive thing for Europe, it's a very positive thing for Greece and that's the base case." He continued, "But over the course of the week, we are going to see all these polls come and we will see the polls come in at 70 percent or 78 percent or maybe it drops down to 65 percent. One poll is different from another poll. But I believe at the end of the day, they are going to vote the rational vote." Related Link: Bitcoin Rises As Greece Falls...Coincidence? Tsipras Is Out Either Way "Greek people are smart; they are good business people, and they are going to vote for the most sane economic program for Greece, which is to stay on the euro. And if that were to happen, then that's a vote against the party of Syriza and Alexis Tsipras and so he's probably out either way," Richards concluded. Story continues Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Southern Co, The Supreme Court Ruling On EPA Regulations And Congress' Role In Policy Juno Therapeutics CEO Weighs In On Celgene Partnership, T-Cell Innovations Dupont Desires Continued Trian Relationship, Despite Rejecting Seats On The Board © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The thrilling life of a Kleiner Perkins fellow, where you go to sailboat parties and hear presentations by Silicon Valley’s power players: (Kleiner Perkins)The KPCB fellows on a boat in San Francisco Bay.Roneil Rumburg, 22, is one of the youngest partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), the iconic Silicon Valley VC firm founded in 1972.
He joined the firm in April 2015, and now runs the Edge Fund, a seed-stage fund focused on emerging technologies like drones and virtual reality.
But for Rumburg, a Stanford computer science grad, being a full-time VC was never part of his career plan, until just recently.
“If you had asked me 6 months ago if I would be here right now, I would have never guessed,” Rumburg told Business Insider.
So how did he get there? Rumburg took a rather uncommon, roundabout path — which involved founding a not-so-successful bitcoin startup along the way. But he says a big reason for it is KPCB's summer fellowship program he took two years ago, where he was able to get his feet wet in the tech startup world and build strong relationships with KPCB’s management team.
“My pre-existing relationship with Kleiner made it a lot easier for me to fit into this role,” Rumburg said.
The KPCB fellowship program gives college students a chance to intern at one of its portfolio companies, while providing a string of exclusive events and unfettered access to the firm’s leadership team. It’s also one of the country’s most competitive fellowship/internship programs to get into: Only 84 fellows out of roughly 2,500 applicants were accepted this year.
KPCB's fellowship isn't intended to nurture the next VCs of the world — Rumburg’s case is a rare one, as the program is designed for students pursuing careers in engineering, design, or product management. But in any case, the value of the program is clear: a unique opportunity to experience Silicon Valley's thriving tech cultureand learn from some of the most powerful tech leaders in the world.
Being a KPCB fellow doesn’t mean you get to work at the firm.
Instead, you become an intern at one of Kleiner’s portfolio companies, such as Uber, Flipboard, or Square (Slack will also be available from next year).
The best part about it is all the exclusive events you get invited to. KPCB puts together a long-list of events — only offered to the fellows — throughout the three month program, such as a special dinner with its general partner John Doerr or a presentation by Nest cofounder Matt Rogers. There are also weekend excursions to a nearby island or kayak trips.
"We probably had 2-3 events a week, and a weekend event which tended to be the fun, sailing trips. During the week, we'd visit Kleiner portfolio companies or go to dinners with partners like Mike Abbott," Rumburg said.
The fellowship also helps KPCB's own portfolio companies. By putting the KPCB brand behind it, the fellowship program can help recruit some of the country's most talented students for startups that may not necessarily have the brand recognition of its bigger competitors.
"If you're a student deciding between Google versus one of our portfolio companies, it's not that comparison anymore. It's Google versus KPCB's fellowship program," KPCB's partner Andy Chen, who leads the fellowship program told us.
(Kleiner Perkins)Roneil Rumburg was a 2013 fellow, and now runs the Edge Fund at KPCB.
The fellowship offers three different tracks: engineering, design, or product management. Depending on which program you apply for, you get asked a different set of questions.
Rumburg, who was an engineering fellow, said the application process was pretty standard with some questions about an engineering problem. Chen said product management fellows have to upload a video explaining a product that they like.
Once you get past the first round, you do a more technical interview with a team leader of a KPCB portfolio company. Those who make it past this second round are the finalists, which usually amount to about 100 people, Chen told us.
The finalists are then given a choice to pick from five Kleiner portfolio companies they'd like to work for. They go through a round of interview with each of those companies, and only the ones given an offer from them get into the fellowship program.
The fellows don't get paid by KPCB, but the companies they end up interning at.That means the terms of compensation differ for each fellow depending on who they work for. In most cases, KPCB says they're individually negotiated.
(Michael Seto/Business Insider)Kleiner Perkins General Partner John Doerr
John Doerr and Mary Meeker, two of the most powerful KPCB partners, also make sure they get connected to the fellows.
Doerr, for example, does an intimate Q&A session over dinner with the fellows, where he answers all kinds of questions,from investment and stock tips to even some personal ones. "He puts all the questions on the board and answers them one-by-one, all 84 fellows," Chen says.
Meeker also gives a special presentation of her famous "Internet Trends" report, and spends hours afterwards to answer questions individually. "She stayed past 10PM just chatting with us. Getting her kind of off the record and hearing the unfiltered stuff, that was really cool," Rumburg said.
Other presenters include Uber's Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden, Facebook's VP of Product Chris Cox, and Flipboard's VP of Design Marcos Weskamp. Star CEOs like Slack's Stewart Butterfield and Sportify's Daniel Ek were also available during this year's welcome reception.
"One of the big things I took away from the fellowship was it kind of humanized all of these people you read and hear about," Rumburg says. "It was kind of surreal to be there, chatting with Mary Meeker, but she's actually just a super normal person."
Stephanie He, a Princeton computer science grad, who interned at Square as part of the fellowship program last year, echoed the same sentiment. "People like John Doerr can seem intimidating at first, because they’re legendary in Silicon Valley, but they’re all very accessible, engaging with the fellows," she tells us.
(Kleiner Perkins)KPCB partner Andy Chen runs the fellowship program
Rumburg, the KPCB partner, was an engineering intern at a cloud infrastructure startup called Nebula during his fellowship in 2013.
Although Nebulawent out of businessearlier this year, Rumburg says the whole fellowship experience was so inspiring that it convinced him to finish college a year early and start his own Bitcoin startup called Backslash.
Backslash didn't pan out the way he'd expected, but Rumberg's experience as an engineer and founder led KPCB to reach out to him with a VC position.
"Roneil [Rumburg] was part of the program, and he kept in close touch with the team here, and that relationship enabled him to bounce into Edge," Chen says. "The Edge Fund team immediately thought of Roneil because they had that long-standing relationship."
For Stephanie He, the 2014 fellow who interned at Square, it was about getting that startup experience and gaining the confidence to join a young company. She will start working at an early stage startup called Flux Factory this year.
"I never had a chance to work at a startup before KPCB. If you’re interested in exploring startups, then I highly recommend the fellowship program."
Chen says 90% of the fellows end up receiving job offers from the companies they interned at. In some cases, like Rumberg, the fellows go on to become VCs or even launch their own startup.
“If you want to have the best bang for the buck, where you can meet the best people, work at the best company, and have the best experience, I think the fellowship program offers all of that,” Chen said.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Current price: 251.36$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-06-17 06:00:04 EDT || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 17814.00 INR Sell : 17254.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || Current price: 151.93£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-06-16 00:00:04 BST || 1 #bitcoin 609.01 TL, 227.848 $, 202.8 €, GBP, 12400.00 RUR, 28936 ¥, CNH, 281.08 CAD #btc || Current price: 222.48€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-06-18 16:00:06 CEST || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000004
Bittrex: 0.00000005
Average $1.0E-5 per #reddcoin
07:00:01 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 19 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,184.98 #bitcoin #btc || Current price of Bitcoin is $266.00 See you again in an hour! #bitcoin #crypto || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 17872.00 INR Sell : 17323.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 17284.00 INR Sell : 16744.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin
|
Trend: up || Prices: 277.22, 276.05, 288.28, 288.70, 292.69, 293.62, 294.43, 289.59, 287.72, 284.65
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2021-12-17]
BTC Price: 46202.14, BTC RSI: 35.32
Gold Price: 1803.80, Gold RSI: 53.94
Oil Price: 70.86, Oil RSI: 43.71
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Cryptos Are Not A Threat For The US Dollar, Says US Treasury’s Adeyemo: A high-profile official from the US government came recently with words of support towards the US dollar as the world’s dominant currency despite the surge in demand for cryptocurrencies. Wally Adeyemo, US Deputy Treasury Secretary, was the authority that said that virtual currencies like Bitcoin ( BTC ) don’t possess a big threat to the greenback. He still praised the fact that cryptos present many opportunities for the economy and bring many challenges to face – a rhetoric used by domestic watchdogs when discussing regulating the industry. USD vs. BTC In The Economy “We know that digital assets have the ability to be used by those who want to illicitly move money through the system in a way that doesn’t touch the dollar and that we can’t see as easily,” Adeyemo commented in an interview with CNBC. Overall, Treasury’s Deputy Secretary believes that as long as the US economy keeps growing, the global economy will have enough room and opportunities to do the same. Thus, the US dollar’s dominance will strengthen, Adeyemo concluded about the matter. Still, he also left the doors opened to discuss even more about cryptos as a vehicle for illicit activities. Russian CBDC His words also came in the wake of the recent developments from central banks around the world that are developing CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) like the Russian one. About the matter, Adeyemo said that even with a digital ruble in place, US sanctions still will have an impact on the Russian economy, scaling the discussion into a diplomatic affair. The Bank of Russia recently announced that its CBDC prototype will be launched in January 2022, although the project is still under development. Also, no more details have been disclosed by the Kremlin about what could be the official digital currency of Russia. None of the statements from Adeyemo had a direct impact on Bitcoin, whose price keeps being offered across the board, now trading below the $57,000 handle. Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Ether (ETH) Sell-Off Intensifies Below $4,200 Amid Higher Burning Activity European Equities: German Wholesale Inflation and ECB President Lagarde in Focus Reports On Interest Rates Spike Trigger A Strong Dollar Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Could See Tentative Trade Until Fed’s Mid-December Policy Meeting Gold Price Prediction – Prices Slip Despite a Slide in the Dollar USD/CAD Exchange Rate Prediction – The Dollar Rallies Despite Mixed Claims Data || Australia's CBA offers crypto trading, breaks ranks with industry: By Paulina Duran SYDNEY (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia will become the country's first main-street bank to offer a platform for retail customers to trade cryptocurrencies, breaking industry ranks as it looks to match offerings from rival fintech firms. Australia's biggest lender said it will partner with New York-based exchange Gemini Trust Company LLC to offer a "crypto exchange and custody service" through a new feature in its mobile banking app that is used by about 6.4 million customers. "We believe we can play an important role in crypto to address what's clearly a growing customer need," Commonwealth Bank Chief Executive Matt Comyn said in a statement. Cryptocurrency executives and supporters said the move would help validate the $2.6 trillion crypto trading industry. "Nothing that I know, particularly from a bank of this size, enables retail clients to directly buy crypto through their platform, to the best of my knowledge. So it's really exciting," said Caroline Bowler, chief executive of BTC Markets, one of the largest crypto exchanges in Australia. Soaring popularity of cryptocurrencies has posed a problem for mainstream banks as they try to balance clients' interest in digital coins with regulatory concerns about their risks. Some large banks in the U.S. and Europe offer cryptocurrency trading services to institutional clients. Others, like Saxo Bank, offer access to crypto through ETFs or other crypto-linked products. Singapore's DBS Group offers a platform for cryptocurrency trading to wealthy clients. CBA's move puts it at odds with its "Big Four" peers that together dominate the banking sector: National Australia Bank (NAB), Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. In September the group faced criticism at a parliamentary hearing for refusing to do business with cryptocurrency providers. At the time, Comyn said CBA was studying the space but had previously cancelled some business accounts of customers who were doing business with cryptocurrencies. "I am pleased the tide is turning as digital assets are mainstreamed," Liberal party Senator Andrew Bragg, who led an inquiry into the sector, said in a statement. "For too long, banks have cast aside cryptocurrency as an illegitimate fringe pursuit." CBA said its move had been driven by growing client demand and comes as local crypto services are being offered by fintechs such as Square, PayPal Holdings and British-based Revolut. The bank also lead the Australian industry's entry into the fast-growing Buy Now Pay Later sector earlier this year in an attempt to fend-off competition from Afterpay Ltd. Story continues "This is really clever from CBA," Jefferies banking analyst Brian Johnson said. "They've got a lot of youth customers and holding on to them and getting more people engaged with their apps with multiple functions, that makes them really sticky and can create long-term value." Starting with a pilot this year, the bank said it would offer the ability to buy, sell and hold 10 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. More features would be rolled out in 2022 and it would explore options including offering crypto payments for goods and services, it said. It would work with U.S. blockchain data platform Chainalysis to help its compliance team monitor and mitigate the threat of cyber crimes. (Reporting by Paulina Duran in Sydney; Editing by Karishma Singh, Stephen Coates and Richard Pullin) View comments || Valkyrie Secures Go-Ahead for Bitcoin Futures ETF: Valkyrie Investmentss bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) has won the blessing of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The new ETF is set to start trading on Friday, after the bitcoin-linked fund cleared the final regulatory hurdles, a Valkyrie spokesperson said. It will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker BTF on Nasdaq, despite short-lived plans to adopt the more meme-centric ticker BTFD. Valkyrie is only the third investment company and the first crypto-native to receive the Securities and Exchange Commissions greenlight. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (stock ticker BITO) launched Tuesday. VanEcks own bitcoin futures ETF offering is slated to trade starting early next week. Bitcoin spot markets rallied to new all-time highs Wednesday amid the filings parade. Bitcoin-linked ETFs are seen as an easy way for traditional investors to chase crypto market exposure from their brokerage accounts. ProShares juggernaut bitcoin futures fund debut indicated interest runs deep. The first-ever U.S. bitcoin-linked ETF hauled in $570 million of assets in its first day, with over $1 billion in trading, one of the most successful ETF launches ever.. Thats complicated the playbook for all other bitcoin futures ETF hopefuls, including Valkyrie. || Metaverse tokens storm the top 10 list of best-performing cryptocurrencies in 2021: • An explosion of interest in cryptocurrencies made 2021 a pivotal year for the industry.
• NFTs, a bitcoin ETF, growing use cases in the metaverse, and regulatory developments bought Wall Street asset managers to the forefront of crypto investing this year.
• These are the 10 best performing crypto assets of 2021, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
This has been the year in which cryptocurrencies made it into mainstream finance, when everyone from celebrities to athletes and art auctioneers dived into blockchain-based digital collectors' items and play-to-earn platforms transformed the dynamics of the gaming economy.
Institutional and retail investors alike have piled into crypto assets, blockchain-based products, and services like non-fungible tokens, turning a $1 trillion market into a$3 trillionone in under 12 months.
Most recently, the rise of themetaversehas created a new wave of investment opportunities for everything from digital land to digital designer goods. Investors have certainly welcomed the growing sophistication of the cryptosphere.
In 2022, as more use cases emerge, decentralized finance is evolving. And the metaverse and NFTs — a digital representation of a real-world piece of artwork, music or video, for example — grow in popularity, crypto assets are expected to spiral even higher in value.
The rise in the cryptocurrency market has not just been driven bybitcoin.Other smaller coins have risen exponentially year-to-date and gained mainstream fame. Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that was created a few years ago as a joke, has been one of the star performers, and gave rise to a series of spin-offs that achieved even more dizzying heights.
So-called altcoins that are native to blockchains that many believe will power much of the financial world of the future, as well as the digital realm, have soared, making crypto-superstars out of the likes of solana, cardano and avalanche. Billionaire crypto bull Mike Novogratz has calledether a more attractive investmentthan bitcoin because people view it as a technology bet.
But these are small markets that are highly volatile. This means traders can expect massive losses or gains in the blink of an eye. A cryptocurrency can soar 100% in a week, only to reverse course and surrender all those gains in days, or even hours in some cases.
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency in market value, is up about 70% so far this year. Meanwhile, many metaverse-native crypto tokens, which are based on the ethereum blockchain, have expanded from one week to the next, as anyone wanting to enter these digital worlds must first own the corresponding digital currency.
For instance, users of the virtual world Sandbox can build, own, and monetize their gaming experiences on the ethereum blockchain using SAND, the platform's utility token. The same goes for Decentraland users, or Axie Infinity gamers, who can breed, own and train their own little digital critters. Each platform has its own native currency.
Insider took a look at the top 10 best performing cryptocurrencies of the past year with a market value of over $1 billion, according todata from CoinMarketCap.
10. DecentralandSymbol: MANAMarket Cap: $6.8 billionYTD Performance: 4,397%
9. HarmonySymbol: ONEMarket Cap: $2.2 billionYTD Performance: 4,464%
8. KadenaSymbol: KDAMarket Cap: $1.9 billionYTD Performance: 8,131%
7. FantomSymbol: FTMMarket Cap: $3.9 billionYTD Performance: 8,966%
6. SolanaSymbol: SOLMarket Cap: $58.2 billionYTD Performance: 10,180%
5. TerraSymbol: LUNAMarket Cap: $28.7 billionYTD Performance: 11,558%
4. PolygonSymbol: MATICMarket Cap: $16.3 billionYTD Performance: 12,817%
3. The SandboxSymbol: SANDMarket Cap: $4.9 billionYTD Performance: 14,629%
2. Axie InfinitySymbol: AXSMarket Cap: $6.8 billionYTD Performance: 18,996%
1. GalaSymbol: GALAMarket Cap: $3.6 billionYTD Performance: 50,829%
Read More:The chief investment officer of a $150 million crypto hedge fund shares 3 altcoins of layer-one protocols that could 'attract a lot of capital' — and 2 emerging trends to watch in the year ahead
Read the original article onBusiness Insider || Filecoin Might Have a Way for Bitcoin to Fight Its Energy Critics (if Miners Use It): The Filecoin Green project, a way of mapping the electricity used by the largest decentralized data storage blockchain, has launched an open-source dashboard in a bid to prove its commitment to renewable energy. Notably, the system could also be used by bitcoin to help clean up the largest cryptocurrency’s dirty image, according to Filecoin Green’s creator, Alan Ransil. “If bitcoin miners are interested, they could set up a database where their energy use and proof of renewable energy use are recorded,” said Ransil in an interview. “The open-source solutions we are building and helping to test – such as the Filecoin dashboard and the Energy Web tech stack – could be leveraged to set up such a system.” Filecoin acknowledges decentralized data storage and retrieval is energy intensive as is also the case in the centralized Web 2 world of AWS and the like. The approach Filecoin has taken is to estimate energy use and assume the energy is not renewable until it has been verified through Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) . This involves matching energy use to renewable energy generation on the same power grid. Crypto’s carbon footprint Stepping back, Filecoin Green’s mission is to measure environmental impacts across a more decentralized internet, and allow people in different positions in the value chain (such as storage providers or miners) to mitigate those impacts. At its core is a reputation system designed to be both verifiable and interoperable in a way that wasn’t possible in Web 2, Ransil says. Hardened bitcoiners, weary of fielding energy consumption critics , are probably rolling their eyes by now – that’s if they’ve even read this far. But Filecoin has more in common with bitcoin than you might think. Read more: The Frustrating, Maddening, All-Consuming Bitcoin Energy Debate Filecoin uses a proof-of-storage consensus system in which energy use is linked to a valuable resource people are providing that is central to the entire enterprise: storing files and verifying over time that those files are stored. Story continues “There’s no proof-of-stake version in which the energy to store files goes to zero,” Ransil said, alluding to the non-mining consensus mechanism used to secure newer blockchain networks. “Using Filecoin is always going to use a fair amount of energy. So we want to set up our ecosystem to demand renewable energy. It should make us a player in energy markets, and act as a strategic wedge to push green power grids.” Ransil pointed out that Filecoin has taken a different strategy from the way people make renewable energy claims right now in proof-of-work (PoW) networks like Bitcoin. The latter’s claims tend to be based on surveys, which are then taken as representative of the entire network. “This is interesting data to have as a starting point,” Ransil said. “But in an industry dedicated to rigorous verifiability we should aim for actual renewable energy use to be certified and publicly proven.” || $3bn New York casino plan features crypto trading floor: A mammoth $3bn casino proposal in New York will feature a cryptocurrency trading floor, according to recent reports . SpringOwl Asset Management CEO Jason Ader will submit plans for the casino on December 10. The preferred location of the development will be in Manhattan, and it will focus on e-sports as well as cryptocurrency. “The goal is to have a differentiated but comprehensive approach to entertainment that goes beyond casino gaming with some pretty cool elements,” Ader said. The casino, which is set to be called Mirai, will receive one of three new licenses issued by New York state as part of a 2013 ruling that issued a total of seven non-tribal venues. My god, this sounds incredible. A crypto trading floor inside of a casino https://t.co/Npff8hgjPo pic.twitter.com/5pQgAgQNPQ — Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) December 7, 2021 In order to accommodate for modern trends, there is an audacious plan to build a “flying car launching pad” as well as event space for the New York Fashion Week. It becomes another clear example of a crossover between the iGaming industry and cryptocurrencies – both of which have been under scrutiny by global regulators. Last week, plans were announced for a $1 million poker tournament – the largest of its kind – with organisers taking buy-ins in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. There was also a tournament in the summer featuring the likes of Tom Dwan that raised $100,000 in cryptocurrencies for charity. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || Day 7 of Kleiman v. Wright: Wright Tells Jury Kleiman Only Mined ‘Testnet’ Bitcoins: MIAMI— Craig Wright – best known for his long-standing andwidely disputedclaims to beSatoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin – told a Miami jury on Tuesday that at least a portion of the 1.1 millionbitcointhe plaintiffs’ attorneys are calling “Satoshi’s hoard” were purchased, not mined.
“I purchased them from a Russian exchange,” the Australian computer scientist stated. “They were dodgy, I know, but everyone was dodgy in 2011.”
The Tulip Trust was a mysterious and perhaps, as some sleuths havespeculated, non-existent offshore trust account the plaintiffs believe Wright has used to hide bitcoins. Wright told the jury the trust was created in 2011 to shelter his assets from an investigation by the Australian Tax Office (ATO). Wright said he signed over the assets in the trust, including over a million bitcoins, to Dave Kleiman, his best friend and alleged business partner who died in 2013, to protect himself from bankruptcy.
Wright added that the approximately 1.1 million bitcoins he claims to have purchased in 2011 have since been “spent” on Wright’s companies.
The plaintiffs – Dave’s brother Ira Kleiman and W&K Info Defense Research LLC, a company Ira claims Wright and Dave owned jointly to mine and “invent” bitcoin – are seeking what they claim to be Dave’s share of the bitcoins and intellectual property from their joint business venture. They haveaccused Wrightof stealing from Dave’s estate through a complex web of legal maneuvers, shell companies and forgeries.
Read more:Craig Wright’s Latest Funhouse-Mirror Legal Adventure
Wright, for his part, maintains that he and Dave never mined or “created” bitcoin together, despite a slew of emails, chat messages and legal documents presented by the plaintiffs in which Wright tells numerous people, including Dave’s friends and family and the Australian authorities, that he and Dave had a joint mining operation.
Instead, Wright testified in court that any emails saying he and Dave mined bitcoins together were either fraudulent (Wright has long maintained that he is the victim of numerous hacks) or taken out of context.
The defense has also leaned heavily on its allegation that Wright’s autism explains both his combative demeanor and his contradictory statements. In her deposition testimony read on Monday, Wright’s wife, Ramona Watts, said the couple used to “fight every day” over misunderstandings caused by Wright’s autism.
“He is literal beyond anything,” Watts said.
Wright told the jury on Monday that at least some of the bitcoins the plaintiff considers to be part of the “Satoshi stash” owed to Dave’s estate weren’t actually bitcoins at all but “testnet bitcoins” used to test a “supercomputer” that he and Dave were purportedly developing in 2011 and 2012. A testnet is an experimental environment for software under development; coins on such a network typically cannot be transferred to a live, or mainnet, version of a blockchain and so have little if any value.
Bitcoin expert Andreas Antonopoulos, who testified last week as an expert witness for the plaintiffs, told the jury that mining bitcoin could be done with an old-fashioned office computer – which he described as a “beige tower”– until 2013.
Wright also claimed that his emails to Dave’s brother Ira, his father Louis, and his friends and business partners Patrick Paige and Carter Conrad telling them that he and Dave worked together to “create” bitcoin were purposely exaggerated to give his deceased friend a legacy in the minds of his loved ones.
“I exaggerated because Dave had no one remembering him, and he was the most important person in my life for many years,” Wright tearfully told the jury, in one of his several openly emotional moments on the stand.
Read more:In Craig Wright Trial, Plaintiffs Lay Out Pattern of Fraud, Deceit and Hubris
Wright told the jury that he did mine approximately a million bitcoins on his own, however, as “Satoshi,” (Wright told the jury he mined blocks 1 through 16) and as himself after retiring the Satoshi accounts at the end of 2010.
Wright alleges that he alone mined approximately 1 million bitcoins, that Dave independently mined approximately 1 million testnet bitcoins, and that Wright purchased 1.1 million bitcoins for the supposed Tulip Trust – the similarity in the numbers is, according to Wright, a coincidence, and the plaintiff’s attorneys are “conflating” separate batches of coins.
It is important to note that, thus far, neither side has called in an expert in blockchain forensic analysis to trace the origin and movements of any of the coins in question or to give testimony on the possible ownership of any of the wallets that hold (or held) those bitcoins.
Wright’s testimony will continue on Wednesday before the court breaks until Monday morning. || VanEck to Launch Bitcoin Futures ETF ‘XBTF’ Next Week After SEC Rejects Spot Offering: The investment firm VanEck’s bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) is set to debut on the Chicago-based CBOE exchange next week, going live after delays since winning U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approval in late October.
The CBOE said in anoticeon its website that the new VanEck Bitcoin Strategy Fund will start trading under the ticker symbol “XBTF” on Tuesday, with a new-issue auction to open trading around 9:30 a.m. ET followed by dissemination of index data.
VanEck confirmed the planned launch in apress releaseMonday.
The launch date announcement comes just after the SEC late last weekrejected VanEck’s proposalfor a “spot bitcoin ETF” – one that invests directly in bitcoin rather than the futures contracts. The agency hadpreviously delayed its final decisionon the proposal in September.
• The VanEck ETF going live next week would join a growing roster ofbitcoin futures-based ETFslaunched over the past month following years of denials and deferrals by the SEC for abitcoin ETFdesigned to track the cryptocurrency’s price. Some industry commentators have noted that an ETF backed directly by bitcoin wouldmore closely track the cryptocurrency’s pricethan one backed by bitcoin futures.
• The XBTF ETF has a net expense ratio of 0.65% and will invest primarily in bitcoin futures listed and traded on the CME, according to the VanEck press release.
• “Both cost and tax treatment are two essential considerations for investors, and we have made both front and center in the design of XBTF,” VanEck director of digital assets product Kyle DaCruz said in the press release.
• According to VanEck, the average daily open interest in the CME’s bitcoin futures has increased from $77 million in average daily open interest in the first quarter of 2018 to approximately $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
• In October, the SECgreenlitthe ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (stock ticker BITO), which subsequently listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The fund quickly gathered more than$1 billion in investor assets, the fastest ETF ever to hit the milestone.
• Following ProShares’ much anticipated ETF launch, Valkyrie Investments’ bitcoin futures ETF started trading on the Nasdaq a couple weeks ago.
• VanEck bitcoin futures ETF won SEC approval in late October and made a regulatory filing at the time suggesting a launch date of Oct. 25, but company officials had declined to comment since then on why the new fund had not yet launched.
Read more:SEC Rejects VanEck’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Proposal
UPDATE (Nov. 15, 18:00 UTC): Adds that VanEck confirmed the planned launch in a press release Monday and fund net expense ratio. || Engineers create soft robots that could move like millipedes or go inside people: (The Independent) Scientists have found a way to make soft robots using balloons that change shape when inflated with air. This new technology has been used to create a robot with a gripping hand , a flapping fish tail, and a moving coil that can be used to retrieve a ball. In contrast to conventional rigid robots, these soft robots are naturally geared to interact with the soft stuff, like humans or tomatoes, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Pierre-Thomas Brun at Princeton says. This could make them significantly more useful for harvesting food, taking items off a conveyor belt, or providing health care as part of wearable exosuits or under-the-skin devices that could help people with heart issues. The robots are built by injecting bubbles into a liquid polymer called elastomer which becomes rubbery when it solidifies, then inflating the device to make it bend and move. Gravity helps the bubble rise to the top as the elastomer reaches the bottom; once it has hardened, it can be removed from the mold and inflated. Developing the robots is not an easy task; controlling how they stretch and deform through their actuators (components which control movement) is more challenging than with rigid robots due as they can potentially change in an infinite number of ways. Factors such as the thickness of the elastomer coating, how quickly it settles, and how long it takes to harden all affect how the robot will move. These actuators can also be several metres long, with features as small as a human hair. "If its allowed more time to drain before curing, the film at the top will be thinner. And the thinner the film, the more it will stretch when you inflate it and cause greater overall bending," Trevor Jones, a chemical and biological engineering researcher. As well as air, the robots could also be activated using magnetism, electric currents, or changes in temperature and humidity. Predicting how these robots will work is done using a simple equation that anyone can use, researcher Etienne Jambon-Puillet says. Story continues Currently, the researchers have created star-shaped hands that can grip a blackberry, a coiling muscle, and fingers that can curl up one by one. It is not foolproof, though. Bubble casting has only seen real success over a few metres of elastomer-filled tubing, and overinflation can cause it to pop. "Failure is fairly catastrophic," Jones says. The researchers hope to further develop these robots that will move together in sequential waves like a millipede, or which contract and relax from a single source akin to a human heart. "We understand this problem at a physics level pretty strongly," said Jones. "So now the robotics can really be explored." Read More Super-Earths pulled into strange vertical orbits - and we may finally know the cause Nearby alien planets could be more unlike Earth than realised, scientists say Bitcoin price hits record all-time high amid crypto market frenzy Bitcoin price hits record all-time high amid crypto market frenzy Crypto rivals follow bitcoin in hitting new all-time highs follow live Warehouse worker retires after Shiba Inu bet makes him a millionaire || What’s Bitcoin? A beginner’s guide to the world’s first cryptocurrency: Bitcoin (BTC-USD) — the world's first digital currency — has been a hot topic in financial circles for at least the last few years, and arguably needs no introduction.
Surveys suggesta majority of Americans have at least heard of it. In layman’s terms, Bitcoin is a virtual currency (aka cryptocurrency) which can be exchanged through online transactions, and is stored on a digital ledger. Once trading for pennies on the dollar, one unit now costs nearly $40,000 with a market capitalization of nearly $750 billion.
Although outlets that accept cryptocurrency are still limited, Bitcoin is arguably the most easily exchangeable of all the cryptocurrencies. A small but growing number of service providers accept the virtual currency, which can be used to buy goods in video games, exchanged for U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies — and even pay for goods and services at a few places.
Bitcoin was founded in 2008 by an unknown individual or group going by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Though feverish speculation has surrounded Nakamoto's true identity — and some have claimed to be Nakamoto — it remains unconfirmed.
Nakamoto began work on the code that would eventually serve as the backbone of Bitcoin in 2007. In 2008, a whitepaper for the cryptocurrency was first published, which created the original software reference implementation (the program which set forth the technical standards for Bitcoin), and served as an effective starting point for the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin was then created as open-source code, meaning effectively anyone could use it. To date, there are an estimated11,000+ cryptocurrencieson the market today.
Somewhat appropriately given its libertarian beginnings, Bitcoin’s chief distinctive feature is its decentralized nature. Unlike other forms of payments, no one centralized organization or entity controls the currency or has the power to regulate the creation of more Bitcoin nor transactions occurring with it.
Transactions are secured using blockchain technology (more on that below), but no authority has the power to reverse transactions and there is no clearing period before funds can be dispersed. Those very characteristics have raised concerns among regulators about the potential for theft, fraud and illicit transactions.
The process of creatingbitcoin is known as mining. Miners engage in intense computer operations to verify transactions on the Bitcoin network. Mining rewards users for solving complex mathematical problems. Bitcoin usesa ‘proof-of-work’ network, which confirms transactions by proving that a certain amount of a specific computational effort has occurred.
Mining requires a significant amount of computing power, which has led to Bitcoin receiving criticism that the energy-intensive process is bad for the environment — a point recently raise by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk,who sparked a firestorm in crypto markets.
Bitcoin utilizes blockchain technology, a 21st century innovation that allows for transactions to be linked together through a digital ledger. The cryptocurrency was the first application of this technology, but it has since been expanded and utilized in other finance and technology applications.
Bitcoin's price action is not for the faint of heart, one reason why critics argue it's not stable enough to be a successor to fiat money. And whether or not bitcoin has intrinsic value has been a subject of intense debate.
“Bitcoin is not a currency — it's an asset," Pavan Sukhdev, the president of environmental advocacy group WWF International and a former managing director at Deutsche Bank, toldYahoo Finance in a recent interview. He pointed to the extreme volatility and lack of backing value as reasons for its illegitimacy.
Eswar Prasad, professor at Cornell University, was even more blunt. “Bitcoin was designed as a digitally anonymous medium of exchange that did not involve a trusted third party, such as a central bank, but Bitcoin has failed abjectly at its stated objective,”he recently told Yahoo Finance.
For example, during the spring of 2011, the price soared from $1 to $32 in a period of three months. In November of that same year, Bitcoin experienced a sharp drop back to around $2 per coin. This was but the first of many price bubbles that saw Bitcoin rise and fall — both quickly and sharply. And by December of 2017, the price of one unit had reached a new all-time high of over $20,000.
It was during this time that Bitcoin vaulted to the mainstream, minting the first wave of “Bitcoin millionaires'' (and, later,Bitcoin billionaires). Yet once again, the bull market proved volatile and dragged the currency below $7,200 within two years.
However, with Bitcoin now finding its sea legs, its gained more widespread mainstream acceptance and benefited off of investments from big-name corporations and banks. Bitcoin reached anall-time high of over $60kin April before falling back down to just under $40k by the end of July.
Tesla, Black Rock, Inc. (BLK), Square (SQ), and BNY Mellon (BK) are just a few of the growing number of big companies that have found a way to gain a toehold in a whipsaw yet broadening market. With more legitimate backing, more people than ever before invested into the cryptocurrency.
The roller-coaster of Bitcoin's price are complex and varied, and are becoming increasingly subject to government policy.China has initiated a crackdown on cryptocurrencies and crypto mining, expressing displeasure at the subversive nature of a decentralized currency. Since the great majority of bitcoin mining occurs there, restrictions on activity in the region can impact the price andcontribute to wild fluctuations.
Yet the continued fervor surrounding cryptocurrencies in general, as well as a strong fanbase, make it likely that Bitcoin will continue to gain more public acceptance. The2021 annual Bitcoin conference in Miamiattracted 12,000 attendees to discuss cryptocurrency and network with each other. And some of its most devoted fans have even gone as far asto declare it a religion.
Ihsaan Fanusie is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter@IFanusie.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 46848.78, 46707.02, 46880.28, 48936.61, 48628.51, 50784.54, 50822.20, 50429.86, 50809.52, 50640.42
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2018-01-10]
BTC Price: 14973.30, BTC RSI: 49.36
Gold Price: 1317.40, Gold RSI: 68.48
Oil Price: 63.57, Oil RSI: 76.47
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Stock market outlook, November 22: The last full trading day of the week will bring investors a light earnings schedule and three economic data points worth tracking. In the morning, earnings from Deere & Co. ( DE ) will be the main corporate highlight, with the economic schedule bringing investors the weekly report on initial jobless claims, the University of Michigan’s latest report on consumer sentiment, while the afternoon will see the release of the minutes from the latest FOMC meeting. Markets in the U.S. will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and open just a half day on Friday. Earnings from Deere on Wednesday will give investors an overview of the state of the global agricultural sector. Elsewhere, investors will also keep track of two bits of corporate news that broke after the close on Thursday. HP Enterprise ( HPE ) CEO Meg Whitman said she would step down from her post in February 2018, while Bloomberg reported that Uber had the information of 57 million riders and drivers stolen in November 2016 and concealed this information from users and regulators. Bulls all the way up Wall Street analysts are pretty bullish on the stock market in 2018. Goldman Sachs became the latest Wall Street firm to release its year-ahead outlook, when on Tuesday the bank put a 2,850 price target on the S&P 500 for next year , forecasting an 11% return on earnings growth of 14%. Goldman said it expects to see “rational exuberance” in markets through 2020. “The current equity rally echoes aspects of the 1990s bull market,” said David Kostin, chief equity strategist at Goldman. “From its December bear market low through 1996, the S&P 500 index delivered a total return of nearly 330% (17% annualized), just slightly behind the magnitude of the current rally.” And yet Goldman expects the current market’s fortunes to diverge from the tech bubble in the coming years, with the S&P 500 hitting 3,100 in 2020, a 20% rally over the next three years. In contrast, the S&P more than doubled during the last three-plus years of the tech bubble. Goldman Sachs predicts stocks will rally 11% in 2018 with a continued rise into the end of the decade. But as Yahoo Finance’s Sam Ro detailed over the weekend, strategists at BMO Capital, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse have each called for double-digit returns in 2018. This makes Goldman the fifth major firm to call for another big year for stocks. Story continues For those who are skeptical of the current market rally — or who are simply contrarians when the consensus seems to congeal around one big call — all this bullishness might seem to be setting markets up for a disappointment. Those who know market history will see Goldman’s “rational exuberance” and immediately recall the reference to the “irrational exuberance” that former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan alluded to in a famous speech in December 1996, over three years before the tech bubble began to burst. But the spirit of Greenspan’s comments were not to call the top in stocks, but to ask rhetorically if we can know when investor enthusiasm for certain assets has exceeded reasonable estimates of their value. When, in other words, does buying become a mania. In Goldman’s view, this fervor has not come to U.S. markets and won’t over the coming years. And yet that the path of investor enthusiasm can be forecast is perhaps an even more foolhardy prediction than forecasting the price of stocks. Because while stock prices may break from away from a reasonable estimate of the earnings stream produced by the underlying companies for a time, there is an agreed-upon framework underwriting market prices in a broad sense. Stock prices, in the end, usually make sense. How and why and when investors break from these fundamentals over time is a less predictable phenomenon. — Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland Read more from Myles here: Walmart’s strong quarter shows why Amazon had to buy Whole Foods Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession It’s been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own Wall Street can’t stop talking about Bitcoin || How General Motors Is Stacking the Deck Against the Competition: General Motors'(NYSE: GM)shares have had a good run in recent months. There's a growing sense among Wall Street analysts that GM might have a leg up on its key rivals, particularlyFord Motor Company(NYSE: F),Fiat Chrysler Automobiles(NYSE: FCAU), and to some extent,Toyota Motor Corporation(NYSE: TM).
What's giving GM the advantage? Simply put, CEO Mary Barra and her team have been working to stack the deck against these and other rivals with smart investments in products for today and technologies for the future.
Theinvestment case for GMhas two parts, and both show how the General has found a leg up on its key competitors. Let's take a closer look.
While investors have focused on other automakers' bold promises, CEO Mary Barra has quietly put GM ahead of the pack. Image source: General Motors.
In the near term, GM's profits and margins stand to grow because it has (or soon will have) the freshest products in the most profitable segments of the market:
• GM just finished launching a slew of new crossover SUVs, just as demand for crossovers is hitting new highs in both the U.S. and China. GM's new crossovers are both very competitive and more profitable than the products they replace. The effects are already showing up on GM's bottom line.
• GM hasall-new versions of its full-size pickupscoming next year. Those will be followed by all-new versions of its midsize pickups and big truck-based SUVs. These are all massively profitable products that (as a group) sell in huge numbers, and -- as with the crossovers -- GM expects the new models to be even more profitable than the current models.
• GM has more crossovers coming: These will be three all-new models for the Cadillac luxury brand, arriving over the next couple of years. They'll expand Cadillac's product line into new high-volume territory. They should sell very well in both the U.S. and China, at very strong prices.
Of course, Ford and FCA are also strong contenders in pickups, and they (and Toyota) have solid crossover entries. But simply put, GM beat them in investing aggressively in new products aimed at the most profitable global market segments: The others look a step or two behind.
The all-new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, due next fall, should give GM's truck profits a boost. Image source: General Motors.
At the same time, Barra has been much more aggressive than rivals in trimming less profitable programs, by exiting market segments (or even entire markets, like Europe) in which the returns aren't sufficient.
Starting in a couple of years, GM's leading positions in two key technologies will give it the opportunity to build new businesses that add to, rather than replace, the profits generated by those new products:
• GM is out in front of the emerging trend toward electric vehicles. It was thefirst to ship an affordable, long-range battery-electric car(the Chevrolet Bolt EV), beatingTesla(NASDAQ: TSLA)by several months. It'll follow the Bolt withat least 20 more all-electric vehiclesover the next 6 years. Most of those will be built on an all-new architecture that GM promises will deliver solid profitability, something that has so far eluded nearly all electric-vehicle rivals.
• GM is also out in front of self-driving technology. It has a self-driving version of the Bolt ready to enter mass production as soon as its software is shown to be consistently safer than a human driver, something that GM estimates will happen in 2019.
• Those mass-produced self-driving Bolts will be put into ridesharing service in dense urban environments. Because the self-driving system improves as it racks up mileage, GM believes that its ability to quickly put thousands of self-driving vehicles on the roads will result in rapid improvements, and that ridesharng customers will gravitate to the services with the best systems. If GM can be first (or even second) to bring self-driving vehicles to market at scale, which seems likely today, thatcould lead to an enduring advantage.
How does that compare? Ford and Toyota have electric-vehicle programs underway, but neither is as advanced (or as ambitious) as GM's. Likewise, with autonomous-vehicle technology: Toyota has been more focused on creating an advanced driver-assist system, while Ford's self-driving effort seems to be aiming at the commercial-vehicle market.
The little Chevrolet Bolt EV, shown here in prototype self-driving form, is a key component of Barra's profit-growth plan. Image source: General Motors.
And FCA? FCA has a partnership withAlphabet's Waymo self-driving subsidiary; itbuilt the vehiclesfor Waymo's current test fleet. But its electric-vehicle efforts seem rudimentary, and while it recentlysigned on as a partnerin a self-driving development effort led byBMW, it's not currently known to have a significant self-driving research and development program of its own.
Here's the key to the whole thing: Much of GM's profit today comes from the sale of SUVs (including crossovers) and trucks to customers in middle America. GM thinks that at least for a while, ride-hailing services using self-driving vehicles will be largely limited to cities, particularly (in the U.S.) the coastal cities where GM doesn't have a big market share.
Translation: Profits from the new automated ride-hailing business will add to, rather than replace, GM's existing profit stream. It's the combination of GM's strength in trucks and SUVs with its emerging leadership in self-driving electric ride-hailing vehicles that puts it a step (or several steps) ahead of its key rivals.
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John Rosevearowns shares of General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || “What Putin Really Wants”: The Atlantic’s January/February Issue Cover Story: Washington, D.C. (December 11, 2017)—Vladimir Putin is no chess master. He’s a gambler who has taken larger risks in recent years. And while the subversion of the 2016 U.S. election was a spectacular geopolitical heist pulled off on a shoestring budget, Americans have a key misunderstanding of Russia and the man that pulls the strings. The Atlantic staff writer Julia Ioffe spent months reporting on her native Russia to determine “ What Putin Really Wants ,” appearing on the cover of The Atlantic’s January/February 2018 issue and published today at TheAtlantic.com . In the wide-ranging cover story, Ioffe offers the definitive telling of how the Kremlin, despite its limitations, pulled off one of the greatest acts of political sabotage in modern history. And she describes how far an emboldened Putin is prepared to go—in 2018, in 2020—in order to get what he wants. “What Putin Really Wants” is out today at TheAtlantic.com , along with many other features from the double issue of the magazine . The issue hits newsstands next week. Recommended: What Putin Really Wants In the same way that Russians overestimate America, seeing it as an all-powerful orchestrator of global political developments, Ioffe reports that Americans project their own fears onto Russia, a country that is a paradox of deftness, might, and profound weakness—unshakably steady, yet somehow always teetering on the verge of collapse. Ioffe writes that the subversion of the election was less a result of strategic brilliance than it was of tactical flexibility—a willingness to experiment, to disrupt, and to take big risks. And ironically, it succeeded in part because the Obama administration initially saw the effort as amateurish and unserious. As one high-level businessman with ties to the Kremlin characterizes Russia’s efforts to disrupt American politics: “You’re telling me that everything in Russia works as poorly as it does, except our hackers? Rosneft doesn’t work well. Our healthcare system doesn’t work well. Our education system doesn’t work well. And here, all of a sudden, are our hackers, and they’re amazing?” And so, writes Ioffe, “a forgery, a couple of groups of hackers, and a drip of well-timed leaks were all it took to throw American politics into chaos.” Story continues Ioffe shows how U.S. strategic carelessness over the past decade has inexorably pushed Putin toward greater and greater hostility. Perhaps most notably, some of America’s misadventures abroad have prodded Putin to take a more aggressive stance toward America, and to engage in more hostile measures against it. In particular, America’s killing of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya—the video of which Putin has watched obsessively—has led the Russian premier to believe he must actively cultivate his domestic popular support, especially with his country in economic decline, and to do disrupt American politics, lest he be the next dictator to be deposed by American intervention. Recommended: Astronomers to Check Mysterious Interstellar Object for Signs of Technology With Putin’s six-year term up in 2024, everyone in Moscow knows his reign will eventually come to an end. But no one knows what happens the day after. Ioffe writes: “Ironically, Putin has laid the groundwork for exactly the kind of chaotic collapse that he has spent his political life trying to avoid, the kind of collapse that gave rise to his reign. He has made himself a hostage to a system he built with his own hands.” As America’s next major election cycle approaches, what will be Putin’s next move? And how far might he be prepared to go in order to maintain control? Ioffe is one of the leading reporters covering the entangled and evolving U.S.-Russia relationship. Last month, she broke the news that Donald Trump Jr. had engaged in a series of secretive correspondences with the WikiLeaks Twitter account during his father’s presidential campaign. “ What Putin Really Wants ” is now at The Atlantic, and appears on the cover of the January/February 2018 issue of the magazine. All excerpts must be credited to The Atlantic. ### Read more from The Atlantic : Bitcoin Is the Most Obvious Bubble of the Modern Era Why Everyone Is Talking About This New Yorker Fiction Story The World Might Be Better Off Without College for Everyone This article was originally published on The Atlantic . || A Parody Cryptocurrency Based On A Dog Meme Just Hit An All-Time High: The cryptocurrency craze continues—this time, for a coin that was created as a joke.
Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after anInternet meme, hit an all-time high of more than $2 billion in overall value this weekend.
The currency, launched in 2013, was inspired by an online craze for pictures of Shiba Inus, a Japanese dog breed. With people around the world itching to get in on the cryptocurrency trend, the parody coin has been steadily gaining in recent months, hitting $1 billion in overall value in late December, and then doubling to $2 billion on Jan. 7.
Read:Cryptocurrency Markets Tank After Signs China Could Push Out Miners
While the market value hit a peak over the weekend, each coin is worth less than two cents, because unlike Bitcoin, there is no limit on the number of Dogecoins that can be produced. According toBBC, there are already 100 billion of the coins in existence. And they’re easy to get your hands on because Dogecoins can be purchased at online exchanges or be mined in the same way as Bitcoins.
Read:Here’s Why Your Bitcoin Investment Just Plummeted 14%
Despite the impressive growth Dogecoin and other altcoins like it have experienced in recent months, some are expressing concern that their rise is driven purely by FOMO, the fear of missing out experienced by investors who missed their chance to get in on the Bitcoin craze before it exploded. Jackson Palmer, the founder of Dogecoin (who has since left the company), toldCoinDeskthat “it says a lot about the state of the cryptocurrency space in general that a currency with a dog on it which hasn’t released a software update in over 2 years has a $1B+ market cap.” || Bitcoin’s dominance of the cryptocurrency market is at its lowest level ever: Bitcoin's (Exchange: BTC=) dominance of the cryptocurrency market is at its lowest level ever thanks to rising interest in alternative digital coins. On Tuesday, its market cap was $231.8 billion, or around 36.1 percent of the total value of all cryptocurrencies. This is the lowest share of the market that bitcoin has had in its history.Bitcoin's previous low was 37.6 percent in June. By contrast, at the start of 2017, its market share stood at over 80 percent.Dominance refers to the percentage a single virtual currency has of the market capitalization or value of every cryptocurrency in the world. The total market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency world stood at $640.4 billion on Tuesday, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin rallied by more than 1,300 percent in 2017. In December, it hit a record high of $19,783.21 before a sharp sell-off saw it plunge, closing the year at $13,889.99, according to CoinDesk's bitcoin price index, which tracks prices from digital currency exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex. The decline of bitcoin's dominance, which on Dec. 1 stood at around 55 percent, is due to the pullback in price, but also rising interest in other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum (Exchange: ETH=) , ripple (Exchange: XRP.BS=) and litecoin. On Dec. 1, for example, ripple's value stood at around 3 percent of the entire market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday, it was over 14 percent. Ripple's price rose over 36,000 percent in 2017 and it is now the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Investors appear to be taking a breather from bitcoin for now and looking at alternative cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has divided the financial and business world. Last year, J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon famously called bitcoin a "fraud." And last week, The Gartman Letter editor and publisher Dennis Gartman told CNBC that bitcoin would trade under $5,000 . But many in the industry are also bullish on the cryptocurrency. Dave Chapman, managing director at cryptocurrency trading firm Octagon Strategy, sees the price of bitcoin exceeding $100,000 before the end of 2018 . WATCH: Bitcoin could be the biggest bubble in history – here's how Bitcoin's (Exchange: BTC=) dominance of the cryptocurrency market is at its lowest level ever thanks to rising interest in alternative digital coins. On Tuesday, its market cap was $231.8 billion, or around 36.1 percent of the total value of all cryptocurrencies. This is the lowest share of the market that bitcoin has had in its history. Bitcoin's previous low was 37.6 percent in June. By contrast, at the start of 2017, its market share stood at over 80 percent. Dominance refers to the percentage a single virtual currency has of the market capitalization or value of every cryptocurrency in the world. The total market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency world stood at $640.4 billion on Tuesday, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin rallied by more than 1,300 percent in 2017. In December, it hit a record high of $19,783.21 before a sharp sell-off saw it plunge, closing the year at $13,889.99, according to CoinDesk's bitcoin price index, which tracks prices from digital currency exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex. The decline of bitcoin's dominance, which on Dec. 1 stood at around 55 percent, is due to the pullback in price, but also rising interest in other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum (Exchange: ETH=) , ripple (Exchange: XRP.BS=) and litecoin. On Dec. 1, for example, ripple's value stood at around 3 percent of the entire market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday, it was over 14 percent. Ripple's price rose over 36,000 percent in 2017 and it is now the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Investors appear to be taking a breather from bitcoin for now and looking at alternative cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has divided the financial and business world. Last year, J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon famously called bitcoin a "fraud." And last week, The Gartman Letter editor and publisher Dennis Gartman told CNBC that bitcoin would trade under $5,000 . But many in the industry are also bullish on the cryptocurrency. Dave Chapman, managing director at cryptocurrency trading firm Octagon Strategy, sees the price of bitcoin exceeding $100,000 before the end of 2018 . WATCH: Bitcoin could be the biggest bubble in history – here's howMore From CNBC
• There are a lot of complications in trading cryptocurrencies
• Bitcoin fever to burn out in ‘spectacular crash,’ David Stockman warns
• Stocks to rally 10 percent or more in 2018, Art Hogan predicts || UK Inflation Hits Six-Year High, Central Banks Becoming Focus: Asian equities were mixed today. The Euro and Pound have range traded with slight headwinds. The Producer Price Index results will come from the States today, but tomorrow’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision will impact investors and the broad markets as the day progresses.
Sentiment on Wall Street was cautious on Monday, but buyers still outnumbered sellers across the major Indexes. An important inflation report will come from the States today, but tomorrow’s Federal Reserve interest rate announcement will start to shadow the broad markets in earnest as the hours progress.
It will be a busy day of data early in Asia on Wednesday. Japan will release its Core Machinery Orders results, and a Consumer Sentiment number will come from Australia. Asian equities were mixed today as the Nikkei and Hang Seng Indexes lost slightly, but Australian stocks achieved gains. The Yen has seen very consolidated trading the past day against the U.S Dollar.
Inflation numbers via the Consumer Price Index in the U.K beat expectations today with a gain of 3.1 percent. However, the Retail Price Index for shoppers was lower.The Poundhas stayed under pressure this morning against the U.S Dollar as it traverses above the 1.33 mark. A German Economic Sentiment reading released today was below its estimate. German inflation data will be released tomorrow.
Goldremains dangerous to a trader, particularly for speculators who are looking for reversals upwards. The precious metal continues to be pushed around and is braced against an important support level near 1243.00 U.S Dollars an ounce.
Mario Draghi Speaking at Conference, U.S Federal Reserve Tomorrow
The Producer Price Index data from the U.S could prove to be significant for traders upon its release at 13:30 GMT.
• 13:30 PM GMT U.S, Producer Price Index
• 19:00 PM GMT E.U., ECB President Draghi Speaking in Frankfurt
• 22:15 PM GMT Australia, RBA Governor Lowe Speaking in Sydney
Yaron Mazor is a senior analyst atSuperTraderTV.
SuperTraderTV Academy is a leader in investing and stock trading education.Sign upfor a class today to learn proven strategies on how to trade smarter.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Market Snapshot – Equity Markets Await the Fed, Litecoin Surges 45%
• Equities Turning Cautious as Fed Approaches, Gold Under Pressure
• UK Inflation Hits Six-Year High, Central Banks Becoming Focus || Bubble trouble? Bitcoin tops $11,000, but fades after sharp rally: By Jemima Kelly and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin zoomed past $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst in spectacular fashion. After soaring more than 1,000 percent since the start of the year, bitcoin rose as much as 15 percent on Wednesday, but by mid-afternoon in New York, the virtual currency was trading at $9,500, down 3.7 percent on the day on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp (BTC=BTSP), one of the largest and most liquid cryptocurrency exchanges. "As many seasoned traders know all too well, anything that rockets higher, tends to fall down faster when the time comes, and the time will come," James Hughes, chief market analyst at FX broker AxiTrader, said. Bitcoin topped $10,000 for the first time in early Asia trading, before surging above $11,000 less than 12 hours later to reach $11,395. Bitcoin's rapid ascent has led to countless warnings that it has reached bubble territory. But the warnings have had little effect, with dozens of new crypto-hedge funds entering the market and retail investors piling in. (To view a graphic on Bitcoin's blistering ascent, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2AHKJPd ) London-based Blockchain.info, one of the biggest global bitcoin wallet-providers, told Reuters on Wednesday that it had added a record number of new users on Tuesday, with more than 100,000 customers signing up, taking the total number to more than 19 million. The evidence suggests that few of the users are buying bitcoin to use it as a means of exchange, but are speculating to increase their capital. "What's happening right now has nothing to do with bitcoin's functionality as a currency – this is pure mania that's taken hold," said Garrick Hileman, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School. Hileman, who last week gave a lecture to the Bank of England on the risks of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, also flagged the risk of the whole market collapsing entirely. "There's always the possibility that some fundamental cryptographic flaw that we can't solve craters the whole space, or that regulators unite and decide this represents systemic risk and actually could trigger the next financial crisis," he said. "EXIT RAMPS" Created in 2008, bitcoin uses encryption and a blockchain database that enables the fast and anonymous transfer of funds outside of a conventional centralized payment system. It has far outstripped gains seen in any traditional asset classes or currencies this year. Its rise accelerated in recent months as exchanges such as the CME Group Inc (CME.O) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange announced plans to offer futures contracts for the cryptocurrency. Story continues On Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the matter said Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) plans to launch a futures contract based on bitcoin in 2018. Sceptics say it is a classic speculative bubble with no relation to real financial market activity or the economy - most famously JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon, who labeled it a "fraud". But even Dimon and others who say bitcoin represents a bubble - now the consensus view among mainstream investors - do not deny its price rise could still have further to go. "It’s got all the shapings of your tulip bubble chart (but) that tells you nothing about where that price line could go depending on the number of people who wish to own it," Standard Life's head of investment strategy, Andrew Milligan, said on Wednesday. "Who is to say it doesn’t reach $100,000?" In some emerging markets, bitcoin had hit well over $10,000 previously. In South Korean exchanges, too, bitcoin was already close to $11,000 or higher early this week. On Zimbabwe's local exchange golix.com bitcoin touched a new high of $18,500 on Wednesday before retreating to $18,000. The fact that bitcoin now provides "exit ramps" from national currencies that were becoming easier to use, Hileman said, could exacerbate any future financial crisis. Coordinated regulatory action might therefore be necessary in order to stave off an "economic calamity", he said. Despite its mushrooming value, however, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said on Wednesday bitcoin was not big enough to pose a risk to the global economy. New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said the Fed is in the early stages of considering "what it would mean" to offer digital currencies sometime in the future and whether it may be necessary as an alternative to cash. Mike Novogratz, a former macro hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group, said in a Reuters Investment Summit this month that mainstream institutional investors were about six to eight months from adopting bitcoin. (Additional reporting by Marius Zaharia in Hong Kong, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore, Helen Reid and Dhara Ranasinghe in London, and MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare; Editing by Alison Williams and Susan Thomas) View comments || How much it costs to get a haircut in cities around the world, in two charts: Shutterstock
• Haircuts generally cost more in cities where local wages are higher, and less in cities where local wages are lower.
• For the most part, women pay more for haircuts than men do.
• We put together a list of how much a haircut costs in various cities around the world.
If you're planning a trip to Beijing, you might want to get a haircut while you're there. It'll run you less than $10.
UBS analysts collected data back in 2015 on how much it costs to get a haircut in various major cities across the world.
Overall, haircuts were more expensive in cities were local salaries were higher, the analysts found. Haircut prices were lower in cities where local salaries were lower.
Haircuts for women were the most expensive in Oslo, Norway ($95.04), Zurich, Switzerland ($86.71), and Geneva, Switzerland ($83.97). They were the cheapest in Jakarta, Indonesia ($4.63), Manila, Philippines ($6.18), and Beijing, China ($9.27).
As for men, haircuts were the most expensive in Olso, Norway ($77.72), Copenhagen, Denmark ($52.55), and Zurich, Switzerland ($50.79). They were the cheapest in Jakarta, Indonesia ($4.50), Beijing, China ($5.24), and New Delhi, India ($5.29).
Women's haircuts cost an average of 40% more than men's across the globe, the UBS team found. That means a woman might end up paying more for a haircut in a city with a low cost of living than a man in a more expensive city.
We put together UBS's 2015 data on haircut prices for women and men across the cities in the two charts below.
Here's how much it costs women to get a haircut around the world:
Andy Kiersz/Business Insider
And here's how much it a haircut costs men around the world:
Andy Kiersz/Business Insider
NOW WATCH:Tony Robbins showed us the very first thing he does every morning to have more energy
See Also:
• Warren Buffett brilliantly explains how bubbles are formed
• Bitcoin just hit an all-time high — here's how you buy and sell it
• Inside one of the most exclusive streets in San Francisco that a couple bought for $90,000 and was forced to return to the city
SEE ALSO:How much it costs to grab a beer around the world || As Ripple Surges, Why Stellar Could Be the Next Cryptocurrency to Go Huge: Stellar is surging. The cryptocurrency aims to achieve a similar goal as Ripple, providing hassle-free international transactions. Both tokens have soared in value this week, with Stellar briefly taking the number six spot in terms of overall cryptocurrency value. There’s good reason to believe Stellar could prove the next big thing. The cryptocurrency has big expert backing. Jed McCaleb founded the cryptocurrency in 2014, just one year after also founding Ripple. He also founded the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange before selling it in 2011. At one point in 2013, Mt. Gox handled 70 percent of all Bitcoin transactions before a major hacking attack led to its downfall. Throughout his career, McCaleb has tried to crack the problem of updating the global financial system for the digital age. “We are trying to be an internet level protocol for payments,” McCaleb said about Stellar in a 2016 interview with Forbes . “There are lots of payment networks, but they don’t interoperate.” Developed by a non-profit organization, Stellar is an open source blockchain that allows for cross-border transactions with equal access for all participants. With Bitcoin, some exchanges pay for prioritized processing to cut down confirmation times. Fees have skyrocketed to around $20, while confirmation times average just over an hour. Stellar promises transaction times of two to five seconds with fees of just a fraction of a cent. See below for Stellar’s explainer on how the network works. This use case has filtered down into investor decisions. On Wednesday, Stellar surged by over 60 percent to reach a price of 91.85 cents per lumen, the name of the cryptocurrency token. With 17 billion lumens in circulation, at the time of writing its market cap of $14.6 billion makes it the seventh biggest cryptocurrency in the world. It’s even bigger than ninth-place Litecoin at $13.1 billion, one of the most prominent cryptocurrencies due to its inclusion on Coinbase. Stellar has a big mountain to climb if it wants to replicate Ripple’s success, though. The latter has secured a number of deals with businesses looking for a professional use of cryptocurrency as over 100 companies have signed up for tests. This has shown in a market cap that rests at $140 billion, and a token that has increased in value by 20 percent over the past 24 hours to reach $3.62 per token. Story continues It’s early days, but Stellar could surge off the back of investors looking for a cryptocurrency with real-world potential. Photos via Flickr / antanacoins Photos via Flickr / antanacoins Written by Mike Brown More articles by Mike • Follow Mike on Twitter tweet share More From Inverse Why the Price of Ripple is So Much Less than Bitcoin How Ripple Works and Why It's Surging 6 Futuristic Projects That Every City Should Adopt The Bitcoin Bowl Was Too Weird for Its Time Inside Estonia's Bold Plan to Build a Digital Country on the Blockchain || Blockbuster Holiday Spending on Apple's App Store Bodes Well for Services Business: As usual, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) products were among the most popular gifts over the holidays. For example, in the week leading up to Christmas (which included several days of Hannakuh), Apple comprised 44% of all device activations, according to Flurry Analytics. That's actually the same share of activations that Apple grabbed in 2016 . Naturally, one of the first things people do when receiving an Apple gadget as a gift is to go and start shopping for apps and other digital content. And shop they did. Collection of featured apps and games on the App Store Image source: Apple. Hey, big spenders Last week, Apple announced that the App Store enjoyed a "record-breaking" holiday season, with New Year's Day generating $300 million in purchases alone. For the week starting on Christmas Eve, customers spent a mind-boggling $890 million. For all of 2017, iOS developers earned $26.5 billion, according to marketing chief Phil Schiller. That's up 30% from 2016. That would suggest that Apple's cut of App Store sales was about $11.35 billion, based on the historical 70-30 split. Apple's share should be slightly less, since it reduced its cut of paid subscriptions to 15% after the first year. While there are now 210 million paid subscriptions , many of those subscriptions were made within the past year and would still be subject to the higher 30% cut. The change was announced in mid-2016 , so only a portion of those subscriptions would have reached the reduced 15% tier by now. The App Store was redesigned in iOS 11 in order to focus on editorialized content discovery. So far, it seems to be working. Here's CFO Luca Maestri on the November earnings call: The App Store set a new all-time record. And according to App Annie's latest report, it continues to be the preferred destination for customer purchases by a wide and growing margin, generating nearly twice the revenue of Google Play. We're getting great response to the App Store's new design in iOS 11 from both customers and developers. We've seen increases in the frequency of customer visits, the amount of time they spend in the store and the number of apps they download. Story continues Cumulatively, iOS developers have now earned $86 billion since the App Store launched in 2008, according to Apple. Party like it's 2020 The App Store is one of the most important drivers of Apple's services business, which the company hopes will generate $50 billion in revenue in 2020 . The strong growth in digital content sales is a good sign for those ambitions, particularly when it comes to paid subscriptions. Even though paid subscriptions hopefully reach the lower 15% tier, the reason why Apple has been highlighting paid subscriptions is that those generate recurring revenue. Subscription-based businesses that sell software and services earn an awful lot of respect from investors due to their recurring nature and higher margins, and Apple's App Store specifically has very modest operating expenses since Apple does not have to license or create any of the content itself; Apple just has to manage and curate all of it. In contrast, Apple Music (another key pillar of the services business that is also a paid subscription) is more complex operationally, because Apple has to negotiate with and maintain relationships with the record labels, pay royalties, and more in addition to managing and curating the content. Furthermore, there's all that original video content that Apple is buying and bundling with Apple Music. If Apple collected over $11 billion in App Store revenue in 2017 (not including many of its other services offerings), while digital content purchases and subscriptions are growing at 30%, that 2020 target is starting to look awfully realistic. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
15k verdes el bitcoin se fue todo al joraca || Tiffany Haddishちゃんが || bitcoin priceってゆうか、 || I don't think it will take the hedge away entirely since one futures contract at the CME is 5 BTC. Retail buyers will still use Alts. || bitcoin priceってゆうか、 || bitcoin priceってゆうか、 || Can I buy them with Bitcoin? || #FAKEMARKETS Gregory Mannarino https://youtu.be/uIgW6eGMA_8 via @YouTube #Bitcoin very interesting news from a trader & advocate. If you're a Bitcoin investor watch video to the end. || Bitcoin is Taking the World away the Criminal Pedophile controlled Institutions https://youtu.be/XdCfk7a2Va0 #university #college #school #highschool #teacher #professor #student #gay #lesbian #blacklivesmatter #christian #ubc #sfu #bcit #catholic #church #coach #trainer #instructorpic.twitter.com/xzRDxWZxxY || こんばんは。 bitcoin priceという
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Trend: down || Prices: 13405.80, 13980.60, 14360.20, 13772.00, 13819.80, 11490.50, 11188.60, 11474.90, 11607.40, 12899.20
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-05-01]
BTC Price: 8864.77, BTC RSI: 74.46
Gold Price: 1694.50, Gold RSI: 52.82
Oil Price: 19.78, Oil RSI: 50.79
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Latest Bitcoin Cash price and analysis (BCH to USD): Bitcoin Cash has once again picked itself up from a correction after rallying by 7.26% over the past 24-hours. With it currently trading at around $219 it now looks like it may retest the $238 level of resistance for the first time since 20th March. A breakout above $238 would signal continuation to the upside with $269 and $284 emerging as potential targets. However, an injection of volume is certainly needed in Bitcoin Cash’s case with trades seemingly drying up across all exchanges over the past week. If bulls run out of steam over the next 48-hours then Bitcoin Cash will be back in bearish control, with a slide below $200 looking most likely. Much of the upcoming price action will depend on the direction of Bitcoin, which rallied back to the $6,430 level overnight after slumping to a $5,900 low on Sunday. Cryptocurrencies seem to be generally recovering well from the shocking sell off earlier this month with Bitcoin Cash being 63.19% up from its low of $135. As the Bitcoin halving event edges closer several analysts are predicting an impending crypto bull market as supply of Bitcoin from miners begins to dry up. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . Pricing Current live BCH pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest BCH price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – BCHtoUSD British Pound Sterling – BCHtoGBP Japanese Yen – BCHtoJPY Euro – BCHtoEUR Australian Dollar – BCHtoAUD Russian Rouble – BCHtoRUB Bitcoin – BCHtoBTC About Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin Cash was born out of the idea of making Bitcoin more practical for small, day-to-day payments. In May 2017, Bitcoin payments took about four days unless a fee was paid, which was proportionately too large for small transactions. A change to the code was implemented and Bitcoin Cash was born on 1st August 2017. Story continues More Bitcoin Cash news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin Cash or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started: https://coinrivet.com/roger-ver-to-launch-crypto-exchange-on-bitcoin-com/ As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . || CLASS ACTION UPDATE for CAN, EHTH and FITB: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Reminds Investors of Class Actions on Behalf of Shareholders: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 20, 2020 / Levi & Korsinsky, LLP announces that class action lawsuits have commenced on behalf of shareholders of the following publicly-traded companies. Shareholders interested in serving as lead plaintiff have until the deadlines listed to petition the court. Further details about the cases can be found at the links provided. There is no cost or obligation to you. CAN Shareholders Click Here: https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/canaan-inc-loss-form?prid=6097&wire=1 EHTH Shareholders Click Here: https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/ehealth-inc-loss-form?prid=6097&wire=1 FITB Shareholders Click Here: https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/fifth-third-bancorp-loss-form?prid=6097&wire=1 * ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW * Canaan Inc. ( CAN ) CAN Lawsuit on behalf of: investors who purchased publicly traded securities of Canaan, including its American Depository Shares pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's registration statement and related prospectus issued in connection with the Company's November 20, 2019 initial public offering. Lead Plaintiff Deadline : May 4, 2020 TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/canaan-inc-loss-form?prid=6097&wire=1 According to the filed complaint, (1) the purported "strategic cooperation" was actually a transaction with a related party; (2) the company's financial health was worse than what was actually reported; (3) the company had recently removed numerous distributors from its website just prior to the initial public offering, many of which were small or suspicious businesses; and (4) several of the Company's largest Chinese clients in prior years were clients who were not in the Bitcoin mining industry and, thus, would likely not be repeat customers. eHealth, Inc. ( EHTH ) EHTH Lawsuit on behalf of: investors who purchased March 19, 2018 - April 7, 2020 Lead Plaintiff Deadline : June 8, 2020 TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/ehealth-inc-loss-form?prid=6097&wire=1 Story continues The complaint alleges that eHealth, Inc. issued materially false and/or misleading information and/or failed to disclose: (1) its highly aggressive accounting and modeling assumptions; (2) its skyrocketing rate of member churn, resulting from eHealth's pursuit of low quality, lossmaking growth; (3) its reliance on direct response television advertising, which attracts an unprofitable, high churn enrollee; and (4) that as a result of the foregoing, defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. Fifth Third Bancorp ( FITB ) FITB Lawsuit on behalf of: investors who purchased February 26, 2016 - March 6, 2020 Lead Plaintiff Deadline : June 8, 2020 TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/fifth-third-bancorp-loss-form?prid=6097&wire=1 According to the filed complaint, during the class period, Fifth Third Bancorp made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) as a result of Fifth Third Bank's aggressive incentive policies to promote its cross-sell strategy, Fifth Third Bank employees engaged in unauthorized conduct with customer accounts; (ii) since at least 2008, Fifth Third Bank, and by extension, Fifth Third, was aware of such unauthorized conduct and, thus, that it was violating relevant regulations and laws aimed at protecting its consumers; (iii) Fifth Third failed to properly implement and monitor its cross-sell program, detect and stop misconduct, and identify and remediate harmed consumers; (iv) all the foregoing subjected the Company to a foreseeable risk of heightened regulatory scrutiny or investigation; (v) Fifth Third's revenues were in part the product of unlawful conduct and thus unsustainable; and (vi) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. You have until the lead plaintiff deadlines to request that the court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff. Levi & Korsinsky is a nationally recognized firm with offices in New York, California, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise and experience representing investors in securities litigation and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CONTACT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Joseph E. Levi, Esq. 55 Broadway, 10th Floor New York, NY 10006 jlevi@levikorsinsky.com Tel: (212) 363-7500 Fax: (212) 363-7171 www.zlk.com SOURCE: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/585980/CLASS-ACTION-UPDATE-for-CAN-EHTH-and-FITB-Levi-Korsinsky-LLP-Reminds-Investors-of-Class-Actions-on-Behalf-of-Shareholders || Bitcoin Falls Below $5K as Market Pain Deepens: UPDATE (March 13, 02:44 UTC): Bitcoin’s price briefly sank below $4,000 before rebounding to between $5,300 and $5,500 in a 30-minute period. The rapid price rise followed complaintson Twitterthat crypto derivatives trading platform Bitmex had gone offline, though it is unclear whether this is related.
Bitcoin(BTC) and the broader cryptocurrency market continued this week’s sharp decline, with the world’s largest crypto falling to around $4,800.
The crypto space echoed the broader global trading markets: Equities have been in free-fall mode, prompting another halt to trading as the S&P 500 suffered another 9.5 percent drop on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is also down around 10 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 9.43 percent to around 7,201 basis points.
Related:Bitcoin Ekes Out Gains but Remains in Red Amid Broader Market Rebound
The Asian markets fared no better as the Australian ASX All Ordinaries dropped 7.23 percent while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 4.4 percent and is set to continue its slide into deeper losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly $63 billion has been wiped from the markets as the total market capitalization of all crypto fell from $223 billion to $161 billion, with BTC falling more than 39 percent over the past 24 hours to levels not seen since April 2019.
As for other top crypto assets,ethereum(ETH) is at $109, whileXRP(XRP) is trading at 14 cents.
Balances containing 100 or more bitcoin have fallen to their lowest point since Dec. 31, 2019, signaling a flight to cash as othersupposed safe-haven assets like gold fell 3.5 percent.
Related:Despite Bitcoin Price Dips, Crypto Is a Safe Haven in the Middle East
In the near term, investors expect major volatility. However, many express optimism when considering the long-term.
“Not a market for the faint-hearted. Staggering losses all round,” CEO of BCB Group Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie said.
“Ahead of the halving we have a half-price sale and it won’t last long. The market is oversold on correlated global economic jitters and it’s not hard to see a short term correction,” Landsberg-Sadie added.
However, a small glimmer of hope remains for those high-net-worth individuals, Landsberg-Sadie claims, who continue to put in purchase orders for bitcoin, despite the economic turmoil happening all around.
“Those four were all purchase orders. Of the high-net-worth individual buyers, two were U.K, one Swiss.”
Others stated it was the long-term perspective that offered more promising returns on their investment as traders await the bloodbath in global markets to conclude.
“In the long term, we see this period as an opportunity for many investors to get exposure to the asset class at attractive prices,” said Asim Ahmad, founding partner and co-chief investment officer at Eterna Capital.
Ido Sadeh Man, founder and chairman of the board at Saga Foundation, said conditions from a macro perspective look shaky at best.
“The near-future looks hyper volatile and even chaotic,” he said. “This will only continue to weigh on the global economy, and ultimately hurt the pockets of individuals. The only available tool for corporates and households alike is to look at diversification strategies of their assets and currencies, to protect and preserve their value.”
On the technical side, BTC has broken down from a head and shoulders pattern that had been staring down traders since March 8’s initial breakdown from $8,900 to just under $8,000.
High levels of spot volume as well as a dip into extreme oversold territory, as seen by the daily RSI, a measure of trend strength and momentum, do not bode well for crypto in the short term although a bounce may be on the cards, once the bloodletting ceases.
“In the short term we expect the bitcoin price to follow the market sentiment driven by monetary and fiscal policies in response to COVID-19 developments,” Ahmad added.
• Crypto Prepped Before Coronavirus Went Global
• Whale Watching: Exchange Data Contained Early Warning of Thursday’s Bitcoin Dump || Ethereum Falls 10% In Selloff: Investing.com - Ethereum was trading at $120.33 by 20:03 (00:03 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Monday, down 10.18% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since March 16. The move downwards pushed Ethereum's market cap down to $13.60B, or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Ethereum's market cap was $135.58B. Ethereum had traded in a range of $120.33 to $122.39 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, Ethereum has seen a stagnation in value, as it only moved 0.77%. The volume of Ethereum traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $12.51B or 0.00% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $109.6742 to $151.8461 in the past 7 days. At its current price, Ethereum is still down 91.55% from its all-time high of $1,423.20 set on January 13, 2018. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $5,731.8 on the Investing.com Index, down 7.93% on the day. XRP was trading at $0.14606 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 8.10%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $106.61B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while XRP's market cap totaled $6.57B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market value. Related Articles Bitcoins Correlation With S&P500 At 2-Year High Amid the Coronavirus Crisis After BitMEX Meltdown, Should Shorting Be Banned on Crypto Exchanges? Binance US CEO: Coronavirus Quarantine Drove Volume Resurgence in Asia || Binance Stablecoin BUSD Tops $100M but Lags Behind Rivals: Binance USD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, has surpassed $100 million in market capitalization, chipping away at a market still dominated by Tether’s TUSD.
Also known as BUSD, the token is traded almost exclusively on the Binance exchange and its market cap – which roughly corresponds to the total value of dollars deposited with its issuer, Paxos – is currently at $115 million. Binance USD runs on top of the Ethereum blockchain.
Stablecoins are blockchain-based and tied to traditional assets or currencies, such as U.S. dollars. They are used for trading on cryptocurrency exchanges, generally where crypto/fiat pairs are unavailable due to regulatory or banking reasons. BUSD is backed by U.S. dollars in an FDIC-insured U.S. bank and audited on a monthly basis.
Related:Circle Rolls Out Stablecoin Business Accounts, Preps SeedInvest for Sale
Binance is one such exchange where one cannot trade cryptocurrencies using dollars. Therefore, stablecoins like BUSD are important to its business. It lists several other stablecoins, including Tether (USDT), which has much higher volume on Binance than BUSD. In fact, the majority of trading in BUSD, almost 40 percent market, is with Tether while the BUSD/BTC trading pair is second at 35 percent, according to data fromCoinGecko.
Almost every asset listed on Binance is paired with Tether, and its volumes are substantial. For example, the USDT/BTC pair had $611 million in volume the past 24 hours. The BUSD/BTC pair only had $16 million in volume during that time.
Yet, BUSD, with its promising early gains, has a shot at being the dollar-backed crypto asset to beat. New York-based Paxos told CoinDesk that BUSD’s market capitalization has grown by more than 400 percent in the past month to $115 million from $22 million.
“The spectacular growth of BUSD shows that the market is hungry for an alternative. We’re excited about this milestone and proud to partner with Binance to deliver an optimal solution for our global users,” Paxos co-founder Rich Teo said in a statement Wednesday.
Related:Blockchain.com Wallet Users Can Now Borrow Against Their Crypto Holdings
Stablecoin titan Tether, with a market cap of $4.6 billion, is facing a battle withNew York’s Attorney General in a court case delving into its financial practices. Tether has never issued a full audit of its reserves, although it does have aregularly updated transparency page.
In addition to BUSD, other bank-audited stablecoins include theCircleand Coinbase-backed USDC, which has a $406 million market cap. Paxos also has its own branded stablecoin, Paxos Standard, which has a $206 million market capitalization.
• That AlphaPoint $5.6M Funding Round? It’s a Band-Aid
• After Court Victory, Indian Exchanges Gear Up for Crypto Trading Surge || Crypto Fundraising and a Nothing-Is-Safe Haven: An update on the safe haven narrative as bitcoin (BTC) continues to move with equities plus a crypto startup fundraising roundup For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , IHeartRadio or RSS . Whatever you thought of the uncorrelated or safe haven narratives a few weeks ago, it’s hard to deny that bitcoin and crypto are moving in lockstep with equities – even mirroring a small bounce in the morning that retreated in the early afternoon. Related: Ben Hunt on Markets and Narratives in the Age of Coronavirus On this episode of The Breakdown, NLW looks at hot takes on the narrative from Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal and crypto investor Ari David Paul. Not all the news is bleak, however. Also on this episode, we break down recent financings for Argent’s DeFi-friendly wallet Horizon Games’ blockchain-based Hearthstone/MtG style game SkyWeaver Futureswap’s decentralized futures exchange and more For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , IHeartRadio or RSS . Related Stories When the Going Gets Weird, CoinDesk Readers Look for These Safe Havens Bitcoin News Roundup for March 10, 2020 Is Bitcoin Safe in a Market Crash? Look to Gold for Signs, Feat. Delphi Digital’s Kevin Kelly || Investors Throw in the Towel, with Equities, Commodities and Cryptos Falling into the Abyss: It’s been quite a start to the week for the global financial markets. U.S President Trump set out his cart going into the week talking up the FED’s 2 nd emergency move in a matter of weeks. The U.S President may have hoped that the move would restore market confidence, instead the move shook the markets to its core. While investors in emerging economies welcome such moves, investors in developed markets certainly prefer more measured responses. One has to question what influence the U.S administration had on the FED over the weekend. The FOMC was due to deliver their scheduled March monetary policy decision and FOMC economic projections on Wednesday. With the coronavirus spreading globally, one has to question why the FED was not able to wait. The only answer could have been that FOMC members knew something that we did not and it couldn’t have been good. The Dollar The U.S Dollar Spot Index took a hit in response to the move, as demand for U.S Treasuries surged. At the time of writing, the Dollar Spot Index was down by 0.65% to 98.107. When considering the FED’s latest move and market reaction, it could have been a lot worse. We’ve seen support kick in over the European session, with the Dollar recovering from a day low 97.446. What the U.S President hadn’t anticipated, however, was a slump in the global equity markets, and the U.S equity markets in particular. The S&P500 triggered the circuit breakers at the open and that came after the futures markets hit their limit down levels. At the time of writing, the S&P500 was down by 8.14%, with the Dow and NASDAQ sliding by 9.35% and 9.32% respectively. Looking across the other asset classes, it wasn’t much better. WTI and Brent were down by 7.69% and 10.31% respectively, with Gold Spot down by 3.83%. When we talk about investors selling their shirts, even the cryptocurrency markets took another hit going into the U.S session. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 9.75%, with the sell-off coming off the back of a 33% slide from last week. Story continues Safe havens for now, Cash and the Japanese Yen, which was up by 1.57% to ¥105.93 at the time of writing. ¥100 levels still look on the cards, with investors already burned from jumping back in too early. Friday’s rally was a dead cat bounce to remember. What Lies Ahead When considering the economic data out of China this morning and the margin by which economists got it wrong, there’s plenty of reason for investors to hold back from jumping back in. We’ve yet to see the spread of the virus slow in the West. While EU member states have begun to take bolder steps to contain the virus, it is considered to be too late if the moves in the markets are anything to go by. The same goes for the U.S. Trump and the administration had initially talked down the impact of the coronavirus on the U.S economy. Just a matter of weeks later, the FED delivers the move of all moves. The move leaves very little ammunition should the virus linger for longer than anticipated. In recent days, the administration has stated that things should get better as the weather improves. It may be worth noting that the virus has spread across Asian countries, including Singapore, where temperatures average are as high as 35C… While fiscal policy support is now a must, there’s unlikely to be too much that governments can offer in shutdown mode. One can only assume that the U.S will follow China and the EU into more stringent containment measures. Such moves will likely only further mute the impact of monetary policy near-term. Tomorrow’s U.S retail sales figures may be the last bit of positive for a while. This is assuming that China’s shut down wasn’t an early warning signal. Just a month ago, investors were basking in the sun. U.S equity markets were at record highs and Trump was eyeing a 2 nd term. While the Democratic Primaries have been impacted by the coronavirus, the Republicans have taken a heavy blow… It now remains to be seen whether Trump can get up from the canvas. It may ultimately be in the hands of COVID-19. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: GBP/USD Price Forecast – British Pound Continues to Show Weakness Crude Oil Daily Forecast – Crude Slides Below $29 as Demand Plunges Gold Price Forecast – Gold Markets Plunge Through 200 Day EMA Gold Price Forecast – Worst Case Scenario Confirmed Oil Is Getting Crushed On Demand Worries Gold Price Prediction – Prices Tumble Despite Fed Rate Cut but Finish Off Session Lows || No Visits, No Parole: Ross Ulbricht Is More Alone Than Ever During COVID-19: The coronavirus infection spreading across the United States prison system is throwing Ross Ulbrichts confinement into sharp relief. Found guilty of seven charges including money laundering, conspiracy to traffic narcotics and computer hacking, the controversial founder of the Silk Road is currently serving a double life sentence plus 40 years, without the possibility of parole. As the pandemic worsens conditions for the nations large prison population, Ross spends 22 hours a day behind bars in Tucson, Ariz., where hes currently being held. Outside visits are stopped so Rosss mother, Lyn, and other loved ones, who work tirelessly for his release, are unable to act as Ross lifeline to the outside world. And Ross stands a good chance of being infected, with rates in his part of the system running four times the New York average. Related: World Economic Forum Shares Roadmap for Deploying Blockchains in Real World Because of the nature of his crime, Ross is not allowed access to a computer or the internet, not even to check his email. So he spends his time writing, reading and meditating, his mother said, and calling home. See also: Silk Road Operator Pleads Guilty to 1 Charge of Conspiracy Even though Ross is a grown man, Im still a mom and cant help reminding him to drink lots of water, wash his hands and take vitamin C when he calls, Lyn Ulbricht said. He assures me hes doing all that and I dont need to worry, but its hard under these circumstances. Prisons are probably the most at-risk places for contracting the virus. The Silk Road holds a storied position in Bitcoins history. Named after the ancient trade routes that connected East to West, the online emporium became the currencys first proven link to the world of internet commerce (it even introduced some well-known crypto folk to bitcoin ). Anonymized shoppers could buy anything, as long as it didnt harm a third party, from fake IDs to opioids, or any narcotic, as well as spyware, art and books. For Ulbricht, the innovation wasnt what was sold, but how: voluntary exchange. Story continues Related: US Authorities Freeze COVID-19 Website Alleged Scammer Tried to Sell for Bitcoin What were doing isnt about scoring drugs or sticking it to the man. Its about standing up for our rights as human beings and refusing to submit when weve done no wrong, the Silk Road founder, then operating under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, said in an interview with Forbes. Despite his alleged crimes, Ulbricht has become a folk hero in libertarian and crypto circles. Ross is an amazing entrepreneur who helped make the world a better place, Roger Ver, founder of Bitcoin.com, said in a direct message. Ver is among thousands of supporters who have fomented a movement seeking to liberate Ulbricht (with the hashtag #freeross). And the coronavirus crisis could accelerate this process. It certainly doesnt seem like it can hurt his cause, Ver said. Close, unsanitary quarters are hotbeds for viral infection. Worse, throughout the pandemic prisoners have had limited access to protective or hygienic products and, sometimes, lack basic medical care. These conditions have activists, politicians and even Attorney General William Barr calling for the temporary release of at-risk populations. Others are pushing harder for the amnesty of all non-violent offenders. The call for criminal justice reform amid a global pandemic echoes the issues the Free Ross campaign has been championing for years. Begging the system that put him in prison to now take him out seems like an uphill battle Theres been a lot more attention brought to the subject [of prison reform], said Lyn Ulbricht. There are many people serving horrific sentences in our country now for nonviolent crimes. It shouldnt be like that. Were the biggest incarcerator in the world. Thats a national disgrace. Lyn Ulbricht is the organizing force behind the loosely coordinated campaign seeking her sons release. In 2013, when the 29-year-old Ulbricht was arrested, she created the FreeRoss.org website to raise awareness and funds for his bail, which was ultimately rebuked. In 2015, ahead of and during the 11-week federal trial held at the Southern District of New York, Lyn spoke frequently at conferences, to media and online arguing Ross case had wide implications for the future of internet commerce, First and Fourth amendment rights and criminal justice. See also: Silk Road Seller Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering $19 Million With Bitcoin Then, in 2017, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld Ross conviction and sentence essentially eliminating any chance of legal recourse she began seeking clemency through political means. This effort has culminated in a petition directed at President Trump, asking him issue Ulbricht a commutation. The most recent petition has received over 280,00 signatures. Many who agitate on Ross behalf see his case as representative of the totality of crimes committed through mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex. We should support anyone who is being persecuted for victimless crimes, Roger Ver said. The police, prosecutors and judges are the ones who are the criminal aggressors in this case, and the world should speak out against them just like we now speak out against the runaway slave catchers of the past. While Ver had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Freedom Fund He made it possible for us to go to trial, Lyn said he remains pessimistic about the political process. Begging the system that put him in prison to now take him out seems like an uphill battle, he said. This is something Lyn Ulbricht reluctantly admits. Despite her efforts to reach the Trump administration, his family and even Kim Kardashian who successfully lobbied the president to release a 63-year-old woman serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug conviction she has had little success. Its difficult to coordinate efforts. Ive tried to reach out but its not easy to get to them, she said. While she thinks Trump has shown an inclination to reform the justice system with the First Step Act , its a matter of convincing President Trump this is something that is worthy of his attention and mercy. That doesnt mean she lacks hope. Trump makes instinctual decisions, she said, adding, Anyone who looks at the sentence can see its wrong. Ulbricht was a first-time offender, convicted on non-violent charges in a trial that shows some signs of malpractice. The charges listed in Ross original indictment wouldve, at minimum, landed him a 30-year prison sentence. A more lenient sentence would be in line with what busted merchants on the Silk Road have been handed. Not to mention the former U.S. Secret Service agent who skimmed bitcoin from the site while participating in federal investigation to uncover its founder. Instead, Ulbricht received a punishment Lyn argues is unconstitutional. The Eighth Amendment says no cruel or unusual punishment and this is very unusual for a first time nonviolent offender, and its certainly cruel, she said. While the conviction has opened her mind to the possible injustices of the law, its something all her hopes are tied to. [Trump] can sign a piece of paper and Ross would walk out the door, she said. Criminal justice reform Seven years ago, Ulbricht found himself behind bars at New Yorks Metropolitan Detention Center while awaiting trial. Today, this municipal prison system has an infection rate of more than 9 percent, according to the Legal Aid Society. This is compared to the 2 percent infection rate on the citys streets. Prisoners across the country report they are unable to practice social distancing or even properly wash their hands. Found wanting before the outbreak, prison medical care is reportedly incapable of managing a prison outbreak. In a memo to the Bureau of Prisons, Attorney General Barr confirmed the virus is materially affecting operations, and called for the release of vulnerable and at-risk inmates to home confinement. Still, there is no consistent national approach to manage the virus in prisons, nor federal guidelines to determine which inmates may be eligible for temporary release. And that guidance may not come soon, with Trump decrying the proactive release of elderly and infirm prisoners he called very serious criminals during a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing earlier this month. Even though Ross is a grown man, Im still a mom and cant help reminding him to drink lots of water, wash his hands and take vitamin C when he calls. Its in this landscape that reformist policies begin to make sense. A 2016 report showed nearly 40 percent of people in state and federal prisons were incarcerated without provably presenting a danger to their communities. That means these sentences are strictly punitive, not correctional, Lyn Ulbricht said. During Ross bail hearing, prosecutors said he operated the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the internet today. And while the prosecution accused him of hiring hitmen, Ulbricht is, technically, a non-violent offender. A number of eminent scholars, lawyers and celebrities have weighed in, calling the sentence a shocking miscarriage of justice, to use Noam Chomsky s words. See also: Marco Santori Silk Road Goes Dark: Bitcoin Survives Its Biggest Markets Demise (2017) Still young at 36, healthy and without any underlying conditions, its unlikely Ulbricht will be released to home confinement during the pandemic. Instead, he, like the majority of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in federal, state and local prisons, jails and other correctional facilities across the country, will spend 22 hours a day in his cage with his cellmate as a precautionary measure, Lyn said. Lyn has moved three times since 2013 to be closer to Ross in Arizona so she can make weekly visits. These visits are also on hold for the foreseeable future, and its unclear when these restrictions will be lifted. The federal Bureau of Prisons has not responded to a request for comment. He can be under house arrest with an ankle brace on, Lyn said. Hes not a dangerous person. Related Stories COVID-19 Tracing Apps Have to Go Viral to Work. Thats a Big Ask Road to Consensus: Harry Halpin Talks Holistic Privacy, Mixnets and COVID-19 (of Course) || Bitcoin Halving, Explained: The Bitcoin halving will take place sometime in May 2020. What is the halving, how will it affect the price, and what does it mean for miners and the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects? Here’s everything you need to know.
“The halvening” sounds like a horror movie about an ax murderer. But it’s actually the nickname for one of the most hotly anticipated events in Bitcoin’s history.
Sometime in May, the number ofbitcoins(BTC) entering circulation every 10 minutes (known as block rewards) will drop by half, to 6.25 from 12.5. It’s a milestone that’s easy to see coming because it happens every four years and has happened twice before.
Related:Bitcoin Rejected Near $7K Despite US Fiscal Agreement on $2T Stimulus Package
The allure of possible riches is what’s drawing so much attention to the upcoming event, which is more commonly referred to as the halving (some wags like to add the “en” to make it sound ominous). The amount of supply entering the system will suddenly shrink, but the demand will, in theory, stay the same, possibly driving up the cryptocurrency’s price. As such, the event has inspired passionate debate about bitcoin price predictions and how the market will respond.
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“The theory is that there will be less bitcoin available to buy if miners have less to sell,” said Michael Dubrovsky, co-founder of mining R&D nonprofitPoWx.
But the periodic decline in Bitcoin’s minting rate could have a deeper significance than any near-term price movements for the functioning of the currency. The block reward is an important component of Bitcoin, one that ensures the security of this leaderless system. As the rewards dwindle to zero in the decades ahead, it could potentially destabilize the economic incentives underlying bitcoin’s security.
Related:Mt. Gox Trustee May Sell Some Crypto Assets, Says Draft Repayment Plan
For those trying to make sense of this complex topic, CoinDesk offers the following explainer of Bitcoin’s third halving.
New bitcoins enter circulation as block rewards, produced by “miners” who use expensive electronic equipment to earn or “mine” them.
Every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every four years, the total number of bitcoin that miners can potentially win is halved.
In 2009, the system started at 50 coins mined every 10 minutes. Two halvings later, 12.5 bitcoins are currently being dispensed every 10 minutes.
This process will end with a total of 21 million coins, probably in the year 2140.
Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, who may have been an individual or a team, disappeared roughly a year after releasing the software into the world. So, he or she or they (we’ll just go with “they” from now on) are no longer around to explain why they chose this specific formula for adding new bitcoin into circulation.
But early emails written by Nakamoto shed some light on the mysterious figure’s thinking.
Shortly after releasing the Bitcoin white paper, Nakamotosummarizedthe various ways their chosen monetary policy (the schedule by which miners receive block rewards) could play out, pondering the circumstances under which it could lead to deflation (when a currency’s purchasing power decreases) or inflation (when the prices of goods and services purchasable with a currency increase).
At the time, Nakamoto couldn’t have known how many people would use the new online money (if anyone).
They elaborated very little on why they chose the particular formula they did: “Coins have to get initially distributed somehow, and a constant rate seems like the best formula.”
In most state-issued currencies a central bank, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve, hastools at its disposalthat enable it to add or remove dollars from circulation. If the economy is floundering, for instance, the Fed can increase circulation and encourage lending bypurchasing securitiesfrom banks. Alternately, if the Fed wants to remove dollars from the economy, it can sell securities from its account.
At the time, Nakamoto couldn’t have known how many people would use the new online money (if anyone).
For better or worse, bitcoin is a bit different. For one, the supply schedule is all but set in stone.
Unlike the monetary policy of state-issued currencies, which unfold through political processes and human institutions, Bitcoin’s monetary policy is written into code shared across the network. Changing it would require an immense output of coordination and agreement across the community of Bitcoin users.
“Unlike most national currencies we’re familiar with like dollars or euros, bitcoin was designed with a fixed supply and predictable inflation schedule. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins. This predetermined number makes them scarce, and it’s this scarcity alongside their utility that largely influences their market value,” crypto wallet company Blockchain.com wrote in ablog postahead of the 2016 halving.
Another unique aspect of Bitcoin is Nakamoto programmed the block reward to decrease over time. This is another way in which it differs from the norm for modern financial systems, where central banks control the money supply. In stark contrast to Bitcoin’s halving block reward, the supply of the dollar hasroughly tripledsince 2000.
Nakamoto left clues that they created Bitcoin for political reasons. The first Bitcoin block features the headline of a newspaper article: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”
Manyhave come to interpret it as a sign of Nakamoto’s political beliefs and goals. If widely adopted, Bitcoin could potentially reduce the power banks and governments have over monetary policy, including bailouts of struggling institutions. As shown with the block reward, no central entity can create bitcoin outside of the strict schedule.
The halving is grabbing so much attention mostly because many believe it will lead to a price increase. The truth is, no one knows what’s going to happen.
Bitcoin has seen two halvings so far, which we can look to as precedent.
The 2012 halving provided the first demonstration of how markets would respond to Nakamoto’s unorthodox supply schedule. Until then, the Bitcoin community didn’t know how a sudden decline in rewards would affect the network. As it turned out, the price began to rise shortly after the halving.
The second halving in 2016 was highly anticipated, as is the one now approaching, with CoinDesk running a live blog of the event and Blockchain.com putting out a “countdown.” Each halving has encouraged vigorous speculation about how the event would affect bitcoin’s price.
On July 16, 2016, the day of the second halving, the price dropped by 10 percent to $610, but then shot back up to where it was before. There was little evidence the sudden reduction in bitcoin’s minting rate had a long-term impact on the price. At the time, CoinDesk’s Jacob Donnelly went so far as to call the event a “boring vindication.”
While the immediate impact on the price of bitcoin was small, the market did tally a gradual increase over the year following the second halving. Some argue this increase was a delayed result of the halving. The theory is that when the supply of bitcoin declines, the demand for bitcoin will stay the same, pushing the price up. If that theory is correct, then we could observe similar price increases after future halvings, including the one scheduled for this year.
Othersarguethat given the predictability of bitcoin’s halving schedule, this change in the minting rate is unlikely to shift the price. Traders have long known the bitcoin block reward will decrease, giving them ample time to prepare.
Read More:Why Bitcoin’s Next ‘Halving’ May Not Pump the Price Like Last Time
It’s possible that if enough people know about the halving in advance, they will buy bitcoin in anticipation, pushing the price up before the halving instead of after. This is what people mean when they argue the halving is “priced in.”
Bitcoin wouldn’t work at all without these block rewards.
As pseudonymous independent researcher Hasu put it, there are two parts to making Bitcoin work. “Bitcoin’s ledger state should answer the question of ‘who owns what, when?'” Hasu told CoinDesk.
The first part, “who owns what?” is solved by cryptography. Only the owner of a private key (which is like a secret access code) can spend the bitcoin.
The game theory that secures Bitcoin requires that a) miners have an incentive to mine honest blocks [and] b) miners have a cost … to attempting dishonesty.
“The second half (‘when?’) is the big challenge and was unsolved before Bitcoin,” Hasu explained. Otherwise, it’s easy for people to “double-spend” their coins, effectively creating money from thin air.
Without the block rewards, the network would be in chaos. Hasu explains that if they have enough computing power, miners can attack the network in two ways: By double-spending coins or by stopping transactions from going through. But they are strongly incentivized not to try either, because then they would risk losing their block rewards.
“The game theory that secures Bitcoin requires that a) miners have an incentive to mine honest blocks [and] b) miners have a cost … to attempting dishonesty,” Dubrovsky said.
In other words, miners will lose money if they don’t follow the rules.
Read More:Bitcoin 101: How Bitcoin Mining Works
The more computing power miners direct towards Bitcoin, the harder it is to attack because an attacker would need to have a significant portion of this processing power, known as the hashrate, to execute such an attack.
The more money they can earn by way of block rewards, the more mining power goes to Bitcoin, and thus the more protected the network is.
That is why the periodic decrease in rewards might eventually become an issue.
Miners need an incentive to do what they do. They need to get paid. They’re not running these expensive, electricity-guzzling computers for their health after all.
But the consequence of this dropping block reward is that eventually, it will dwindle to nothing. Transaction fees, which users pay each time they send a transaction, are the other way miners earn money. (Theoretically, these fees are optional, although as a practical matter a transaction without one might have to wait a long time to be processed if the network is congested; the size of the fee is set by the user or their wallet software.) The fees are expected to become a more important source of remuneration for miners as the block reward falls.
“In a few decades when the reward gets too small, the transaction fee will become the main compensation for nodes. I’m sure that in 20 years there will either be very large transaction volume or no volume,” Nakamoto wrote.
But for a long time, Bitcoin researchers have been considering the possibility transaction fees won’t suffice. For one thing, it means transactions might need to grow more expensive over time to keep the network as secure.
It’s impossible to predict what will happen, but if we want a system that could last 100 years, we should be ready for the worst case.
“This cannot really work without very expensive transaction costs because Bitcoin cannot process huge quantities of transactions on-chain,” Dubrovsky said.
And, as discussed above, it is mining rewards that draw more computing power to Bitcoin, hardening it against attacks that try to circumvent the network’s rules. It’s unclear whether a future attenuated block reward will have the same allure for miners, even when supplemented with fees.
“I don’t think this halving will make Bitcoin significantly less secure, but in eight to 12 years we could find ourselves in hot water,” Hasu said.
Part of the problem is that more than a decade after Bitcoin’s birth the market is still figuring out the true cost of protecting the network from attackers.
“Nobody knows the correct level of security needed to keep Bitcoin safe. Currently, Bitcoin pays out something like $5 billion per year and there are no successful attacks; however, there has been no price discovery. Bitcoin may be overpaying. To really find out the minimum level of security needed to avoid attacks, the mining rewards would need to be dropped to the point where attacks start happening and then increased until the attacks stop,” Dubrovsky argued.
“Of course, this would be catastrophic for Bitcoin as it’s designed now, but it could really come to some kind of scenario like this if rewards dwindle and the Bitcoin community doesn’t do anything about it,” he added.
Hasu said he “hopes” transaction fees will be enough to incentivize the security of Bitcoin in the end, but he thinks it’s worth anticipating the “worst case.”
“It should be clear that the incentive to attack Bitcoin today is larger than it was five years ago. We now have [U.S. President Donald] Trump, [China President Xi Jinping] and other world leaders talking critically about it. The more Bitcoin grows, the more they might see it as a threat and might eventually feel forced to react. That would be the worst case, anyway,” Hasu said.
This question is an interesting one to ponder when thinking about Bitcoin’s future prospects, though it might sound like a far-off matter in 2020.
“It’s impossible to predict what will happen, but if we want a system that could last 100 years, we should be ready for the worst case,” Hasu said. “The worst case is demand for blockspace does not increase in the dramatic fashion that would be needed. As a result, block rewards would eventually trend toward zero.”
Bitcoin Halving Research Report
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• BitMEX Open Interest Collapses After Controversial Long Squeeze || Makers of Keep Protocol Raise $7.7M to Bring Trustless BTC to DeFi: With a forthcoming product that may entice more decentralized finance (DeFi) players to incorporate bitcoin-backed tokens, Thesis has closed a $7.7 million deal by selling its Keep tokens to some of crypto’s top investors.
Announced Thursday, Thesis will shortly debut TBTC, a trustless platform for making bitcoin-backed tBTC tokens on Ethereum. The private keys guarding theBTCare stored usingKeep, the firm’s system for storing secrets in a usable fashion on the world computer. Few secrets are more useful and valuable than bitcoin private keys.
That said, a vocal cohort of bitcoin partisans has been very publicly skeptical of DeFi, but TBTC’s creator doesn’t think that represents the broader view. After all, more people hold bitcointhan ever before.
Related:Coinbase Pumps $1.1M USDC Into DeFi Sites Uniswap and PoolTogether
“The silent majority of most bitcoin andETHpeople aren’t maximalists,” Matt Luongo told CoinDesk in a phone call.
Luongo is the CEO and founder ofThesis, a blockchain development studio. The idea for Keep arose outof building bitcoin rewards app Fold, which needed ways to store data in public, privately. While not committing to a precise timeline, Luongo said both Keep and TBTC will go live at the same time – in a matter of “weeks not months.”
The new funding round was led byParadigm Capital, with participation from Fenbushi Capital, Collaborative Fund and others. In December 2018, Keep had a prior round that included participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital and Draper Associates.
“Decentralized financial applications on Ethereum have seen clear demand,” Paradigm co-founder Fred Ehrsam said in a statement. “Bitcoin is the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Building a bridge that allows Bitcoin to interact with DeFi makes a lot of sense, and tBTC is a credible attempt to do exactly that.”
Related:Tether CTO Claims USDT Stablecoin Can Boost DeFi Liquidity
Luongo is himself extremely long BTC, but he’s not one of those bitcoin diehards who dismisses DeFi.
“I think the whole Bitcoin-Ethereum cultural split has outlived its usefulness,” he said.
Bitcoin is already on Ethereum, most notably with wBTC, an ERC-20 token created byBitGo.
Naturally, wBTC builds on its creator’s strengths. BitGo serves as the custodian and lets anyone check its BTC balances against outstanding wBTC. But having a centralized, identifiable custodian could potentially introduce censorship risks in the eyes of some users.
Conversely, TBTC is an application built to allow trustless storage of the bitcoin backing tBTC tokens. To mint one tBTC, a user contacts the Keep network, which designates a wallet for storing the bitcoin. The keys for that wallet are held in a multi-sig structure across several nodes on the Keep network that have staked KEEP tokens.
This is just what Keep was built for, Luongo explained. “It let’s you operate with private material and choose people to hold it randomly,” he said.
The chosen nodes collateralize the BTC with ETH at 150 percent of the value of the underlying BTC. Then the tBTC token gets minted to the bitcoin owner’s wallet.
That token can be used in DeFi apps that accept it (more on that later). Anytime they want to unlock their bitcoin, the tBTC creator simply needs to return an equal amount of tBTC to the smart contract, which will burn the tBTC and return the bitcoin to a wallet the user controls.
Interestingly, Luongo said, ETH is likely to work better for collateral for BTC than a stablecoin, because the two cryptos tend to be fairly correlated. So if BTC price makes a big move, ETH will probably make a similar move, making it less likely for the ETH collateral to get liquidated.
There’s very little reason to have bitcoin on Ethereum if there’s nothing to do with it, though, so the product will only work well if DeFi applications adopt tBTC. In part, Luongo explained, that’s why Thesis sought a fresh round of funding.
“As TBTC is the first app on Keep we want to make sure it lands,” Luongo said.
Stani Kulechov runsAave(formerly ETHLend), the number four application on DeFi, accordingto DeFi Pulse. Aave has a half-million dollars worth of wBTC on the application, which is fairly small compared to other tokens its users stake.
“I think DeFi is still alien to Bitcoin holders,” Kulechov told CoinDesk in an email.
That said, he also believes that the yields found in DeFi are attracting more and more hodlers. His company has been watching tBTC along with other projects working to get BTC onto Ethereum, such asRenandpTokens.
“These new alternatives are actually bringing quite innovative solutions to reduce trust and custody,” Kulechov wrote. “That might be another factor that could accelerate BTC liquidity into Ethereum.”
• Investors in Polychain Capital’s Crypto Hedge Fund Saw 1,332% Gains – If They Stomached the Dips
• Bitcoin and Ether Prices Stagnate as Traders Take Wait-and-See Approach
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 8988.60, 8897.47, 8912.65, 9003.07, 9268.76, 9951.52, 9842.67, 9593.90, 8756.43, 8601.80
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-04-25]
BTC Price: 461.43, BTC RSI: 79.13
Gold Price: 1238.90, Gold RSI: 50.76
Oil Price: 42.64, Oil RSI: 61.24
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Iceland's Genesis launches first bitcoin mining fund: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Genesis Mining, which provides computer equipment to create bitcoins in the cloud, on Thursday launched the world's first fund that invests in hardware used to create the digital currency. Bitcoins are created through a "mining" process involving computer algorithms on equipment owned or rented out by companies such as Iceland-based Genesis. Bitcoins, which are worth more than $400 each, can be purchased from trading exchanges such as BitStamp and Kraken. The Logos Fund was registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Genesis said in a statement. The fund will issue "pooled investment fund interests" to investors in an offering expected to last more than a year. Genesis will initially seed the fund with $1 million of its own capital, co-founder and Chief Executive Marco Streng said, adding that investors have expressed an interest in putting in $100 million. The mininum investment for the fund is $25,000. "The fund would be clearly focused on bitcoin mining, but we can also purchase bitcoins directly from the exchanges," said Streng said in an interview. Streng cited strong investor interest despite challenges facing the sector, whose profits have been pressured by growing competition. More than $1 billion has been invested in bitcoin-related startups since 2013. Bitcoin on Thursday traded at $416.01 on the BitStamp platform, down 1.8 percent. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Richard Chang) || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || Newspaper giants threaten Brave over its ad-swapping browser: You remember how Brave's web browser pays you to see replacement ads (overriding a site's usual ads) when you don't pay to block promos outright? Yeah, publishers aren't very happy about that. A coalition of 17 news giants, including the New York Times and Dow Jones, has sent Brave a letter claiming that its ad-swapping business model is illegal. Allegedly, the approach is tantamount to copyright infringement. It's "indistinguishable" from stealing articles and posting them on another site, according to the publishers. The group also doesn't buy the argument that Bitcoin payments and revenue sharing will make up for the lack of native ads -- those methods "cannot begin to compensate" for the lost income. Not surprisingly, Brave isn't having any of it. CEO Brendan Eich says the browser isn't replacing publishers' own ads, including any first-party ads that aren't using third-party tracking. It's trying to create a better ad network that actually pays more than third-party options, he argues. Eich goes so far as to suggest that the publishers are being disingenuous (especially when sidestepping their own ad privacy concerns), and are really attacking any browser with an ad blocker add-on or ad-free reading mode . Brave says it's open to talking with the media group to argue its case, although it's hard to see those companies being very receptive when they not-so-subtly hint at possible legal action. Not that Brave is slowing down in the meantime. It just released a developer version of its browser with support for Chrome extensions, 1Password logins and blocks against everything from phishing scams to privacy-violating browser fingerprinting measures. In short, it's determined to fight privacy intrusions of all kinds, whether or not the perpetrators are in a position to object. || Penny Stocks To Buy: Four Trending Small Cap Stocks on Tuesday April 19: MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 19, 2016 /Daily Stock Reporter is issuing a report on four stocks to watch.AVRN, MNTR, CHZP,andAGHIhave been added to our watch list today. Continue reading to find out why. - To get daily alerts on top stocks on the OTC, Nasdaq and NYSE subscribe to our newsletter at DailyStockReporter.com.
Avra Inc. (AVRN)offers a range of solutions that streamline and modernize businesses & merchants by integrating Bitcoin payments & acceptance. As of 10AM EST on Tuesday April 19, the stock has seen well above average volume and increased price movement. From a previous close of $0.13 on Monday (4/18), shares of AVRN rose as much as 54% following early morning highs of $0.20 on Tuesday. Since the beginning of March the stock has increased in price by as much as 785%.
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Mentor Capital, Inc. (MNTR)announced earlier in April that it has acquired the international patent for the smokeless administration of THC, CBD and Cannabinoids, from its developer R.L. Larson through Larson Capital, LLC. "We started this patent related effort in 2012, before the cannabis boom, with an eye toward easier more discrete use by cancer patients and the elderly," says R.L. Larson. "As an inventor and cancer survivor with long public company leadership experience, and now as a Mentor shareholder, I am pleased to be working with Mentor Capital because of their medical bias in the cannabis space and solid approach to public company operation."
As of 10AM EST the stock has seen early trading volume and intra day price movement of as much as 0.10 above its opening price of $0.54.
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Chess Supersite Corp. (CHZP)whose primary business is the development and operation of the chess portalwww.chesssupersite.com, announced on Tuesday April 19 that the Company has been selected to broadcast both US Men's and Woman's Championships held in the US capital of chess, St. Louis, Missouri. The U.S. Championship will culminate with the top three players competing in a special blitz round- robin format against legendary chess champion Garry Kasparov. The round- robin tournament will take place over two days upon the conclusion of the Championships. For a little over one week, shares of CHZP have begun to climb in price. On April 11 the stock opened at $0.20 and this morning (4/19) the stock has seen a high of $0.48 to mark a total move to this point of 140%. Volume has also begun to increase in comparison to previous weeks.
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Agora Holdings, Inc. (AGHI)announced earlier in April that the companyhad signed an engagement letter with an independent accounting and auditing firm, BF Borgers CPA PC. The signing of the engagement letter represents a significant step forward for Agora Holdings in becoming a fully reporting entity. Agora Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiary Geegle Media and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, TV, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. During the last 3 months, shares of AGHI have seen price as high as $0.49 with the highest daily volume being 967.4K shares.
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SOURCE:DailyStockReporter.com || Bitcoin community disputes the use of 'Internet of Money': Some people in the bitcoin worldthe believers still waving the flag for the leading digital currency, which is currently trading at $427will tell you that the phrase The Internet of Money is widely understood as a reference to bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain. But Uphold, a cloud bank startup that launched in 2014, will tell you it is their corporate slogan. It applied to register the phrase as its trademark for financial services back in September 2015 with the US Patent & Trademark Office , and is far along in the process. Andreas Antonopoulos doesnt like that. The cybersecurity expert and author of "Mastering Bitcoin" has waged a war with Uphold, encouraging his 47,000 Twitter followers to help him find the earliest uses of the words Internet of money. Upholds adoption of the slogan, he tells Yahoo Finance, perverts the meaning of the phrase. The law is on Upholds side; theres not much Antonopoulos can do to stop Uphold from getting its registration. But of all people, Antonopoulos is a loud enemy for a fintech company to have. Bitreserve, now known as @UpholdInc is in my opinion a perfect example of a trademark bully with questionable ethics https://t.co/GAYlkIEkeR AndreasMAntonopoulos (@aantonop) March 16, 2016 To understand the complexity of this feud, we must step back and examine the two sides and their reputations in the financial tech industry. Uphold is a cloud money vault that lets you convert funds between 25 different currencies or four precious metals. When it first launched, in 2014, customers had to make deposits in bitcoin, and the company had a different name: Bitreserve. It has since rebranded, and in a way, ditched association with bitcoin. Uphold customers can still deposit bitcoin or exchange other currencies to bitcoin, but they dont need to start with bitcoin. You could deposit U.S. dollars, for example, and convert them to pesos to send money to a friend in Mexico, never dealing with bitcoin in any way. Story continues Uphold now boasts more than $100 million in funds held in Uphold wallets, and says more than $900 million in transaction volume has been exchanged on the site. It is also part of a pilot program with the Antwerp World Diamond Centre that encourages a large portion of the worlds diamond traders to use Uphold for conversion of funds. Uphold CEO Anthony Watson, whose resume includes executive roles at Citi ( C ), Wells Fargo ( WFC ), Barclays ( BCS ) and Nike ( NKE ), has publicly expressed doubts about bitcoin, which has not ingratiated him to the vocal community of enthusiasts with high hopes for the currency. Ill be surprised if bitcoin is here in five years, he told Fortune last year. Its a means to an end. The value of bitcoin isnt the currency, but the technology. I think once the world becomes more accustomed and attuned to the platform of bitcoin, the noise will go away, and the currency will go away too. On forums like Reddit , bitcoin believers have disparaged Watson and Uphold. From Uphold's web site Here's why the dispute between Uphold and Antonopoulos should matter to the larger financial market: Uphold is one of many fintech companies, along with Dwolla, TransferWise, Venmo, and Xoom, to name a few, that make a similar value claim: shorter transfer times and smaller transfer fees. That has been a popular selling point of bitcoin, toobut bitcoin risks collapsing due to problems with its own infrastructure . Meanwhile, 45 major global banks have signed on to a consortium to test out a form of blockchain, the technology on which bitcoin runsbut a closed version of blockchain, without bitcoin. Anthony Watson -- AP Antonopoulos is highly respected in bitcoin circles, but not a known name in the broader, big-business world. In March, he tweeted at Watson, You are aware that others (e.g. myself) used the phrase The Internet of Money in business long before you did? He asked his followers to find the earliest uses of the phrase related to digital currency, and received many responses. He says people have used it to refer to bitcoin since 2010. Theres just one problem with that: It likely does not matter. The idea that it is relevant to find the first usage of the term is misguided, says trademark attorney Martin Schwimmer, a partner at the firm Leason Ellis. Prior art, he says, is a concept more often applied to patents. Earlier uses of the phrase (not as a trademark) have no bearing on Upholds ability to register it as a trademark. Antonopoulos understand this. Legally, it is irrelevant, he cedes. Morally, taking a generic phrase you didn't invent from an open community and claiming exclusivity is a slimy move. To be clear, Antonopoulos isnt looking to assert exclusive rights to the phrase. But he rejects Upholds right to do so. (One might wonder if he is partially motivated by animosity toward a company that abandoned bitcoin; Antonopoulos says that isn't the case, and says he has an Uphold account.) I've used the phrase for years to refer to bitcoin, long before Uphold existed, he says, And my use of it excluded no one. In keeping with the spirit of bitcoin, which operates on a public, decentralized, anonymized ledger ( the bitcoin blockchain ), Antonopoulos believes the slogan belongs to the public. He even launched an "Internet of Money Tour" to travel around and spread the word. So, lets say the public agrees with him, and doesnt believe Uphold should get to use The Internet of the Money as its slogan. Can it stop the company from doing so? Likely no, says trademark attorney Ed Timberlake, in part because in this case the public, as defined by Antonopoulos (i.e., the relatively small pool of the bitcoin community) is likely only a fraction of the group that the USPTO would define as relevant consumers. (The much larger public is still largely uninformed, and arguably uninterested, in bitcoin.) The Trademark Office doesnt give a huge amount of weight to a factional community, they typically have a broader view of what the relevant public is, says Timberlake, who spent two years working at the U.S. Trademark Office. The key question the Trademark Office will answer is whether the phrase has been so widely used that it has become diluted. Or as Timberlake puts it: When the public thinks of the phrase in the context of the financial technology sector, do people associate the phrase with Uphold? Andreas Antonopoulos (courtesy Antonopoulos.com) Antonopoulos would say no, and many in the bitcoin community might say no, and perhaps the answer is no. But Uphold will probably get the registration anyway. Timberlake says the Trademark Office doesnt so rigidly interpret the question. It's not that the office approves everything, but it leans toward approving applications for registration when the company has demonstrated some use of the trademark. The office doesnt want to make it impossible to get approval. No one wants the headache of mounting a federal lawsuit every time they want to assert trademark rights, Timberlake says. Its not a rubber stamp, but its somewhere between a rubber stamp and a full lawsuit in federal court, in that there are certain things the office is in the habit of recognizing as a pretty good indication [of trademark]. But they dont go out and talk to people to test it. Upholds use of the phrase on its web site is already a pretty good indication that it merits the registration, Timberlake says. If Im the examiner and I look at Upholds web site, it looks to me like theyre getting good legal advice. The phrase is there, front and center, it shows up when you Google them. They look far along enough to get the registration. Nonetheless, Antonopoulos says he is, consulting with legal experts to return the phrase to open use by invalidating the trademark. Watson, for his part, tells Yahoo Finance he has no intention of suing anyone, and has been taken aback by Antonopouloss aggression. An article at CoinTelegraph last month said that Watson had revealed his intentions to sue Antonopoulos; that is incorrect. . @AnthonyWatson Andreas is a vital fig. in t. #Bitcoin community, if U haven't heard of him b4 u prob. haven't heard of Bitcoin either. Emile Schultz (@SchultzEmile) March 15, 2016 Back in November, Watson shared and praised a blog post on Medium , written by Captain Cloud Money, an anonymous Uphold user, that argued, Bitcoin fails as Internet money despite being an IP-based asset, because there is no central authority backing its value. The post appeared to suggest an awareness that the phrase had previously been used to apply to bitcoin. Even though the odds and the law favor Uphold, getting the registration is no foregone conclusion. Uphold already appends a TM to the phrase on its site, but anyone can do that. Once you get a registration, you get to use the R, which is the real indicator of protection. For snooty lawyer types, Timberlake explains, the TM symbol, can seem like small potatoes. It doesnt have any teeth. Uphold seeks teeth. But Andreas Antonopoulos is making it hard to chew. For the time being, Uphold can continue to use the phrase all it wants. And so can others. -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain Heres how you can invest in the blockchain Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || Former regulator turns Bitcoin tech advocate: By Mike Kentz NEW YORK, April 13 (IFR) - Former New York state financial services chief Benjamin Lawsky may have taken a harsh view of virtual currency as a regulator, but he has begun to stump for the technology behind it. The man accused of implementing tough regulations on Bitcoins and other online currency now heads a consultancy that is acting as an adviser and media liaison for one of the sector's major new players. The Lawsky Group, which provides legal and strategic counsel for clients on financial regulation issues, was the press contact last week for Axoni, a blockchain technology firm. Axoni was promoting its successful test of blockchain technology into the back office settlement process for derivatives transactions. "We'll be doing a broad range of financial consultancy ... and some financial technology public relations," said Lawsky Group spokesman Matthew Anderson. Anderson was spokesman for the Department of Financial Services, the state regulator where Lawsky was accused of slowing the development of virtual currencies. Lawsky said last June he wanted to "put in place guard rails that protect consumers and root out illicit activity without stifling beneficial innovation". Though some Bitcoin proponents welcomed the safeguards, Lawsky's about-face now that he is profiting from the technology in the private sector has miffed more than a few observers. "I think the most interesting thing about Mr Lawsky's newest venture is that it highlights the cozy relationship between regulators and the regulated industry," Pamela Morgan, CEO of Third Key Solutions, told IFR. Morgan, whose company consults for other companies that use digital currencies such as Bitcoin, called Lawsky's new role "crony capitalism at its finest". Lawsky's spokesman did not respond to two requests for further detail about his work, though others saw no problem with it. "I think it is fantastic that he has entered the private sector and continued to support the Bitcoin/blockchain space," said Adam Draper, CEO of Boost VC, a venture capital firm focused on blockchain and other virtual technologies. Some suggest the addition of public relations brings out a strength that helped raise Lawsky's profile in the first place - his ability to interact with the media. (Reporting by Mike Kentz; Editing by Jack Doran and Marc Carnegie) || Canada's TSX hires Bitcoin guru, studies currency's technology: By Ethan Lou TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange has hired a Bitcoin entrepreneur as its first chief digital officer as it explores the capabilities of blockchain, the technology behind the virtual currency, a senior executive at TSX parent TMX Group said on Thursday. Anthony Di Iorio, who has founded several companies based on the technology, filled the role at Canada's largest stock exchange in January, Jean Desgagne, chief executive of TMX's Global Enterprise Services, said in an interview. Stock exchanges are embracing blockchain, which allows Bitcoin users to conduct secure transactions without middlemen, as they seek to diversify and boost profit margins. When used to issue securities, the technology could potentially remove the need for clearing houses. "Blockchain is a disruptive technology," Desgagne said, noting that major changes could result from its potential adoption. "We're focused on it, we're going to learn." In January the Australian stock exchange said it had enlisted a blockchain startup to develop a new trade settlement system. Nasdaq in the United States used the technology last year to issue securities to an unidentified private investor. Last month, Nasdaq said it was developing a blockchain-based shareholder voting system for its Estonian stock exchange. Blockchain could make operations "better, faster, cheaper," Desgagne said, but noted that, if adopted, the technology would be only one element in TMX's digital operations. Di Iorio and Desgagne declined to discuss details about potential blockchain projects at TSX. Di Iorio is the founder of the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada and a co-founder of Ethereum, a blockchain-based computing platform. (Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Euan Rocha and Richard Chang) View comments || The Crisis in Bitcoin and the Rise of Blockchain: Remember the hype over bitcoin? The crypto-currency that so tantalized techies and excited investors is today in a sorry state: Its core supporters are at war with each other and ordinary consumersstilldon’t care about this supposedly revolutionary form of money.
But that’s only half of the story. The other half is about the remarkable rise of blockchain, the core technology underlying bitcoin that is enjoying unprecedented adoption by banks and big business.
This development--the fall of bitcoin and the rise of blockchain--has accelerated in recent months, and it has big implications for those who have sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into these technologies. Here’s the latest on the story of bitcoin, which has turned out far differently than many imagined.
How We Got Here
Flash back five years, the bitcoin scene was an exciting place to be. A motley mix of coders, libertarians, and get-rich-quick hucksters latched onto the promise of bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto’s new distributed, tamper-proof money system and ledger run from millions of computers. The ledger provided an indelible record of near-anonymous financial transactions in offering a global payment platform to ordinary merchants, drug dealers, and everyone in between.
The early bitcoin buzz soon exploded, and the currency’s value briefly soared to$1,200. The mainstream news media caught onto the story while venture capitalists lined up to fund any business with “bit” in its name. Meanwhile, businesses from Virgin Galactic to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings realized they could get a heap of free press just by announcing they would accept bitcoin.
The currency never caught on, however. Despite all the startups offering wallets and other tools to popularize the payment technology, average consumers never took to bitcoin--even as they did adopt another person-to-person mobile payment platform, known as Venmo , in droves.
So what happened? One problem is that bitcoin never shook its sordid side. While there is nothing intrinsically evil about bitcoin, its most famous adopters have always been a rogue’s gallery of fraudsters, prostitutes,dark web drug lords, andPonzi schemers. Even some members of bitcoin’s governing foundation, who sought to make the currency respectable, are on the lam orin jail.
This rogue reputation certainly didn’t help bitcoin. But it wasn’t the crypto-currency’s biggest problem. Instead, the main reason bitcoin didn’t catch on is because it’s just not practical. Even if you can find merchants who accept it, the process involves exotic apps, currency transactions, and a verification process that takes minutes to get the okay. Compare that to swiping a credit card, and you see the problem.
In recent months, bitcoin’s adoption problem has suddenly worsened. Meanwhile, big banks are finding they can use bitcoin’s best feature and leave the currency itself behind.
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The Current Crisis and the Rise of Blockchain
“Bitcoin’s nightmare scenario has come to pass,” reada headlinethis week from tech site, The Verge. That’s a pretty fair way to describe a recent schism within the bitcoin developer community--the collection of gnomes who decide on the protocols and computer code under the hood.
The Verge report offers a good run-down of the technical specifics but, for present purposes, they can be summed up like this: the bitcoin community failed to agree on a system upgrade, which means the ledger’s infrastructure faces a growing backlog, and it now takes over 40 minutes to confirm a transaction. As a result, bitcoin is less practical than ever and merchants (the few who accepted it in the first place) are bolting.
This schism deals a further blow to bitcoin’s hopes of ever becoming a mainstream currency. This is a setback for the bitcoin community, but here’s the kicker: it doesn’t really matter.
That’s because the true value of bitcoin is not the currency itself. Instead, it’s the blockchain technology underneath it. Banks and other big businesses have already reaped the benefit of this technology.
AsFortunereportedin December, IBM , Intel , JP Morgan , and several other big banks are betting on the blockchain’s ledger system. As with bitcoin, the system requires a set of diffuse computers to prove that a transaction has occurred. Once a confirmation occurs, it’s recorded in a common ledger and cannot be reversed.
Why is this such a big deal? It has to do with record keeping.
The idea of a tamper-proof ledger created by computers is so significant because it could let a number of industries--especially banking, brokerages, and law firms--overhaul the way they do business. Instead of relying on slow and cumbersome settlement systems to notarize and record documents, they can let a blockchain do it for them.
“The clearing and settlement will be done in a matter of seconds. An efficiency comes with this that is a pretty significant force multiplier,” explains Jeff Garzick, a former bitcoin developer who recently launched a consultancy calledBloqthat advises banks and others how to deploy blockchain technology.
Garzick and his partner Matt Rosack expect the financial industry will begin using the blockchain for stock and loan settlements as soon as the end of this year. Likewise, they think banks’ transactions at the discount window of the Federal Reserve will soon be recorded on a blockchain.
And that’s just the beginning. Garzick and Rosack say the Big Four auditing firms will soon have a blockchain-based transaction feed that will be visible to regulators, who have been studying the potential of blockchain technology for years.
The Future: Blockchain Without Bitcoin
Even for those familiar with crypto-currency, it can be hard to get one’s head around just how the blockchain can operate without bitcoin. The reason is that bitcoin supplies the financial incentive for people around the world, known as miners, to operate the ledger in the first place.
For more about bitcoin, watch our video:
In return for devoting their computers to running the blockchain (which publishes the ledger), they receive a reward in the form of a bitcoin that can be spent online or exchanged for traditional currency. In the absence of such an incentive, how do the banks plan to develop the blockchain?
The answer is they are building their own version of blockchain and running it themselves. As Garzick explains, this process involves taking the core protocol underlying bitcoin and then stripping off all the “mining” and compensation functions. He says the miners are an interesting way to creating a ledger, but they are not essential in the case of a “private chain,” like the one the banks are developing.
“The mining is a really elegant software solution that equally distributes who is going to validate the next set of bitcoin transactions,” Garzick says. “A private chain replaces the entire trust-less aspect with a more private closed network of participants.”
In practice, this will involve the banks rejecting a global federation of miners in favor of a handful of trusted verification partners within their own network--a processalready underway. For instance, a group of 15 banks might agree that the ledger becomes official once computers from seven group members agree to record a set of transactions.
So what happens to bitcoin in this scenario? AsTheEconomistnoted in a recentfeature, it may become no more than a novelty or a historical curiosity. If this is the case, the venture capitalists who made big bets on consumer bitcoin startups like Coinbase andXapocould see a pool of wealth vanish. Ditto the U.S. government, which has seized a large pile of bitcoins in high-profile drug investigations.
For now, that worst case scenario for bitcoin hasn’t come to pass yet. Despite the recent convulsions in the developer community, its price has heldfairly steadyaround $400 for months. It may find niche roles as a currency, such as for foreign remittances.
Meanwhile, bitcoin still has defenders such as Jeremy Allaire, a successful entrepreneur who raised over $60 million for his startup, Circle, a money transfer service for consumers using bitcoin behind the scenes. Allaire says there is still time for bitcoin to break through in place of services like Venmo.
“Venmo is another AOL--I don't want another walled garden. I want the Google of money,” Allaire said in a recent interview. “We've gone from a world where everyone is in denial about the tech and its usefulness. Now traditional financial institutes say, ‘We love the technology but we want to control it with our own private technology.’ That's not practical.”
Other defenders include my former colleague atFortune, Dan Roberts, who said thebull caseoutstrips the bear case for bitcoin in 2016.
Still, based on recent developments, a bitcoin resurgence looks like a long shot. When the final history of bitcoin is written, the currency itself is likely to be just a colorful footnote in the tale of the emergence of a powerful new blockchain technology.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Here's Why Europe Is About to Crack Down on Bitcoin Anonymity || Brave will pay you in Bitcoins for browsing the web (updated): Brendan Eich, thecontroversialformer CEO of Mozilla, recently launchedBrave, a privacy-focused browser that blocks ads and trackers. While that concept isn't new, Brave has a twist: You'll have to pay to completely block ads, and if you allow replacement ads (reportedly free of bloat, tracking and malware) you'll actually get paid yourself. Now, the company hasrevealedthe Brave Ledger, a Bitcoin-based payment system for users and publishers. The specifications aren't final, but Brave is now fielding comments and discussion from advertisers and developers.
Here's how it works: Previously, the company said it would allow users to either pay to block ads, or get paid to allow ad replacements from Brave's own network. Those ads, chosen by an ad-matching partner, are supposedly faster, safer and load after the publisher's content, not before it like regular third-party ads. For ad-free mode, you'll pay a monthly fee that will be distributed to publishers based on total traffic to each site. Brave's ad network would take a five percent cut of the total amount collected.
How many publishers will go along with this, since many, like Engadget parent AOL, have their own ad networks?
When users go for replacement ads, Brave will take a 15 percent cut, its ad-matching partner would take 15 percent and publishers would get the biggest chunk, 55 percent. The latter pot would be divvied up based on the same traffic measurements as the ad-free method. Users get 15 percent, but there are some caveats. First of all, you need to have a Brave Bitcoin wallet, and the default option will be to donate money to your preferred publisher. If you want to spend the money yourself, you'll need to verify your identity with a phone number and email address. Publishers will also need to be verified to a higher standard.
All of this creates as many questions as it answers. How much will users get paid (and have to pay) to accept or decline ads, for instance? Since the ad-free method amounts to a subscription, how many users will pay to skip ads? (Not many, if torrent software providers likeuTorrentare any indication.) Which publishers will go along with this, since many, like Engadget parent AOL, have theirown ad networks? These are tricky questions, and if the company doesn't have the right answers, its Brave browser model will be dead on arrival.
Update: Since this article was published, Brave has updated the source blogpostto say that paying for ad-blocking is "optional." In a previous version, it said "for ad-free mode, you pay a monthly fee in Bitcoin (BTC)." The article now states: "For sites in ad-free mode, you can optionally pay the site by drawing from your user wallet, funded by your revenue share from ad-replacement mode sites (see below) plus your own funds if you care to add any." A company spokesperson also confirmed that users do not have to pay to block ads.
There's no word on whether users would opt in or out to pay, and how a free mode would affect publisher revenues. Engadget has reached out for more information, and Brave's comments, in part, are below.
There is no subscription model. With Brave, a user can go ad-free if he wishes -- without paying. Of course we encourage users to support publishers and web sites, but we don't require users to pay to go ad-free. || Your first trade for Tuesday: The "Fast Money" traders delivered their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour was a seller of the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF(NYSE Arca: EWZ).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of the iShares Silver Trust(NYSE Arca: SLV).
Karen Finerman was a buyer of Golar LNG(GMLP).
Guy Adami was a buyer of Marathon Oil(MRO).
Trader disclosure: On February 29, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, BBRY, DO, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, NKE, SINA, T, TWTR, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, KO, MCD, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, VALE, WMT,YHOO, short HYG, IWM. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures. Karen Finerman is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY calls, URI, she is short SPY. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FINL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY, SPY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
1 KOBO Price: YoBit = 0.00000618 BTC (0.00257521 USD) #KOBO #BTC #KOBOprice #Kobocoin 2016-03-18 06:00 pic.twitter.com/mQDgkyz8jN || LIVE: Profit = $141.94 (7.64 %). BUY B4.81 @ $410.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $415.94 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || aidin has won a round in a playground (Faucet) and won 0.00005000 BTC, join @ChopCoin and earn BTC (19:08UTC) || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin
|
Trend: down || Prices: 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88, 444.67, 450.30, 446.72, 447.98
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2019-09-16]
BTC Price: 10276.79, BTC RSI: 48.70
Gold Price: 1503.10, Gold RSI: 51.59
Oil Price: 62.90, Oil RSI: 67.44
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
UK Finance Watchdog Issues Guidance on Regulation for Bitcoin and Crypto Assets: Related:Facebook Libra Might Never Launch, Company Concedes in SEC Disclosure
• Circle CEO Allaire to Congress: Treat Crypto as a New Asset Class
• Crypto-Focused Finance App Aximetria Wins License From Swiss Regulator || Argentinas peso has dropped in value could Bitcoin save the day?: The second-largest South American nation is suffering again as its currency, the Argentine peso, is on the brink of collapse. Current President Mauricio Macri has been unable to control Argentinas soaring inflation rate and the results of the recent primary vote showed the countrys rising anger. Could Bitcoin save the day? The Argentine peso dropped by 30% As Macri was slammed in the primary voting round with his opponent Alberto Fernández dominating the show with a 15.5% margin the Argentine peso dropped by over 30% . In a country thats used to bouncing from crisis to crisis, this sudden plummet marked a new record low against the dollar. Once pegged on a 1:1 system, after the recent primary election, the exchange rate was 65 pesos to one dollar. Stocks and bonds also crashed, marking a level not seen since the countrys worst modern-day financial crisis of 2001. While Macris chances of reelection are now looking slim, the protest vote may not signal the end. The currency quickly recovered some of its value on the same day. It is now trading at around 55 pesos to the dollar. According to data from Refinitiv, bonds, stocks, and the Argentine peso had not registered such a simultaneous and brutal decline for almost 20 years. So, what does all this mean for Bitcoin? A country used to devaluations and crisis In a country well used to seeing sharp drops and devaluations in its currency, its population has long since found ways to circumvent seeing its wealth wiped out. The inflation rate currently sits at around 50%. This is hardly the levels of Venezuela, but its still alarming. In fact, despite Bitcoin not yet surpassing its all-time high of almost $20,000 at the end of 2017, it already more than surpassed its all-time high in Argentine pesos back in May of this year at 394,000 pesos . That number continues to climb. That means that even Bitcoin bought at its highest level has been a good investment for Argentinians. Story continues Many people place their savings in property and land in this part of the world. With such a high rate of inflation, most big-ticket items are an investment rather than a cost. Consider buying a new car in Europe. As soon as you drive it out of the showroom, it depreciates rapidly in value. In Argentina, thanks to its high level of inflation, your car only gets more valuable. There has long been a black market in Argentina for US dollars as many people quickly convert the Argentine peso into the dollar and save them in their mattresses, wardrobes, or safety deposit boxes. This is something almost unthinkable in a modern economy, yet its par for the course here. After all, those who held their savings in pesos in 2001 saw most of the value wiped out when the pegging system was removed. Those who held dollars flourished. But Bitcoin wasnt around then. Could Bitcoin save the day? Bitcoin adoption in Argentina is among the highest in the world thanks to relaxed regulations, a growing number of crypto start-ups, and initiatives such as allowing for the Buenos Aires subway card SUBE to be topped up with Bitcoin. Whether most of its people use it or not, they are aware of the word and of most other cryptocurrencies as well. Yet with Bitcoin still screeching toward alarming highs and punishing lows, dropping by major percentage points one day and lurching upwards the next, its hard to think of this digital asset as saving the day for anyone just now. However, dont underestimate the importance of relativity. If you come from a country with a 1-2% interest rate per year and an established world currency, placing your savings into a volatile asset like Bitcoin may seem very risky indeed. But for Argentinians who have lived through enough currency devaluations and who want to try a different method, Bitcoin is offering an alternative. Remember, a 30% drop in your own currency in one day and 50% inflation
Bitcoin has made gains of over 1,000% since the start of this year. Moreover, ever since 2001, its citizens are infamously distrustful of banks. Just last week, peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform LocalBitcoins saw Bitcoin trading at a premium of as much as 8% in Argentina. This clearly shows that demand for BTC is high if buyers are willing to pay more for the asset than its trading value on most exchanges. Moreover, LocalBitcoins registered a huge spike in BTC purchases after the primary election debacle, explaining the premium. Keeping things in perspective While many Argentinians may be familiar with the word, Bitcoin is still far from their saviour right now. Its not a wise decision to pour all your savings into a volatile asset still subject to regulation and uncertainty, theft, and hacks. However, it does offer this struggling countrys population an alternative way of storing their value and even making returns. Thats definitely something that doesnt happen if you hoard stacks of dollars in a shoebox. The post Argentinas peso has dropped in value could Bitcoin save the day? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || A Big Four Audit Firm Lost $1 Million In Bitcoin. Victims Are Losing Patience: The Takeaway:
• QuadrigaCX’s former users are running out of patience with Miller Thomson and EY, the court-appointed companies tasked with recovering their missing funds.
• The users want more transparency into EY’s investigation of Quadriga’s missing funds, as well as a better understanding of how the audit firm accidentally lost 103 bitcoin (now worth over $1 million) earlier this year.
• Some users are contemplating finding new legal representation due to their frustrations with Miller Thomson.
Former QuadrigaCX users are losing patience with their court-appointed lawyers and looking for answers about how more than 100 bitcoins were “inadvertently” lost.
QuadrigaCX, once Canada’s largest crypto exchange,collapsed virtually overnight earlier this yearafter CEO Gerald Cottendied while traveling in India. An affidavit filed by Cotten’s widow said the exchange owed customers as much as $190 million ($250 million CAD).
Related:QuadrigaCX Judge Approves $1.6 Million in Expenses for EY, Law Firms
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, which is overseeing the company’s unwinding, appointed Big Four auditor Ernst & Young (EY) as monitor to try to recover funds for the exchange’s customers, and law firms Miller Thomson and Cox & Palmer (Miller Thomson’s Nova Scotia-based local partner) as counsel to represent these customers’ interests.
However, some of these creditors believe Miller Thomson and EY are failing to keep costs down or recover user funds. Much of this frustration stems from the 103 bitcoins that were accidentally transferred into wallets whose passwords were known only to the late founder, several creditors told CoinDesk. Unless the passwords are recovered, there’s no way to get the bitcoin back.
Theblunderoccurred in February, and at the time, the lost bitcoin was worth some $375,000 ($500,000 CAD). The coins are now worth about $1.03 million ($1.37 million CAD).
Six months on, EY has not provided much in the way of detail explaining how the bitcoin was transferred to what are effectively locked wallets. In a report published in late February, the firm said the transfer occurred due to a “platform setting error.”
Related:QuadrigaCX CEO Set Up Fake Crypto Exchange Accounts With Customer Funds
“This sounds like gross negligence to us and many of us want to hold EY accountable for what happened,” Ali Mousavi, one of the creditors, told CoinDesk, adding:
“Instead of giving us the details, they [struck] a deal with [Miller Thomson] to keep the details confidential and [are] making it harder for us to hold EY accountable.”
EY, he said, was tasked with the court to recover funds, “and EY was not able to return [the funds].”
Frustrated with Miller Thomson’s failure to hold EY’s feet to the fire, creditors are even discussing their options with outside counsel. “A lot of people want [Miller Thomson] replaced,” creditor Xitong Zou said, “although I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Miller Thomson declined to comment on the record. EY did not respond to a request for comment.
Some creditors said they feel they’ve been taken advantage of.
Matt MacPherson told CoinDesk that to him, the most disappointing aspect of the situation is that Miller Thomson “won’t even acknowledge any fraud whatsoever took place,” referring toEY reportsthat Cotten used customer funds to margin trade cryptocurrencies like dogecoin and omisego, as well as purchase personal items.
Mousavi specified that creditors are looking for more transparency about how fees are spent and what exactly EY’s investigators are looking at.
EY has not asked for any input from creditors and, according to Mousavi, is not sharing its investigation with any law enforcement agencies. To date, theRoyal Canadian Mounted PoliceandU.S. FBIhave confirmed they are investigating the matter, and MacPherson said Australian authorities are also involved.
“EY does not seem like they want to explain what happened when that’s the very least they could do,” Zou said. “It was our money, after all.”
Creditors are not even necessarily looking for compensation for the lost bitcoin – just an explanation of how the goof occurred, he said.
Mousavi added that it looks as if the creditor committee –a group of seven individualsappointed to guide the law firm’s work – cannot direct EY on its investigation, or tell the firm which potential lines of inquiry it should prioritize.
“It appears that whatever Gerald didn’t manage to steal, EY and MT are stealing,” Mousavi said, adding:
“This might not be true but when you hide the details and charge us millions that’s how it feels.”
“Millions” may be a slight exaggeration of the two firms’ revenues from the case – for now.
So far, EY has recovered about $25 million ($33 million CAD), with a judge awarding$1.6 million in fees and coststo all the firms involved in the case. EY is looking to raise up to another $9 million ($12 million CAD) by selling assets from Cotten’s estate (including luxury vehicles, a boat, a personal aircraft and 16 Nova Scotiaproperties) that EY claims were bought with customer funds.
The $1.6 million in fees are part of the restructuring process Quadriga entered in January. But the exchange is now unwinding as part of a bankruptcy process. This means EY, Miller Thomson and other firms will have additional fees at some future date.
Creditors looking to recoup fundshave until Aug. 31to file claims with EY.
In a public Telegram group for Quadriga creditors, Miller Thomson associate Asim Iqbal repeated the line that “it was a platform-setting error” that caused the 103 bitcoin to be accidentally transferred tothe inaccessible wallets.
Iqbal provided little in the way of additional detail, citing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and other confidentiality concerns.
“We have provided the detail we are able to provide based on the NDAs and court orders the committee’s and our ability to delve into further details,” he told the Telegram group.
The identity of the individual responsible for the slip-up, referred to as the “Quadriga Representative” by Iqbal, won’t be disclosed, he said. (One of the previous reports by Miller Thomson indicated that an individual associated with Quadriga was responsible.)
Iqbal pointed to a public statement by the creditor committee on why Miller Thomson won’t be pursuing any further information or action on the missing bitcoin.
He told the Telegram group:
“This issue has been addressed by the committee and a statement has been released explaining the rationale for the decision. The funds remain where they were inadvertently transferred. EY has cold wallets for the balance of the funds, which was also disclosed in the second report.”
The statement, attributed to the committee (but posted onMiller Thomson’s website), does not address how or why the bitcoin was transferred, instead only saying “it is not in the best interests of affected users” to pursue any claims related to the matter.
One creditor in the Telegram group asked Iqbal to “please provide us with some reading or context on how we can replace representative counsel.”
Iqbal would not do so, saying in the chat: “We take instruction from the official committee.”
While he would not comment for this article, Iqbal acknowledged the creditors’ concerns Thursday.
He wrote:
“It’s hard to defend myself in a public forum like this. I can understand if some users are frustrated and wish to vent those frustrations here. It’s not appropriate for me to engage on those criticisms. I’d appreciate if you left committee members out of it. They volunteer their time to do the best they can and deserve appreciation.”
Gerald Cotten circa 2015, image via Decentral
• The FBI Is Looking for QuadrigaCX Victims
• Want to Know Your Wine Is Genuine? EY Has Built a Blockchain for That || Three reasons to stay in a volatile market and not cash out: August is traditionally a slow month in the markets, with low trading volumes and fewer headlines. A trade war between the worlds top two economies changes a lot. After a rough week of stock-market volatility ( ^VIX ) the Dow had its worst one-day percentage drop of the year on Monday the major U.S. indices are finally in the green. This is thanks in part to positive news out of China regarding its yuan and a better-than-expected trading report (China saw a 3.3% rise in exports compared with a year earlier). Investors quickly turned to safe havens such as gold ( GC=F ) and bitcoin ( BTC-USD ). While waiting for the next move in the U.S.-China trade dispute, investors might be tempted to cash out before tensions rise higher and risk more damage to their portfolios. With so much concern over growth around the globe, heres why one chief investment officer says its best not to cash out of stocks. Reason #1: Tax concerns You shouldnt be in the market at all then. Dont ever go all in on cash, Kim Forest, CIO of Bokeh Capital told Yahoo Finance. If its a taxable account, youre going to have to pay taxes on those stocks that have gains. Thats a big consideration. Reason #2: Predicting the future People are horrible at market timing. Nobody really knows the future, Forest said. You might think that having that cash is going to save you. But that cash is supposed to grow over time. If youre in the market, you have to just get used to that asset value going up and down with the market. Reason #3: Keeping faith Stocks go up over the long run: You just have to believe that in time theres going to be growth; and the growth is going to show up in those stocks and that is going to show in your portfolio, Forest said. A Fidelity report from earlier this year is a good example of why holding on is in most long-term investors interest: The investment giant examined the 1.64 million portfolios that were around at the end of March 2009, around the low point of the Great Recession, and that are still around today. In the decade between Q1 2009 and 2019, the average 401(k) balance, which had been $52,600, grew 466% to $297,700 or an 18.93% increase per year. Story continues Yes, having a cash cushion is good for major financial setbacks, but too much of it means youll lose purchasing power to inflation. Says Forest: Dont go to cash, please. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit . || Blockstream launches bitcoin mining facility and pool: Blockstream, the Canadian Bitcoin technologies company, is launching a bitcoin mining facility and mining pool, the firm announced in a blog post Thursday. Blockstream's mining data center will host its clients' mining activities in addition to Blockstream's own mining operations. The mining facility counts Fidelity Center for Applied Technology and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman among its initial clients. According to Blockstream, the firm began its mining operations in 2017 and was "motivated by widespread concern that mining decentralization was declining." According to a Forbes' report , at full capacity, Blockstream's mining facility would "account for roughly 6 exahashes of Bitcoin mining power." This amount of hash power would equate to roughly 7% of the Bitcoin network's daily hashrate this week. Blockstream has previously raised $90 million from investors including Khosla Ventures, AXA Venture Partners, and Reid Hoffman. The firm has launched a line of products and services including Liquid, a commercial sidechain product, Blockstream Green, a mobile bitcoin wallet, and the Blockstream Satellite, a 24/7 service enabling users to broadcast and receive bitcoin transactions and blocks from satellites. || SEC fines Russian firm for failing to disclose paid-for ICO reviews: By Katanga Johnson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday that it has fined and settled charges against a Russia-based ratings firm for failure to disclose payments it received to publicize digital asset offerings of issuers it had rated. The regulator said that ICO Rating had not admitted or denied the SEC's charges but had agreed to pay a nearly $269,000 fine for the so-called "anti-touting" violations committed between December 2017 and July 2018. The firm also agreed not to break those rules in the future, the SEC said. ICO Rating did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The SEC has previously issued specific warnings about the promotion of cryptocurrency online fundraisers known as initial coin offerings (ICOs). It is aiming to crack down on the array of 'ICO agencies' that offer crypto issuers active followers and posts on social media platforms such as Reddit and Bitcointalk. These can attract investors, given the lack of conventional financial information available on cryptocurrencies. Some research houses accept payments in the cryptocurrencies they are analyzing and may give positive ratings for a price. Often the payments are not disclosed, a violation of securities law. Reuters reported on the phenomenon last year. "The securities laws require promoters, including both people and entities, to disclose compensation they receive for touting investments so that potential investors are aware they are viewing a paid promotional item," said Melissa Hodgman, a director in the SEC's enforcement division. "This requirement applies regardless of whether the securities being touted are issued using traditional certificates or on the blockchain." (Reporting by Katanga Johnson, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) || Ethereum rises back towards $200 but still sluggish against Bitcoin: Ethereum is again on the path up towards $200, seeing its value reach $194.90 as the cryptocurrency market experiences a slight recovery. Overall, Ethereum is now up 5 percent this week, eclipsing Bitcoin in terms of weekly gains.
However, although Ethereum has posted almost 2 percent gains in the last 24 hours, it is still struggling to keep the pace with Bitcoin in the long run. Throughout 2019, Ethereum has been gradually losing ground to Bitcoin, falling from its 2019 high of 0.0412 BTC/ETH, down to just 0.0188 BTC/ETH today. But, depending on your perspective, it's not all bad.
So far, 2019 has been a good year for recent Ethereum investors. Having started the year at just $133.42, Ethereum has seen an impressive 46 percent growth. Similarly, according toethernodes.org, the Ethereum network has gradually fleshed out in the last year and now has 9,298 nodes keeping the network running—up 12.4 percent in the last month.
Thesecurityof the Ethereum Network has also been on an uptrend since April 2019, with the networkhash rateimproving from 138 TH/s in March, up to today's value of 171 TH/s. Unlike Litecoin, which is seeing its hashrate drop after its recenthalvening.
Additionally, developers are still fleshing out the network, creating new DeFi products. The latest innovation is Opyn, whichannouncedyesterday that users can now trade Ethereum with up to six times leverage—in a non-custodial fashion, meaning they stay in control of their own funds. Use this power wisely. || Thailand’s Finance Ministry Has Granted the 5th Digital Asset Trading License to Huobi to Operate Crypto Business: HAINAN, CHINA/ ACCESSWIRE / July 25, 2019 /Recently,Thailand’s Ministry of Finance has officially granted the 5th digital asset trading license, which makes Huobi the fifth licensed digital asset exchange in Thailand to operate digital asset trading in compliance and permits it to start local fiat trading and token trading services.
"Huobi Thailand is built on Huobi Cloud, which provides a one-stop solution for global digital asset exchanges. Huobi Thailand will provide Thai users with secure and reliable digital asset trading services through Huobi Cloud’s verified technical capabilities. In the field of digital asset trading, Huobi is one of the largest exchanges in the world by trading volume and has accumulated six years of experience in safe operation. After entering Thailand, Huobi will also actively cooperate with the government and local enterprises to explore the application scenarios of blockchain," said by Sakda, head of Huobi Thailand.
In the last two years, Thailand has improved legislation on digital assets to provide a safe investment environment for investors. In May 2018, SEC, Thailand's digital assets regulator, announced that all companies in Thailand involved in digital asset business would only operate after receiving the license. It also required existing companies with related businesses to submit applications for licenses within 90 days. In January, after four months of approval period, Bitcoin Exchange, Bitkub Online, Satang Corporation and a digital asset broker successfully received the licenses, while the applications of three other companies were denied.
On May 14, the Royal Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018) (hereinafter referred to as the “Royal Decree”) went into effect. The Decree, which consists of 100 sections, clearly defines and classifies of digital assets, the business scope of virtual currency, and the subject and authority of supervision. In addition, the Decree also outlines strict prohibition against insider trading and market manipulation, and sets punishments for violators.
When considering license applicants, the regulators focus on whether the applicant has a sound management system, the background of board and management team members, whether there is a monitoring system to detect conflicts of interest, and whether there is a routine cyber security check, etc. Obtaining a license requires the approval of the regulatory commission, who usually only makes it once a month.
In addition to regulated exchanges, Thailand’s government is also actively exploring the other blockchain applications. In August, the Bank of Thailand announced the development of Intanon, its official virtual currency. Intanon would be based on the distributed ledger technology developed by R3 and CORDA platform, which aimed to use blockchain technology to improve the efficiency of interbank payments. Eight commercial banks in Thailand, including Standard Chartered Bank of Thailand and HSBC, announced support for the project.
As one of the world's leading digital asset service providers, Huobi has a deep global layout with licenses and compliance teams across a number of regions. Its strategic partner in the United States holds a MSB as well as MTL licenses in 12 states. In Japan, Huobi has obtained No.0007 exchange license. In addition, Huobi has obtained one of the first DLT license under Gibraltar’s purpose build regulatory regime.
About Huobi Group
Consisting of numerous upstream and downstream enterprises, Huobi Group is a leading global blockchain company. Established in 2013, Huobi Group's accumulative turnover exceeds US $1 trillion. It proudly provides safe, secure, and convenient cryptocurrency trading and asset management services to millions of users in 130+ countries.
For more info, visithttps://www.huobigroup.com
About Huobi Cloud
Huobi Cloud is a one-stop solution provider to help partners build the reliable and stable digital asset exchenges. Huobi Cloud helps partners to build the system of OTC and digital asset trading. As of December 31, 2018, more than 120 digital asset exchanges have launched. Huobi Cloud’s partners comes from Russia, the UK, Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, etc. Huobi Russia, Huobi Indonesia and Huobi Thailand have built up.
Media contact
Company Name: Hainan Yingdong Network Technology Limited CompanyContact Person: Wu FenghengEmail:wufengheng@huobi.com
SOURCE:Hainan Yingdong Network Technology Limited Company
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/553486/Thailands-Finance-Ministry-Has-Granted-the-5th-Digital-Asset-Trading-License-to-Huobi-to-Operate-Crypto-Business || Tim Draper hedges $250,000 Bitcoin price call: Billionaire investor Tim Draper once famously said that Bitcoin’s price would reach $250,000 by 2022 and this week he returned to the predictions game, in slightly more cautious mode. During an interview with Yahoo! Finance , he said: “$250,000 by 2022, and I’m hedging a little, maybe Q1 2023. It may be Q1 2023, but it will be [$250,000] before that.” “You know it’s interesting, it (Bitcoin) has consolidated more than I thought it would,” Draper added. “I thought there would be many more competitors at this point that were really relevant, but people have consolidated toward Bitcoin because it’s decentralised and that’s why they get the flack at Facebook for being a centralised currency.” Starbucks By 2022, people will routinely use Bitcoin in everyday transactions such as buying coffee at Starbucks, Draper claimed earlier this year. In a podcast interview on NBC Bay Area’s “Sand Hill Road,” he said: “Bitcoin is one of the greatest technological advances that humanity has ever seen and it can make a bigger change in society than any of us ever imagined.” He added: “I think when you go to Starbucks to buy a cup of coffee, and you try to pay with dollars, they will laugh at you because you are not using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency…It will be like the old lady paying out with pennies.” But if, as predicted by Draper, a single Bitcoin will be worth $250,000, how can it ever hope to cross over to the mainstream? “Is that a problem?” he responded. “That’s a temporary problem. There is a market for Bitcoin right now. People are buying and selling it and they are buying and selling things and services with it. As it spreads, it will go up in value. And it is spreading.” The post Tim Draper hedges $250,000 Bitcoin price call appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Swiss Regulator Licenses Two New Blockchain Companies as It Shores up Legal Requirements: Swiss financial authority FINMA offered guidance this week on anti-money laundering (AML) requirements for blockchain-based companies even as it granted broker-dealer licenses to two new blockchain companies.
FINMA considers AML to be “technology-neutral” and expects all payments, including blockchain transactions, to follow therequirements. The gist is simple: “Institutions supervised by FINMA are only permitted to send cryptocurrencies or other tokens to external wallets belonging to their own customers whose identity has already been verified and are only allowed to receive cryptocurrencies or tokens from such customers,” the regulators wrote.
FINMA oversees Switzerland’s financial system, from banking to securities dealers and even Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra. Earlier today it wasreportedFINMA officials met with U.S. Congressional Representatives over Libra.
Related:US Lawmakers to Discuss Facebook Libra on Swiss Visit: Report
“FINMA-supervised institutions are thus not permitted to receive tokens from customers of other institutions or to send tokens to such customers,” they wrote. Further, FINMA does not allow the passing of tokens from unregulated wallets and requires AML information for all parties.
In addition to this announcement, FINMA has issued the first “banking and securities licenses” to two blockchain companies, SEBA Crypto AG and Sygnum AG. These are the first companies registered in Switzerland as broker-dealers with a specific blockchain focus. These companies will be required to follow the new AML rules.
Gavel image via CoinDesk archives
• MIT-IBM AI Lab Analyzed 200,000 Bitcoin Transactions. Only 2% Were Labeled ‘Illicit’
• Crypto Exchange and Custodian Smart Valor Goes Live in Switzerland
• Crypto-Focused Finance App Aximetria Wins License From Swiss Regulator
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Trend: down || Prices: 10241.27, 10198.25, 10266.42, 10181.64, 10019.72, 10070.39, 9729.32, 8620.57, 8486.99, 8118.97
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Telegram: Grams are not securities: Telegram responded today to allegations that a $1.7 billion token sale in 2018 violated U.S. securities law, saying that the gram tokens it distributed were not securities. On the other hand, the purchase agreements signed between the company and investors were securities, the company said in a filing in a Manhattan federal court. The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission recently ordered the popular encrypted messaging company to halt its forthcoming token launch in an emergency lawsuit. Telegram had hoped to distribute $1.7 billion worth of pre-bought Gram tokens to investors on October 31, but a restraining order put that plan on hold . The tokens were pre-ordered on the promise that Telegram would build a functioning blockchain platform, TON, by that October deadline, and that a failure to do so would qualify investors for a full refund. So the SECs restraining order was a serious problem. Telegram has now bitten back. In a motion filed with the Southern District Court of New York, the company argues that the contract through which it sold the tokens, the so-called simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT), was a security offering subject to valid exemptions. It insists the Grams themselves were not securities: that is, they were more like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have t entatively been deemed "commodities" by regulators. Telegram also argues that it regularly engaged with the regulator, dismissing the emergency complaint as an apparent effort to gain a strategic litigation advantage. The SEC alleged in its complaint that the company had failed to serve a subpoena during the investigation process. Part of the goal of todays filing is to have that subpoena dismissed by the court. Yet the Grams are not securities argument might fall flat regardless, said Philip Moustakis, a former SEC counsel who litigated the first ever lawsuit against a Bitcoin-related company, in an interview. Though Telegram argues that the tokens exist for in-app usage, so dont qualify as securities, the apps current non-existent makes it a moot point, he said. Story continues In its complaint against Telegram, the SEC alleged there was no separation between the Gram offering and the Gram token, said Moustakis. Rather, the SEC alleged, the offering was a traditional capital raise because, among other things, the company used funds raised for operations and to build out its network, there were no goods or services for which one might use the Gram, and Gram purchasers had a reasonable expectation of sharing in the companys profits should it succeed in building out the functionalities it promised. Consider the often used analogy to airline miles, Moustakis said. In theory a startup airline can pre-sell airline miles through what we might call an air-miles purchase agreement to raise capital to fund the development of the airline. The capital can be used by the startup to buy planes, build up operations, establish routes, hire personnel. Then once the airline is operating, the presold miles sold in the purchase agreement could be delivered to those who purchased them, and used to, say, purchase flights, or for baggage fees, or to purchase in-flight entertainment. But thats not what happened here, he said. Telegram pre-sold the tokens, according to the SECs complaint , as a speculative investment in the growth of Telegrams network. Those tokens were going to be distributed even though they represented a future possible success in Telegrams system. In the SECs view, there are no airplanes, and there's no operating airline yet. The SECs suit against Telegram marks the second crackdown on a high-profile crypto-crowdsale in the past month, and could give some indication of what the U.S. regulator is willing to let fly. The previous plaintiff, Block.one, a blockchain firm that raised $4 billion in a 2018 crowdsale, escaped mostly intact. Accused of running an unregistered securities offering, the company managed to settle the case for $24 million, thanks to a cunning legal argument. But many viewed Block.ones escape from severe punishment as a slap on the wrist, and contend that the rules governing crowdfunding mechanisms are outdated. The SEC relies on a triple-pronged rule-of-thumb known as the Howey Test, which determines an asset to be a security if "a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits solely from the efforts of the promoter or a third party. Crypto industrialists such as the CEO of Kik, which is itself embroiled in a gloves-off battle with the regulator , have called for a replacement for the Howey Test, better suited to the nuances of crypto assets. This is wrongheaded, said Moustakis, who said that the same essential transactions are still being conducted, just in an updated technology. Securities were once issued on paper, and now we can buy securities on the internet, he said. Now we leave the internet for the blockchain, why should the rules change? Moustakis explained that ultimately the role of the SEC is to protect investors, and that the technology involved in a given transaction is immaterial. When people say, We need a new Howey Test, he said, They mean, we need new legislation. A securities lawyer, who declined to comment on the record, agreed. Most of what we have is statements of staff and settlement agreements, he said. None of that is law or necessarily binding. If it loses in court, Telegram likely faces one of two civil penalties, said Moustakis: disgorgement, which would compel the company to give up its ill-gotten gains, or rescission, which would give investors the chance to sell their tokens back and recoup any losses. || Bitcoin May Be Headed for a Stronger Price Bounce: View Bitcoins moving average convergence divergence (MACD) histogram is charting higher lows, indicating seller exhaustion. Other indicators are also reporting oversold conditions. A falling channel on the hourly chart may end with a bullish breakout and fuel a rally to $8,800. On the way higher, BTC may encounter resistance at $8,500 (200-day average). The case for a stronger corrective bounce would weaken if prices find acceptance below $8,000. Bitcoins stalled recovery rally may soon gather pace, as a key indicator is reporting seller exhaustion. The top cryptocurrency by market value is currently trading at $8,130 on Bitstamp, having faced rejection at highs above $8,500 on Oct. 1. With the $400 pullback, the corrective bounce from Sept. 30s lows near $7,700 looks to have ended. Bitcoins MACD histogram, however, is telling otherwise. Related: Coinbase Pro Is Increasing Its Fees And Users Arent Happy A technical tool used to identify trend strength and trend changes, the MACD has recovered sharply from the Sept. 26 low of -236 to -56 suggesting weakening bearish momentum. Daily MACD chart The MACD has produced shallower bars below the zero line over the last few days. The higher lows indicate seller exhaustion, as noted above, and indicate scope for a stronger corrective bounce. Daily and hourly charts Related: Gold, Not Bitcoin, Is Drawing Haven Demand on US Recession Fears The long tails attached to the previous two candles (above left) indicate selling pressure weakened weakened on Wednesday and Thursday, allowing prices to recover lost ground before their UTC closes. Put simply, buyers are beginning to test sellers resolve in keeping prices low. Additionally, the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) continues to report oversold conditions with a below-30 print. All-in-all, the falling channel seen on the hourly chart (above right) appears likely to end with a bullish breakout. That would imply a continuation of the rally from lows near $7,700 and could fuel a rally to $8,833 (June 2 high). Story continues On the way higher, BTC may encounter resistance at the 200-day moving average (MA), currently at $8,503. The average proved a tough nut to crack on Oct. 1. The bullish case would weaken if prices find acceptance below $8,000 in the next 24 hours, although that looks unlikely. Also, any rally to $8,800 or higher could be short-lived, as longer duration charts are still biased bearish . Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing. Bitcoin image via CoinDesk Archives; charts by Trading View Related Stories Bitcoin Price Risks Further Decline After Recovery Rally Stalls Bitcoins $800 Price Recovery Runs Into Key Resistance || AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CNY – Little Movement After RBA Decision, NZ Employment Data: AUD/USDis flat on Wednesday, continuing the lack of activity which marked Tuesday trade. In the European session, the pair is trading at 0.6890, up 0.01% on the day.
As expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia maintained rates at 0.75%, after trimming rates in the previous meeting. The Aussie held steady, despite a dovish rate statement, which said that “risks are tilted to the downside” and noted its concern with the ongoing U.S.-China tariff spat.
AUD/USD remains range-bound. The pair has tested resistance at 0.6920 this week, but is clearly having difficulty breaking above this line. Above, we find resistance at 0.6960. Below, we find immediate support at 0.6880. This line was tested on Tuesday and remains vulnerable.
USD/CNYcontinues to lose ground, as the Chinese yuan has posted slow-but-steady gains since last week. In Wednesday’s European session, the pair is trading at 6.9979, down 0.16% on the day. There are no Chinese releases until Friday.
USD/CNY has extended the current downtrend and is currently trading at the round number of 7.000. I expect the pair to break out and push below this line during the week, which would be a dramatic development. USD/CNY has room to move lower, with no support levels until 6.9930. On the upside, there is resistance at 7.0400. Above, the 50-EMA, which is at 7.0670, continues in a resistance role.
NZD/USDhas posted small losses in Wednesday trade. In the European session, the pair is trading at 0.6364, down 0.12% on the day.
There were no surprises from New Zealand’s employment numbers for the third quarter. The numbers were weaker in the Q3, as the U.S.-China trade war and weaker global demand continue to weigh on the New Zealand economy.Employment changeposted a weak gain 0.2%, after a strong release of 0.8% in Q2. Still, this matched the forecast. Theunemployment rateclimbed to 4.2%, up from 3.9%. This was a shade above the estimate of 4.1%.
NZD/USD has lost ground for a third successive day, as the pair appears to be in a downtrend. There is strong pressure on support at 0.6360, and I expect this line to be tested before the end of the week. I continue to monitor the 50-EMA, which is at 0.6370, very close to the pair. If the pair breaks above this line, it could be a sign of a trend reversal. In the meantime, the situation remains fluid, so I would counsel patience until we have a better idea of which direction NZD/USD is headed. On the upside, there is resistance at 0.6490, protecting the symbolic round number of 0.6500.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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The extended bull run saw growth and momentum-focused equities build a large lead on value-oriented equities, but that’s starting to change and more upside could be ahead for value-focused ETFs.
QMA, a quantitative equity and multi-asset manager that is part of Prudential Financial’s investment management business, is expecting cheap equities relative to their value to outperform more expensive equities.
“It looks like we’re going through a bubble every bit as big as the tech bubble was, every bit as big as in the global financial crisis, but it’s happening much more under the radar,”saidAndrew Dyson, chairman, and CEO of QMA. “The two other occasions when we’ve had this degree of underperformance, they’ve been followed by a very large correction.”
As such, there are incredible opportunities for investors to jump into equities while the default maneuver in today’s market landscape is heading into safe-haven assets like bonds or precious metals. Investors, however, could be missing out.
“Rather, we view this as the backdrop for incredible investment opportunities,” the firmsaidin a report reviewed by publication Institutional Investor. “The current market environment is poised to generate some of the best returns in a quarter-century.”
QMA research data found the following:
• Between May 1998 and February 2000, value lost 16.5%.
• Between May 2007 and November 2008, value declined by 21.14%.
• Between January 2017 and August 2019, investors in value stocks experienced a 21.08% decline.
“This may be an unexpected result to investors,” the report stated. “Markets do not feel as frothy as the Tech Bubble, nor as overwhelmed with systemic concerns as in the GFC. However, the relative dislocations today are comparable with both episodes.”
Value ETFs to Consider
Here are three ETFs investors should consider:
1. Vanguard Value ETF (VTV) : seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization value stocks. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the CRSP US Large-Cap Value Index, a broadly diversified index predominantly made up of value stocks of large U.S. companies. The advisor attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index.
2. iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (NYSEArca; IWD): seeks to track the investment results of the Russell 1000® Value Index (the “underlying index”), which measures the performance of large- and mid-capitalization value sectors of the U.S. equity market. The fund generally invests at least 90% of its assets in securities of the underlying index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the underlying index. It may invest the remainder of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, as well as in securities not included in the underlying index, but which the advisor believes will help the fund track the underlying index.
3. iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (IVE) : seeks to track the investment results of the S&P 500 Value IndexTM, which measures the performance of the large-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market. The fund generally invests at least 90% of its assets in securities of the underlying index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the underlying index. It may invest the remainder of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, as well as in securities not included in the underlying index, but which the advisor believes will help the fund track the underlying index.
For more market trends, visitETF Trends.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Crypto Giant Binance Starts Yuan Trading in China Homecoming: (Bloomberg) -- Binance Holdings Ltd. was quick to leave China after regulators started to crack down on digital currencies. Now, the exchange behemoth has returned to its lucrative home market to host over-the-counter yuan trade. The startup launched a peer-to-peer trading platform that lets users trade Bitcoin, Ether and Tether against the Chinese currency. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Zhao Changpeng said in a tweet the P2P service will start with China, then expand into other regions. The platform marks a homecoming for a startup that quit the country two years ago, when regulators ordered local crypto-exchanges to stop targeting domestic clients for fear of stoking financial speculation. Binance blocked Chinese Internet Protocol addresses, moved its offices to places like Japan and Taiwan, and incorporated on the Mediterranean island of Malta. Yet crypto-trading has flourished in China through OTC platforms, which host direct broker-dealer transactions versus trades on a centralized exchange. OTC platforms run by Chinese operators Huobi and OKCoin are now among the most popular vehicles for local traders to exchange yuan for digital coins. Wallet apps operated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are used in OTC trading though the central bank has warned against it. Binance’s OTC service also represents its latest foray into the world of fiat money. Founded two years ago, the startup gained momentum by handling crypto only, which allowed it to grow rapidly without dealing with banks and regulators. But more recently, Binance has set up regulatory-compliant exchanges in jurisdictions like Singapore to appeal to a larger user base. In August, it announced a so-called stable coin to rival Facebook Inc.’s controversial Libra currency. Both are intended to be used for everyday transactions across the globe. In September, Binance made its first strategic investment in China, joining a financing round that valued crypto-data site Mars Finance at about $200 million. Story continues To contact the reporter on this story: Zheping Huang in Hong Kong at zhuang245@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Joanna Ossinger For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com ©2019 Bloomberg L.P. || Chinas Lofty Robotics Goals Could Propel Gains for UBOT ETF: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The Robotics & AI Bull 3X ETF ( UBOT ) is up over 40 percent thus far year-to-date and more could be on the way as the global robotics race could get interesting with the second largest economy joining the scrum. Per a South China Morning Post report , the Chinese government sees the use of robots as a way to upgrade the nations manufacturing industry, with a goal of producing 100,000 locally made industrial robots annually by 2020, equal to a robot density of 150 for every 10,000 employees. To reach that goal, the government has been financially supporting the domestic robotic industry for the past five years, with the subsidies accounting for 20 per cent of the industrys net profit in China, according to Sinolink Securities. UBOT seeks daily investment results equal to 300 percent of the daily performance of the Indxx Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index, which is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies in developed markets that are expected to benefit from the adoption and utilization of robotics and/or artificial intelligence. The robotics space is certainly in a push-pull dichotomy of investors capitalizing on the latest in disruptive technology, while at the same time, getting push back from those threatened by the wider adoption of robots. The fears are warranted given that robotics technology has the capacity to supplant human jobs. Its a contentious topic given that in the business world, its either adapt or die. For China, it currently ranks number 20 in terms of robot density, but the hope if for that to improve with more research and development. Although many robotic companies are able to produce various kinds of robots, the reliability and the quality of core components need further improvement. For example, microchips used in robots depend on imports from overseas, said Dai Zhendong, director at the Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering and a robotics professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Once trade conflict occurs, like the situation ZTE faced [in 2018], the robotic industry will face serious pressure. Story continues Key characteristics of UBOT: The Indxx Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index (IBOTZNT) is designed to provide exposure to exchange-listed companies in developed markets that are expected to benefit from the adoption and utilization of robotics and/or artificial intelligence, including companies involved in developing industrial robots and production systems, automated inventory management, unmanned vehicles, voice/image/text recognition, and medical robots or robotic instruments, as determined by the index provider, Indxx. Companies must have a minimum market capitalization of $100million and a minimum average daily turnover for the last 6 months greater than, or equal to, $2 million in order to be eligible for inclusion in the Index. For more market trends, visit ETF Trends . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Liquid Strategies Presents Overlay Shares New Equity ETF Suite Schwab Eliminates ETF, Stock and Options Commissions European Stock ETF Could Offer Investors A Chance To Invest And Hedge Currencies Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies Tumble Over Past Week 3 ETFs to Look Into for the 5G Revolution READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Sparkswap adds USD support to its Bitcoin Lightning Network exchange: When The Block last covered Sparkswap, the bitcoin startup had just raised a $3.5 million seed round to build a non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange on the Bitcoin Lightning Network using Atomic Swaps . Today, Sparkswap is announcing support for the U.S. dollar—enabling users to buy bitcoins directly from their Sparkswap Lightning wallet. "We’ve long wanted to support BTC and USD as a trading pair since it’s the most important and popular trading pair. We decided to build it the way we did in order to make it accessible to a much larger group of people who currently lack a convenient option for buying Bitcoin without giving up custody," Trey Griffith, founder of Sparkswap tells The Block. The new feature works as follows: A user downloads Sparkswap's desktop app The user connects the app to their LND Lightning Network node The user completes Sparkswap's KYC process To initiate a bitcoin purchase, the user transfers USD via ACH to Sparkswap's payment partner The user's USD is kept in a third-party escrow account as the trade is being carried out Once the USD hits the escrow account, Sparkswap initiates a transaction, sending bitcoins over the Lightning Network to the user's account Unlike its bitcoin and litecoin trading pairs, Sparkswap will act as the counterparty for trades dealing with bitcoin and USD. At launch, USD support will be available in 21 U.S. states. Bitcoin to USD sell orders will not be supported with the initial launch. “This product delivers on the promise of Bitcoin as a self-sovereign currency while still delivering a convenient user experience by building on the Lightning Network,” said Brett Gibson, a partner at Initialized Capital. View comments || Craig Wright savaged on stage in Malta: Australian Craig Wright was savaged on stage after continuing his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto – the founder of Bitcoin – following the closing presentation at the AIBC Summit in Malta this evening. Wright had spent the best part of his expletive-addled 20-minute speech ripping into Bitcoin and blockchain before agreeing to take a question from the audience as he prepared to walk off the stage. The question came from crypto thought-leader Richard Heart who, after a frosty exchange, put a simple enquiry to the controversial entrepreneur: “Okay, so, are you Satoshi?” “Yes,” replied Wright forcibly, triggering a ripple of mocking laughter throughout the auditorium. “So you wrote the Satoshi whitepaper?” Heart pressed. “Yes,” came the reply. Heart pushed further, asking: “And you implemented the one megabyte block limit?” “I put a temporary limit in there after being badgered by Mr Finney,” snapped a visibly irritated Wright. As he paced up and down the stage, the heat was turned up on the barrage of uncomfortable questions from the social media influencer. “So when you got access to the code base and could update the GitHub, and when you had access to your account on Bitcointalk, and when you had access to your Satoshi email, when did you decide you would stop using it to have influence over the project? “And then a side-channel appears later of a broke guy with no successful business interests, no Bitcoin tied to his address, no running from the Australian tax office…” Unable to contain himself, Wright interjected. “Sorry, I’m not running from Australia, I’m in Britain – you know there are extradition laws?” he shouted. “Morons who make things up – that’s called libel and slander! “That’s why I’ve already got a number of people in court – because they’re dumb! They have no idea that you can’t basically be a public figure in Britain and run from the government.” That then prompted the killer line from Heart… “You’re only a public figure because you cosplay as Satoshi, right?” Story continues Luckily for the 49-year-old computer scientist, the summit’s organisers called time on the session by playing the closing music and drowning the heated discussion out. Craig Wright labels Binance’s CZ a ‘lowlife money laundering piece of scum’ By Oliver Knight – November 8, 2019 The post Craig Wright savaged on stage in Malta appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Polychain and a Chinese Bank Are Betting Millions on This Token Sale: Related:Binance and Polychain Are Funding a Crypto-Friendly Bank in Malta
• PBoC Denies Claims It Will Launch Digital Currency in November
• MicroBT Expects $400 Million in Q3 as Bitcoin Miner Sales Surge || Keep it Short With This Vanguard Bond ETF: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Although the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates twice this year and could continue doing so, some investors may want to manage duration risk with short-term Treasury ETFs, such as the Vanguard Short-Term Government Bond ETF ( VGSH ) . Bond funds hold a collection of debt with varying maturities, buying and selling debt securities to maintain their short-, intermediate- or long-term strategy. When it comes to bond ETFs, investors should look at the duration, or a bond fund’s measure of sensitivity to gauge their investment’s exposure to changes in interest rates – a higher duration means higher sensitivity to shifts in rates. Fixed-income investors should consider short-term, high investment-grade debt securities in a rising rate environment to hedge risks associated with higher rates and any potential volatility in markets when rates do rise. However, VGSH has some utility in the current environment. VGSH “tracks a short-term Treasury bond index, resulting in a portfolio carrying very little interest-rate and credit risk,” said Morningstar in a Friday note . “Risk and return are highly correlated in the fixed-income market, so this fund will not generate mouthwatering results, but it will deliver consistent returns and provide strong downside protection. Since its inception in November 2009, its standard deviation was over 2 percentage points less than the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Market index and nearly 12 percentage points less than the S&P 500.” Cost-Effective Bet As is the case with so many Vanguard ETF, VGSH is a category leader in terms of costs. The fund charges just 0.07% per year or $7 on a $10,000 investment. The Vanguard fund has a duration of less than two years and follows the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index. “The Treasury market is highly efficient and liquid, reflecting the market’s inflation and interest-rate expectations,” according to Morningstar. “It is difficult for active managers to gain a durable edge and recoup their fees in this market, without also taking greater risk than this portfolio. Fees are particularly important in the short-term Treasury market, as these securities tend to have lower return potential than many other types of bonds. This fund ranks among the cheapest in its category, which should provide it with a solid edge over more-expensive alternatives.” The research firm has a Silver rating on VGSH, the second-highest rating it places on ETFs. For more information on U.S. government debt, visit our Treasury Bonds category . Story continues POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies Tumble Over Past Week 3 ETFs to Look Into for the 5G Revolution 3 Reasons Why I See Further Upside Potential for Gold Prices Why Impeachment News Might Not Hurt Markets U.S. Markets Close in Red On Impeachment Inquiry READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
https://t.co/TZQqS5a1Ou #Russia #baltimore #startup #status #Moscow #italy #houston #stlouis #memphis #malaysia #orlando #platform #perth #btc #campaign #icotracker #india #UAE #netherlands #venturecapital #lasvegas #sale #indiegogo #minneapolis #crypto #token #china #southafrica || Man you want to talk about adding value to Bitcoin.
These CBDCs are going the right way to make BTC the digital store of value. || #Currency #Money #Satoshi #Nakamoto #Wallet #Block #Mining #Decentralization #DigitalMoney #Exchange #Ledger #hardfork #Lightning #Privatekey #Consensus #P2P #Encryption
https://t.co/L7t5RdcTQV || La cruda realidad...
#finanzasinteligentes #bitcoin #empresario #emprendimiento #educacionfinanciera #perso #persoperfex #persohybridbank #perfex #libertadfinanciera https://t.co/KJJE8bCce7 || Language Of Lu$t - Vsl By 9- Figure Copywriter!)
@1jl4com - Linguagens - Twitter - News - Noticias - Bitcoin - CryptoCurrency - Forex https://t.co/VPdP0XJBJI || India’s Proposed Bitcoin Ban Is Already Driving a Crypto Exodus https://t.co/wsOmMNajNq https://t.co/3AbPm7ORDD || @CrYpToBChRiS I have a bag of $BTC. 🤷🏻♂️ I’m stuck with it. 👨🏻 || https://t.co/ZYgElljO2c https://t.co/bkazOdOI3K || BitMEX $BTC Whale:
$2,500,000 worth of #Bitcoin bought at $8,735.79 21:47:33 2019/09/24
| 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰 "Wait for the bounce, then short the corn" || Bitcoin Cash BCH Current Price:
$233.84
1 Hour: - | 24 Hours: 3.91 % | 7 Days: 2.59 %
#bch #bitcoin cash
|
Trend: down || Prices: 9055.53, 8757.79, 8815.66, 8808.26, 8708.09, 8491.99, 8550.76, 8577.98, 8309.29, 8206.15
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2017-05-08]
BTC Price: 1723.35, BTC RSI: 92.06
Gold Price: 1225.30, Gold RSI: 32.93
Oil Price: 46.43, Oil RSI: 32.58
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
U.S. regulators reject Bitcoin ETF, digital currency plunges: By Trevor Hunnicutt and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday denied a request to list what would have been the first U.S. exchange-traded fund built to track bitcoin, the digital currency. Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been trying for more than three years to convince the SEC to let it bring the Bitcoin ETF to market. CBOE Holdings Inc's Bats exchange had applied to list the ETF. The digital currency's price plunged, falling as much as 18 percent in trading immediately after the decision before rebounding slightly. It last traded down 7.8 percent to $1,098. Bitcoin had scaled to a record of nearly $1,300 this month, higher than the price of an ounce of gold, as investors speculated that an ETF holding the digital currency could woo more people into buying the asset. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government. Yet bitcoin presents a new set of risks to investors given its limited adoption, a number of massive cybersecurity breaches affecting bitcoin owners and the lack of consistent treatment of the assets by governments. "Based on the record before it, the Commission believes that the significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated," the SEC said in a statement. "The commission notes that bitcoin is still in the relatively early stages of its development and that, over time, regulated bitcoin-related markets of significant size may develop." The regulators have questions and concerns about how the funds would work and whether they could be priced and trade effectively, according to a financial industry source familiar with the SEC's thinking. "We began this journey almost four years ago, and are determined to see it through," said Tyler Winklevoss, CFO of Digital Asset Services LLC. "We agree with the SEC that regulation and oversight are important to the health of any marketplace and the safety of all investors." The Winklevoss twins are best known for their feud with Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg over whether he stole the idea for what became the world's most popular social networking website from them. The former Olympic rowers ultimately settled their legal dispute, which was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network." Since then they have become major investors in the digital currency, which relies on "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles. The first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded with new bitcoins. Solutions to the puzzle come roughly every 10 minutes. Advocates of the currency and the technology it relies on to document transactions, blockchain, were dismayed by the ruling. "How do we develop well-capitalized and regulated markets in the U.S. and Europe if financial innovators aren't allowed to bring products to market that grow domestic demand for digital currencies like bitcoin?" asked Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, an advocacy group. Spencer Bogart, head of research at Blockchain Capital, said bitcoin's price could fall as much as 20 percent but that its long-term adoption will continue. A Bats spokeswoman said the exchange is reviewing the SEC's statement and would have no further comment. There are two other bitcoin ETF applications awaiting a verdict from the SEC. Grayscale Investments LLC's Bitcoin Investment Trust, backed by early bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group, filed an application last year. SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, also filed its ETF application last year. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and John McCrank in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler and Jennifer Ablan) || Bitcoin crashes after SEC rejects Winklevoss ETF: Cameron (L) and Tyler Winklevoss speaking in front of the New York Department of Financial Services in 2014 (Reuters) The price of the digital currency bitcoin has been flying for the last few weeks, reaching an all-time high today of $1,350 per coin just this week. But on Friday afternoon it began plummeting. Here’s why: the SEC on Friday released a long-awaited ruling on an application for a bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund) submitted by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of Facebook fame. The SEC denied the proposal —brutally. In its own language, from its 38-page decision, the SEC wrote (emphasis ours) that it: “does not find the proposal to be consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a national securities exchange be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to protect investors and the public interest. The Commission believes that, in order to meet this standard, an exchange that lists and trades shares of commodity-trust exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) must, in addition to other applicable requirements, satisfy two requirements that are dispositive in this matter. First, the exchange must have surveillance-sharing agreements with significant markets for trading the underlying commodity or derivatives on that commodity. And second, those markets must be regulated. 6 Based on the record before it, the Commission believes that the significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated. Translation: a bitcoin ETF does not satisfy its fraud prevention rules, and it sounds like the SEC does not believe it could ever satisfy the rules, even with changes. (Ouch.) The Winklevoss brothers, who own a large amount of bitcoin and offer a bitcoin exchange site, Gemini , and a bitcoin price index, WinkDex , were looking to trade shares of their Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, a grouping of bitcoin-based securities, on the Bats Global Exchange market under the ticker COIN. The ETF would allow investors to buy shares in something tied to bitcoin without actually buying bitcoin in the usual way. Story continues The SEC decision suggests major skepticism around the security of the volatile digital currency, which is sure to raise concerns among bitcoin investors and spur them to sell. That sell-off has already begun in earnest. In under an hour after the SEC posted its decision, bitcoin lost $300 of value. Bitcoin price on Mar. 10, 2017 Tech blog The Verge called the SEC’s denial “a huge setback” for the fund, and more broadly, “a frustrating false start” for bitcoin. A few hours after the SEC’s decision, a spokesperson for Winklevoss Capital sent out this statement from Tyler Winklevoss: “We remain optimistic and committed to bringing COIN to market, and look forward to continuing to work with the SEC staff. We began this journey almost four years ago, and are determined to see it through. We agree with the SEC that regulation and oversight are important to the health of any marketplace and the safety of all investors.” — Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite . Read more: Bitcoin is becoming the new gold Expect more blockchain hype in 2017 Here’s where big banks stand on blockchain Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || Hackers Threaten to Wipe iPhones Unless Apple Pays Ransom: A hacker group is trying to extort up to $100,000 from Apple by threatening to remotely wipe hundreds of millions of iPhones and iCloud accounts it claims it has accessed. The Vice website blog Motherboard reports that the hackers who call themselves the Turkish Crime Family are demanding that Apple either fork over $75,000 in cryptocurrencies Bitcoin or Ethereum or give them $100,000 worth of iTunes gift cards. In exchange, the hackers say theyll delete the large cache of iCloud and Apple email account data they claim to have. Motherboard says the cybercriminals allegedly have access to anywhere between 300 million and 559 million accounts. The Turkish Crime Family has given Apple a deadline of April 7 to meet its demands. However, before you panic at the thought of losing all your iPhones data including pictures, videos and other files an Apple spokesperson tells Fortune that its systems are secure and have not been breached. In an emailed statement to Fortune, an Apple spokesperson writes: There have not been any breaches in any of Apples systems including iCloud and Apple ID. The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services. According to Fortune, its possible the hackers alleged data cache is from a previous data breach at LinkedIn. Even if Apples response leaves you reassured that your iPhone and iCloud data are safe, this is a good reminder to take extra measures to safeguard your personal information and electronic data. For example, activate two-factor authentication and make sure youre not using the same password on multiple sites. According to Fortune: Apple customers who secure their iCloud accounts with the same passwords they use on other online accountsespecially ones at LinkedIn, Yahoo, Dropbox, and other sites recently revealed to have suffered big breaches over the past few yearsshould adopt new passwords that are long, strong, and unique. Story continues For more on staying secure, check out: 7 Ways to Guard Your Wallet and Identity When Shopping Online 5 Free Tools That Identify Secure Websites Change Your LinkedIn Password and Others ASAP Have you had your data stolen before? Share your experiences below or on Facebook . This article was originally published on MoneyTalksNews.com as 'Hackers Threaten to Wipe iPhones Unless Apple Pays Ransom' . More from Money Talks News 15 Painless Ways to Save $1,000 by Summer 30 Awesome Things to Do in Retirement Secret Cell Plans: Savings Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint Dont Want You to Know About || U.S. SEC approves request to list quadruple-leveraged ETFs: (Adds NYSE comment)
By Trevor Hunnicutt
NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved a request to trade quadruple-leveraged exchange-traded funds, marking a first for the growing market for such products in the United States.
The request to list ForceShares Daily 4X US Market Futures Long Fund, under the ticker UP, and ForceShares Daily 4X US Market Futures Short Fund, under the ticker DOWN, was filed by Intercontinental Exchange Inc's NYSE Arca exchange.
One of the funds is designed to deliver 400 percent of the daily performance of S&P 500 stock index futures, while another fund will aim to deliver four times the inverse of that benchmark. That means a fund could go up 8 percent on a day the index it tracks falls by 2 percent.
ETFs offering three times leverage already trade in the United States, but more reactive products have been limited to listing in Europe.
"We're excited about it," said Sam Masucci, chief executive officer at Exchange Traded Managers Group LLC, which is distributing the product, though he said the product is "not going to be for everybody.
"But for those people that are looking for the leveraged exposure to the S&P and they're not looking to do it by way of a futures product here you have a publicly listed security," Masucci said.
Regulators' move to approve the products comes after a difficult time for sponsors of more exotic ETFs.
Last year, the SEC presented draft rules that would restrict the use of derivatives, which was seen crimping some fund managers' ability to keep highly leveraged products on the market.
In March, the agency ruled against an application by investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to bring the first Bitcoin ETF to market, although the SEC recently said it would review that decision.
The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm attorney Jay Clayton to head the SEC, a change in leadership that could prompt a change in tack by the agency through which investment products come to market.
Douglas Yones, a top NYSE ETF official, said in an emailed statement that he hopes the approval "paves the way for us to work with other leveraged product issuers over the rest of the year."
The product sponsor could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Leslie Adler & Simon Cameron-Moore) || U.S. regulators to review decision denying Bitcoin ETF - filing: By Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to review its decision last month to block the listing of the first U.S. exchange-traded fund tracking the digital currency bitcoin, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday. A more-than-three-year effort by investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to convince the SEC to allow it to bring the Bitcoin ETF to market stalled when the agency's staff ruled against them in March. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government. A fund holding the currency could bring more professional investors to the asset and push its price higher. Yet bitcoin presents a new set of risks to investors given its limited adoption, a number of massive cybersecurity breaches affecting bitcoin owners and the lack of consistent treatment of the assets by governments. Bitcoin traded up 1.7 percent at $1274.99 earlier on Tuesday. The digital currency has rebounded after initially plunging following the SEC's initial decision calling the digital currency market "unregulated." CBOE Holdings Inc's Bats exchange had applied to list the ETF and appealed to the commission to review its staff's decision. The exchange did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Diane Craft) || Flow's Ultimate Football Experience Attracts Top Manchester United Star: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Mar 31, 2017) - When young Jamaican footballers take to the field on April 1 st for the Flow Ultimate Football Experience they'll be joined by Manchester United (Man Utd) Legend and fan favourite, Quinton Fortune who will share words of encouragement and guidance to the youngsters. The tough-tackling midfielder and South African international, earned his place in the hearts of his friends, peers and supporters of Man Utd after a 6-year stint with the club. He's one of several Man Utd Legends who will be present in some of Flow's markets at the skills-based events, leading up to the Flow Ultimate Football Experience Final in Trinidad on May 7 th . During his time at Old Trafford, Fortune displayed an honourable sense of determination and drive, despite being hampered by a string of unfortunate injuries. As part of the club, he earned the Intercontinental Cup (1999) and the FA Community Shield (2003) before moving on to other teams. Like many other former pro footballers, Fortune is not just a player; he's a coach, too. After his retirement in 2010, he spent time training with Man Utd's reserve team while simultaneously working towards his coaching badges, which he received in 2013. Needless to say, Fortune -- who wore number 25 with the Reds -- brings a unique combination of playing experience and coaching acumen to the Jamaican chapter of the Flow Ultimate Football Experience . And not only will the youngsters get expert advice on ways to enhance their performance, they'll also doubtlessly get a fresh boost of energy by simply playing in the presence of one of football's best. Flow and Manchester United's latest region-wide initiative, the Flow Ultimate Football Experience is designed to give youngsters the chance-of-a-lifetime to participate in local talent development football camps across Flow's 15 markets. Two winners from each country will advance to the two-day skills session in T&T to experience one-on-one training with Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and Manchester United Soccer School Coaches. There, they will participate in a series of drills designed by the coaches and compete for the chance for two finalists and their coach to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Old Trafford in Manchester, England to see Man Utd in a Premier League fixture . Story continues Skilled boys and girls between the ages of 13 to 16 can register online at https://discoverflow.co/flowmanutd . Follow Flow Jamaica on Facebook and Twitter @FlowJamaica to track his visit to Jamaica for the Flow Ultimate Football Experience ! " Flow and Manchester United - together we are in a different league ." About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 5 million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3125292 || Bitcoin Wallets Under Siege From 'Large Collider' Attack: A group called the “Large Bitcoin Collider” claims it can smash open bitcoin wallets by using a so-called brute force attack, which directs mass amounts of computer power at individual wallets in order to guess their private keys.
The project, which has been underway for months, relies on a distributed network of computers (similar to bitcoin itself), and invites anyone to participate-those who do could potentially share in the proceeds of the wallets cracked open.
A “trophy list” on the home page of Collider (an apparent reference to theHadron Collider) suggests the group has successfully opened over a dozen wallets, though only three had any bitcoin in them. It’s unclear if the group is motivated by financial gain or the cryptographic challenge of smashing wallets-the answer is probably both based on the site’s webpage and outside observers.
AQ&A liston the Collider’s website says robbing even a tiny amount from non-profit group like the Internet archive “would make you an unconditional jerk.” But it also suggests other wallets are fair game, and that proceeds would be divvied up among the Collider participants.
Meanwhile, others think the wallet-smashing endeavor is a fool’s errand, according toMotherboard, which first reported on the Large Bitcoin Collider. In this view, the project is too hard and the rewards too low and infrequent (as thisReddit commenter explains) to pay off.
But some speculate the goal of the project is not to rob a whole lot of wallets, but instead to strike a mother lode from a long-lost wallet from bitcoin’s early days:
“About 10% ofBitcoinswere created early, before 2012, and have never been traded. If somebody ever finds the key of the early lost Bitcoins, they’ll have a huge payoff, over a billion dollars. Speculation is that either “Satoshi Nakamoto”, whoever he is, is holding onto them for a big payoff, or somebody lost the private key for all those early Bitcoins. As the years go on, the second explanation seems more likely,” said the top comment on the siteHacker News.
Get Data Sheet,Fortunes technology newsletter.
As for the process of cracking open wallets, it involves the laborious task of creating private keys-which are dozens of characters in length-and trying them against existing bitcoin addresses. The Collider has so far created and checked3,000 trillionprivate keys, a researcher told Motherboard.
As for the legality of all this, it’s unclear. On one hand, the law is pretty clear that you are not supposed to join a conspiracy in order to rob people. But on the other hand, as the group’s website points out, “It is not illegal to search for colliding private keys.”
For bitcoin owners, the risk of the Large Bitcoin Collider performing a stick-up on your private wallet is pretty tiny for now. But if the process also results in someone creatinga collisionfor bitcoin’s general hashing algorithm-as happened with the longtime crypographic standard SHA-1 (cracked byGooglethis year)-that would spell a lot more trouble, though as one readerpoints out, bitcoin’s encryption algorithm can be upgraded.
This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || SEC denies a second application to list bitcoin product: By Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday denied for the second time this month a request to bring to market a first-of-its-kind product tracking bitcoin, the digital currency. The SEC announced in a filing its decision denying Intercontinental Exchange Inc's NYSE Arca exchange the ability to list and trade the SolidX Bitcoin Trust, an exchange-traded product (ETP) that would trade like a stock and track the digital asset's price. Previously, the regulatory agency said it had concerns with a similar proposal by investors Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. "The Commission believes that the significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated," the SEC said in its filing, echoing language from its decision earlier this month on the application by CBOE Holdings Inc's Bats exchange to list The Bitcoin ETF proposed by the Winklevoss brothers. On Friday, Bats asked the SEC to review its decision not to allow that fund to trade. "We are reviewing the SEC's order and evaluating our next steps," said Daniel H. Gallancy, chief executive officer of SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services. NYSE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bitcoin had scaled to a record of more than $1,300 this month, higher than the price of an ounce of gold, as investors speculated that an ETF holding the digital currency could woo more people into buying the asset. But after denial of the Winklevoss-proposed ETF, the digital currency's price plunged as much as 18 percent. It has rebounded partially since then and was at $1,041 on Tuesday, roughly unchanged from the previous day. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government. Yet bitcoin presents a new set of risks to investors given its limited adoption, a number of massive cybersecurity breaches affecting bitcoin owners and the lack of consistent treatment of the assets by governments. There is one remaining bitcoin ETP proposal awaiting a verdict from the SEC. Grayscale Investments LLC's Bitcoin Investment Trust, backed by early bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group, filed an application last year. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by David Gregorio and Cynthia Osterman) || Bitcoin value rises over $1 billion as Japan, Russia move to legitimize cryptocurrency: Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)is up nearly $100 in the past week, hitting levels not seen since mid-March after Japan legalized the cryptocurrency as a payment method and Russia is seeking to regulate it too.
The digital currency was trading at around $1,223.04 at the time of publication, up from highs of $1,124.88 on April 5, and hitting prices not seen since March 16, according to Coindesk data. Bitcoin's market capitalization has risen from $18.34 billion on April 5, to $19.5 billion on Wednesday, according to Coinmarketcap.com data.
Bitcoin has suffered a recent dip in price thanks to a debate over thefuture of its underlying technology, but the recent support appears to have come from Japan.
Earlier this month, Japan began accepting bitcoin as legal currency with major retailers backing the new law. Consumer electronics retailing giant Bic Camera began accepting bitcoin last week.
Bitcoin trading in Japanese yen is the second-most liquid market globally, according to data compiled by cryptocurrency trading platform Gatecoin.
"The Japan virtual currency act has likely had a major impact, as there has been a lot of buzz in Japanese media over the ruling over the last few months," Aurélien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, told CNBC by email.
At the same time, Russia, one of the strongest opponents of bitcoin is seeking to regulate the digital currency. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev told Bloomberg in an interview this week that the authorities hope to recognize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a legal financial instrument in 2018 in a bid to tackle money laundering.
"The state needs to know who at every moment of time stands on both sides of the financial chain," Moiseev told Bloomberg.
"If there's a transaction, the people who facilitate it should understand from whom they bought and to whom they were selling, just like with bank operations."
Increasing state regulation around bitcoin could make the cryptocurrency an attractive investment for investors who previously shied away from it due to the high risk and price swings.
More From CNBC
• Adyen, the firm that processes payments for Uber, Netflix, saw 2016 revenues rise 99%
• India’s mobile market is seeing a huge shift but Apple might not benefit for a while
• Another Apple supplier tanks amid fears it could lose its key contract || Bitcoin miners have collectively earned more than $2 billion: An interior view of U.S. bitcoin mining company Bitfury's mining farm near Keflavik Bitcoin mining has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Bitcoin miners have collectively earned over $2 billion in revenue since the cryptocurrency was established in 2008, according to an estimate from a new report published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Nearly every way the United incident could have ended differentlyin one flowchart Bitcoin mining is how transactions on the bitcoin network get processed. Transactions in bitcoin are bundled into blocks, and its the job of miners to confirm those blocks are legitimate. This happens when a miner successfully solves a cryptographic puzzle attached to each block, gaining a payout called the block reward. This payout halves every four years; the current reward is 12.5 bitcoins per block, or $15,350 at todays prices. The twist is this: miners must compete with one another with greater computational power to solve the puzzle and win the payout. These incentives have led to a massive increase in complexity and need for computational power. In bitcoins early days, people mined the cryptocurrency on their home computers. Today, server farms of thousands of custom-designed machines around the world compete with one another to solve the puzzle first. Revenues generated by the bitcoin mining sector could be significantly higher, the report says. The estimate only accounts for revenues earned from block rewards and fees paid by bitcoin users for having their transactions processed. It doesnt include revenue from selling mining equipment, or providing cloud mining services, which let subscribers share in block rewards for a fee, without having to operate their own equipment. United Airlines has exposed the moral dilemma behind rewarding customer loyalty Importantly, the estimate doesnt account for capital gains from cashing out of bitcoin strategically, since the researchers assumed block rewards were immediately converted to US dollars. Those gains could be substantial, since bitcoin has been on a historic bull run . Story continues Transaction fees have historically been a small part of miners revenue, but theyve shot up this year as the number of transactions gets closer to the bitcoin networks limit. Users are willing to pay higher fees to ensure their transactions are processed by miners. The question of how to raise the limit is at the heart of the civil war that has divided the bitcoin world. As bitcoin adoption grows, miners are prospering. Read this next: Bitcoins civil war threatens to blow up the cryptocurrency itself Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Choose your spouse wisely: Life advice for IIM-A grads from the chief of Axis Bank Heres the best way to guess correctly on a multiple choice test
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#Monacoin 15.5円↑[Zaif] 15.90円↑[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 5.9996円↑[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 169,650円↑[Zaif]
05/04 09:00
口座開設はこちらで！ https://goo.gl/31dyoO || #BITCOIN ahora:
$1,028.18 USD
€958.00 EUR
$19,366.98 MXN
@Bitso $19,745.00 MXN
@Volabit $20,052.20 MXNpic.twitter.com/9WzaIrqKUd || Traders Raise Concern as Biggest Bitcoin Exchange Halts Deposits http://dlvr.it/Nw3BpB #TradeGoX || One Bitcoin now worth $1179.86@bitstamp. High $1192.50. Low $1161.00. Market Cap $19.205 Billion #bitcoin || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000012 (-0.42%) 0.00000001 BTC (0.00%) || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$1013.01/$1016.40 #Bitstamp
$1037.00/$1039.71 #BTCe
⇢$20.60/$26.70
$1007.62/$1018.88 #Coinbase
⇢$-8.78/$5.87 || "Pay it forward" #bitcoin
Start Bitcoin mining today!
https://youtu.be/o5GJU0xL5lQ
https://www.genesis-mining.com/a/733380 pic.twitter.com/Xo9HD8NUbe || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$1177.93/$1179.57 #Bitstamp
$1170.00/$1172.99 #BTCe
⇢$-9.57/$-4.94
$1186.64/$1198.59 #Coinbase
⇢$7.07/$20.66 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 12 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $725.45 #bitcoin #btc || $1033.10 at 23:45 UTC [24h Range: $1006.56 - $1053.00 Volume: 7579 BTC]
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Trend: up || Prices: 1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24, 1804.91, 1808.91, 1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-05-11]
BTC Price: 56704.57, BTC RSI: 50.72
Gold Price: 1835.90, Gold RSI: 68.65
Oil Price: 65.28, Oil RSI: 59.81
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Hacker Of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Apple Twitter Accounts To Spend 3 Years In Prison: A young Florida-based hacker who hijacked the accounts of several high-profile users ofTwitter Inc.'s(NYSE:TWTR) social media platform in aBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) scam last year pleaded guilty to state charges Tuesday and agreed to serve three years in prison, according to areportby the Tampa Bay Times.
What Happened:Graham Ivan Clark, 18, reached a deal with prosecutors to serve three years in juvenile prison followed by three years of probation, as per the report.
Clark was accused of masterminding amassive social media hackin July last year that compromised several prominent verified Twitter accounts, including those of high-profile figures such as former President Barack Obama,Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk,Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates, and companies likeApple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) as well asUber Technologies Inc.(NYSE:UBER).
Clark used the accounts to tweet fraudulent messages and solicit more than $100,000 in Bitcoin. The tweets from Musk's account said he would double any Bitcoin payments sent to a published Bitcoin address. The scheme netted about $117,000 in Bitcoin before it was shut down.
See Also:Elon Musk-Dogecoin Scam Cost This Man Over 0,000
Why It Matters:The cyberattack led to concerns about the security of Twitter’s systems and wasprobedby the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The hacking, which came in an election year, was significant due to Twitter's role as a valued platform for political discussion and led to speculation that it could have been done by state-sponsored hackers.
Shortly after the incident, Twitter announced on social media that it was investigating the hack andacknowledgedthat some of its employees were compromised due to social engineering.
See also: Best Penny Stocks Under
Price Action:Twitter shares closed almost 1.5% lower on Tuesday at $69.25.
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Dominance at 2-Year Low as XRP, Binance’s BNB Rally: Bitcoin’sshare of total cryptocurrency market value has fallen to its lowest level in two years after strong rallies from some of the industry’s biggest altcoins, including XRP and binance coin.
The market dominance of bitcoin, or the largest cryptocurrency’s value as a share of the overall market, has dropped to about 55%, the lowest since April 2019, according to cryptocurrency research firms Messari and CoinGecko. That’s down from about 70% at the start of the year.
The decline iwas driven in recent weeks by powerful rallies in the likes of binance coin (BNB) and XRP (XRP), since bitcoin’s market value has held steady at around $1 trillion or slightly above. The trend offers a reminder of just how much money is flowing these days into digital assets beyond bitcoin, even as the big exchange Coinbase prepares this week for a public stock listing aimed at traditional-market investors.
Related:YouTube Star Jake Paul Reportedly “Discussed” Creating His Own Crypto: Good or Bad Idea?
The largest cryptocurrency’s price has doubled this year to about $60,000, but other tokens have surged by many multiples. BNB, a utility token used on Binance’s platforms, has jumped 22% in the past 24 hours, leaving the price up 15-fold in 2021, for a market value of about $90 billion.
XRP, the digital token used in Ripple Labs’ payment network, doubled in the seven days through Sunday, itsbest weekly performance in more than three years. The market value is between $50 billion and $140 billion, depending on how one calculates it.
Meanwhile, ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain and the second-biggest overall, recently climbed to a new all-time near $2,200, according toCoinDesk 20 data. It has a market capitalization of about $250 billion, as prices nearly tripled this year.
See also:Bitcoin Price Shoots Past $60K, Ether Hits New All-Time High in Early Saturday Trading
Related:Investment Giant BlackRock Has “Started to Dabble” in Bitcoin
Filecoin (FIL) has climbed seven-fold this year to a market cap around $11 billion, and theta token (THETA) has surged six-fold to about $12 billion. Even dogecoin (DOGE), which was launched in 2013 as little more than a joke, has seen its price increase 12-fold this year, for a market value of about $9 billion.
• Bitcoin Dominance at 2-Year Low as XRP, Binance’s BNB Rally
• Bitcoin Dominance at 2-Year Low as XRP, Binance’s BNB Rally || GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks hit record high as bond yields ease with inflation fears: * Chinese stocks lead gains in Asian equities * Bond yield retreat boosts tech shares * Bitcoin hits record high, dollar weakens By Kevin Buckland and Herbert Lash TOKYO, April 14 (Reuters) - Global equity markets rose to a fresh record high on Wednesday as bond yields eased after data showed U.S. inflation was not rising wildly. Most Asia-Pacific share indexes followed Wall Street higher, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng leading gains in the region, while benchmark U.S. Treasury yields continued their decline, marking a fresh three-week low. Japan bucked the trend, with the Nikkei falling 0.4% as rising coronavirus cases raised doubts about an economic reopening with 100 days to go until Tokyo is scheduled to host the Olympics. The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.6%, the biggest increase since August 2012, as rising vaccinations and fiscal stimulus unleashed pent-up demand. But the data is unlikely to change Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's view that higher inflation in coming months will be transitory. Powell is scheduled to speak later in the day at the Economic Club of Washington. "The market clearly braced for higher CPI readings," Westpac strategists wrote in a client note. They said Tuesday's result was "clearly being interpreted within the context of the Fed's commitment to look through 'transitory' inflation impulses." For bond markets, the question is whether the benchmark yield can break below 1.6% from as low as 1.611% on Wednesday, they wrote. "That has been an important technical level, which if broken could see a quick move to 1.5%." The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield had surged from the start of the year to a 14-month high of 1.776% on March 30 on bets that massive fiscal stimulus would speed up a U.S. recovery, stoking faster inflation than Fed policymakers anticipate. But yields have eased this month, in part owing to the Fed's insistence that labour market slack will prevent the economy from overheating. Story continues A spate of strong auction results, including of 30-year bonds on Tuesday, has also helped to tame yields. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 1.3%, while China's blue-chip index jumped 0.7%. MSCI's gauge of equity performance in 50 countries advanced 0.15%, extending its all-time peak. The decline in bond yields lifted U.S. tech stocks overnight, including Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc, the top three holdings of the global benchmark. The S&P 500 gained 0.33% as it also set intra-day and record closing highs, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.05%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%. Johnson & Johnson's shares slid 1.34% after U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine for at least a few days, after six women developed rare blood clots. Setbacks to vaccination rollouts have raised concerns about the global economic recovery. Earnings will be a focus on Wednesday, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc among the companies reporting. The U.S. dollar eased along with Treasury yields, slipping to a three-week low to major peers. Gold, a traditional inflation hedge, extended its rise from the lowest in more than a week to trade around $1,745 in the spot market. Bitcoin hit a record above $63,860, extending its 2021 rally to new heights on the day Coinbase shares are due to list in the United States. In oil markets, Brent crude futures rose 40 cents to $64.07 a barrel. U.S. crude futures added 37 cents to$60.55 a barrel. (Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa) || South Korea’s Largest Social Gaming App to Mint Low-Carbon NFTs for Millions of Users: South Korea’s largest social gaming app, GameTalkTalk, has begun leveraging blockchain platform Enjin for the creation of low-carbon, non-fungible tokens (NFT).
According to a press release shared with CoinDesk, the social gaming company behind the app, Ludena Protocol, is attempting to attract new users by tokenizing fashion, furniture and pets.
NFTs have been acontroversial topicof late due to their largecarbon footprintcreated via the process of creating consensus in a proof-of-work mechanism.
Related:Deutsche Bank Says 52% of Its Investors Expect Bitcoin Below $60K in 12 Months
By using Enjin’s interoperable bridging network and scaling solution,JumpNet, Enjin and Ludena say they can reduce energy consumption through a relatively new consensus mechanism.
The mechanism, known as proof-of-authority (PoA), refers to a solely permissioned state where only invited parties can participate as nodes on a private blockchain.
Using PoA, the companies say they can reduce power consumption by as much as 99.98%, when compared with other networks such as Ethereum or Bitcoin.
Simon Kertonegoro, vice-president of Developer Success at Enjin, told CoinDesk via Telegram the cost of minting NFTs has been a tax on both the user and the environment.
Related:Decentralized Data Project Covalent Raises Another $2M
With over three million users, GameTalkTalk has worked alongside major companies such as Blizzard Entertainment, SEGA and Nexon.
“We believe this is an opportunity to show these innovators how NFTs can help them build new environmentally friendly revenue streams,” said Kertonegoro.
The process to becoming fully carbon-neutral, however, it may take some time as Enjin says it has only just begun to implement anine-year planto upgrade to carbon-neutral nodes.
“We are so excited to be collaborating with the Enjin team … particularly in their proactiveness in tackling the many associated environmental concerns,” Ludena Protocol’s CEO Joshua Kim.
• South Korea’s Largest Social Gaming App to Mint Low-Carbon NFTs for Millions of Users
• South Korea’s Largest Social Gaming App to Mint Low-Carbon NFTs for Millions of Users || Top Ranked Growth Stocks to Buy for April 5th: Here are four stocks with buy ranks and strong growth characteristics for investors to consider today, April 5th: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): This specialty finance company carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 6.5% over the last 60 days. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Price and Consensus The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Price and Consensus The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. price-consensus-chart | The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Quote Goldman Sachs has a PEG ratio of 0.53 compared with 1.43 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Quote KB Home (KBH): This company that constructs and sells a variety of new homes designed primarily for first-time, move-up and active adult homebuyers, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes and condominiums carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 7.1% over the last 60 days. KB Home Price and Consensus KB Home Price and Consensus KB Home price-consensus-chart | KB Home Quote KB Home has a PEG ratio of 0.39, compared with 0.71 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of B. KB Home PEG Ratio (TTM) KB Home PEG Ratio (TTM) KB Home peg-ratio-ttm | KB Home Quote Universal Electronics Inc. (UEIC): This company that designs, develops, manufactures and ships innovative products that are used by the world's leading brands in the audio video, subscription broadcasting, connected home, tablet and smart phone markets carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.4% over the last 60 days. Universal Electronics Inc. Price and Consensus Universal Electronics Inc. Price and Consensus Universal Electronics Inc. price-consensus-chart | Universal Electronics Inc. Quote Universal Electronics has a PEG ratio of 0.89, compared with 1.87 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Story continues Universal Electronics Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Universal Electronics Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Universal Electronics Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Universal Electronics Inc. Quote Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (TPX): This company that is involved in the development, manufacturing and marketing of bedding products carries a Zacks Rank #1, and has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 22.1% over the last 60 days. Tempur Sealy International, Inc. Price and Consensus Tempur Sealy International, Inc. Price and Consensus Tempur Sealy International, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Tempur Sealy International, Inc. Quote Tempur Sealy International has a PEG ratio of 0.85, compared with 3.50 for the industry. The company possesses a Growth Score of A. Tempur Sealy International, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Tempur Sealy International, Inc. PEG Ratio (TTM) Tempur Sealy International, Inc. peg-ratio-ttm | Tempur Sealy International, Inc. Quote See the full list of top ranked stocks here. Learn more about the Growth score and how it is calculated here. Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities. Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. See 3 crypto-related stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Universal Electronics Inc. (UEIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (TPX) : Free Stock Analysis Report KB Home (KBH) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || 5 Big Money Moves for Your Stimulus Check: Advertiser Disclosure: At Slickdeals, we work hard to find the best deals. Some products in our articles are from partners who may provide us with compensation, but this doesnt change our opinions. Americans should be seeing a little extra dough in their bank accounts soon. Between tax refunds and the CARES Act stimulus checks, the average household can expect to receive several thousand dollars to improve their finances. While some people will splurge on a vacation or a trip to the mall with their stimulus money, others are choosing to make big money moves with their stimulus checks. They can use the money to earn a new account bonus, pay off debt or invest for the future. How Much Is the Stimulus Check? The American Rescue Plan of 2021 was signed into law to provide direct economic assistance to American workers and families. Taxpayers can receive up to $1,400 per dependent, based on their qualified income. This means that a middle-class family of four will receive a stimulus check of $5,600. Individuals must have an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $75,000 or less and couples with AGIs of $150,000 or less to receive the full benefit. The benefit is phased out for incomes up to $80,000 and $160,000 for individuals and couples, respectively. Incomes above those amounts do not qualify. 5 Ways to Use Your Stimulus Check When your stimulus check arrives, this provides an excellent opportunity to make a dramatic impact on your finances. These five big money moves below can help you make money, eliminate interest and invest in your future. Earn a New Bank Account Bonus Many banks offer a bonus when you open a checking or savings account and meet certain criteria. These criteria may include meeting a minimum deposit amount, having direct deposit from your paycheck, using a debit card to make purchases or performing other qualifying banking activities. After you meet the requirements and keep your account open for a specified period of time (usually 3-6 months), youll receive your bonus. Story continues >>EARN: $600 Cash Bonus for Opening an HSBC Premier Checking Account New bank account bonuses can be worth several hundred dollars, so theyre a worthy investment of a few minutes of your time. If you have enough money and the time, you can even open accounts with different banks to earn multiple bonuses. Unlike credit card bonuses, there arent rules like Chase 5/24 to keep you from earning bonuses from multiple banks. Create an Emergency Fund A 2018 Federal Reserve study found that the average American cannot afford a $400 emergency without going into debt. While youre earning a new bank account bonus, consider using your stimulus check and any bank bonuses that you earn to create your emergency fund. This will ensure that the next time an emergency strikes, youll have the cash available to pay the bill without tapping into expensive credit card debt. Pay Off Your Debts The average interest rate on a credit card is over 16%. If youre carrying a balance month-to-month, the interest charges can be really expensive and difficult to pay off. When you take your stimulus check and pay off your credit card balances, youre earning a guaranteed 16% on your money by avoiding that interest. Best of all, the savings are not taxable! For people that owe more money than what they receive from their stimulus check, look into a consolidation loan or a 0% APR offer with a new balance transfer credit card . Consolidation loans lock in a fixed interest rate and require monthly payments over a set period of time. Balance transfer promotions offer a no-interest loan for a small fee to enable all of your payments to reduce your balance with each monthly payment. Both of these options can reduce your interest rate significantly and put you on the path to becoming debt-free. Fund Your IRA The majority of Americans are behind in saving for retirement. With the maximum IRA contribution limit of $6,000, your stimulus check can almost max out this years contribution. Traditional IRAs can offer a tax deduction, while Roth IRAs provide tax-free income in retirement. Whichever you choose, your future self will thank you for making a contribution today. On a related note, many people dont know about this awesome retirement planning hack. If you havent filed your taxes yet, you can still contribute to your Traditional or Roth IRA for last year. So, open your IRA today and fund last years contribution. Then you can start making monthly contributions now for this year to build a solid retirement for yourself. Invest in a Brokerage Account Investing your money in a brokerage account is an excellent choice for people whove maxed out their retirement plans or if they want to retire early. Brokerage accounts allow you to invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, cryptocurrency, and more. >>INVEST: How to Start Investing With Just $1 Any money that you invest in a brokerage account can be withdrawn at any time without penalty. Unlike a retirement account, like a 401(k) or IRA, brokerage account money is not locked up until retirement age. Savvy investors often have brokerage accounts in addition to their retirement accounts. These accounts are often dedicated to goals that are 10-20 years out, like a vacation home or a childs education. Boost Your Career One of the best investments you can make is in yourself. To move forward in your career, you may need to finish your degree, earn a certification or attend conferences where you can network with your peers. The stimulus checks are a great way to fund those career moves without going into a lot of debt. If earning a degree or certification arent in the cards right now, consider taking free or low-cost classes from Udemy , Khan Academy , or MIT OpenCourseWare . These online platforms allow you to take a variety of courses to learn new skills or just for fun. Taking free or low-cost courses are also the perfect way to try out new subjects. You can take a class or two before committing time and money towards a degree or certification that youre considering. The Bottom Line The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is giving most Americans $1,400 to stimulate the economy. For an eligible family of four, youll receive up to $5,600 in the next few weeks. Rather than spend the money on a vacation or a shopping trip, use this extra money to improve your finances. Earning a new account bonus, paying off debt, or investing in your future are all excellent ways to maximize your stimulus check. Related Financial Offers >> WIN: Biggest Bank Bonuses Right Now: Cash Promos for New Deposit Accounts >>EARN : Best High-Yield Checking Accounts >>GAIN: Best High-Yield Savings Accounts >>SAVE: Best Free Checking Accounts >> INVEST: Bitcoin Promo: New BlockFi Customers Receive Crypto Bonus >>SECURE: Chase Business Complete Bonus: $300 for New Customers >> RECEIVE: New Axos Small Business Customers Receive $100 Bonus While we work hard on our research, we do not always provide a complete listing of all available offers from credit-card companies and banks. And because offers can change, we cannot guarantee that our information will always be up to date, so we encourage you to verify all the terms and conditions of any financial product before you apply. || Global Government and Industrial/Financial Blockchain Market 2021-2027: IBM, ConsenSys, and Microsoft are Driving Blockchain as their Clients Transition to Cloud Services: Dublin, May 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Government and Industrial/Financial Blockchain: Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2021 to 2027" report from Wintergreen Research, Inc has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. A $4.47 million market worldwide in 2020, it is anticipated to grow rapidly to $83.3 billion in 2027 as central banks figure out how to use blockchain in their digital currency initiatives. Worldwide markets are poised to achieve continuing growth as blockchain proves its value by managing digital transactions in real time across national boundaries, encouraging collaborative business efforts. Lowering transaction management costs is a key benefit. Blockchain can be implemented in an IBM mainframe that is already a core technology for virtually every bank. Blockchain updates the security in transaction processing, implementing end to end encryption. Government blockchain is used to implement Web 3.0. the ability ot transfer money as easily as people send an email. The question becomes, what does Web 3.0 look like? It looks like a distributed ledger system providing immediate currency exchange worldwide that mimics how the Internet is used to exchange e-mail. Web 3.0 features enhanced security added to a real time digital economic process. The government blockchain market does not include what has been the biggest use of blockchain - to hide the money of criminals and terrorists - perform money laundering. After an inauspicious beginning, government blockchain has moved to digital currency, government blockchain is on the cusp of phenomenal growth, ready to reach $83 billion worldwide by 2027 as it creates new digital economic infrastructure. ConsenSys acquired Quorum, the blockchain platform belonging to JPMorgan in a move that will solidify an ongoing relationship between the JPMC and ConsenSys. The-Quorum-blockchain is a premier transaction management system, settling $5 trillion in transactions per day. Story continues The government blockchain market moves into rapid growth mode as the digital economy takes hold. As the banks and finance industry move into the modern age of real time transaction processing, blockchain is a core enabling technology for central banks. This market segment previously has been held back in part by the outdated aspects of the mainframe computing technology. IBM Blockchain and others are spurred by more modern ways to manage global transactions across national borders from IBM, Microsoft, and Accenture. Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger system providing enhanced security to the real time digital economic process. Blockchain is comprised of blocks of digitally recorded data. The global market for blockchain at $4.47 billion in 2020 is anticipated to reach $83 billion in 2027. IBM, ConsenSys, and Microsoft are driving blockchain as their clients are making the transition to cloud services. Accenture has measurable market share as well. Key Topics: Distributed Ledger Web 3.0 Blockchain Cryptocurrency Digital Economy Central Bank Transactions Digital Transactions Digital Currency Data Center Infrastructure Enterprise Application Industry Trends Enterprise Application Market Financial Ledger Internet Financial Architecture Transactions in Real Time Enhanced Security Collaborative Business Across National Boundaries Key Topics Covered: 1. Government Blockchain: Stable Value Currency Market Description and Market Dynamics 1.1 Government Blockchain Market Description and Market Dynamics 1.1.1 Blockchain and Cyber Attacks 1.1.2 Central Banks Seek to Master Stable Value Digital Currency 1.1.3 Digital Virtual Currencies Goal: Stable-Coins that Have a Consistent Value 1.2 Blockchains: Cryptographically Secured Distributed Ledgers 1.2.1 Central Bank Currencies: Wholesale and Retail 1.2.2 Advantages of Central Bank Digital Currency 1.2.3 Blockchain Companies Initial Coin Offerings - ICOs 1.2.4 Transfer of Social Trust: From Institutions to Systems Using Well-Tested Computer Code 1.3 Central Banks Exploring Creation of Digital Currency Issued by Government -Accepted as a Method of Payment 1.3.1 Fed System as It Exists Now 1.3.2 Digital Currency Approach Uses Blockchain To Verify and Track Transactions 1.3.3 Individuals Would Hold Accounts Directly at The Central Bank 1.3.4 Sovereign Digital Currencies 1.3.5 Digital Currencies as Payment Methods 1.3.6 Enterprises to Speed Up Digital Transformation 1.3.7 Role of Central Banks in Digital Currency Interoperability 2. Government Blockchain Stable Value Digital Currency: Market Shares and Forecasts 2.1 Government Blockchain Stable Value Digital Currency Market Driving Forces 2.1.1 Replacing Client Server Data Center Architecture with Blockchain Brings New Digital Efficiencies 2.1.2 Blockchain Leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) 2.1.3 Governments Use Blockchain Distributed Ledgers to Achieve Business and Fiscal Transparency 2.2 Government Blockchain Market Shares 2.2.1 Blockchain Market Shares, Dollars, Worldwide, 2020 2.2.2 IBM and Microsoft 2.2.3 IBM Blockchain 2.2.4 IBM Implements AI Support for Blockchain 2.2.5 IBM Blockchain Decentralized Ledger in Supply Chains 2.2.6 IBM Blockchain Decentralized Ledger in Medical Industry 2.3 Government and Industrial/Finance Blockchain Market Forecasts 2.4 Blockchain Market Forecasts: Banking, Finance, and Insurance, Healthcare, Cybercurrency, Supply Chain, and Internet of Things (IoT) 2.4.1 Rapid Adoption of Technology 2.5 Government and Financial Blockchain Applications 2.5.1 BFSI: Blockchain Impact on Stock Market 2.5.2 Blockchain for Healthcare 2.5.3 Blockchain for Contracts and the Legal Industry 2.5.4 Blockchain for Supply Chain 2.5.5 Blockchain for Internet of Things 2.5.6 SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Sees 1 Trillion Devices for Internet of Things 2.6 Blockchain Pricing 2.6.1 Microsoft Blockchain Pricing 2.7 Central Bank Digital Currency Blockchain Regional Market Segments 2.7.1 US 2.7.2 Covid-19 Pandemic Toll on US Communities 2.7.3 US Fed Exploring the Use of Innovative Technologies to Enhance Payments Efficiency 2.7.4 Japan Central Bank Digital Currency 2.7.5 Europe 2.7.6 Bank of China 2.7.7 China Opens Its Financial System to The World 2.7.8 China Ending Anonymity of Virtual Accounts to Cryptocurrency Exchanges 2.7.9 Korean Blockchain Association 2.7.10 UK 3. Government and Industrial/Financial Blockchain Central Bank and Vendor Activities 3.1 Government and Central Bank Planning for Digital Coins and Tokens 3.2 Boston Fed Looking at 30 to 40 Blockchain Networks for Digital Dollar 3.2.1 US Fed and Digital Currency 3.3 EU and Digital Currency 3.3.1 Sweden's Central Bank, Riksbank 3.3.2 Germany and Italy 3.3.3 Bank of Spain 3.4 China's Retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) 4. Blockchain Research and Technology 4.1 On a Blockchain, a Node Replicates Data for All Nodes 4.2 Blockchain Electricity Usage - Moving to Asynchronous Process 4.3 Accenture Patent Tied To "Editable Blockchain" 4.4 Digital Currency Models 4.4.1 Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) 4.5 Facebook Libra - Diem Association 5. Blockchain Company Profiles 5.1 360 Blockchain Inc 5.2 Accenture 5.2.1 Accenture Blockchain Culture of Innovation 5.2.2 Accenture Blockchain Solutions 5.2.3 Accenture Blockchain Partnerships 5.2.4 Accenture Alliance with Digital Asset Seeks to Fundamentally Change the Way Companies Verify and Settle Transactions 5.2.5 Accenture Digital Asset Partners 5.2.6 Accenture Revenue 5.3 Abra 5.4 Amazon 5.4.1 Amazon Blockchain Partners 5.4.2 Amazon Blockchain Partner Solutions 5.4.3 Amazon Sawtooth 5.4.4 Amazon (AMZN) Integrating Blockchain Technology into Its Networks 5.4.5 Amazon Blockchain Deloitte 5.4.6 Amazon Web Services 5.4.7 Amazon Blockchain for Bitcoin 5.5 Axoni 5.5.1 Comments from Axoni Users as to Reliability of Equity Swap 5.6 BitFury Group 5.6.1 Richard Branson Digital Currency Summit on Private Caribbean Island 5.6.2 Bitfury Group Blockchain Analytics 5.6.3 Bitfury Group Lightning Network 5.7 Binance Exchange 5.8 Blockchains 5.8.1 Slock.It 5.8.2 Slock.it Builds Next-Generation Sharing Platform 5.8.3 Slock.It Addresses Global Market for Sharing 5.9 BlockCypher 5.9.1 BlockCypher Payment Forwarding 5.10 BTL Group 5.10.1 BTL Blockchain Platform, Interbit For Energy Trading. 5.10.2 BTL Group Blockchain Based Cross-Border Settlement Solution 5.11 BMW 5.12 Chain 5.12.1 Chain and Changetip Participate with The Nasdaq-Created Blockchain System Linq 5.12.2 Chain Partners 5.13 ConsenSys 5.13.1 ConsenSys/Quorum 5.13.2 Quorum 5.14 Corda R3 5.15 Deloitte 5.16 Digital Asset Holdings 5.17 Eris Industries 5.18 Ethereum 5.18.1 Ethereum/Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) 5.18.2 Ethereum Blockchain CryptoKitties 5.18.3 Problem of Ethereum's High Fees 5.19 EzyRemit 5.20 Facebook 5.21 Fidelity Investments 5.21.1 Fidelity Size 5.22 Global Arena Holding 5.23 Goldman Sachs 5.24 Government Blockchain Association (GBA) 5.25 Hitachi 5.26 HIVE Blockchain Technologies 5.27 IBM Blockchain 5.27.1 IBM Blockchain Platform Optimized for Deployment on Red Hat OpenShift 5.27.2 IBM Cross Border Payments 5.27.3 IBM Batavia 5.27.4 IBM Internet of Things 5.27.5 IBM Supply Chain Tracking 5.27.6 IBM Blockchain in the Supply Chain 5.27.7 Use Cases for IBM IoT and Blockchain 5.27.8 IBM Revenue 5.27.9 IBM Datacenter Blockchain 5.28 Intel 5.29 JP Morgan Chase 5.29.1 JPMorgan Chase Quorum Blockchain Technology 5.30 Kube MQ 5.31 Lenovo 5.31.1 Lenovo Revenue 5.32 Luno 5.33 Microsoft Blockchain 5.33.1 Microsoft Azure Supply Chain Track and Trace 5.33.2 Microsoft Strengthening Blockchain Partnerships 5.33.3 Microsoft Revenue 5.33.4 Microsoft Covid-19 5.34 MIT Digital Currency Initiative 5.35 NEO Open Source Blockchain 5.36 OnChain Public Platform Project in Conjunction with NEO 5.37 Oracle 5.38 Overstock 5.39 PokitDok 5.40 Provenance 5.41 R3 5.41.1 Blockchain Startup R3 CEV Attracts $107M From BofA, HSBC, Intel and Others 5.41.2 JPMorgan Chase & Co Quit the R3 Initiative 5.41.3 R3 Corda 5.42 Ripple 5.42.1 Ripple XRP Digital Asset for Payments 5.42.2 Ripple Labs a Global Leader in Distributed Ledger Technology 5.42.3 Ripple XRP The Digital Asset 5.42.4 Ripple Product Manager from JP Morgan Chase 5.42.5 Ripple Board of Directors, Susan Athey Has Strong Ties to Microsoft 5.43 SAP 5.44 Scorechain 5.45 Samsung Nexledger 5.46 TATA Consultancy Services 5.46.1 TCS Integrated Blockchain Solution 5.46.2 TCS Risk Information Management Solution 5.47 TON 5.48 Visa 5.49 Wishknish 5.49.1 Wishknish Authentication For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1dg8d0 CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 || Busting Bitcoin myths: 7 misconceptions about the cryptocurrency: Bitcoin’s recent surge has reawakened old animus in the media. “The trouble with Bitcoin: Why the crypto craze can’t last,” read a recent headline in theGlobe and Mail,a Canadian newspaper.
To be sure, Bitcoin can be polarizing. Bitcoin diehards claim the cryptocurrency will soon replace gold, all government-backed money, and credit cards, as well as turn the banking system on its head. Rational exuberance aside, that is unlikely to happen, at least in the short term. On the flip side, media critics often badly mischaracterize Bitcoin as nothing more than a speculative tool, an environmental disaster, a bubble, or worse.
This makes an honest, sober analysis of the facts by an investor almost impossible, which is a shame. As a new asset class, investors must do their homework on Bitcoin and carefully consider the risks before jumping in.
So in that spirit, it’s high time to fact-check a few common Bitcoin misconceptions:
This is not accurate. Every day, the Bitcoin network settles approximately$10 billionworth of transactions. Bitcoin’s average of305,000 daily transactionsis not far behind Fedwire, the Federal Reserve’s settlement system for wire transfers between financial institutions, at 550,000 transactions.
Some of these transactions represent investment purchases, and some of those may be for speculation, but many others are for regular use like remittances, especially in the global South. For example, according to theWorld Economic Forum, 32% of Nigerians own Bitcoin for peer-to-peer payments. In regimes like Russia and Belarus, Bitcoin is sometimes the only way tofund anti-corruption effortsand protests. That’s pretty useful.
Bitcoin “miners” harness vast computing power to secure the Bitcoin network. Those computers use a lot of energy: by some estimates as much asthe country of Chile. This has led tocharges of energy waste.
Something “wastes” energy only to those who think it serves no useful function. The Bitcoin network secures $1 trillion in value, and serves millions of people, including many without access to traditional payment networks. Miners often colocate to where power is abundant and free, which often means renewable hydroelectric or geothermal sources. Todayat least 39% of Bitcoin mining is powered by renewable energy, and that share is growing rapidly. It also takes a lot of energy to run [hotlink]FedEx[/hotlink], [hotlink]TikTok[/hotlink], and the U.S. Department of Defense. Bitcoin’s carbon footprint is undoubtedly a problem that requires a solution. But it doesn’t mean Bitcoin is a bad idea. Rather, that carbon footprint is an implementation challenge to overcome—just as it is for all kinds of useful entities.
While it’s true that Bitcoin is more volatile than, say, government bonds, that’s not inherently bad. In the 1970s, as gold was severed formally from the monetary system, its price was extremely volatile,increasing 10-fold in a decade, before declining 60% and flatlining for decades. Gold was at its most volatile as it was increasing in value. Sometimes the most volatile assets have the best returns, and sometimes they do not. Bitcoin today is in a “price discovery” phase similar to where gold was in the 1970s, where big swings up and down can be common. Still, because of its volatility, Bitcoin may not be suitable for all investors.
It’s true that in Nigeria, Russia, and Belarus, Bitcoin gets the government’s cold shoulder. But in the U.S., Canada, and much of the West, the situation is different. For example, the top U.S. securities regulatortaught a course on cryptocurrencies at MIT; the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates commodity markets, isa global innovator in regulating Bitcoin derivatives; and the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recentlycleared banks to provide custody services for Bitcoin. Central banks care about financial stability above all else. Nothing would be more destabilizing to the $1 trillion Bitcoin market than some arbitrary and unwarranted crackdown.
Since Bitcoin went live in 2009, thousands of new cryptocurrencies have launched withno obvious impact on Bitcoin’s price. This makes sense. When we mine more tin from the earth, do we affect the supply of gold? No, because they are unrelated assets. A related critique is that Bitcoin’s total supply is not fixed, because Bitcoin is divisible into tiny increments. To understand why this is wrong, replace Bitcoin with pizza: If we take a pizza and cut it into a billion pieces, do we have more pizza, less pizza, or the same amount of pizza? We have the same, of course.
Relying on governments to be technology innovators is very optimistic. While it’s true that many central banks have announced CBDC initiatives, few are beyond the proof-of-concept stage. The lone exception is in China, wherethe government is keen to launch its own digital moneyto gain greater oversight into spending in the country and extend its reach beyond its borders. That, if anything, is a boost to Bitcoin, as there are many who would prefer to stay out from under the watchful eye of the Communist Party.
Corporate digital currencies (also known as stablecoins) will not threaten Bitcoin, either. In fact, they’ll likely do the opposite. The value of allstablecoins in circulation has skyrocketed 40xsince 2017, but Bitcoin continues to thrive, as more users grow comfortable with digital assets.
It’s true that all risk assets have benefited from easy interest-rate policy at the Bank of Canada, the Federal Reserve, and elsewhere. As bond yields have increased and fund flows have moved into more economically sensitive stocks of banks, energy companies, and so forth, some beneficiaries of low rates, including tech-sector high-fliers like [hotlink]Shopify[/hotlink], [hotlink]Zoom[/hotlink], and Peloton, have corrected 30% or more from their pandemic highs. Bitcoin may follow suit at some point, and of course investors would be wise to proceed with caution on any investment whose value has increased over 500% in less than a year, as Bitcoin’s has. That said, it’s worth noting that Bitcoin could benefit from atighteningof monetary policy, if it signals accelerating inflation, because many investors see Bitcoin as a hedge against rising consumer prices.
In my view, Bitcoin is certainly a catalyst of innovation and could become a key player in the future of our global financial system. Money, which has evolved through the millennia from cowrie shells to clay tablets to precious metals, bank notes, and bank balances, is taking another step into the future. Money is becoming digital. Buying Bitcoin could offer a way to get exposure to that future. However, Bitcoin’s success is not guaranteed, and it may not be a suitable investment for everyone. As with any new paradigm, there are risks and uncertainties. To understand Bitcoin, start with the facts.
Alex Tapscott is managing director of the Ninepoint Digital Asset Group (a division of Ninepoint Partners LP) and coauthor ofBlockchain Revolution. This article is for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice.
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This story was originally featured onFortune.com || Canadian Property Firm Buys Bitcoin in Hopes of Eventually Scrapping Condo Fees: Saskatchewan-based Thornton Place Condominium Corp is hoping to eventually do away with condo fees by investing inbitcoin.
• In anannouncement,Thornton Place in Regina said it has purchased 0.4 bitcoin with CAD$25,000 (US$20,050) through the exchange Kraken at an average price of CAD$62,500 (US$52,104) per bitcoin including fees and expenses.
• The buy is the first of an ongoing series of planned purchases, the company said, with Thornton Place having allocated an added CAD$700.00 per month to the purchase of bitcoin going forward
• The company said it has taken direct physical custody of the bitcoin purchased instead of using a custodial service or exchange-traded fund with a management fee.
• Thornton Place Condominium said it sees a 10-year time horizon for the investment and it has “taken the first steps” which it hopes will lead to the elimination of fees for residents.
• “Our board determined that a small investment of approximately 5% of the overall reserve fund and 6% of the monthly operating fund contributions into bitcoin will permit Thornton Place to gain a limited exposure to a high-performing asset class without jeopardizing any of the long-term goals of the corporation and its owners,” said the firm.
Read more:Canada’s CoinSmart Crypto Exchange Raises $3.5M for European Expansion
• Canadian Property Firm Buys Bitcoin in Hopes of Eventually Scrapping Condo Fees
• Canadian Property Firm Buys Bitcoin in Hopes of Eventually Scrapping Condo Fees
• Canadian Property Firm Buys Bitcoin in Hopes of Eventually Scrapping Condo Fees
• Canadian Property Firm Buys Bitcoin in Hopes of Eventually Scrapping Condo Fees || The Gross Law Firm Announces Class Actions on Behalf of Shareholders of UAVS, MPLN and REGI: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2021 / The securities litigation law firm of The Gross Law Firm issues the following notice on behalf of shareholders in the following publicly traded companies. Shareholders who purchased shares in the following companies during the dates listed are encouraged to contact the firm regarding possible Lead Plaintiff appointment. Appointment as Lead Plaintiff is not required to partake in any recovery. AgEagle Aerial Systems, Inc. (NYSE:UAVS) Investors Affected : September 3, 2019 - February 18, 2021 A class action has commenced on behalf of certain shareholders in AgEagle Aerial Systems, Inc. The filed complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) AgEagle did not have a partnership with Amazon and in fact never had any relationship with Amazon; (2) rather than correct the public's understanding about a partnership with Amazon, Defendants were actively contributing to the rumor that AgEagle had a partnership with Amazon; and (3) as a result, Defendants' statements about AgEagle's business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. Shareholders may find more information at https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/ageagle-aerial-systems-inc-loss-submission-form/?id=14114&from=1 Multiplan Corporation F/K/A Churchill Capital Corp. Iii (NYSE:MPLN) Investors Affected : July 12, 2020 - November 10, 2020 A class action has commenced on behalf of certain shareholders in Multiplan Corporation F/K/A Churchill Capital Corp Iii. The filed complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) MultiPlan was losing tens of millions of dollars in sales and revenues to Naviguard, a competitor created by one of MultiPlan's largest customers, UnitedHealthcare, which threatened up to 35% of the Company's sales and 80% of its levered cash flows by 2022; (b) sales and revenue declines in the quarters leading up to the Merger were not due to "idiosyncratic" customer behaviors as represented, but rather due to a fundamental deterioration in demand for MultiPlan's services and increased competition, as payors developed competing services and sought alternatives to eliminating excessive healthcare costs; (c) MultiPlan was facing significant pricing pressures for its services and had been forced to materially reduce its take rate in the lead up to the Merger by insurers, who had expressed dissatisfaction with the price and quality of MultiPlan's services and balanced billing practices, causing the Company's to cut its take rate by up to half in some cases; (d) as a result of (a)-(c) above, MultiPlan was set to continue to suffer from revenues and earnings declines, increased competition and deteriorating pricing dynamics following the Merger; (e) as a result of (a)-(d) above, MultiPlan was forced to seek continued revenue growth and to improve its competitive positioning through pricey acquisitions, including through the purchase of HST for $140 million at a premium price from a former MultiPlan executive only one month after the Merger; and (f) as a result of (a)-(e) above, Churchill III investors had grossly overpaid for the acquisition of MultiPlan in the Merger, and MultiPlan's business was worth far less than represented to investors. Story continues Shareholders may find more information at https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/multiplan-corporation-f-k-a-churchill-capital-corp-iii-loss-submission-form/?id=14114&from=1 Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGI) Investors Affected : May 3, 2018 - February 25, 2021 A class action has commenced on behalf of certain shareholders in Renewable Energy Group, Inc. The filed complaint alleges that defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) due to failures in the diesel additive system, petroleum diesel was not periodically added to certain loads by the Company and was instead added by the Company's customers; (2) as a result, Renewable Energy was not the proper claimant for certain BTC payments on biodiesel it sold between January 1, 2017 and September 30, 2020; (3) as a result, Renewable Energy's revenue and net income were overstated for certain periods; (4) there was a material weakness in the Company's internal control over financial reporting related to the purchase and use of the petroleum diesel gallons when blending with biodiesel; and (5) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Shareholders may find more information at https://securitiesclasslaw.com/securities/renewable-energy-group-inc-loss-submission-form/?id=14114&from=1 The Gross Law Firm is committed to ensuring that companies adhere to responsible business practices and engage in good corporate citizenship. The firm seeks recovery on behalf of investors who incurred losses when false and/or misleading statements or the omission of material information by a Company lead to artificial inflation of the Company's stock. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CONTACT: The Gross Law Firm 15 West 38th Street, 12th floor New York, NY, 10018 Email: dg@securitiesclasslaw.com Phone: (212) 537-9430 Fax: (833) 862-7770 SOURCE: The Gross Law Firm View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/637419/The-Gross-Law-Firm-Announces-Class-Actions-on-Behalf-of-Shareholders-of-UAVS-MPLN-and-REGI
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: down || Prices: 49150.54, 49716.19, 49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Winklevoss brothers name State Street as bitcoin ETF administrator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss on Tuesday filed amendments to their proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund, naming State Street as administrator, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Winklevoss brothers, identical twins, had filed their first application for a bitcoin ETF called Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust three years ago.
Investors have shown keen interest in the Winklevoss ETF. If approved by the SEC, this would be the first bitcoin ETF issued by a U.S. entity.
According to the amended filing, State Street will provide the fund administration and accounting services, including calculating the bitcoin trust's net asset value (NAV).
Another major change involved the ETF's custodian, Gemini Trust Company, doing monthly "proof of control" exercises and publishing the reports on the ETF's website.
"Custodian's cold storage system was purpose-built to demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys associated with its public bitcoin addresses," the filing said.
"The sponsor and the custodian have engaged an independent audit firm to verify that the custodian can demonstrate "proof of control" of the private keys that control the Trust's on a monthly basis."
Burr Pilger Mayer, based in San Francisco and known for working with venture-backed digital currency companies, has been named the ETF's auditor, the filing said.
In addition, the SEC filing said Gemini's daily auction price at 4 p.m. EDT will now be used to price the NAV of the ETF. The previous pricing mechanism was the Gemini spot price. Gemini runs a digital currency trading venue.
Since its launch in September, the Gemini auction has transacted more than 19,00 bitcoin on average per business day, which represents more than 16 percent of all U.S.-based bitcoin exchange volume during the 4 p.m. period, Gemini said on Tuesday.
The daily auction along with Gemini's expansion has increased the company's market share to about 9 percent of all U.S. dollar-denominated exchange-traded bitcoin volume.
The ETF would trade under the ticker symbol COIN.
Late on Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $632.88 on the BitStamp platform.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss) || Traders take their position on bank stocks ahead of earnings: The "Fast Money" traders weighed in on the bank stocks ahead of earnings reports from Citigroup(NYSE: C), Wells Fargo(NYSE: WFC)and JPMorgan Chase(NYSE: JPM)before the market open on Friday.
Trader Brian Kelly said he's keeping an eye on the financial sector, but thinks the "banks are a sell here."
Trader Tim Seymour disagreed and said investors should be looking at the banks and find companies with relatively "pristine balance sheets" and "earnings power."
Trader Karen Finerman said she likes the valuation of the banks at current levels.
Disclosures:
TIM SEYMOUR
Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM
KAREN FINERMAN
Karen is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, short DB preferred, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen.
GUY ADAMI
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. || Traders weigh chasing Microsoft rally after stock passes all-time high in late trading: The " Fast Money " traders debated whether it's worth chasing the rally in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) after the company posted an earnings beat driven by continued growth in its cloud business . The stock climbed above its 1999 all-time high of $59.97 in extended trade. Trader Brian Kelly said he would not chase the rally in Microsoft, but would be interested in it on a pullback. "Everything that these guys said is exactly what everybody in this market now wants. There's very few stocks out there that have this type of growth, that have a dividend, that have a strong management team ... so Microsoft is going to attract a lot of investment money," Kelly said. Trader Karen Finerman agreed, but added that Microsoft's current valuation about a 27 price-to-earnings ratio on a trailing basis is much more appetizing than it was 17 years ago. Trader Dan Nathan said that a large portion of Microsoft's revenue still comes from its legacy businesses and that the current valuation is still too rich. He said there's a risk that the growth of the cloud business could slow down. Trader Tim Seymour disagreed, saying that Microsoft could still increase margins and market share. Disclosures: KAREN FINERMAN Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. DAN NATHAN Dan Nathan is TWTR long, PYPL long Oct calls, XHB long Jan put spread, XLU long Dec call Spread, XLK long Jan put spread, XRT long Jan put spread, PG long Dec put spread, EEM long Nov put spread. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, SLV and Silver Futures, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen. TIM SEYMOUR Story continues Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Costco is reaping the benefits of the transition from American Express to Citigroup and Visa: Credit Card Sales (BII) This story was delivered to BI Intelligence " Payments Briefing " subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here . In its recent earnings report, Costco noted that its payment card acceptance transition is progressing strongly. The retailer’s portfolio, which was previously cobranded with American Express, was sold to Citigroup and Visa in June. And though there were some hiccups involved with the transition, Costco noted it’s “past that” and reported strong numbers. The new card is “beating initial expectations” regarding conversion, new sign-ups, and overall use. Most cardholders have transferred their accounts. Of the approximately 11.4 million Amex Costco cards and 7.5 million accounts, nearly 85% of the accounts transferred over have been activated with Costco. That’s about the same amount that were active prior to the transition, which indicates that existing cardholders are receptive to the new card program. And the new card continues to grow, which could be a result of the strong rewards program. Since the shift in June, Costco said that 1.1 million members have applied for the new card and 730,000 accounts have been activated. For context, Citi noted that three-and-a-half weeks in, the new card had added 337,000 new accounts, so the Costco numbers mark somewhat slowing, but still strong, growth. This is a strong interest indicator for the new card specifically, especially because Costco now accepts any Visa-branded card, and it’s likely the majority of Costco customers already have one in their wallet. The card’s strong rewards offerings, which include better cash-back options for Costco purchases and have improved by 40-50% overall, could be driving customers to the product. It’s likely that spending is high. Costco didn’t provide specific spending numbers, only noting that its gross margin year-over-year (YoY) increased. But in Citi’s earnings call, held three weeks into the card transition, the product saw $5.7 billion in purchases made on Citi Costco cards, slightly beating the estimated $5.4 billion spend that would have been seen on the Amex card. Assuming that trend has continued, it’s likely the product is performing strongly. Story continues The strong performance reported by Costco could be a needed boost for Citigroup. The strong performance is good news for Costco, because the retailer’s somewhat slowing sales could have been exacerbated if transition process frustration drove customers away from the retailer. But ongoing usage and volume growth will be most beneficial to Citi, which has already seen modest gains in its North American “credit cards” segment as a result of the acquisition of the Costco portfolio, which accounted for $80 billion in 2015. If Costco continues to be a steady customer acquisition channel and volume source, Citi could further establish separation as the third largest US card issuer in 2016. Costco's growth in this area is just one piece of the larger payments ecosystem, which includes card issuers, merchants, gateways, vendors, and more. Evan Bakker and John Heggestuen, analysts at BI Intelligence , have compiled a detailed report on the payments ecosystem that drills into the industry to explain how a broad range of transactions are processed, including prepaid and store cards, as well as revealing which types of companies are in the best and worst position to capitalize on the latest industry trends. Here are some key takeaways from the report: 2016 will be a watershed year for the payments industry. Payments companies are improving security, expanding their mobile offerings, and building commerce capabilities that will give consumers a more compelling reason to make purchases using digital devices. Payments is an extremely complex industry. To understand the next big digital opportunity lies, it's critical to understand how the traditional credit- and debit-processing chain works and what roles acquirers, processors, issuing banks, card networks, independent sales organizations, gateways, and software and hardware providers play. Alternative technologies could disrupt the processing ecosystem. Devices ranging from refrigerators to smartwatches now feature payment capabilities, which will spur changes in consumer payment behaviors. Likewise, blockchain technology, the protocol that underlies Bitcoin, could one day change how consumer card payments are verified. In full, the report: Uncovers the key themes and trends affecting the payments industry in 2016 and beyond. Gives a detailed description of the stakeholders involved in a payment transaction, along with hardware and software providers. Offers diagrams and infographics explaining how card transactions are processed and which players are involved in each step. Provides charts on our latest forecasts, key company growth, survey results, and more. Analyzes the alternative technologies, including blockchain, which could further disrupt the ecosystem. To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options: Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the payments ecosystem. More From Business Insider THE PAYMENTS INDUSTRY EXPLAINED: The Trends Creating New Winners And Losers In The Card-Processing Ecosystem THE CONNECTED DEVICE PAYMENTS REPORT: Market opportunities, top stakeholders, and new use cases for the next frontier in payments The top 5 fintech predictions for 2016 || Indian bitcoin company raises $1.5 million from U.S., Indian investors: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unocoin, a Bangalore-based bitcoin startup, has raised $1.5 million in funding from a mix of Indian and U.S. investors, the company announced on Thursday. The company, which runs a trading platform to buy, sell, and store bitcoins for Indian customers, said the money raised was the largest for an Indian bitcoin startup. Unocoin, which has 100,000 users and more than 30 employees, has been in operation since December 2013. Unocoin describes itself as the Coinbase of India. San Francisco-based Coinbase is the largest U.S. bitcoin company and runs an exchange and a wallet service, among other businesses. Funding came from Indian entities such as Blume Ventures, Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures along with U.S. investors such as Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, and FundersClub. Digital Currency Group was founded by one of the top U.S. bitcoin investors Barry Silbert, while Boost VC is run by U.S.-based Adam Draper, the son of billionaire entrepreneur Tim Draper. "We needed a separate exchange for India. A few years ago when we wanted to buy bitcoin, there was nothing available in India," Sunny Ray, Unocoin's co-founder and president told Reuters in an interview. "So if you want to buy bitcoin from an international exchange, you will have to do a wire transfer from India to these international exchanges and get your bitcoin and oftentimes it takes three to five days." Unocoin raised about $200,000 in its first financing round. It started from a small hometown called Tumkur, near Bengaluru. Bitcoin, a digital currency, was trading at $604.50 on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) || Traders strategize ahead of Bank of Japan, Fed meetings: The " Fast Money " traders debated how investors should position their portfolios ahead of two major central bank meetings. Trader Brian Kelly said that there is a real chance the Bank of Japan and Federal Reserve will disrupt the recent rally. He said that if the BOJ announces a "massive stimulus program ... the dollar (Intercontinental Exchange US: .DXY) is going to rip." Kelly said, however, if the BOJ does nothing, there will be "a lot of problems all over the place because they need something." Kelly said that he would be long the dollar ahead of the Fed's meeting. He said "the odds of the dollar going lower are very slim at this point in time." Trader Tim Seymour said the BOJ meeting may be more important than the Fed's because it's unlikely the U.S. central bank will announce any major policy changes this week. He said that the real risk is if the BOJ doesn't provide as much stimulus as economists expect, which would cause the yen (Exchange:JPY=) to surge against the dollar. Trader David Seaburg said investors can find opportunities by looking for dislocation. He said that the financials (NYSE Arca: XLF) might sell off and he would be looking to buy the companies he likes the most in that sector if that happens. Seymour said he also likes the financials, which are "historically cheap." Disclosures: BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen. DAN NATHAN Dan Nathan is long TWTR, long PYPL call calendar, long FEZ Nov put spread, long EEM Nov put spread, long XHB Jan put spread, long XLK Jan put spread, XLU Dec call spread TIM SEYMOUR Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, UAL. Story continues DAVID SEABURG Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT. Diamond Offshore: an employee of Cowen and Company, LLC serves on the Board of Directors of Diamond Offshore. EXPE, HZNP, VA Not Approved. || Traders take their position on bank stocks ahead of earnings: The " Fast Money " traders weighed in on the bank stocks ahead of earnings reports from Citigroup (NYSE: C) , Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) before the market open on Friday. Trader Brian Kelly said he's keeping an eye on the financial sector, but thinks the "banks are a sell here." Trader Tim Seymour disagreed and said investors should be looking at the banks and find companies with relatively "pristine balance sheets" and "earnings power." Trader Karen Finerman said she likes the valuation of the banks at current levels. Disclosures: TIM SEYMOUR Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM KAREN FINERMAN Karen is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, short DB preferred, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen. GUY ADAMI Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. || Bitcoin is money, U.S. judge says in case tied to JPMorgan hack: By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin qualifies as money, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and other companies. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss two charges related to his alleged operation of Coin.mx, which prosecutors have called an unlicensed bitcoin exchange. Murgio had argued that bitcoin did not qualify as "funds" under the federal law prohibiting the operation of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. But the judge, like her colleague Jed Rakoff in an unrelated 2014 case, said the virtual currency met that definition. "Bitcoins are funds within the plain meaning of that term," Nathan wrote. "Bitcoins can be accepted as a payment for goods and services or bought directly from an exchange with a bank account. They therefore function as pecuniary resources and are used as a medium of exchange and a means of payment." The decision did not address six other criminal counts that Murgio faces, Nathan wrote. Lawyers for Murgio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors last year charged Murgio over the operation of Coin.mx, and in April charged his father Michael with participating in bribery aimed at supporting it. Authorities have said Coin.mx was owned by Gery Shalon, an Israeli man who, along with two others, was charged with running a sprawling computer hacking and fraud scheme targeting a dozen companies, including JPMorgan, and exposing personal data of more than 100 million people. That alleged scheme generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit through pumping up stock prices, online casinos, money laundering and other illegal activity, prosecutors have said. Shalon has pleaded not guilty, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. He hired new lawyers last month and is seeking permission to replace lawyers who joined the case in June, a Monday court filing showed. The case is U.S. v Murgio et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00769. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio) View comments || Your first trade for Tuesday, September 20: The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Tim Seymour was a buyer of General Motors ( GM ) . David Seaburg was a buyer of Sarepta Therapeutics ( SRPT ) . Brian Kelly was a buyer of Apache ( APA ) . Dan Nathan was a seller of the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE Arca: XHB) . Trader disclosure: On September 19, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY=. Dan Nathan is Long TWTR, long PYPL call calendar, Long FEZ Nov put spread, long EEM Nov put spread, long XHB jan put spread, long XLK Jan put spread, XLU Dec call spread. Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, UAL. David Seaburg: Opinions expressed by David Seaburg are solely his own and do not reflect the views and opinions of Cowen Group, Inc. David Seaburg and Cowen have a financial interest in EDIT. Diamond Offshore: an employee of Cowen and Company, LLC serves on the Board of Directors of Diamond Offshore. EXPE, HZNP, VA – Not Approved. BofA Merrill Lynch's Jessica Reif Cohen: MLPF&S or one of its affiliates has a significant financial interest in the fixed income instruments of the issuer. If this report was issued on or after the 15th day of the month, it reflects a significant financial interest on the last day of the previous month. Reports issued before the 15th day of the month reflect a significant financial interest at the end of the second month preceding the report. MLPF&S or an affiliate was a manager of a public offering of securities of this issuer within the last 12 months. One or more analysts responsible for covering the securities in this report owns stock of the covered issuer. The issuer is or was, within the last 12 months, an investment banking client of MLPF&S and/or one or more of its affiliates. MLPF&S or an affiliate has received compensation for investment banking services from this issuer within the past 12 months. MLPF&S or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from this issuer or an affiliate of the issuer within the next three months. MLPF&S or an affiliate has received compensation from the issuer for non-investment banking services or products within the past 12 months. MLPF&S or one of its affiliates has a significant financial interest in the fixed income instruments of the issuer. If this report was issued on or after the 15th day of the month, it reflects a significant financial interest on the last day of the previous month. Reports issued before the 15th day of the month reflect a significant financial interest at the end of the second month preceding the report. The issuer is or was, within the last 12 months, a non-securities business client of MLPF&S and/or one or more of its affiliates: CMCSA, CBS, FOX. MLPF&S or an affiliate was a manager of a public offering of securities of this issuer within the last 12 months. The issuer is or was, within the last 12 months, an investment banking client of MLPF&S and/or one or more of its affiliates. MLPF&S or an affiliate has received compensation for investment banking services from this issuer within the past 12 months. MLPF&S or an affiliate expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from this issuer or an affiliate of the issuer within the next three months. MLPF&S or one of its affiliates has a significant financial interest in the fixed income instruments of the issuer. If this report was issued on or after the 15th day of the month, it reflects a significant financial interest on the last day of the previous month. Reports issued before the 15th day of the month reflect a significant financial interest at the end of the second month preceding the report. The issuer is or was, within the last 12 months, a non-securities business client of MLPF&S and/or one or more of its affiliates: SIRI || Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin may become a target in the fight against ransomware: David A. Kris CSIS ransomware bitcoin nationa security (David S. Kris speaking at a CSIS panel event in September 2016.CSIS) Many crimes can be solved by following the money, and that may hold true for the growth of ransomware attacks — though the money itself may be different. Countering the increasing use of ransomware — malware that attacks computers and networks and encrypts files, which criminals then demand payment in order to decrypt — may require action against hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies like bitcoin that are often used to pay the criminals behind the attacks, according to David S. Kris, former assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice's national-security division. "I think the way to attack this — and I think the way you’re probably going to see some legal change over the next few years — is on the other end, with respect to the payments," Kris said during the question-and-answer session of a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel event . "And as I understand it — again, without having studied it too extensively — is that, you know, fintech is what is enabling this, cryptocurrency," Kris added. Reports of ransomware use have increased considerably in recent months. "In the last six to 12 months, this has just gone so aggressively to the business environment," Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of cybersecurity company Malwarebytes, told Business Insider in August . "We see companies from 25 people all the way to 250,000 people getting hit with ransomware." Malwarebytes ransomware survey (An Osterman research survey sponsored by Malwarebytes found that 54% of businesses surveyed had come under attack from ransomware in the 12 months through August 2016.Malwarebytes) Tech firm Kaspersky Lab said this summer that the number of victims attacked was growing at an alarming rate — up from 131,000 in 2014-2015 to 718,000 in 2015-2016, according to AFP. Some researchers have seen a 3,500% increase in the web infrastructure needed to run ransomware campaigns. According to Kleczynski, some banks have begun stockpiling bitcoin — which currently trades about about $600 to one — in case of a ransomware attack. "I talked to a couple of banks, and they say they have 50-100 bitcoin ready at all times in a wallet to deploy if a ransomware attack hits," he told Business Insider's James Cook . Story continues A report this summer found that hackers employing ransomware could pull in as much as $7,500 a month . And while individual victims are usually only hit with demands for a few hundred dollars , the likelihood that they will pay has made ransomware an appealing venture for hackers. And financial-services firms and individual people aren't the only potential targets. A NASCAR team admitted to paying hackers after its computers where hit with a ransomware attack. In August, security researchers demonstrated a ransomware attack on a smart thermostat , raising the possibility that Internet of Things devices will come into the crosshairs. Hackers have reportedly stolen $65 million worth of Bitcoins from a major Hong Kong exchange Bitfinex, which has now suspended all transactions (Hackers have reportedly stolen $65 million worth of Bitcoins from a major Hong Kong exchange Bitfinex, which has now suspended all transactions© AFP/File Philippe Lopez) The appeal of ransomware has no doubt been burnished by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin coming into the mainstream. " I personally would not be surprised to see over the next few years increasing regulation that maybe makes it more challenging for these kinds of anonymous, substantially untraceable — I don’t want to say it’s completely untraceable — payments to be made," Kris said during the CSIS event. "I think probably where you’re going to see legal change is in the area of the payment scheme. That may be wrong, but that’s sort of what I expect." However authorities choose to counter the use of ransomware, it's unlikely the threat will go away any time soon. "The extortion model is here to stay," a Kaspersky Lab expert said in a statement about rising ransomware attacks on Android users. NOW WATCH: Mac users are being attacked by malware that locks their computer and demands a $400 ransom — here’s how to protect yourself More From Business Insider Spanish police busted 30 people suspected of using a 'crypto-currency' to launder money One of 'El Chapo' Guzmán's chief money launderers is involved in a strange Hollywood kidnapping plot The ECB is getting rid of drug cartels' favorite currency
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
現在の価格は 60636円(http://blockchain.info )です。前回比は0円(0.00%)です。http://konvert.in/currency/1-bitcoin-to-japanese-yen … #ビットコイン #bitcoin via @konvertin || Mellow Ads: Simple, bitcoin advertising! Claim your free advertising credit now http://mellowads.com/?ref=A6CD99DEBF63 … #bitcoin #advertising via @MellowAds || One Bitcoin now worth $637.73@bitstamp. High $642.00. Low $635.16. Market Cap $10.159 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/5Yry7uvfex || One Bitcoin now worth $634.00@bitstamp. High $638.04. Low $631.52. Market Cap $10.104 Billion #bitcoin || One Bitcoin now worth $626.55@bitstamp. High $630.22. Low $625.00. Market Cap $ 9.986 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/6EPIpTiXcm || 06Oct2016 12:00 UTC #Bitcoin live spots - #XBTUSD @ 613.65950 $ - #XBTEUR @ 550.70000 € || $655.98 #bitstamp;
$663.05 #bitfinex;
$657.07 #itBit;
$660.00 #btce;
$658.09 #GDAX;
$656.49 #OKCoin;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || 現在の価格は 66224円(http://blockchain.info )です。前回比は-2円(-0.00%)です。http://konvert.in/currency/1-bitcoin-to-japanese-yen … #ビットコイン #bitcoin via @konvertin || Decentralized Sports Platform FirstBlood Raises 465,312.00 ETH, Set To Improve eSports http://bit.ly/2drA8IF #bitcoin #BMRTG || Send 1.0 - 4.9 BTC today, get 20.00 - 98.00 BTC in 20 hours,financial brokers bitcoins. http://ow.ly/sjLv304OYJA
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Trend: no change || Prices: 711.52, 703.13, 709.85, 723.27, 715.53, 716.41, 705.05, 702.03, 705.02, 711.62
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2018-10-09]
BTC Price: 6642.64, BTC RSI: 52.50
Gold Price: 1187.20, Gold RSI: 44.06
Oil Price: 74.96, Oil RSI: 64.62
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
1Broker Shut Down, Will More Bitcoin Exchanges be Targeted by US Gov’t?: 1Broker, a Marshall Islands-based securities dealer and bitcoin trading platform, was recently taken down by the US authorities.
The FBI seized the domain of 1Broker, shutting down the platform for allegedly violating money laundering regulations and distributing securities as an unregistered dealer.
The official announcement of the USSecurities and Exchange Commission(SEC)read:
“The SEC alleges that a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, acting in an undercover capacity, successfully purchased several security-based swaps on 1Broker’s platform from the U.S. despite not meeting the discretionary investment thresholds required by the federal securities laws.”
On Oct. 2, the 1Broker team released a statement on social media, stating that the company is working with a U.S. counsel and its legal team to represent 1Broker in the SEC/CFTC case to potentially recover the platform.
“We are currently engaging U.S. counsel who can represent us in the SEC/CFTC case. We expect that this takes a few days. We received the green light from our lawyers to set up a read-only version 1Broker to view balances and transaction history. ETA: 48 hours,” the team said.
Prior to that, on Sept. 27, 1Broker emphasized that it will cooperate with the authorities and with the SEC to partially re-enable the platform to allow withdrawals for its users.
“Statement regarding the SEC allegation: All funds are currently secure and we will fully cooperate with the authorities. If approved by the SEC, we will enable withdrawals for US customers as soon as possible. A more detailed statement will follow.”
Currently, as of Oct. 2, the official domain of 1Broker still displays a statement from the FBI, which seized 1Broker.com after obtaining a warrant from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Jake Chervinsky, a government enforcement defense and securities litigation attorney at Kobre & Kim LLP, explained that an undercover FBI agent initiated a unregistered security-based swap on March 30, 2016.
It took more than two years for the SEC and the FBI to take action and shut down the exchange of 1Broker. Given that most tokens, which are considered as securities under existing laws in the US, were released in the second half of last year, Chervinsky implied that in the months to come, many exchanges and token issuers are likely to be targeted by US authorities.
“The undercover FBI agent who investigated 1broker bought his first unregistered security-based swap on March 30, 2016. The government didn’t take action until two and a half years later. The majority of ICOs (unregistered securities?) were issued in 2H 2017. Buckle up, folks,” hesaid.
Several investors in the cryptocurrency space including Aurelius, a widely recognized crypto trader,statedthat exchanges likeBitMEXcould potentially be targeted by the SEC for offering margin trading around Bitcoin and Ethereum.
As Shamoil T. Shipchandler, Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office said:
“The SEC protects U.S. investors across a variety of platforms, regardless of the type of currency used in their transactions. International companies that transact with U.S. investors cannot circumvent compliance with the federal securities laws by using cryptocurrency.”
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The post1Broker Shut Down, Will More Bitcoin Exchanges be Targeted by US Gov’t?appeared first onCCN. || Ripple Drops 8% as Volume Drops 50% in 1 Week, Bitcoin Remains Bearish: On October 6, CCN reported that the volume of Ripple has declined by more than 50 percent within the past four days. Since then, XRP has declined by around eight percent against the US dollar.
The volume of Bitcoin has slightly recovered to $2 billion on CoinCap.io and $3.3 billion on Coinmarketcap, but the dominant cryptocurrency has not recorded any significant increase in volume and price to suggest that a short-term rally is in play.
Ripple (XRP), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Decentraland (MANA) remain as the worst performing cryptocurrencies on October 7, recording losses in the range of five to seven percent against both the US dollar and Bitcoin.
Yesterday’s report on the cryptocurrency marketby CCN emphasized the low volume of Bitcoin and the inability of the cryptocurrency market to initiate a meaningful increase in valuation in the short-term without a promising recovery by BTC.
“Given the low volume of Bitcoin and the weakening $6,500 support, in the short-term, it is highly likely for BTC to record a minor decline in value based on technical indicators and its price trend since mid-September,” the report read.
Eventually, the volume of Bitcoin dropped to a yearly low across all cryptocurrency exchanges, as technical analyst Edward Morra reported.
The decline in the volume suggests that Bitcoin is more biased to the bears than bulls in the market. With the Relative Strength Index (RSI) of Bitcoin at around 50, BTC is not demonstrating oversold conditions either, which decreases the probability of an upside movement.
Morra said:
“This is the lowest recorded daily volume in more than a year at least (as much as I could squeeze on the chart leaving chart readable) while hovering around the POC of the whole 2018. This is combined volume from various exchanges.”
The decline in the volume of Bitcoin, which occurred in the past 72 hours, portrays the intent of many traders in the cryptocurrency exchange market to simply observe the price trend of major cryptocurrencies and wait for a potential breakout in the higher region of $6,000.
Given that a decline in volume could also demonstrate intensifying seller fatigue and the lack of willingness of bears to continue the sell-off of BTC in a low price range, BTC could initiate an unpredictable short-term rally in the upcoming days as it had done in July.
The 50 percent decline in the volume of Ripple and the lack of momentum of tokens have shown that investors are not willing to take high risk, high return trades in a period of uncertainty.
Ripple has had two productive months in September and October, securing major partnerships with influential financial institutions including Banco Santander.
However, until the daily trading volume of the cryptocurrency exchange market recovers and exchanges begin to see a revival of trading activity, it is highly unlikely for any major cryptocurrency to initiate a short-term rally unless the market starts to demonstrate oversold conditions.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postRipple Drops 8% as Volume Drops 50% in 1 Week, Bitcoin Remains Bearishappeared first onCCN. || Mt Gox Estate Begins Accepting Claims from Bitcoin Creditors: Creditors of infamous bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox may finally get their money back, or at least some of it, anyway.
According to anoticedated Aug. 23 and attributed to Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi, the company has opened anonline claim filing systemso that creditors can begin registering claims on the funds that they lost when the exchange, once the dominant bitcoin trading platform, became insolvent in 2014. Creditors can also fill out claim forms offline and submit them through the mail.
As CCNreported, Mt. Gox went bankrupt after losing an estimated 850,000 BTC — most to hackers, but some to embezzlement — although former CEO Mark Karpeles later found about 200,000 BTC. The theft long remained the largest cryptocurrency exchange hack in history, and though it has since been surpassed by the Coincheck hack in Jan. 2018, it remains the most significant theft in terms of its impact on the industry as a whole.
Had the exchange remained in bankruptcy, creditors would have been compensated in cash at a rate far below bitcoin’s current market price. Meanwhile, Karpeles — who has been charged in Japan for embezzling funds from the exchange and spent nearly a year in prison while awaiting trial — would have likely received the excess funds accrued from the sale of the company’s remaining cryptocurrency assets, a payout that would have been worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
However, a Japanese courtruledin June that Mt. Gox could exit bankruptcy and commence civil rehabilitation proceedings. Moving the company into civil rehabilitation does not guarantee that creditors will be refunded in cryptocurrencies rather than cash, but the structure of this type of civil proceeding is much more flexible, which leaves the door open to a direct bitcoin distribution, depending on what stipulations appear in the court-approved rehabilitation plan.
According to theMtGox Cold Wallet Monitor, the company’s estate is holding 137,891 BTC, worth more than $910 million at the time of writing, as well as an equivalent amount of bitcoin cash, worth $73 million.
Importantly, all creditors must submit claims on their assets, including those who previously submitted claims as part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. The deadline for filing is Oct. 22. The trustee will then submit a list of approved and rejected claims to the court by Jan. 24, 2019.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postMt Gox Estate Begins Accepting Claims from Bitcoin Creditorsappeared first onCCN. || Not only the Turkish Lira – The Indian Rupee Hits All Time Low: This week the Indian Rupee crossed 70 for the first time in its history. India’s currency crossed the psychological level on Monday and traded as high as 70.80 on Wednesday. The Rupee is just one of several emerging market currencies to come under pressure in the wake of the Turkish Lira’s collapse. However, the Rupee may be vulnerable to further weakness regardless of the weakness of the Lira.
The Turkish Lira is now down about 35% since the beginning of the year. The Argentinian Peso has lost close to 37% of its value in 2018 after the country was forced to turn to the IMF in May. Other emerging market currencies losing ground are the Indonesian Rupee, the Philippine Peso, the Brazilian Real and the South African Rand.
However, not all emerging market currencies are losing ground. The Mexican Peso has gained ground in 2018, and most South East Asian and East Asian currencies are holding their value.
Almost all the countries that have seen their currencies come under pressure are those with wide, or widening, current account deficits. In India’s case, analysts have been worried about the deficit for some time, and these fears were confirmed when the commerce ministry announced on Tuesday that it had hit a five year high of $18 billion in July.
The current account deficit is growing due to rising oil prices and a surging USD, and FDI and foreign institutional investment flows are not high enough to offset the widening deficit. The rising oil price alone could see India’s oil import bill growing by $26 billion in 2018 and 2019, and is unfortunately likely to offset any export gains due to the weaker currency.
The central bank has also raised rates twice, in June and August, the first rate hikes in four years. It may hike rates further if the currency continues to weaken, though it will be cautious about doing so if economic growth slows.
India ratings and research have also just lowered its growth forecast for the year to 7.2%, from 7.4% sighting rising inflation due to oil import costs.
Going forward, the most important factors to watch will be the oil price and the strength of the USD. While developments in the domestic economy will play a part, they are likely to be outweighed by these external factors. Some analysts are forecasting the Rupee to reach between 72 and 73.55 by year-end, based on current fundamentals – but these can change rapidly.
If current fears over emerging market currencies ease, the Rupee will probably retrace to an extent. Short term support may come into play at 69.70, and if that doesn’t hold, the breakout level at 69 could be retested. It seems very unlikely that the currency would strengthen below that level without a substantial change in the economic environment. A likely trading range for the remainder of 2018 may be 69.70 to 72.
While the selloff of the Turkish Lira has played its part in the weakness we are seeing in the Rupee, fundamentals are equally to blame. The Rupee is not one of the currencies that is most influenced by emerging market sentiment and domestic factors rather than speculation play more of a role in the price.
Traders should, therefore, pay as much attention to oil prices and domestic developments as they do to sentiment or technical levels.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Renewed Trade Talks, Easing of Contagion Fears Soften Dollar’s Bullish Performance || Cardano Falls 10.37% In Bearish Trade: Investing.com - Cardano was trading at $0.09896 by 19:29 (23:29 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Saturday, down 10.37% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since July 20.
The move downwards pushed Cardano's market cap down to $2.61B, or 1.22% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Cardano's market cap was $23.92B.
Cardano had traded in a range of $0.09544 to $0.11234 in the previous twenty-four hours.
Over the past seven days, Cardano has seen a drop in value, as it lost 11.47%. The volume of Cardano traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $103.06M or 0.74% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.08434 to $0.11417 in the past 7 days.
At its current price, Cardano is still down 92.67% from its all-time high of $1.35 set on January 4.
Bitcoin was last at $6,405.9 on the Investing.com Index, down 2.6% on the day.
Ethereum was trading at $294.59 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 7.03%.
Bitcoin's market cap was last at $110.76B or 51.90% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $30.15B or 14.13% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
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Despite Mining Ban, Mining App Appears on Google Play || Bitcoin – Bitcoin Bucks the Trend Early. Will Institutional Money Help?: Bitcoin bucked the trend across the broader market by ending in the red on Sunday, with a 0.2% fall that partially reversed Saturday’s 0.5% gain. Bitcoin ended the week at $6,500, gaining 3.92% to partially reverse the previous week’s 14.3% slide.
A choppy start to the day saw Saturday’s late in the day reversal continue into the early hours of Sunday, with Bitcoin falling through the day’s first major support level at $6,461.47 and second major support level at $6,410.23 to an intraday low $6,370.2 before recovering back to $6,500 levels.
Through the 2ndhalf of the day, Bitcoin slid through the first major support level at $6,461.47 to an afternoon low $6,413.8 before breaking back through to $6,500 levels by the day’s end.
While the news wires were relatively silent through the weekend, supporting the net gains for Bitcoin and the broader market, focus is beginning to shift to the next phase of the cryptomarket movement, institutional money.
For now, Bitcoin continues to be touted as the primary beneficiary, which looks to be an accurate assessment, with financial institutions recently announcing plans to provide their clients with products to gain Bitcoin exposure, the announcements coming in the wake of Goldman Sachs’ decision to hit pause on launching its Bitcoin desk.
Whether the influx of institutional money will lead to a resurgence of Bitcoin’s dominance remains to be seen, though the reality is that such a limited product offering to an asset class will likely see existing cryptocurrency investors shun altcoins in favour of Bitcoin, drawn by the anticipated inflow of institutional money.
Does that mean that the cryptomarket is still some way off performing based on product offering and success in the real world?
It would certainly seem so. The focus on Bitcoin seems little different to banks offering a single stock such as Alphabet Inc. to their institutional clients in place of a full listing of U.S equities, though with one distinct difference. Bitcoin’s perceived success as an alternative to fiat money is limited at best, with other true cryptocurrencies offering far more competitive transaction speeds and fees that could ultimately topple the likes of PayPal and even Visa. Alphabet Inc. on the other hand is the parent of Google.
Should financial institutions be looking at Bitcoin alone or provide their institutional clients with greater market access, perhaps by assessing the more viable altcoins alongside Bitcoin?
For investors in general and the cryptomarket’s future, a wider offering will ultimately be a must, Bitcoin certainly not representative of the broader market, and that’s even before considering the influence of the Bitcoin whales on price action.
Get Into Cryptocurrency Trading Today
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 0.03% to $6,496.4, with Bitcoin rallying at the start of the day to a morning high $6,543.3 before sliding to a morning low $6,465.1, the early moves seeing Bitcoin leave the day’s major support and resistance levels left untested.
For the day ahead, holding above $6,464 would provide support for another run at $6,500 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $6,557 into play, with $6,500 continuing to be a line in the sand for the bulls and the bears, Bitcoin holding on at the end of the weekend.
Failure to hold above $6,464 through the morning could see Bitcoin pull further back later in the day, with a fall through the morning low $6,465.1 bringing the day’s first major support level at $6,406.6 into play, a visit to sub-$6,400 levels possible should negative news hit the wires.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• DASH Technical Analysis – Eyes Resistance Levels – 17/09/18 || SEC halts trading in two cryptocurrency products, citing market confusion: By Trevor Hunnicutt
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Sunday it was immediately suspending trading in two investment products that track cryptocurrencies, citing confusion in the markets over whether the products are exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The SEC said in a statement that trading in Bitcoin Tracker One and Ether Tracker One would be halted in the United States until at least Sept. 20.
The products promise to track the price of the cryptocurrencies, less fees. They are both listed on a Nasdaq Inc <NDAQ.O> exchange in Stockholm, but trade "over the counter" in transactions that occur off exchanges within the United States.
"It appears ... that there is a lack of current, consistent and accurate information," the SEC said in a notice posted on its website. "Application materials submitted to enable the offer and sale of these financial products in the United States, as well as certain trading websites, characterize them as 'Exchange Traded Funds.'"
The issuer of Bitcoin Tracker One and Ether Tracker One, XBT Provider AB <SE0010296574.ST> and its parent company, did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. Nasdaq declined to comment.
The SEC has taken a strict stance against letting ETFs tracking bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies come to market.
But investment firms have been pushing other types of investments that attempt to make it as easy to trade cryptocurrencies as a regular stock.
Those products are sometimes called ETFs, but that term generally refers to a different and often more stringently regulated product. Some industry experts, including the largest ETF provider BlackRock Inc <BLK.N>, have called for regulators to standardize the terms used to describe ETFs and other kinds of investment products.
Virtual currency, including bitcoin and ether, can be used to move money around the world quickly and with relative anonymity, without the need for a central authority, such as a bank or government. A fund holding the currency could attract more investors and push its price higher.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Peter Cooney and Will Dunham) || Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast – BTC Prices Continue to Crash: The bigger theme of the markets yesterday was not the continued consolidation and correction that we have been seeing in the BTC markets over the last few days but the fact that the ETH prices have fallen hard and are now trading well below the $300 region as of this writing. The ETH market and the prices had been weak for quite sometime now and we had also mentioned the same in many of our forecasts about how the the prices are likely to be under pressure despite the strong fundamentals of the network mainly due to the fact that it has come under increased scrutiny and competition from other blockchain networks.
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Networks like EOS have a functionality and structure quite similar to that of the ETH network and thats why they have been able to openly challenge the market of ETH and this is beginning to eat up the market share of ETH. Also, with loads and loads of ICOs being run on the ETH network and with many of them looking to unwind their positions worth millions of dollars, that has only served to put pressure on the prices even more over the last few weeks. The BTC prices have also corrected below the $6000 region as of this writing and the whole crypto market seems to be under a lot of pressure at this point of time.
There have been no specific fundamentals associated with the fall in the crypto market and in fact, more and more people are talking about the market maturing in due course of time and they are also looking forward to the opportunities that such a maturing market is going to provide to the technologists and the traders as well. So, it is indeed a surprise to see the pressure that the BTC and ETH prices are under though for BTC, the support is nearby at $5800.
Looking ahead to the rest of the day, it would be interesting to see the price action around the support region at $5800 and to see if the region holds the prices for the short term. The bulls need something to give some atleast a bit of momentum going forward and for the battered lot, the first thing that they would like to see is this fall stopping at some point of time.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• EUR/USD Daily Price Forecast – EUR/USD Recovers Yesterday’s Loss Post German Macro Data Update || Abra Supports SEPA Bank Transfers, Enabling Crypto Purchases With Fiat: Abra Supports SEPA Bank Transfers, Enabling Crypto Purchases With Fiat Abra, the all-in-one digital wallet and cryptocurrency exchange, has announced its support for Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) bank accounts. European users can now enable direct wire transfers from European banks to purchase any of Abra’s 28 available cryptocurrencies. Founded in 2014, Abra is working toward providing users with maximum privacy and control. The application is non-custodial, and the wallet’s private keys are never held by anyone other than the actual user. Abra employs no middlemen, ensuring customer funds are never touched, managed or viewed by outside parties. Past and present investors in Abra include American Express Ventures, First Round Capital, Arbor Ventures and RRE Ventures. Bill Barhydt is the founder and CEO of Abra. Speaking with Bitcoin Magazine , he explains, “Abra’s new European bank transfers will be available to people living in 34 countries if they have a SEPA-supported bank account. We get asked all the time by our users in Europe to try and find ways to make investing in cryptocurrencies easier.” Abra wallets were initially funded using wire and bank transfers in the U.S. Customers could also purchase crypto using both credit or debit cards. The platform’s integration of SEPA will give several European Union nations the chance to deposit either national fiat currencies or euros into their Abra wallets to invest in cryptocurrencies. Among the countries now privy to this service are Poland, Romania, Cyprus, Austria, Germany and Italy. Abra’s recent partnership with Coinify — a secure platform for buying and selling bitcoin — is what helps to connect SEPA bank accounts with the Abra app. Once users have deposited funds into their Abra wallets, Coinify transfers the money into BTC based on present exchange rates. Users can then use their bitcoins to purchase any of Abra’s other cryptocurrency offerings. Furthermore, Abra says it is adding three more cryptocurrencies to its trading system: Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT) and Tron (TRX). Abra also allows users to hold and trade bitcoin, ether, ethereum classic, bitcoin cash, dash and dogecoin among others. Barhydt states, “We are constantly looking for new ways to help make investing in cryptocurrency more simple and secure. By adding bank deposit support in Europe, we enable millions of people who are just entering crypto [to] gain exposure to this new asset class. We are also working on adding funding support to more countries across the globe. We have a lot of big plans in the next few months that are aimed at reducing some of the barriers to entry for cryptocurrency investors. In addition to that, we are constantly vetting more cryptocurrencies to add to the app.” This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Ripple (XRP) Price Declines 8% While the Crypto Market Loses $9 Billion: Subsequent to the release of a major partnership with $80 billion banking giant Banco Santander, the price of Ripple (XRP) has declined by more than 8 percent.
In the past 24 hours, the valuation of the cryptocurrency market dropped by around $9 billion, as Bitcoin dropped below the $6,500 mark for the first time in the past seven days, recording a 2 percent decline in value.
Yesterday, on October 2,CCN reportedthat the low volume of Bitcoin is a concern for traders and it could negatively impact the short-term trend of Bitcoin.
“The volume of Bitcoin remains fairly low at around $4 billion, down more than 30 percent since mid-September. On Coincap, the cryptocurrency market data provider of popular digital asset trading platform ShapeShift, which eliminates exchanges suspected of having false volumes, the daily trading volume of Bitcoin is estimated to be around $2.6 billion,” the report of CCN read.
It would have been possible for the dominant cryptocurrency to engage in a short-term upside movement if its volume had rebounded by around 15 to 20 percent. But, throughout the past 24 hours, the daily trading volume of Bitcoin remained at $4 billion on CoinMarketCap and $2.77 billion on Coincap.io.
The volume of Bitcoin recorded a slight gain of around 1 percent, which had no notable effect on the short-term trend of the crypto market.
The sudden drop in the price of XRP after Swell 2018 conference also contributed to the downtrend of major cryptocurrencies.
In the crypto market, most digital assets tend to experience a pump prior to the release or materialization of a major announcement like a product release or a mainnet launch, and then fall by a large margin subsequent to the announcement.
As such, some investors expected the price of XRP to fall after the major announcement of Ripple Labs was released, but given the significance of RippleNet integration by Banco Santander and its OnePay FX mobile application, investors expected the momentum of XRP to continue.
The decline in the momentum of XRP and most major cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Stellar (XLM) will likely prevent the market from initiating a major short-term rally in the next 24 to 48 hours.
At this phase in the market, it is important for cryptocurrencies to demonstrate a gradual increase in volume to initiate a corrective rally in the days to come.
According to Bobby Cho, the global head of trading at Cumberland, a Chicago-based cryptocurrency trading unit of DRW Holdings LLC, the over-the-counter (OTC) market of Bitcoin has been quite active amongst high-net-worth individuals and institutions, which may have led Bitcoin to stabilize at a low price range.
“One of the biggest criticisms of crypto by institutional investors has been the volatility. Over the last four to six months, the market has been trading in a very tight range, and that’s seems to be corresponding with traditional financial institutions becoming more comfortable diving into the space,” Chosaid.
If the demand for BTC continues to increase in the OTC market, it is possible that in the weeks to come, BTC experience recovery in its momentum and volume.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postRipple (XRP) Price Declines 8% While the Crypto Market Loses $9 Billionappeared first onCCN.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は714,775.1111円です。値段の取得日時はAug 20, 2018 07:59:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || 現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は761,961.2122円です。値段の取得日時はAug 30, 2018 13:59:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || これからの時代は副収入が絶対に必要になります。その人に合った副業、お金の稼ぎ方を無料でお教えします。興味のある方はフォロー・DMお待ちしております。#Bitcoin #副収入 #副業 #お金 #稼ぎたい #稼ぐ || #cryptocurrency Price Analysis for #Bitsend #BSD :
Last Hour Change : -0.13 % || 17-08-2018 16:00
Price in #USD : 0.1206291181 || Price in #EUR : 0.1056840148
New Price in #Bitcoin #BTC : 0.00001860 || #Coin Rank 646 || USD: 113.860
EUR: 131.060
GBP: 149.282
AUD: 80.362
NZD: 73.314
CNY: 16.502
CHF: 114.836
BTC: 745,628
ETH: 25,400
Mon Oct 08 14:00 JST || Reply to this tweet with "ifb" and
follow everyone who likes your tweet/
#Decorartehogar || #Bitcoin what will be the future https://youtu.be/RtEahnSJPMs via #YouTube || #BTCUSD Market #1H timeframe on August 15 at 15:00 (UTC) is #Bullish. #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #btc #crypto #trading #idea #report technical analysis || Aug 18, 2018 12:00:00 UTC | 6,505.80$ | 5,681.70€ | 5,101.80£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/9cTAdtoWQv || September 01, 2018 08:00 AM EDT
Last 4 hours, BTC 0.19% ETH -0.07% LTC 0.5% XRP -0.03% BCH 1.53%
#cryptofinance #cryptocurrencies #BTC #ETH #LTC #XRP #BCH
|
Trend: down || Prices: 6585.53, 6256.24, 6274.58, 6285.99, 6290.93, 6596.54, 6596.11, 6544.43, 6476.71, 6465.41
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-07-14]
BTC Price: 9243.21, BTC RSI: 48.59
Gold Price: 1810.60, Gold RSI: 64.32
Oil Price: 40.29, Oil RSI: 58.64
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Is More Than an Inflation Hedge: While fears of a “great monetary inflation” have driven the recent bitcoin narrative, other aspects like censorship resistance and peaceful protest matter just as much.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byBitstampandCiphertrace.
• Why bitcoin sold off
• A bank-the-unbanked narrative for the digital dollar
• It’s Dave Portnoy’s world and we’re all just living in it
Related:Bitcoin Is More Than an Inflation Hedge
When bitcoin’s halving coincided with the most aggressive central bank policy of all time, it set a clear narrative framework forbitcoinas an inflationary hedge. This was captured by people like legendary hedge fund investor Paul Tudor Jones, who warned of a “great monetary inflation.”
See also:Why the Fed Keeps Denying Its Role in Increasing Inequality
In this episode, NLW argues 1) that inflation could be a dangerous narrative to focus on too closely due to a number of countervailing deflationary forces, and 2) there are a variety of other narratives that are just as important to bitcoin, including:
• Censorship resistance
• Seizure-resistant asset
• Currency controls and reshoring
• Nations looking to escape USD system
• Independent banking
• Peaceful protest
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• The Chad Index Versus Doomer Internet Money: The Breakdown Weekly Recap
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• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 12, 2020 || The Federal Reserve’s Declining Balance Sheet Is Bearish for Bitcoin. Or Is It?: The U.S. Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is contracting, but despite popular opinion that’s not necessarily bad news for bitcoin. The central bank’s balance sheet declined by $88 billion to $6.97 trillion (-1.5%) in the week ending July 8, having hit a record high of $7.16 trillion in early June, according to the data source Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . The decline is the largest in 11 years. The drop is a sign of the Fed starting to unwind the liquidity-boosting measures rolled out over the past four months to counter the economic effects of the coronavirus crisis. Some have anticipated a pullback in bitcoin prices as a result. Related: Market Wrap: Traders Buy the Dip and Bitcoin Holds at $9,200 That’s because the leading cryptocurrency by market value has recently developed a relatively strong positive correlation with the S&P 500. And Wall Street’s equity index has rallied by over 40% since a slump in March, largely on the back of Fed’s balance sheet expansion. Also read: Bitcoin’s Price Correlation With S&P 500 Hits Record Highs As such, a contracting balance sheet could portend a pullback in stocks, and perhaps bitcoin. However, zooming into the details of the Fed’s balance sheet reveals the reduction has been primarily driven by a drop in demand for emergency liquidity measures, a sign the coronavirus-induced stress in the financial system has eased. Related: Bitcoin App Bottlepay Is Back From the Dead With a New Lightning App “Less emergency funding being used is a healthy sign,” said Richard Rosenblum, co-founder of GSR. “Markets might not be able to stand completely on their own two feet, but they are at least a bit further from code red emergency mode.” Goldilocks scenario? Notably, dollar swap lines – reciprocal agreements between central banks to keep currency available for their commercial banks – have fallen by over $40 billion, as noted by Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy. Story continues The Fed opened dollar swap lines with other central banks after the coronavirus crash caused a dollar shortage in the international markets. Therefore, the latest decline in the dollar swap lines could be considered good news. Meanwhile, the balance of outstanding repurchase agreements, or repos, slipped to zero from $61.2 billion seen in the week ended July 1. Repos are a source of short-term funding for commercial banks. The Fed began injecting liquidity in the repo market in mid-September 2019 and ramped up the effort following the market crisis in March. As such, the decline in repos to zero indicates that the coronavirus-induced stress in the funding markets has eased significantly. However, the Fed is still injecting liquidity into the U.S. economy via purchases of U.S. treasuries at a faster pace. The central bank accumulated treasuries worth $18 billion during the past week, pushing the overall bond holdings to a new high of $4.23 trillion. All in all, the Fed’s balance sheet contraction and drop in repos and swap lines appear indicative of a Goldilocks scenario for equities, given the ongoing crisis at least, and seems unlikely to pose a threat to bitcoin’s price. The cryptocurrency would still face stronger selling pressure if stocks once more collapse on adverse coronavirus news. But the market is still showing resilience with a measured drop, even though U.S. registered 65,551 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new daily record, according to John Hopkins University. At press time, futures tied to the S&P 500 are reporting a 0.33% decline, while bitcoin is changing hands near $9,170, having faced rejection above $9,400 on Thursday. Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing. Related Stories The Federal Reserve’s Declining Balance Sheet Is Bearish for Bitcoin. Or Is It? The Federal Reserve’s Declining Balance Sheet Is Bearish for Bitcoin. Or Is It? || Blockchain Startup Kirobo Solves Crypto's Irreversible Transaction Problem: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 /Kirobo has discovered a way to retrieve cryptocurrency that has been sent to the wrong address. The solution developed by the Israeli startup could prevent the loss of funds caused by human error when sending digital assets. This mistake is common, since wallet addresses are represented by a string of random alphanumeric characters. Onesurveyfound 55% of respondents to have experienced stressful human errors when sending cryptocurrency and 18%(!) reported loss of funds due to such errors. This serves to deter broader crypto adoption by non-technical users.
Kirobo's solution forms part of a logic layer that gives users and crypto-service providers new capabilities. This includes the ability to cancel a transaction sent to the wrong address.
Kirobo provides a unique code to every transaction that must be entered by the recipient in order to receive the transfer. Until the right code has been provided by the recipient, the sender can retrieve the funds at any time. The functionality to retrieve transactions made by mistake might sound trivial to people using the traditional banking system, but crypto transactions have lacked this ability until now
Kirobo's Retrievable Transfer feature is now available on Ledger for Bitcoin transactions, and integrations with additional wallets are set to roll out over the coming months. The startup is actively seeking to cooperate with wallet providers and exchanges who wish to provide this built-in function to their customers.
"Our aim is to make blockchain transactions as simple and as secure as online banking," said Asaf Naim, CEO of Kirobo. "By removing the fear from crypto transactions, Kirobo will facilitate the adoption of cryptocurrency as a whole," added Adam Levi Ph.D, CTO atDAOstackand an advisor to Kirobo.
Kirobo does not hold the user's private key and has no access whatsoever to the funds or their destination: the password simply governs whether the transfer is finalized or not. Senders can retrieve funds even if Kirobo's servers are down. The platform has been successfully audited by elite cyber intelligence company Scorpiones Group and is supported by the Israel Innovation Authority.
Retrievable Transfer is free for all transactions for a limited time, whereafter it will remain free for amounts up to $1,000 USD.
With millions of cryptocurrency transactions conducted per day, the potential for loss of funds is huge. Kirobo can eliminate this risk and help participating wallets and exchanges gain a significant competitive advantage. Interested parties can emailinfo@kirobo.iofor more information. To try out Kirobo's web wallet for safe digital asset transfer visithttps://safer.kirobo.me/welcomeAbout Kirobo
Kirobo is a two-year-old Israeli startup supported by the Israel Innovation Authority and funded by several prominent Israeli blockchain figures. Retrievable Transfer is the first product released by Kirobo and is a part of a larger mission: to add a logic layer into blockchains that protects users from human error.
Media Contact:
Kim BazakKim@MarketAcross.com
SOURCE:Kirobo
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595773/Blockchain-Startup-Kirobo-Solves-Cryptos-Irreversible-Transaction-Problem || BitPay Launches Prepaid Crypto Mastercard for US Customers: Look below at the map of public nodes on Bitcoins Lighting Network. Europe and the U.S. are filled with them. The rest of the world is an ocean of blankness with a few scattered islands. Africa appears to have eight nodes total. From this map, entrepreneur and IT guru Chimezie Chuta inferred that he is the only person in Nigeria known to be running a Lightning node. A crucial caveat is that many users might be running nodes without exposing them to the world. But, all told, Lightning activity looks sparse on the planets second-largest and second-most populous continent. Chuta wants to change this. Like many Bitcoiners, he believes running a network node is one of the best ways to become truly financially independent. A Lightning node in particular, while experimental and maybe risky to use, allows Africans to earn a little cash by way of fees for relaying money across the network, he said. To that end, BlockSpace Technologies Africa Inc., Chutas company, has released a kit for a Bitcoin and Lightning node, including all the hardware pieces for assembly, called SpaceBox, in the hopes of expanding the technologys use across the continent. See also: This Bitcoin Documentary From Africa Is Streaming on Amazon Prime I think this will help many people living in low-income regions of the world to become part of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Beyond trading and speculation, Africa seems to have zero representation, Chuta said. Related: One Mans Mission to Deploy Solar-Powered Bitcoin Nodes Across Africa Many Africans dont have access to financial services like traditional bank accounts. In 2015, the World Bank estimated that 350 million people living in Sub-Saharan Africa were unbanked. In theory, running the pair of nodes could connect Africans to a more modern financial system and do so in a way that gives them greater visibility and control over their funds than relying on third parties. Story continues The SpaceBox sells for 210,000 naira, the Nigerian currency, worth roughly $541. The main component of the kit is a tiny hobbyist computer called the Raspberry Pi running the open-source Raspblitz software for Lightning nodes. It also has a solar panel component, since many Africans lack electricity. Our goal is to raise an army of full Bitcoin Lightning node operators to dot every nook and cranny of the continent in the next one year, Chuta said. We plan to sell and deploy at least 250 of these nodes
in the next six months. So far, over the last month BlockSpace has received seven orders, one from British Columbia, five from Nigeria, and one from Ghana. Financial sovereignty Some readers may feel deja vu. Half a decade ago, Africa was touted as fertile ground for cryptocurrency adoption. Back then, cheaper remittances were supposedly the killer app. Compliance costs , along with bitcoins scaling challenges , complicated that narrative. While some people, including in Nigeria , indeed use bitcoin for remittances today, it hardly put a dent in Western Union. Chutas pitch is different, emphasizing the autonomy that comes with running a full Bitcoin node, and the income from a Lightning one. Its a way to earn and safeguard money, not just zap it to someone else. Operating a Bitcoin full node basically means running the underlying infrastructure for the worlds largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Unlike mining, which requires significant investment in specialized chips, electricity and cooling, anyone can run a node on a laptop with enough space. At least 10,000 people are running nodes today a conservative estimate since not all nodes show the world they are running. See also: Why Binance and Akon Are Betting on Africa for Crypto Adoption While theres no direct financial reward for running a Bitcoin node, it has an advantage over both custodial services (where a third party holds the private keys ) and simplified payment verification wallets (which verify only their own transactions). A full node self-validates by retrieving every transaction recorded on the blockchain. With this information and the node rules downloaded, users can verify firsthand that transactions follow the network rules. As the ultimate bullshit detector, it can tell if youre getting false data. Being financially sovereign has become a necessity and Bitcoin offers the primary tool to attain that, Chuta said. SpaceBoxs Lightning node component is built on top of the Bitcoin node. Lightning attempts to solve one of Bitcoins biggest problems: increasing scalability so more people can use the network at once. If successful, it might become the main method of making everyday payments in the cryptocurrency and generate revenue for those running nodes. Although operating a full Bitcoin Lightning node is more like a hobbyist engagement, some people are already making some money by positioning their nodes as [a] Lightning payment routing channel, Chuta said. Solar-powered There are several options for building Lightning nodes, such as RaspiBlitz, or just purchasing them already put together from vendors like myNode. Most node makers assume that users will have a stable electric source to plug into, which isnt a safe assumption in Sub-Saharan Africa where, according to The World Bank , more than one half of the population lacks electricity. With regards to infrastructure, Nigeria (and a number of other African countries) have very poor electricity supply so keeping a full node running is very difficult, Bitcoin Core contributor Tim Akinbo told CoinDesk. Hence the solar panel that comes with the SpaceBox kit. This lack of regular electricity has denied most bitcoin enthusiasts in the continent the opportunity to participate in the global bitcoin multi-billion dollar industry as miners or routing node operators, Chuta said. By integrating [an] affordable solar power kit into bitcoin node operation, we expect that many more people across the world, especially Africans, can participate. See also: Money Reimagined: The Ongoing Crisis Is Stirring a Crypto Awakening in Developing Nations Beyond electricity, Akinbo notes there are other costs to running a full node. They require a lot of storage space, for instance. Its just untenable for most Africans at the moment, Akinbo said, arguing that only wealthy bitcoins in Africa could afford a node. But in Chutas vision, not everyone will necessarily run a node themselves. Perhaps there will be specialists that learn to run them, he said, who then pass the benefits on to their local community. The main point of this project
is to educate and train capable node operators across Africa, who then can help their small communities maintain friends and family node in order to secure a healthy financial future for them, Chuta said. He hopes orders will snowball after the coronavirus fades, since the pandemic has hurt BlockSpaces hardware suppliers. As soon as COVID-19 issues settle, we will launch a full campaign that will make a significant impact based on our vision, Chuta said. Related Stories CME Bitcoin Options Market Grew 10x in the Past Month Inactive Bitcoin Supply Reaches 4-Year High, Pointing to Bullish Sentiment || Singapore Begins Crackdown on Unlicensed Bitcoin Sellers: Singapore authorities charged a 23-year-old woman with breaking the city-state’s ban on unlicensed bitcoin sales on Wednesday.
The woman allegedly bought S$3,350 (about $2,400) in bitcoin in late February 2020 using funds the police say came from the proceeds of an online scam. The Straits Timesidentified the womanas a Singaporean national named “Lange Vivian” and stated Lange was associated with a loan shark named “Boss.”
The charges appear to be the first instance of Singapore enforcing its updated digital currency regulations. Under thePayment Services Act of 2019, all so-called “Digital Payment Token” (DPT) service providers must receive licensure from the state. The Monetary Authority of Singaporeintroduced the lawin late January.
Related:Bitcoin Still on Track for Quarterly Gains After Drop Toward $9K
Read more:Singapore Won’t Tax Airdrops or Hard Forks Under New Crypto Guidance
Singaporean Police said Lange did not have a license nor was she exempt from having one. They did not give details of the alleged crime beyond claiming that Lange committed it “on the instruction of an unknown person in return for a commission.”
Lange faces a maximum penalty of S$125,000 (roughly $88,000) in fines and three years’ imprisonment for violating the Payment Services Act, according to apress releasefrom the Singapore Police.
Lange faces additional though apparently unrelated charges for acting on behalf of a loan shark, according to the Straits Times, which pointed out that those charges come with a caning penalty for men.
• Singapore Begins Crackdown on Unlicensed Bitcoin Sellers
• Singapore Begins Crackdown on Unlicensed Bitcoin Sellers
• Singapore Begins Crackdown on Unlicensed Bitcoin Sellers || Bitwage Rolls Out Bitcoin 401(k) Plan With Help From Gemini: Employers struggling to meet the conditions set by the U.S. government’s loan program may find salvation in an unlikely place: a new bitcoin 401(k) plan from Bitwage.
Calling the product a world first, the crypto payroll company said Tuesday it had successfully trialed itsbitcoin401(k) employee pension account and would start offering the plan to companies – especially those trying to meet the 75% payroll requirement in the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The PPP has proven to be a lifeline for U.S. businesses struggling in the coronavirus pandemic. A total of $660 billion has been lent out nationwide by the Small Business Administration (SBA). To incentivize staff retention, the program offers 100% loan forgiveness if employers spend at least 75% of funds received on payroll expenses.
Related:Blockchain Can Help UK Savers Recover $48B in Unclaimed Pensions, Says R3
Crucially, the SBA includes things such as retirement benefits in the bucket of payroll expenses, says Bitwage. It adds that devoting some of the loans into 401(k) plans can count towards hitting the crucial 75% target.
“This gives companies an opportunity to provide matching or profit sharing contributions to employee 401k accounts in order to help close the gap to receive full loan forgiveness,” Bitwage said in a press release. “Together with the PPP program, the Bitwage Bitcoin 401(k) Plan allows employers to get more out of their PPP loans, while providing their employees new and innovative investment options.”
See also:Blockchain Can Help UK Savers Recover $48B in Unclaimed Pensions, Says R3
Based in San Francisco, Bitwage wants to integrate cryptocurrencies into everyday life. Company clients can use Bitwage to offer their employees the option to have theirwages paid in crypto. Although its primary focus remains on the U.S. it has set its sights on a more global clientele,offering fiat supportin more than eighteen different currencies.
Related:Bitcoin IRA Is Letting Customers Lend Out Their Crypto Retirement Funds
The Bitcoin 401(k) plan is a collaboration with three other firms: crypto exchange Gemini, the custodian service Kingdom Trust, as well as the established pension provider, Leading Retirement Solutions, who keep records for the 401(k) plan with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“Our vision includes integrating a cryptocurrency trading engine directly inside of the 401(k) Plan so institutional as well as retail investors have access to the same exchange-grade trading tools inside of tax-incentivized retirement accounts,” Bitwage said.
Although Bitwage’s plan is geared toward employers interested in offering bitcoin, employees can also choose to gain exposure to traditional asset classes too, including equities and bonds, via its link-up with Leading Retirement Solutions.
• Custody Provider Legacy Trust Launches Crypto Pension Plan
• UK’s Pensions and Welfare Department Eyes DLT for Faster Payments || Argo’s Mining Revenue Dips After Bitcoin’s Halving: Bitcoin(BTC) was trading around $9,575 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining less than a percent over the previous 24 hours.
After Tuesday’srapid 8% drop in less than five minuteson high sell volume, bitcoin’s prices have steadied. At 00:00 UTC on Wednesday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was changing hands around $9,528 on spot exchanges like Coinbase. Ten hours later, it staged a small run-up to $9,650 yet low trading volumes dashed any hopes of a substantial rally. Bitcoin is below its 50-day moving averages, signaling a technical sideways bearish sentiment.
After an exciting start to a week where bitcoin surged quickly then dropped, traders certainly have strong opinions on recent market activity
Read More:Traders ‘Whack the Beehive’ as Bitcoin Surges Then Plunges
Rupert Douglas, head of institutional sales at brokerage Koine, believes that the movement’s intention was to wipe out some traders in the derivatives market. “My take is that this sharp rejection is a shakeout of the weak longs,” said Douglas.
After the cryptocurrency excitement over the past few days, stock markets across the globe are taking center stage, as all major indices are doing well.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed its day up 1.6%,led by increased demand in the automotive sector within Asia. The FTSE Eurotop 100 index of the largest stocks by market capitalization ended trading in the green 2.6%as the Eurozone eases lockdowns.
Related:Market Wrap: A Bitcoin Lull as Stocks Signal Economic Optimism
In the United States, the S&P 500 index was 1.3%, up over 2% so far in June on optimismas businesses begin to reopen amid a global pandemic.
“Equities are approaching levels that I think we will see at least a pullback from and I expect that weakness in equities will see strength in bitcoin,” said Koine’s Douglas.
Such a situation would only make bitcoin’s recent performance look even better comparatively. Although not exactly a smooth ride, since the start of May, bitcoin is up over 14%, outperforming all the major stock indices. Only the Nikkei 225 is exceeding 10% in the green during the same time, according to data compiled by CoinDesk Research.
Read More:ECB Stimulus May Offer Hope After Bitcoin Fails (Again) to Break $10K
A quiet day for bitcoin might just be the platform for another price breakout, said Henrik Kugelberg, an over-the-counter cryptocurrency trader based in Sweden.“I have had massive signals of an imminent surge in bitcoin the last couple of days”.
Deal flow seems to be skewed towards traders hitting up desks for more crypto during the bitcoin lull Wednesday, Kugelberg told CoinDesk. “Many are buying, and sellers are much more scarce now,” he said.
Read More:Miners Are Selling More of Their Bitcoin. That May Actually Be Bullish
“My network is split,” said Mostafa Al-Mashita, an executive at digital asset liquidity provider Secure Digital Markets. “Some people are calling for $7,000 bitcoin and others are bullish for $11,000.”
Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are in the green Wednesday. The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, climbed 2% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT).
Read More:Hard Fork is Ethereum Classic’s Second Major Departure From Ethereum
Cryptocurrency winners on the day includecardano(ADA) in the green 8%,nem(XEM) climbing 6.7% andiota(IOTA) up 6%. The lone loser Wednesday isbitcoin SV(BSV), down 2%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT).
Read More:Numerai Raises $3M in Another NMR Token Sale
In commodities, gold is in the red, with the yellow metal losing 1.5% and closing at $1,697 at the end of New York trading.
Oil is flat on the day, slipping less than a percent as a barrel of crude is priced at $36.74 as of press time.
U.S. Treasury bonds climbed Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 2-year, in the green 11%.
• Market Wrap: Traders ‘Whack the Beehive’ as Bitcoin Surges Then Plunges
• Bitcoin’s Price Drops by 8% in Less Than 5 Minutes || AML Bitcoin Founder Claims DC Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, US Government Are ‘Extorting’ Him: The founder of the AML Bitcoin project claims the U.S. government is “extorting” him after he was indicted on money laundering and wire fraud charges. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed lawsuits against Rowland Marcus Andrade on Thursday, claiming he misled investors while raising funds for a 2017 and 2018 initial coin offering (ICO) for AML Bitcoin, a crypto token that was supposed to be designed to be compliant with anti-money-laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations. Alongside Andrade, notorious D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff was also indicted, though he has already pled guilty and faces potential jail time, according to Bloomberg . Related: Mapping the Future of the SEC (There's a Nonzero Chance Hester Peirce Takes Over) In a video interview Thursday night, Andrade told CoinDesk the charges were bogus and that he is a “victim of government corruption.” “Abramoff was working with the government and tried to get me to sell my company for $100 Million,” Andrade wrote in a direct message from the @ AMLBitcoin Twitter handle. “Then they demanded that I pay Abramoff $40M dollars so he could spread the wealth,” he wrote. “If I had no technology that is completed right now and trading, then why were they trying to force me to sell it? This is just an attempt by the government to destroy my company since I refused to play ball.” Read more: D OJ Indicts Founder of Anti-Money Laundering Bitcoin Project for Money Laundering The project went live earlier this year, he said, pointing to LBank Exchange , which appears to be trading the asset . Andrade further claimed the U.S. government is trying to create its own cryptocurrency based on the AML Bitcoin project, pointing to his legal filings for evidence. Related: Sovrin Foundation Sheds All Paid Staff in Tale of a Token Issuance Gone Wrong “The U.S. government is now trying to create there [sic] own compliant digital currency based off my technology and they clearly see me as a threat,” he said. (While there are private efforts currently underway to create a U.S. central bank digital currency, i.e. a digital dollar, the government itself has yet to publicly advocate for a tokenized version of the greenback.) $5.6M raised The SEC claimed Andrade raised $5.6 million from 2,400 investors, falling well short of the $100 million he originally tried to raise. About $1 million of this came from a single investor, identified by the DOJ as “Victim One.” In a court filing related to a separate but ongoing case, Andrade claims the U.S. government manufactured the victim. Story continues “It was the government who contacted ‘Victim One’ and suggested to him that he had been defrauded,” the filing said. CoinDesk spoke with Victim One on Thursday. The money manager confirmed he was informed of the allegations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but said he “was a victim of fraud.” A friend introduced him to the project and his employer was not involved, Victim One told CoinDesk, requesting anonymity due to concerns about professional blowback. He also confirmed he was unaware of the fraud allegations against AML Bitcoin until the FBI called him. Victim One indicated he might pursue civil charges against Andrade at some future point. ‘Victim of corruption’ For his part, Andrade was defiant. “The SEC and the DOJ have the evidence already that proves my innocence. That is why in various filings I had no choice but to make the documents public,” Andrade wrote in one of many DMs, referring to a separate, ongoing case . “This was aggravating the DOJ because I was ripping there [sic] case apart. I am the victim of government corruption and we will fight this.” He told CoinDesk he had reached out to the SEC’s FinHub division , the regulator’s fintech division that acts as a point of contact for startups, to confirm his token was not a security. He said the regulator did not respond. “I did not care [if] they said we were a security because I was willing to make any changes the SEC required,” he said. “Instead of helping, they took my documents and came after me.” Read more: FBI Used Bitcoin Trail to Catch Russian Rapper Accused of Money Laundering According to the March DOJ filing , U.S. officials had previously filed to seize “one parcel of real property” owned at least in part by Andrade and his wife. Andrade also claims he was “the victim of corruption” in a response to that complaint , and laid out an elaborate, conspiratorial interpretation of events involving Abramoff, former U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Jared Kushner (U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law). The filing alleged federal investigators are attempting to force Andrade to target “bigger political based targets,” including Abramoff and Rohrabacher, in an effort to somehow influence the 2020 presidential election. Related Stories AML Bitcoin Founder Claims DC Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, US Government Are ‘Extorting’ Him AML Bitcoin Founder Claims DC Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, US Government Are ‘Extorting’ Him View comments || Many Bitcoin Developers Are Choosing to Use Pseudonyms – For Good Reason: “Here lies thehugeirony in this discussion. Persistent pseudonyms aren’t ways to hide who you are. They provide a way to be who you are. You can finally talk about what you really believe; your real politics, your real problems, your real sexuality, your real family, your real self.”— EngineerKee Hinckley
Fiatjaf is a pseudonymous Bitcoin developer in the Lightning community where he contributes to LNURL. He’s also working on Etleneum, his “centralized Ethereum” app that uses the Lightning Network for faster and more scalablebitcoinpayments. Like many other bitcoin users, Fiatjaf doesn’t want to expose his real name to the whole world. He worries his bitcoin software projects could make him and his family a target for criminals.
As a resident of Brazil, where the crime rate isunusually high, Fiatjaf is particularly concerned for his safety. “I think in Brazil criminals are greater than in other places,” he said.
Related:Facebook, IoTeX, R3 Among New Members of Confidential Computing Consortium
He also worries that if the price of bitcoin skyrockets, or “goes to the moon,” he could be painting a target on his back as a public figure in the Bitcoin space.
“Local criminals might want to take my bitcoin. They’d see my name and think, ‘Oh this guy is a local guy, not using any special precautions. He may be very rich because he’s using bitcoins.'” he said.
Though Fiatjaf doesn’t want to overreact to his safety concerns, he sees the threat of criminal activity in Brazil as enough of a potential peril to adopt a pseudonym as he carries out his work as a bitcoin developer.
Fiatjaf is part of a larger trend that isn’t openly talked about much. He’s one of dozens of developers working in the Bitcoin sphere choosing to conceal their real names.
Related:Summer 2020 Is Funding Season for Open-Source Bitcoin Development
This widespread pseudonymity makes sense seeing as Bitcoin’s culture puts so much emphasis on privacy.
The great mystery of Bitcoin is no one knows the real identity of its creator, who went by the monikerSatoshi Nakamoto. He, she or they released the Bitcoin software in 2010, posted on the Bitcoin forums regularly until 2011 and then disappeared.
Nakamoto’s pseudonym set the tone for other Bitcoin developers to use fake names.
Also, privacy is a prevalent theme in Bitcoinland. The digital currency was born out of thecypherpunk movement, in which a loose worldwide group of cryptographers have promoted digital privacy and security technologies since the 1990s in hopes of bringing about positive social change.
Read more:Why CoinDesk Respects Pseudonymity: A Stand Against Doxxing
“Being able to minimize what other people know about you is literally the theme of the first paragraph of the Bitcoin white paper,” pseudonymous bitcoin researcher 0xB10C noted.
To try to meet that very goal, many bitcoin developers have devoted their research to improving Bitcoin’s privacy.
“Privacy should be a basic human right. As I am, in fact, a basic human of indeterminate detail, I would like to exercise that right,” said pseudonymous Lightning developer ZmnSCPxj, who receives funding fromSquare Cryptoto work on Bitcoin development. On hiswebsite, ZmnSCPxj describes himself as a “randomly-generated Internet person.”
ZmnSCPxj is one of the most frequent posters to the Lightning mailing list, making several proposals (often related to improving privacy) and responding to others’ posts with criticism and other feedback.
Similar to Fiatjaf, many developers choose to use pseudonyms out of an abundance of caution.
Samourai Wallet, founded in 2015, allows users to make more private bitcoin transactions. The two co-founders of the wallet chose pseudonyms when they launched the wallet partly for “personal protection” reasons.
“What we’re doing is going to offend *someone*,” SW told CoinDesk. “That could be from competitors or angry people online who feel that we’re a threat, to — whoever.”
Other developers worry that governments won’t like what they’re up to, fearing persecution or retribution for their involvement in an independent monetary system that challenges the status quo. While many governments have welcomed Bitcoin and blockchain technology as innovations,othershave taken a critical view of the new technology.
Being able to minimize what other people know about you is literally the theme of the first paragraph of the Bitcoin white paper.
“There is always a possibility of Bitcoin becoming unpopular with some government, thus it is always safer to simply avoid possible conflicts with local governments by making it unclear who exactly I am,” ZmnSCPxj told CoinDesk.
“Alternately, it may becometoopopular, and the government might want to acquire more of it by other means,” he added.
Not everyone sees the government as a threat, however.
“I’m not paranoid enough to be afraid of the government. Google and Facebook already know my name and they can easily link my name with my pseudonym. So I’m not targeting them,” Fiatjaf said.
Developers gave other reasons beyond feeling threatened. For some, it’s a simple matter of keeping their private lives private.
“When I started working on Bitcoin I didn’t see the need for having my ‘real name’ attached to my work. I was working for a company totally unrelated to Bitcoin. They didn’t really need to know what I do in my free time. But it wouldn’t have been a problem if they knew,” 0xB10C told CoinDesk.
Now awell-respected developerin the space, ZmnSCPxj was initially worried about embarrassing himself when he started submitting his ideas.
“My initial reason [for using a pseudonym] was simply that I was concerned [about] making a massive mistake; thus ZmnSCPxj was originally intended to be a disposable pseudonym that could be abandoned in such a case. However it seems to have garnered a mostly positive reputation, so I have retained it,” he told CoinDesk.
Conversely, SW and TDevD wanted to use pseudonyms as they launched Samourai Wallet because the duo was already known in the Bitcoin world by their real names before they created their privacy-focused bitcoin wallet.
“We didn’t want it to be about personalities or anything. A lot of us are known inside of the space, outside of the Samourai project. And we didn’t want it to be about our personal reputation. We wanted the project to stand on its own merits,” SW said.
For others, anonymity provides a sort of end run around exclusion in an industry that tends to be dominated by a typical demographic. In such cases, pseudonyms truly do provide a way to “be who you are.”
“[M]inorities of all kinds (economic, racial, communal, gender, etc) may not be confident in exposing identities easily traceable to their person, especially in contributing to communities where that minority is underrepresented,” ZmnSCPxj said.
Read more:Money Reimagined: Crypto’s Diversity Problem
“It is important to realize that the Earth is large and conditions in various points on it can vary tremendously, even in local social, governmental, or economic states, and habits and attitudes developed as protection against prejudices of local communities may prevent participation with the real identity even in online communities. But participation in online communities may be enabled by pseudonyms.”
• Many Bitcoin Developers Are Choosing to Use Pseudonyms – For Good Reason
• Many Bitcoin Developers Are Choosing to Use Pseudonyms – For Good Reason || Iranian Lawmaker Says Bitcoin Should Be Central Bank’s Turf: Crypto bank Avanti now has the backing of several popular investors in crypto.
The bank raised $5 million in an angel round and closed on a subscription to issue an additional amount at its option at a later date, said Avanti CEO Caitlin Long.
The round was led by the University of Wyoming Foundation with participation from Anthony Pompliano’s Morgan Creek Digital, Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, Lemniscap, Madison Paige Ventures, Malex Enterprises, Susan B. Anthony, LLC, Gary Gigot and others.
“This announcement means Avanti is sufficiently funded to get through the process of applying for a charter application,” Long said.
The bank will still have to raise additional capital if it is granted a charter, Long said, and it’s still working with regulators on what that capital amount would look like, but for now the institution has enough cash to go through the application process with the Wyoming Division of Banking.
Long also announced that the bank submitted the first draft of its application with the regulator last week, and plans to open for business in early 2021.
She revealed the bank now has three core bitcoin developers on its engineering staff but could not name which ones for “security reasons.” Bitcoin developer Bryan Bishop is Avanti’s CTO.
Related:Caitlin Long’s Avanti Raises $5M, Submits Wyoming Banking Charter Application Draft
Read more:Caitlin Long’s Wyoming Crypto Bank Announces C-Suite, Including Bitcoin Core Dev
As part of the funding round,Philip Treick, the University of Wyoming Foundation’s chief investment officer, will take a seat on Avanti’s board of directors.
• How We Future Now – Live With Kathleen Breitman, Caitlin Long and More From Consensus: Distributed
• JPMorgan Bank Takes on Coinbase, Gemini as Its First Crypto Exchange Customers
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 9192.84, 9132.23, 9151.39, 9159.04, 9185.82, 9164.23, 9374.89, 9525.36, 9581.07, 9536.89
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2015-12-21]
BTC Price: 438.64, BTC RSI: 60.13
Gold Price: 1081.90, Gold RSI: 51.39
Oil Price: 34.74, Oil RSI: 30.04
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Welcomes Top Bitcoin Remittance and ATM Expert to Board of Advisors: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / November 9, 2015 / MarilynJean Interactive ( MJMI ) today announced it has retained Christopher Concepcion to serve on its board of advisors. Mr. Concepcion has an MBA from Stanford University, over 30 years of international corporate expertise at the executive level, wide ranging business relationships in the Philippines and extensive experience in Bitcoin remittance and ATM operations. Mr. Concepcion was born and raised in the Philippines where he earned his undergraduate degree in business at The University of The Philippines in Manila. He then completed an MBA at Stanford University in California. While in the Philippines, Mr. Concepcion held executive positions in companies involved in supply chain management, real estate financing, insurance and communications. He has worked with Filipino remittances for the last 12 years. Mr. Concepcion was also a member of the Capital Markets Development Council that provided public / private business policy advice to the Philippine government. Mr. Concepcion and his family relocated to Canada in 2014. In late 2014, Mr. Concepcion formed Bitcoiniacs Holdings Inc., to acquire the world's first Bitcoin ATM operator. Mr. Concepcion then pivoted the business toward remittances, with a focus on using Bitcoins to allow foreign workers to quickly and inexpensively remit funds to the Philippines. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We couldn't be more excited to have Mr. Concepcion join our growing team. His expertise and the business direction of his firm match perfectly with 's plans in the remittance space. Mr. Concepcion's firm owns the world's first Bitcoin ATM and the first standalone Bitcoin remittance storefront, both in Vancouver Canada. With his Bitcoin expertise and top level Philippine contacts, we firmly believe Mr. Concepcion will provide invaluable advice and important introductions as we target the multi-billion dollar Philippine remittance market. We look forward to updating our shareholders as we grow this relationship." Story continues About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: bonnie@marilynjean.com SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive || Not in Your Grandma’s Wallet: Bitcoin Redefining Money: Will Bitcoin replace paper money? During an interview on the FOX Business Network’s Mornings With Maria ,Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, who’s considered the most active investor in Bitcoin companies, said: “[Bitcoin] it’s going to change the way that people send money, spend money -- even think about money. It’s kind of redefining what is money.”
As an investor of companies in over 20 countries, he sees the most Bitcoin action in places where people use mobile devices for transactions.
“We are seeing dramatic adoption in places like Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa -- places where people have mobile devices, but they don’t have bank accounts,” he said.
He also discussed how regulation is impacting the digital currency.
“[Regulators] are certainly paying attention… I used to think that regulation was Bitcoin’s biggest threat -- I actually think it’s the biggest opportunity now… Running a bank, operating a bank -- you cannot be innovative. You can’t think outside the box. You can’t do anything creative. Whereas you have hundreds of thousands of startups around the world that are looking to, again, kind of disintermediate… It is really going to eat banks alive.”
With only $5B in market cap, Silbert believes Bitcoin’s technology is very valuable.
“I’ll be the first to admit that Bitcoin as a digital currency is either going to be worth zero or it’s going to be worth a whole lot more money than it is today… it’s a very, very, risky investment. But this ecosystem is amazing that’s being built. There’s been a billion dollars in investment by venture capital in this industry so far.”
He also discussed how the financial services industry will change in the next 5 to 10 years.
“The definition of a bank is going to change. Banks are being disintermediated -- they are being attacked from every different angle… from startups, all the way up to different types of approaches, to finance like Bitcoin.”
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• Oil Plunge Raises Fears of Societal Unrest || Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin: Speaking to Quartz, former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that Bitcoin "has some serious problems." Bitcoin's value peaked at $1,147.25 on December 4 and crashed to a low of $177.28 just a few months later. Bernanke suggested that Bitcoin has yet to establish itself as a "widely accepted transactions medium." Ben Bernanke has had plenty of time to reflect on his career and personal political views since removing himself as head of the Federal Reserve. Bernanke, speaking to Quartz, discussed his time as leading the Federal Reserve, why he no longer considers himself a Republican, and why Bitcoin has "serious" problems. According to Bernanke, we have entered an era where the payments system is "evolving quickly" with new approaches to payments "proliferating." However, Bitcoin itself may be flawed for two reasons: 1) the digital currency hasn't proven itself to be a "stable source of value," and 2) Bitcoin hasn't established itself as a "widely accepted transactions medium." "But the real serious problem that it has is it's anonymity, which is a feature, and is also a bug, in that it has become in some cases a vehicle for illicit transactions, drug selling or terrorist financing or whatever," Bernanke added. "And you know, governments are not happy to let that activity happen, so I suspect that there will be oversight of transactions done in bitcoin or similar currencies and that will reduce the appeal." Other Problems Facing Bitcoin MIT Technology Review's Tom Simonite reported on August 28 that Bitcoin "will start to malfunction" as soon as early next year. Simonite spoke with Gavin Andresen, known in circles as Bitcoin's "chief caretaker" -- he says the currency can't process more than seven transactions per second. Visa processes thousands times that amount. "Transactions will get unreliable and it'll get worse and worse over time," Andersen warned over the dangers of not addressing Bitcoin's issues. "My fear is there'll be no critical event that causes people to react—Bitcoin just kind of has a long slow death. I'm trying to set off alarm bells for ‘You know, guys, if we don't do this, Bitcoin will be dead in four years.'" Story continues Benzinga's Jake Mann offered Trading Academy another issue. Writing in 2013, Mann warned that a lack of central bank doesn't indicate there's a fool-proof supply control mechanism in place. "While the sheer difficulty of [bitcoin] mining assures Bitcoin users that there won't ever be a massive supply shock in the digital market, the way that Bitcoins are created causes one enormous problem," Mann explained. "Primarily, it incentivizes miners to hoard the currency upon receiving it. This is one of the main causes of Bitcoin's price volatility." At that time, consensus opinion at the time was that up to 25 percent of all Bitcoins mined have never entered the marketplace. Mann suggested that miners should be mandated to exchange all newly-mined Bitcoins for another currency of their choice. Failure to do so could result in the currency experiencing additional volatility that would end up "killing" its potential, as a group of miners could essentially control the supply. "Is that really any better than a central bank?" he questioned. See more from Benzinga Watch Out Below? Vetr Crowd Downgrades Alphabet To Sell Apple Won't Buy Tesla, CLSA Says At A New All-Time High, Salesforce's Outlook Is Exciting Wall Street Analysts © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Not in Your Grandmas Wallet: Bitcoin Redefining Money: Will Bitcoin replace paper money? During an interview on the FOX Business Networks Mornings With Maria ,Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, whos considered the most active investor in Bitcoin companies, said: [Bitcoin] its going to change the way that people send money, spend money -- even think about money. Its kind of redefining what is money. As an investor of companies in over 20 countries, he sees the most Bitcoin action in places where people use mobile devices for transactions. We are seeing dramatic adoption in places like Kenya, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa -- places where people have mobile devices, but they dont have bank accounts, he said. He also discussed how regulation is impacting the digital currency. [Regulators] are certainly paying attention
I used to think that regulation was Bitcoins biggest threat -- I actually think its the biggest opportunity now
Running a bank, operating a bank -- you cannot be innovative. You cant think outside the box. You cant do anything creative. Whereas you have hundreds of thousands of startups around the world that are looking to, again, kind of disintermediate
It is really going to eat banks alive. With only $5B in market cap, Silbert believes Bitcoins technology is very valuable. Ill be the first to admit that Bitcoin as a digital currency is either going to be worth zero or its going to be worth a whole lot more money than it is today
its a very, very, risky investment. But this ecosystem is amazing thats being built. Theres been a billion dollars in investment by venture capital in this industry so far. He also discussed how the financial services industry will change in the next 5 to 10 years. The definition of a bank is going to change. Banks are being disintermediated -- they are being attacked from every different angle
from startups, all the way up to different types of approaches, to finance like Bitcoin. Number of Bitcoin Transactions | FindTheData Related Articles SEC Targets Connecticut Bitcoin Companies 3 Reasons Its Dumb to Take Social Security Benefits at 70 Oil Plunge Raises Fears of Societal Unrest || PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Nov 5: Nov 5 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
- Expedia Inc said it had agreed to acquire HomeAway Inc for $3.9 billion, adding vacation rentals to its wide swath of online travel booking options. (http://nyti.ms/1MdPtXu)
- Facebook Inc on Wednesday posted another quarter of robust revenue growth - up 41 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, to $4.5 billion - fueled by its mobile advertising business and an increase in daily users. (http://nyti.ms/1GMEMyi)
- A Senate committee has started an investigation into the large drug price increases by Turing Pharmaceuticals and three other companies such as Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc, responding to public concern about escalating prices for critical medicines. (http://nyti.ms/1OpOV6D)
- After a long period of quiet, the price of the virtual currency Bitcoin is surging again as signs of interest from China and Wall Street have helped kick off a new speculative frenzy. (http://nyti.ms/1Sq3Uwa)
- The U.S. Federal Reserve could raise its benchmark interest rate in December as long as economic growth continues, two senior Fed officials said on Wednesday, hammering that message in repeated public remarks. (http://nyti.ms/1Wxp9Sq) (Compiled by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru) || Bitcoin is off to the races again: (REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel)Rotariu uses Romania's first bitcoin ATM in downtown Bucharest
The value of bitcoin has rocketed higher since late August, gaining more than 60% as investors around the worldclamor to buy into the cryptocurrency.
It recently hit new highs for the year.
Long-term bitcoin watchers have seen this happen before, and they know that bitcoin rallies can be huge.
The last time bitcoin's value began soaring the cryptocurrency went from below $200 in September 2013 to more than $1100 by early 2014.
Right now – after the recent gains – bitcoin is trading at around $380. That's right, after that peak last year, bitcoin crashed – badly damaging investor interest. It took more than a year for that interest to return.
So what's bringing people back? The digital currency is gaining traction both in the consumer marketplace, as a tradeable security, and with regulators. To illustrate - you can donate to theAmerican Red Crossin bitcoin, buy a new personal computer with it, or even book a holiday.
It isn't just digital-currency enthusiasts that are bullish. Equity research firm Wedbush expects it to rise to $600 because of the growing adoption. That target includes a "high discount rate to account for uncertainty," the firm says in a Nov. 4 research note. In other words, there is a lot of risk here, but even factoring that in, the potential exists for a big gain.
“We’re crossing the chasm from early enthusiasts to mainstream adoption," says Adam White, a vice president of business development with bitcoin exchange Coinbase.
(Wedbush Securities)Payments with bitcoin have been on the rise — as has the value of bitcoin, as an investment.
As more people use bitcoin, retailers have become increasingly welcoming of it.
Companies including Dish, Microsoft, Dell and Expedia are accepting cryptocurrency as payment.
Perhaps most crucial: payments startups and legacy players including Square, Stripe, and PayPal are integrating it into their offerings.
Regulators in the US and internationally are embracing bitcoin now, instead of fearing — or, worse still, thwarting — it.
"What there needs to be is greater regulatory clarity," said Jerry Brito, executive director at Washington-based advocacy group Coin Center. "It's a very different world than it was in 2013."
Bitcoin legislation is being readied in several US states, Brito said.
In October, a consortium of startupsannounced the establishmentof theBlockchain Alliance, a partnership between bitcoin companies and US and foreign agencies including the Department of Justice, FBI and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, among others.
Last month, theEuropean Court of Justice said bitcoin transactions will be exemptedfrom a consumer tax, which could lead to even greater use of the cryptocurrency.
Another big step, yet to come, would be the declaration of bitcoin by US regulators as a security.
Another factor lending greater legitimacy to bitcoin is the investment capital being poured into related startups.
Recently, the total dollar volume backing startups in the sectorcrossed the $1 billion threshold. But the investors behind the money have also increased bitcoin's visibility.
The roster of bitcoin startup backersincludes Wall Street investment banks; the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ; andleading credit and debit card companiesincluding Visa, MasterCard and Capital One.
"The global banks and wire-houses have meaningfully gotten involved in the space," said Michael Sonnenshein, director of business development and sales at Grayscale Investments,which manages the Bitcoin Investment Trust, a publicly listed vehicle that tracks bitcoin. "In 2013, they were beginning to dip their toe, but primarily behind closed doors and within internal working groups."
There are still lingering issues surrounding bitcoin's validity.
To be sure, it is volatile and – because its loosely regulated – a draw for frauds and criminals.
Some big names in the crytptocurrency community — perhaps most notably Blythe Masters, the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings — have been critical of bitcoin and say the underpinning blockchain technology is actually what's most sexy to Wall Street.
But right now, to many investors, bitcoin is hot. And it could stay that way.
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• The Winklevoss twins tell us why they believe Bitcoin will come to dominate global finance || The unofficial Goldman Sachs guide to New Year’s resolutions: new york times square new year confetti (REUTERS/Keith Bedford) Workmen clean up confetti and garbage left from New Year celebrations in Times Square in New York January 1, 2013. Exercise. Read more. Save money. Travel. Those are the staple resolutions. But if it’s not that complicated, why are there so many fat, dumb, poor people who don’t even have passports? So, forget about all of the tired, regurgitated resolutions that you recycle unfulfilled year in and out. Here are twenty practical and realistic goals for 2016 that will fundamentally make your life better: Return your hoverboard. You look like a jackass Martin Shkreli. Write down your goals. Less than 10% of people fulfill their resolutions, but the ones who write them down have a much higher success rate. Take it a step further and make a list of what you want to accomplish each day, week, and month. Forget an app; go old school. Turn off Netflix at midnight. Just chill. Get a comprehensive health exam. If possible, from Donald Trump’s physician . Read more . Hardly an original idea, but it’s seldom accomplished. This year, try being specific. Make a list of 10-15 books - a healthy mix of fiction, non-fiction, and a few classics you should have read in college. I’ll get you started with Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness , Mark Bowden’s Killing Pablo , Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton , or this one. Stop drinking soda. While you are at, give up orange juice too. Instead, drink green tea with fresh ginger and manuka honey. It cancels out the ten drinks you had the night before. Stay in on Friday nights . Your weekend will become infinitely better, and your bank account will benefit too. It’s time to act like an adult; get drunk at brunch on Sundays instead. Invest in a Bitcoin wallet . Because it will be the best-performing currency in 2016 . Come back to Twitter . Sure, engagement is down and relevance has peaked. But there is still no better way to efficiently curate news and information. Spend more time with old people . The Greatest Generation now makes up less than 1% of the US population . Find a World War II veteran and take him to lunch from time to time. Plan regular FBTs (Fake Business Trips). Get away from your life for a few days to relax, and, if need be, let some bad out. It’ll make you a better partner and parent. Get promoted . Forget about LinkedIn; it’s the Match.com for the underemployed. Invite your seniors out, get them into a bar and network the old fashioned way. Freshen up your wardrobe . There’s a reason Michael Jordan wore a brand new pair of shoes every game. While you’re at it, donate your old clothes to Career Gea r or Dress for Succes s - non-profits that provide clothing and career guidance to low-income men and women. Take a class. Sign up with a friend to make it more fun and help you see it through. It could be anything - cooking, coding, or photography. The Nikon D810 SLR even comes with free classes. Forget about unrealistic health pledges. You don’t need some insane diet or detox regime. They don’t actually make you live longer. It just seems longer. Eat sensibly, drink in moderation, and exercise; it’s not rocket science. Laugh more . Socialize. Drink. Throw parties. Host drunken game nights. Upgrade your friends if necessary. It’s the life in your years, not the years in your life. Say no to fitness gimmicks . You don’t need to start taking the stairs or parking as far away from the Whole Foods entrance as possible. And don’t prepay for thirty personal training sessions. Take up a competitive sport instead. Remember that feeling as a kid when you’re on the field, not thinking about anything else? Most of us have forgotten how great that feels. So join a basketball league or find someone to play tennis with. And get some of these. Skip the dramatic savings scheme . Giving up the $5 daily latte? Bringing your lunch to work? That just makes you the office pariah. Don’t go crazy with anti-social or unrealistic goals. Keep it simple; spend less than you make, and save up for the big-ticket items until you can afford them. Declare the bedroom technology free. Does this even need an explanation? It means more time for reading, sleep, and sex. And go ahead and upgrade your mattress . We’re talking about 1/3rd of your life. Stay in on New Years Eve . It’s amateur night and it rarely lives up to your expectations anyhow. This year, stay home with a bottle of something nice. Then start January 1 early and productively. Story continues John LeFevre is the creator of @GSElevator on Twitter, and the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Straight To Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, And Billion-Dollar Deals NOW WATCH: How the buying power of your dollar has changed over the past 60 years More From Business Insider This guy gave up sugar and got 80% of his calories from fat — here's what happened Donald Trump left Joe Scarborough stunned after being asked about Vladimir Putin killing journalists Here's the ISIS message the female San Bernardino shooter posted on Facebook during the attack || Sub-zero interest rates have floor nearby, albeit a shaky one: By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) - Zero is clearly not the floor for central bank interest rates, but there's still a lower limit nearby, however shaky it may be. For anyone assuming official interest rates would not or could not go below zero, it's been a sobering year. Four central banks in Europe have broken the taboo and are experimenting with the slightly puzzling concept of negative interest rates. The European Central Bank as well as the Swiss, Swedish and Danish central banks all now employ negative deposit rates - charging their commercial banks for holding reserves on deposit as yet another way of forcing them to lend more. Even though this upside-down world of negative rates appears to many to be just a technical quirk in the banking system, households and firms may start to wonder whether negative rates will spread to them given the obvious reluctance of central bankers to admit a floor and draw the line here. ECB chief Mario Draghi electrified markets last week by holding out the prospect of yet another cut in the ECB's deposit rate of minus 0.2 percent as it battles to get flat lining euro-zone inflation back up to its target of near 2 percent. Whether negative rates excite or terrify you, most economists reckon there's a limit. They insist a so-called 'lower bound' for rates - only debated in academic circles between the 1930s Depression and the credit crash of 2008 - is still a major and worrying constraint on monetary policy and that the floor is likely just a little below where we are now. For all the wonkish detail, it's no pinpoint science. Bank of England studies put the limit about minus 0.5 percent, for example. That's below the current ECB rate, though not as deep as the Swiss National Bank's minus 0.75 percent. National variations clearly apply, however. The BoE itself has, until recently at least, declined to cut its rates below 0.5 percent - due to the plethora of UK mortgage rates that track the policy rate but also because UK banks have typically never charged customers for current accounts. Story continues But the argument for an interest rate floor that's just slightly negative is relatively simple. If banks are charged ever larger penalties for depositing reserves with the central bank, the assumption is they will simply transfer the money into physical cash, which even at zero interest would still give them a better return. And their tolerance for negative rates is estimated to be the additional cost of securely stashing those crisp notes away in private vaults. "The source of the zero lower bound constraint lies in the unrestricted convertibility into cash of reserve accounts at the central bank," according to the annual 'Geneva Report' on the world economy from the UK-based think tank Centre for Economic Policy Research. But the report - authored by former BoE policymaker Charles Bean, former New York Federal Reserve economist Christian Broda, former Japanese financial diplomat Takatoshi Ito and former Fed governor Randall Kroszner - said the relatively high security cost of holding vast quantities of banknotes meant that this switching doesn't happen immediately that rates go below zero. "Banks are more likely to decide that it will be worth investing in setting up such secure facilities if central bank deposit rates are likely to be negative frequently and for substantial periods," they wrote, adding the "true floor" is probably close to BoE calculations of minus 0.5 percent. This is no stone floor, however. Reviewing the report, SNB Vice Chairman Fritz Zurbruegg said "the tipping point is not clearly defined; markets and businesses are very innovative." BLUFF? But if the zero bound does exist and it's at least close to where we are right now, what happens if inflation still won't rise back to target and further easing is needed? Was Mario Draghi just bluffing by saying he could do whatever it takes? Facing the risk of a deflationary trap, more bond buying and quantitative easing can at least try to push down long-term borrowing rates. But there are practical and political limits here too on what and just how much bonds to buy, while the benchmark 10-year German bund already yields less than 0.50 percent. Others suggest inflation targets could be raised to provoke a change in expectations and underline central bank determination. But if you're struggling to get inflation from zero to 2 percent, will it be any easier getting it to 4? That leaves more radical moves to overcome the lower bound. One includes getting rid of physical cash altogether to prevent banks switching into it - a plausible idea given the rise of card payments and electronic money. Another proposal involves abandoning the automatic 1-for-1 exchange between cash and reserves. One more alternative suggests banknotes would have to be stamped periodically to retain their legal tender. Spotlighting Bitcoin's emergence, BoE chief economist Andy Haldane said last month that some form of digital money wallets could be the future for new government-backed currency too and have the advantage of being able to absorb negative rates. "Perhaps central bank money is ripe for its own great technological leap forward, prompted by the pressing demands of the zero lower bound," he said. But, even if switching can be avoided, deeply negative rates may cause more problems than they solve by damaging bank balance sheets and stability, fueling increases in risky lending or leading to unintended consequences of banks recouping costs through higher mortgage or corporate lending rates - as seen in Switzerland. Deeply negative interest rates for a protracted period will also create distortions in asset markets. Together these fears may act as powerfully as any limit on just how negative rates can go. (Editing by Hugh Lawson) || Bitcoin is exploding higher, but no one can agree on why: (REUTERS)
Bitcoin gained another 6% Wednesday, reaching a new high for the year.
The cryptocurrency reached the $450 mark late in the day before falling back to $425. That's compared with around $250 a month ago.
What's behind this? Investors and brokers can't agree.
In the last few days, explanations have included a rise in demand from China, an upcoming auction by US Marshals of seized bitcoin, and the influence ofa convicted Ponzi schemer's latest gambit.
Another catalyst for recent appreciation comes from Europe, saysAdam White, vice president and product manager at Coinbase, one of the biggest bitcoin exchanges globally by volume.
The European Court of Justice recently ruled that thecryptocurrency is exemptfrom the region's "value added tax," which White compared to the decision by US taxation authorities in the 1990s to not implement taxes on goods sold online.
What is certain is that use of bitcoin by consumers and trading is broadly on the rise.
"There has been a steady increase in the number of transactions processed on the bitcoin blockchain," White says.
In the last two years, the number of bitcoin transactions has increased threefold from 50,000 daily to about 140,000 today, according to Blockchain.info, which tracks bitcoin data.
It is true that Chinese investors are eager to trade bitcoin, White says.
In the US, between 300,000 and 500,000 bitcoin are traded daily, White said. But in China, that daily figure has been closer to 1 million to 1.2 million.
That isn't to say US investors are neglecting the currency. There has been a three-times increase in the relative trading volume by what are referred to as "High Net Worth" traders on Coinbase's trading platform — people making trades in dollar amounts worth up to six figures, White said.
Perhaps most telling — at least about the recent jump — is that there's been a recent surge in trading, sharp rise innew usersign-ups, according to White.
So what's behind the recent surge in bitcoin? Maybe just the surge in bitcoin.
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• Even As Bitcoin Gets Obliterated, Retailers Say They Will Still Accept It As A Form Of Payment || Hired-gun hacking played key role in JPMorgan, Fidelity breaches: By Jim Finkle and Joseph Menn NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When U.S. prosecutors this week charged two Israelis and an American fugitive with raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in one of the largest and most complex cases of cyber fraud ever exposed, they also provided an unusual look into the burgeoning industry of criminal hackers for hire. The trio, who are accused of orchestrating massive computer breaches at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and other financial firms, as well as a series of other major offences, did little if any hacking themselves, the federal indictments and a previous civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate. Rather, they constructed a criminal conglomerate with activities ranging from pump-and-dump stock fraud to Internet casino break-ins and unlicensed Bitcoin trading. And just like many legitimate corporations, they outsourced much of their technology needs. "They clearly had to recruit co-conspirators and have that type of hacker-for-hire," said Austin Berglas, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's New York cyber division, who worked the JPMorgan case before he left the agency in May. "This is the first case where it's that clear of a connection." Berglas, who now heads cyber investigations for private firm K2 Intelligence, said additional major cases of freelance hacking will come to light, especially as more people become familiar with online tools such as Tor that seek to conceal a user’s identity and location. RENTED TIME This week's indictments accused a hacker referred to as "co-conspirator 1" of installing malicious software on the servers of multiple victims at the direction of Gery Shalon, the alleged mastermind of the scheme now under arrest in Israel. A second indictment charges a man referred to as John Doe, believed to be in Russia, for an attack on online trading firm E*Trade (ETFC.O). Officials have not said if the co-conspirator and John Doe were the same person, or even if the FBI knows their true identities. Story continues Law enforcement and computer security officials say that outsourced cyber-crime services - including rented time on networks of previously compromised personal computers and custom break-ins - are most readily found on underground Russian-language computer forums, where skilled attackers advertise their services. The forums are tight-knit communities where newbies must be vouched for by multiple known members and pay membership fees that cost thousands of dollars, said Daniel Cohen, who oversees an undercover team at EMC Corp's (EMC.N) RSA Security that monitors the forums. “You can find anything you want for an operation. Hackers, servers, software, code writing. They are all available," said Cohen. Individuals hide their identities even from each other, making infiltration and arrests rare. In this case, the ringleaders are accused of hiring hackers to steal contact information and other data that they then used to help convince ordinary investors to buy little-regulated stocks. Prosecutors have not disclosed how the hackers were compensated. Fees vary greatly in the cyber underground, depending on the complexity of the assignment and supply of talent available to do a particular job. Elite hackers who pull off the most technically challenging attacks might get a percentage of profits, while others might earn an hourly rate or get paid a few thousand dollars for winning access to a target’s network, researchers said.PUMP-AND-DUMP All three of those accused this week - Shalon, Joshua Samuel Aaron, who is at large, and Ziv Orenstein, who is also in jail in Israel – began promoting penny stocks before the hacks took place, according to U.S. government claims. They used websites including Pennystockdiscoveries.com and Stockcastle.com to send emails as part of a scheme in which they invested in penny stocks, spread false information to boost their prices, and then sold them to make windfall profits, according to an SEC suit filed in July. Orenstein’s lawyer declined to comment, and Shalon’s lawyer did not return messages seeking comment. In one case in early 2012, the SEC claims that they used the website Stockcastle.com to promote shares in Mustang Alliances Inc, reaping $2.2 million, the largest pump-and-dump cited in the regulator's lawsuit. In March of that year, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission issued an alert warning that two entities tied to Stockcastle were falsely claiming to be registered in the territory. That same year, the enterprise began a massive hacking spree to get contact information for investors who might be good targets, according to prosecutors. By the end of 2013 they had ordered up six hacks that provided data on tens of millions of customers, prosecutors said. They hit the mother lode in 2014 when they attacked three other firms, and stole data on 83 million customers from JP Morgan alone, prosecutors said. In addition to JP Morgan and E*Trade, the firms attacked included the mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD.N) and News Corp's (NWSA.O) Dow Jones unit, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, according to court documents and people familiar with the cases. "To do a 'pump-and-dump' operation, you no longer need 30 people behind phones in a strip mall," said Shane Shook, a security consultant specializing in investigating financial breaches. All you need is to find a hacker on a “Dark Web” forum to provide addresses from customers of financial services firms like Fidelity or JPMorgan, then hire a spam service to push out promotional emails, he said. Shalon bragged about the stock manipulation scheme, telling the hacker known as co-conspirator 1 in a web chat message that it was "a small step towards a large empire," according to the indictment. His plan, Shalon told the hacker, was to distribute "mailers" on stocks to those customers. The hacker asked if buying stocks was popular in America, the indictment said, prompting Shalon to reply: "It's like drinking freaking vodka in Russia." Shalon ultimately made good on his promise to build an empire, according to the indictments. Profits from the pump-and-dump fed into a sprawling conglomerate including offshore Internet casinos and payment-processing services for other criminal operators, such as counterfeit pharmaceutical makers. Shalon also allegedly directed hackers to attack rival casinos, stealing customer data and temporarily bringing down their websites with denial-of-service attacks, which are easily commissioned online.BUTTERFLY AND HIDDEN LYNX While this week's indictments opened the first major criminal case involving outsourced hacking, there have been other substantial break-ins that researchers believe were contract jobs. Researchers at Symantec in July attributed a series of precision breaches at Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter in 2012 and 2013 to a sophisticated gang called Butterfly, which also attacked law firms and pharmaceutical companies. Computer security firm Symantec concluded that the group likely works for hire, either for a client looking for financial gain in the stock market or for competitors. How Butterfly gets hired remains unclear. Tech criminologist Marc Goodman, author of the book “Future Crimes”, says another group, dubbed Hidden Lynx by Symantec, may consist of contractors moonlighting from jobs with the Chinese military. http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/security_response/whitepapers/hidden_lynx.pdf "It's crime as a service," "Goodman said. "They take all the pain out of it." (Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Jim Finkle and Nate Raymond in New York; Additional reporting from Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Martin Howell.)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 18 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $891.72 #bitcoin #btc || #FetishCoin #FETISH $ 0.000347 (0.02 %) 0.00000080 BTC (0.00 %) via #FetishCoin
#Bitcoin #BTC #AltCoin #BlockChain …pic.twitter.com/S6p2aeGRrR || Domani alle 19.00 ! #redux #flux #bitcoin ! #savethedate #programmersinpaduahttp://programmersinpadua.eventbrite.com || #Bitcoin last trade
bitstamp $463.00
bitfinex $463.54
coinbase $463.26
Set #crypto #price #alerts at …pic.twitter.com/2Isqnl5C4R || LIVE: Profit = $455.82 (5.39 %). BUY B20.56 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $433.93 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || $392.54 at 12:15 UTC [24h Range: $364.37 - $502.00 Volume: 104200 BTC] via #btcusdpic.twitter.com/hatDlFaHeP || $431.00 at 10:16 UTC [24h Range: $403.00 - $467.80 Volume: 42190 BTC] || LIVE: Profit = $473.33 (5.61 %). BUY B20.51 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $435.25 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || One Bitcoin now worth $329.65@bitstamp. High $330.84. Low $316.00. Market Cap $4.907 Billion #bitcoin || Average Bitcoin market price is: USD 332.00, EUR 308.86
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Trend: down || Prices: 436.57, 442.40, 454.98, 455.65, 417.27, 422.82, 422.28, 432.98, 426.62, 430.57
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2016-04-05]
BTC Price: 424.03, BTC RSI: 57.42
Gold Price: 1228.40, Gold RSI: 49.98
Oil Price: 35.89, Oil RSI: 45.54
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Ethereum Cloud Mining and Bitcoin Cloud Mining With Lifetime Contracts and Proof of Mining Offered by HashFlare: With over 3 years experience in the industry Hashflare is pleased to announce one year Ethereum cloud mining contracts with no maintenance fees TALLIN, ESTONIA / ACCESSWIRE / March 8, 2016 / Hashflare is pleased to announce one year Ethereum cloud mining contracts with no maintenance fees which represents the best value on the market, after users sign up for a free account . Run by established cryptocurrency mining hardware provider HashCoins, which has over 3 years experience in the industry, HashFlare offers the ultimate Bitcoin, Scrypt and Ethereum cloud mining experience for users. An important feature of the HashFlare platform is that customers can see and monitor their hashrate live, and even choose the mining pool they wish to mine on. This demonstrates that HashFlare is running a real cloud mining operation and is renting real mining hardware to users. 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To sign up for a free account, and learn more about lifetime Bitcoin, Scrypt, or one year Etheruem cloud mining contracts with NO maintenance fees, which represents the best value on the market, please go to: https://hashflare.io After creating your free account make sure to use use discount code HF16ETHER12 for the biggest discount possible on Ethereum cloud mining HashFlare is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to FDIC and other consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. For more information about us, please visit https://hashflare.io/r/CCF0028F-ETH Contact Info: Name: HashFlare Organization: HashFlare SOURCE: HashFlare View comments || The biggest names in bitcoin and blockchain in 2016: While critics are still dubious of the future viability of the digital currency bitcoin, at least one group isnt: venture capitalists. VCs pumped more investment into bitcoin and blockchain-related startups last year than in any previous year nearly $1 billion . The investors are keeping this industry hot, even if we havent yet seen any so-called killer app," a mainstream use case for bitcoin that would compel the average person to care. And it isnt just investors leading the chargeits a handful of key executives, thinkers and even policy people . Of course, investors are just as keen on companies exploring the blockchain, which is the decentralized ledger technology on which bitcoin runs. (For a full explainer on blockchain, watch this video .) The hype around the idea of banks using a form of blockchain (without bitcoin) is high, even though a PwC survey this month found that 57% of financial executives say they're unsure about implementing blockchain tech in banking. So, who are the big believers? They are some of the biggest names in bitcoin and blockchain right now. Some are executives at the most well-funded companies, some are investors in those companies. All of them bring clout and connections to bitcoin and the blockchain. Here are 11 of them, curated by Yahoo Finance with input from a number of industry insiders. This is not a list of the hottest bitcoin companies, nor is it a ranking. Its an unofficial look at the individuals bringing mainstream attention to this still-nascent, still-controversial corner of tech. Call them the "bitcoin celebrities" if you like. This list is unranked (alphabetical order). Feel free to debate, dispute and make your own suggestions in the comment section. 1. Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz Everyone in tech knows Andreessen. He is the co-founder of Netscape, a board member at Facebook, eBay and others, and co-founder of the Silicon Valley powerhouse venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The firms portfolio includes investments in bitcoin wallet company Coinbase (see No. 6), 21 Inc (see No. 9), and TradeBlock. In 2014, he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times boldly titled, Why bitcoin matters. He liberally shares bitcoin and blockchain-related news to his 500,000 Twitter followersa considerable benefit to bitcoiners. Story continues 2. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase When Coinbase, one of the earliest bitcoin startups, raised $75 million in funding in January of last year, it was at the time the biggest fundraising round ever for a bitcoin company. (The figure has since been shattered by 21 Inc.) And Coinbase, which has raised $107 million total, remains arguably the best-known name among all bitcoin startupsit is often where people go to get a bitcoin wallet and to buy their first bitcoins. It was first to market with a bitcoin exchange platform in the U.S. (others waited longer in order to get certain licensing) and Armstrong, its leader, is one of the most sensible thinkers in the industry. ( His post explaining the debate over block size distills the issue clearly.) 3. Adam Back, Blockstream Bitcoin is partially based on a previous system called hashcash, an algorithm that cut down on email spam by requiring proof of work, an early form of what is now bitcoin mining. Back created hashcash. Now the cryptographer, as president of blockchain startup Blockstream, has become one of the loudest voices in the debate over whether, and how, to increase the size limit of transaction bundles (or blocks) on the bitcoin blockchain. His experience in business (he's worked as a consultant to Nokia) and in academia (he has a PhD in distributed systems) have made him a unique authority in the space. Reid Hoffman, the influential co-founder of LinkedIn ( LNKD ), made a personal investment of $21 million in Blockstream, and the company has raised $76 million overall. 4. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Ethereum is a bitcoin alternative that some believe has more potential than bitcoin. The platform runs on a decentralized blockchain, like bitcoins, that allows for any peer-to-peer exchange of value, and it uses its own currency, Ether. And the company is a non-profit. Buterin developed the concept in 2013, and in 2014 sold about 60 million ether in a pre-sale , which worked out to $18.4 million at the time. The Ethereum chain went live last summer. Buterin, who is only 22, is seen as a wunderkind; he also helped launch Bitcoin Magazine. 5. Wences Casares, Xapo Reid Hoffman has called Wences Casares the Patient Zero for bitcoin in Silicon Valley. His startup Xapo was one of the earliest bitcoin wallet companies, though it's embroiled in a legal dispute with LifeLock, the company that acquired Casaress previous startup, Lemon. (LifeLock alleges Casares and others created Xapo while still working at Lemon, within LifeLock; he has filed a counter-suit.) Most importantly, PayPal created a new seat on its board of directors for Casares in January. The appointment was seen as big news for bitcoina bitcoin entrepreneur on the board of PayPal was quite a milestone. And Xapo has raised $40 million in funding. 6. Blythe Masters, Digital Asset Holdings Masters is one of a kind in the bitcoin world. She spent nearly 30 years as a JPMorgan ( JPM ) executive, including as head of global commodities, before leaving to run Digital Asset Holdings, a startup that seeks to apply blockchain tech to Wall Street. Its first big client: her former employer. JPMorgan is working with Digital Asset Holdings to test out a use of blockchain to settle transactions faster. DAH has raised $60 million in funding. Because Masters is a known name on Wall Street, her move brought big legitimacy to the space. (And Masters isn't the only female leader in bitcoin : Catheryne Nicholson is CEO of small blockchain startup BlockCypher, which has raised $3.5 million, and Elizabeth Rossiello is CEO of BitPesa, which is working on bitcoin payments in Africa.) 7. Jesse Powell, Kraken Kraken is a bitcoin exchange headquartered in San Francisco, but with most of its activity in Europe. Heres why thats relevant: Last year, when the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) released its controversial regulatory framework for bitcoin companies, the Bitlicense, Kraken led a charge of bitcoin startups out of New York . The company wont do business in the state, which is a financial risk but a compelling stance against what Powell and others see as restrictive legislation. Kraken, which has raised $6.5 million in funding, has stuck to that vow even as it has ramped up acquisitions lately, buying out Coinsetter , a U.S. exchange that itself had bought out Cavirtex, a Canadian exchange. Kraken's purchase of Coinsetter was the biggest ever M&A deal in the bitcoin space; Coinsetter did operate in New York, but now it won'tthat's how rigid Powell is in his stance. Kraken is continuing to get bigger, but without New York, the very place where so much of the activity around blockchain is centered. 8. David Rutter, R3 R3 CEV is the private firm that rolled out a consortium (the Distributed Ledger Group) for banks interested in exploring blockchain technology. More than 40 of them have signed on, including Bank of America ( BAC ), Citi ( C ), Deutsche Bank ( DB ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ). And this month R3 announced an extensive test of online distributed ledgers for banks, with help from Chain, Ethereum (see No. 10) and IBM. It is R3 that has attracted institutions whose involvement can turn the abstract notion of "blockchain for banks into a reality. 9. Barry Silbert, Digital Currency Group In 2004, Barry Silbert founded SecondMarket, which allows people to buy stock in non-public companies. He sold the company to Nasdaq last year and has since launched Digital Currency Group, the biggest investment firm in bitcoin and blockchain companies. (It has invested in more than 75.) Most recently, DCG bought the leading bitcoin news site, Coindesk, acquiring the annual bitcoin industry conference Consensus along with it. Almost every time a bitcoin startup announces a new fundraising round, Silbert and DCG are involved. Silbert also launched the Bitcoin Investment Trust ( GBTC ), which trades over-the-counter and is designed to track the price of bitcoin. 10. Balaji Srinivasan, 21 Inc. Srinivasan, the cofounder and CEO of 21 Inc, is also a board partner at Andreessen Horowitz. When 21 first launched publicly, it remained mysterious. It wasnt clear what 21 would be doing, but observers had high expectations: The company raised more than any other bitcoin startup, $121 million in funding. Last year, 21 finally unveiled its first product a small bitcoin personal computer for building apps on top of the bitcoin blockchain. 11. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Winklevoss Capital The Olympic rowers made their name when they sued Facebook ( FB ) cofounder Mark Zuckerberg and got $65 million. Since then, theyve been eager to prove themselves as entrepreneurs, and they have made bitcoin the space in which to prove it. They launched a bitcoin pricing index, Winkdex, in 2014the site is cleanly designed and tracks the price of bitcoin over time. This year, they launched Gemini, a bitcoin trading exchange. Like their pricing index, the design is appealing, but the user base is small. (Gemini is only doing an average $338,000 in trade volume per day, according to data from TradeBlock; by comparison, Kraken sees about $1.3 million in daily volume.) Their bigger ambition: the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, a bitcoin ETF, which will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol COIN but still awaits regulatory approval. There are signs that the bitcoin community doesnt love the Winklevoss brothers yetone prominent bitcoin executive told Fortune , Our industry would prefer that if theres a celebrity spokesperson, it not be them. But the jetsetting duo certainly bring mainstream star power to bitcoin. -- This is the third in a three-part Yahoo Finance series focused on blockchain technology. The first part was about why big banks are expressing interest in the blockchain; the second part was about how you could invest in the blockchain. Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: Bitcoin advocacy group scores funding from biggest names in industry Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter Bitcoin's biggest investor bought its biggest news site Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || University of California Berkeley notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || Flux Party seeks to be the bitcoin of Australian politics: By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - A new Australian political party is using the virtual currency bitcoin as a model to replace what they say is an outdated political system - representative democracy - with a streamlined new polity for the information age. The Flux Party says its goal is to elect six senators. They will propose no policies and will not follow their consciences, but will support or block legislation at the direction of their members, who can swap or trade their votes on every bill online. "If they didn't have to be senators, if they could just be software or robots they would be, because their only purpose is to do what the people want them to do," Flux Party co-founder Max Kaye told Reuters in an interview. Australia is set to hold an election in September or October after a period of turmoil that brought five prime ministers in as many years. At the same time the upper house, which thanks to the quirks of its electoral system has a history of returning mavericks and fringe party candidates, has been hopelessly deadlocked by a handful of senators, at least one elected on less than 1 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week raised the possibility of calling an early poll to break the gridlock that has held up the government's legislative agenda. That type of policy inertia is what bitcoin enthusiasts Kaye and Flux co-founder Nathan Spataro say inspired them to explore alternative systems that better represent the world of 2016. Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" used to move money around quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority. The technology behind it is called the blockchain - a massive electronic ledger of every transaction that is verified and shared by a global network of computers. To Spataro and Kaye, bitcoin is not just an alternative financial system: it is the missing link between representative democracy and Democracy 2.0. "This ancient system we've got of representative democracy, which at the time liberated us from monarchies and was awesome, now we're at a point where it's become this monster," Spataro said. Story continues "We're in a society now that's got the Internet and when democracy in its current form was conceived, you had to sail on a ship from England to get here. This model wasn't designed for this world." "DELIGHTFULLY NAIVE" Bitcoin's strength comes from its ability to build trust through ease of verification and by removing human frailty from the equation, said Dr. Adrian Lee, an expert on bitcoin at the University of Technology Sydney. That makes what the Flux Party is proposing both unique and also potentially fraught. "I haven't seen a party which would vote via blockchain," Lee said. "If you removed the politician and made it just a bitcoin machine, then maybe it would work but you can't do that," he said, noting the absence of a legally binding mechanism to make Flux senators vote as directed. Although the party's architecture for calculating and distributing voters' wishes to their elected officials uses highly complex computer code, the overall idea is fairly simple. Flux members and single-issue campaigners that agree to support the party at the election are allotted bitcoin-like tokens that they can use themselves, trade or give to experts or interest groups they trust to vote as their proxy. Outcomes are distributed proportionately, so if 80 percent vote in favor of a bill and 20 against, five Flux senators vote yea and one nay. Ministers are not often experts in their portfolio, and yet they are charged with making critical decisions on issues such as environmental or fiscal policy. Under their system, the Flux Party founders say, large blocs of voters could effectively grant their vote on such issues to a scientist or economist. "You get sick, you go to the doctor, right? You don't self-diagnose and you don't go and call your plumber," Kaye said. The Party filed its registration papers with the Australian Election Commission last month after obtaining the requisite support of at least 550 registered voters. Its website currently puts its membership at 1,009 people. Attempting to apply the transformative power of the Internet to democratic systems is not a new one, said Peter Chen, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Sydney, who called the Flux Party "delightfully naive people". "They're just the modern version of something that's always been around: utopian political system designers," he said. "They're obviously guys who are really focused on the tech thing and that has always been the problem with the e-democracy people. They're often really tech-driven and they need political scientists at the brainstorming floor to say 'well, I don't know if that'd work'." (Reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Alex Richardson) || Bitcoin group scores funds from biggest names in industry: Bitcoin-related businesses raised more venture capital money in 2015 than in any year before: $485 million, according to industry news site CoinDesk . And yet, even as they court more VC interest, these companies continue to deal with skepticism from the general public and from top executives of big financial institutions, like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan ( JPM ). So they're turning to a non-profit advocacy group for help. Coin Center, a 501(c)(4) lobbying group founded in 2014, calls itself the "leading non-profit research and advocacy center" for public policy on "cryptocurrency technologies such as Bitcoin." Its supporters already included well-known venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz (Marc Andreessen is a vocal bitcoin believer), and some of the biggest companies in the industry, including Chain, Coinbase, and Xapo. Now Coin Center is about to get a lot louder: This month it has raised $1 million in new donations, Yahoo Finance has learned. In an industry where the hottest companies have had recent fundraising rounds of $116 million (21 Inc.), $50 million (Circle) and $30 million (Chain), $1 million may sound like small potatoesand it is, although Coin Center says it will help fund travel for its five staff members, who spend much of their time meeting with lawmakers to discuss policy. But as some big banks have joined a consortium to explore the possibilities of the blockchain (the public, open ledger on which all bitcoin transactions are logged), what is significant here is that Coin Center's extensive list of new supporters includes some of the most powerful people in the exploding fintech sector. Among those who donated are 21 Inc. (which last year released a small bitcoin-mining computer aimed at making it easier to develop bitcoin apps), BitStamp, Overstock.com ( OSTK ), which was one of the first major online retailers to accept bitcoin as payment, and Digital Currency Group. That last firm is key: Led by SecondMarket founder Barry Silbert, DCG has invested in 65 different bitcoin companies, and the companies in its portfolio have raised 70% of all the venture capital in the space. DCG is to the bitcoin industry what Anheuser-Busch InBev ( BUD ) is to the beer market, or what IAC ( IAC ) has been to online-dating companies. Story continues " Our mission is to accelerate the development of a better financial system," Silbert tells Yahoo Finance, "and the way we will do that is investing in great companies, starting companies, buying companies, and helping organizations like Coin Center." In other words: Silbert wants to have his hands in as many digital-currency entities as possible to ensure his influence, and he is quickly carrying out that strategy. It's why DCG bought outright the industry's leading news site, CoinDesk. "There are many ways lawmakers could stifle the bitcoin blockchain," Silbert says, "so providing awareness and education is a very important part of what will make this industry sustainable." In short: Coin Center is getting more influential, and now it has people backing it who have deep pockets and major interest in keeping regulators from interfering too much in what bitcoin companies are doing. Coin Center is not a trade associationnone of the companies in the bitcoin industry are members. But it certainly shares their interests. Jerry Brito, Coin Center's executive director, is a law professor who has testified before Congress about cryptocurrencies. He says Coin Center's primary audience is policy-makersand these people can often be confused about the industry. The fear of bitcoin businesses is that politicians will hastily regulate, or even shut down startups, before they understand the technology. (The tension is not unlike the battle raging in daily fantasy sports right now.) Coin Center can help, Brito says: "P olicy makers hear about these negative aspects, whether its ransoms, or drug sales, or the like, and they will often contact law enforcement and say, 'What's up with this?' This is a challenge just like all new technologies have been, from email to pagers, but we think that we can get a handle on this." To that end, Coin Center teamed with the Chamber of Digital Commerce in October to help create The Blockchain Alliance, a safe-space private forum in which law enforcement groups like the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice can pose questions to bitcoin startup executives and policy pundits. Think of the alliance like a Justice League for bitcoin. But it is unclear how frequently the forum is being used, since the media isn't allowed in. Last year, New York became the first state to release its own regulatory framework specifically devoted to digital currency businesses. Called the BitLicense, it was met with so much opposition from the bitcoin community that a slew of companies packed up and left New York, cutting off service to customers in the state. Other companies happily applied for a license, but bemoaned the high cost. Coin Center makes its stance on legislation clear. "If you look back, [former New York Department of Financial Services superintent] Ben Lawsky said he didn't want to interfere with innovation or hurt business. Ultimately, the BitLicense that we got did not succeed at that. It is not a good model for other states to follow," he says. " I think the only solution is a light touch approach. If you go heavy-handed, as a regulator, youll do two things: not meet your goals, typically, becasuse youll make it so difficult that people cant even comply with it, and not get the visibility that you want as a regulator." Those in the bitcoin business, of course, like that argument quite a lot. Marc Andreessen has been Coin Center's biggest donor since the beginning, giving the lion's share of help. But with Silbert flexing his muscle, Coin Center's role in advocating for digital currency will strengthen. (Brito says donors "can give input," but not dictate what Coin Center does.) Coin Center has received $2 million in donations to date, and it now plans to seek $1 million every year. It won't have much trouble getting it. -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter Bitcoin's biggest investor bought its biggest news site Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin Fantex, the 'athlete stock exchange,' signs first golfer || This student-loan startup says it has the killer feature to beat big lenders: As you've followed the 2016 presidential campaign cycle, you've no doubt heard mention of the student debt crisis. Earnest , a lending startup that refinances student loans and originates personal loans, thinks it can help. Loan-refinancing may not seem like the sexiest corner of fintech, but it has very recently become very hot: SoFi (Social Finance), which provides student loans, mortgages and other kinds of loans, scored a $1 billion investment from Softbank in September. The startup advertised during the Super Bowl in February. Smaller startups like Zest Finance use big data to aid underwriting for big lenders, while CommonBond focuses on re-financing. Marketplaces like Lending Club ( LC ) and Lending Tree ( TREE ) still advertise heavily as the best places to shop for loans. And all of these newer players claim they have the technology to compete with massive incumbents like Sallie Mae ( SLM ), Wells Fargo ( WFC ) and JPMorgan ( JPM ). Earnest CEO Louis Beryl says his company has the best strategic advantage of all: its recently launched precision pricing. The tool allows an Earnest customer to select any monthly payment on a loan and change it on the fly; the interest rate will adjust to match. That might sound like the kind of simple function that anyone with a student loan should have been able to do already, but no other lenders yet offer it. A traditional lender provides limited choices for the repayment period—typically five, 10, or 15 years' time. An Earnest customer, using a slider on Earnest's web site, can tweak the monthly payment they want to make to, say, $1,000 a month, and Earnest will react accordingly. "$1,000 a month might mean a 10-and-a-half year loan, not a 10-year loan or a 15-year loan," Beryl says. "We'll give that person the interest rate that corresponds to a 10-and-a-half-year loan." Beryl launched Earnest in 2013. He got the idea for the company after experiencing his own frustrations when he was denied loans in grad school. "I remember thinking, 'Why weren't financial institutions taking the time to understand me more deeply?' And we had a massive technology disruption where all of our accounts were online now." He jumped on the opportunity. Now Earnest is growing so fast that it originated 50 times as many loans in 2015 as it did in 2014. More than 40 million Americans have at least one student loan. Story continues It wasn't so long ago that if you were a student with a loan who wanted to pay more this month than usual, you had to fill out an elaborate form and snail-mail it to the lender just to have the privilege of paying. Behavior has shifted, Beryl says. In an era of mobile banking, young people are attuned to doing their banking without the face-to-face interaction that traditionally would have been involved in something as weighty as refinancing a loan. Earnest, for now, has no app, but will launch one this year. Earnest says that with its precision pricing tool, clients have saved an average $17,936 after refinancing. But eager fintech-savvy student borrowers, beware: Refinancing isn't for everyone. As Yahoo Finance's Mandi Woodruff has warned , refinancing a student loan can be the wrong move in some cases. Remember that if you lower your monthly payment, it will give you more flexibility -- which is especially helpful if you're having trouble repaying the debt -- but you'll also be extending your loan term and end up paying more over the life of the loan . -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: This app wants to be the social network of the future-- literally Here's how you can invest in the blockchain Facebook, Amazon, and Google all want to stream NFL games Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || Forty big banks test blockchain-based bond trading system: By Jemima Kelly
LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - Forty of the world's biggest banks, including HSBC and Citi, have tested a system for trading fixed income using the technology that underpins bitcoin, fintech company R3 CEV said on Thursday.
The banks are part of a consortium of 42 major lenders, brought together last year by New York-based R3 CEV to work on ways blockchain technology could be used in financial markets - the first time so many have collaborated on using such systems.
A blockchain is a huge, decentralised ledger of transactions that can be used to secure and validate any exchange of data, including real assets, such as commodities or currencies.
Bitcoin's blockchain was the first, but others have since been built that offer additional features and can be programmed. That means the technology can enable so-called smart contracts: agreements that are automatically executed when pre-determined conditions are met.
For this experiment, the banks tried five different blockchain-technology providers to test trading fixed income: Ethereum, often considered the most advanced and ambitious, Chain, Eris Industries, IBM and Intel.
"We have raised the bar significantly with the sheer number of global financial institutions, distributed ledger technologies and cloud providers working together ... to demonstrate how this nascent technology can be applied to ... an actively traded asset class," said the head of R3's Collaborative Lab, Tim Grant.
Banks reckon the technology could save them money by cutting out middlemen and making their operations more transparent. But analysts say it is early days - bitcoin was invented just six years ago and developers are still working on the technology.
Indeed, the G20's Financial Stability Board said on Saturday assessing the systemic implications of fintech innovations would form part of the task force's core policy work this year and global regulators could propose rules to prevent them from destabilising the broader financial system.
Chain's CEO Adam Ludwin said: "R3 is further accelerating the adoption of blockchain technology by demonstrating, instead of simply asserting, the commercial advantages of this emerging approach to financial services."
(Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Alison Williams) || University of California Berkeley notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || Flux Party seeks to be the bitcoin of Australian politics: By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - A new Australian political party is using the virtual currency bitcoin as a model to replace what they say is an outdated political system - representative democracy - with a streamlined new polity for the information age. The Flux Party says its goal is to elect six senators. They will propose no policies and will not follow their consciences, but will support or block legislation at the direction of their members, who can swap or trade their votes on every bill online. "If they didn't have to be senators, if they could just be software or robots they would be, because their only purpose is to do what the people want them to do," Flux Party co-founder Max Kaye told Reuters in an interview. Australia is set to hold an election in September or October after a period of turmoil that brought five prime ministers in as many years. At the same time the upper house, which thanks to the quirks of its electoral system has a history of returning mavericks and fringe party candidates, has been hopelessly deadlocked by a handful of senators, at least one elected on less than 1 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week raised the possibility of calling an early poll to break the gridlock that has held up the government's legislative agenda. That type of policy inertia is what bitcoin enthusiasts Kaye and Flux co-founder Nathan Spataro say inspired them to explore alternative systems that better represent the world of 2016. Bitcoin is a web-based "cryptocurrency" used to move money around quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority. The technology behind it is called the blockchain - a massive electronic ledger of every transaction that is verified and shared by a global network of computers. To Spataro and Kaye, bitcoin is not just an alternative financial system: it is the missing link between representative democracy and Democracy 2.0. "This ancient system we've got of representative democracy, which at the time liberated us from monarchies and was awesome, now we're at a point where it's become this monster," Spataro said. "We're in a society now that's got the Internet and when democracy in its current form was conceived, you had to sail on a ship from England to get here. This model wasn't designed for this world." "DELIGHTFULLY NAIVE" Bitcoin's strength comes from its ability to build trust through ease of verification and by removing human frailty from the equation, said Dr. Adrian Lee, an expert on bitcoin at the University of Technology Sydney. That makes what the Flux Party is proposing both unique and also potentially fraught. "I haven't seen a party which would vote via blockchain," Lee said. "If you removed the politician and made it just a bitcoin machine, then maybe it would work but you can't do that," he said, noting the absence of a legally binding mechanism to make Flux senators vote as directed. Although the party's architecture for calculating and distributing voters' wishes to their elected officials uses highly complex computer code, the overall idea is fairly simple. Flux members and single-issue campaigners that agree to support the party at the election are allotted bitcoin-like tokens that they can use themselves, trade or give to experts or interest groups they trust to vote as their proxy. Outcomes are distributed proportionately, so if 80 percent vote in favor of a bill and 20 against, five Flux senators vote yea and one nay. Ministers are not often experts in their portfolio, and yet they are charged with making critical decisions on issues such as environmental or fiscal policy. Under their system, the Flux Party founders say, large blocs of voters could effectively grant their vote on such issues to a scientist or economist. "You get sick, you go to the doctor, right? You don't self-diagnose and you don't go and call your plumber," Kaye said. The Party filed its registration papers with the Australian Election Commission last month after obtaining the requisite support of at least 550 registered voters. Its website currently puts its membership at 1,009 people. Attempting to apply the transformative power of the Internet to democratic systems is not a new one, said Peter Chen, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Sydney, who called the Flux Party "delightfully naive people". "They're just the modern version of something that's always been around: utopian political system designers," he said. "They're obviously guys who are really focused on the tech thing and that has always been the problem with the e-democracy people. They're often really tech-driven and they need political scientists at the brainstorming floor to say 'well, I don't know if that'd work'." (Reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Alex Richardson) || Bitcoin finds room in small funds; large institutions still on sidelines: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin has found favor among smaller investors, thanks to the availability of funds designed to invest in it, but remains a niche among the larger investing community.
Investors at some family offices, smaller mutual funds, and traders at hedge funds say bitcoin has helped returns and demonstrated a low correlation with other asset classes.
Hopes that bitcoin would become a broadly used alternative to other currencies helped buoy its price to more than $1,000 in December 2013, when its market capitalization was $13 billion.
But the market cap has retreated since then, to about $6.4 billion as of Thursday.
Early enthusiasts for the crypto-currency were drawn to its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. The risks of dealing in bitcoin were laid bare in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange Mt Gox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds.
The currency's earlier ties to gambling and criminal websites did not endear it to traditional investors.
Jeremy Millar, founder and managing partner at Ledger Partners in London, estimated that 50 to 90 percent of bitcoin's current $6.4 billion market cap is held by near-institutional money such as individuals at hedge funds and family offices. That has not changed over the last two years.
He does not have an estimate for institutional investment holdings of bitcoin. But he said they are likely to be insignificant, compared with the smaller investors who have fewer restrictions about fund allocation.
"What is clear though is that over the last two years, bitcoin has emerged from its 'hacktivist' origins to a more institutionalized ecosystem which includes the participation of hedge funds, traders, and professional investors," said Millar.
BITCOIN IN PORTFOLIOS
Funds dedicated to investing in bitcoin are relatively small. The largest is the Pantera Bitcoin Fund, a $160 million hedge fund founded by Dan Morehead, formerly of Tiger Management, available to institutions and individuals who invest $50,000 or more.
According to a Pantera Bitcoin Fund brochure, the fund was launched in July 2013, a period when bitcoin <BTC=BTSP> traded at around $65. On Thursday, it traded at $418.80, a gain of more than 500 percent from July 2013. The firm did not comment on fund performance or its investors.
The majority of the Pantera Fund's investors are family offices and high net worth individuals, said two people familiar with the fund.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, with assets of more than $60 million, is another vehicle for investors. GBTC is backed by bitcoin advocate Barry Silbert and his Digital Currency Group.
It is the only publicly traded U.S. security in the over-the-counter market invested in bitcoin. Volume is thin, with a few thousand shares traded daily, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Antonis Polemitis, managing director at Ledra Capital in New York, a family office specializing in education and technology, said that on average, clients have allocated 1 to 3 percent of their portfolios to bitcoin.
"A lot of people will take that bet with 1 percent of their assets," he said. "A 1 percent loss does not change anyone's life in any way. If it goes up 10 times, then you get to feel very smart."
Some investment managers say having bitcoin in portfolios has helped performance.
ARK Invest, which manages four exchange-traded funds with $240 million in assets, holds GBTC in its $12 million Next Generation Internet ETF and the $7 million ARK Innovation ETF.
Chris Burniske, analyst and blockchain products lead at ARK Invest in New York, said since investing in September 2015, GBTC has contributed 67 basis points to the Next Generation Internet ETF's return and 62 basis points to the ARK Innovation ETF.
For 2015, the Next Generation ETF posted a 15.29 percent return, while the Innovation ETF had 3.76 percent gains.
For Kingsbridge Wealth Management, a multifamily office in Las Vegas with $150 million in assets, GBTC has become a great diversifier because so far it has had a low correlation with other asset classes, said David Dunn, the firm's founder and chief investment officer. The firm has about $1.7 million invested in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain, Dunn said.
(Editing by David Gaffen and Matthew Lewis)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#SPPL #bitcoin #iticoin Установите себе на компьютер ИТИкойн бумажник, создайте заявку в Формуле ИТИ+29% http://ru.super-ppl.com/?i=700 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 14 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $144.26 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 431.42$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2016-02-27 11:00:08 EST || The current #BITCOIN price at Sun Feb 28 09:02:04 AWST 2016 is 1 BITCOIN for 425.7700 #USD, or 306.9166 #GBP or 597.5049 #AUD. || My monster has 494 hp left! I've earned a total of 4,218,054 satoshi http://www.monstercoingame.com/?id=5079138 #monstercoingame #Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || Liquid Bitcoin || Bitcoin ATM Comes To Philadelphia - http://ift.tt/1XQtjlb || One Bitcoin now worth $412.58@bitstamp. High $417.00. Low $409.62. Market Cap $ 6.319 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/WlcUWGKgak
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Trend: up || Prices: 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19, 423.73, 424.28, 429.71
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-05-28]
BTC Price: 237.41, BTC RSI: 50.72
Gold Price: 1188.10, Gold RSI: 44.87
Oil Price: 57.68, Oil RSI: 49.14
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Despite Warnings About A Grexit, Investors Remain Calm: With Greece and its EU creditors still trying to work out the details of an agreement to release the nation's bailout funds just days before Athens is due to make loan repayments, policymakers in other parts of the world are beginning to worry that a Greek exit from the eurozone is becoming a real possibility. However, warnings from the U.S. and Canada have done little to upset investors, who appear to firmly believe that the two sides will reach a deal in the 11th hour. Concern Abroad On Wednesday, US Treasury Chief Jacob Lew warned EU lawmakers that a Greek exit from the currency union would be devastating to global financial markets. Lew appeared worried that European policy makers were complacent now that stability has returned to the region, and he cautioned that a crisis in Greece would almost certainly upset the balance in the region. Related Link: Will Spain Become The Next Greece? Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver reiterated Lew's remarks, saying that Greece may be small, but the ripple effect of a Greek crisis would be massive. Lew and Oliver are heading to a Group of Seven meeting in Germany on Thursday, where Greek financial troubles will undoubtedly be a part of the discussion. Investors Believe Resolution Is In Sight Despite the tension surrounding Greek debt talks, investors have kept their calm. A Sentix survey of 1,000 investors showed that only 41 percent believe a Grexit is imminent. That figure, though still high, marks a decline from the 49 percent who saw Greece leaving the euro in April. Although the debt talks have dragged on longer than anticipated, rhetoric from both sides suggest that there is a commitment to keeping Greece inside the eurozone, which has given investors confidence that the deal will be completed before Athens defaults. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Should The UK Regulate Bitcoin Wallets? Federal Government Reminds Workers That Marijuana Is Still Off Limits Entrepreneurs Got Their Groove Back In 2014 © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Columbus International Inc. Closes Upon Its Acquisition by CWC: BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS--(Marketwired - Mar 31, 2015) - Columbus International Inc. ("Columbus") is pleased to announce that it has received the requisite approvals, satisfied all necessary conditions and has closed upon its transaction to be acquired by Cable & Wireless Communications PLC ("CWC") as previously announced on November 6, 2014. The acquisition, valued at US$3.025bn, will enable the combined company to significantly accelerate growth, improve service delivery to customers in the region, offer customers a more comprehensive portfolio of high-quality products and services, and strengthen its position against larger competitors. The increased scale and capabilities of the combined company will provide the technical platform and financial capacity to help enable the combined company to drive greater innovation and expand its geographic footprint.
The combination of the two companies is consistent with global industry trends, where convergence of fixed and mobile networks, increasing content consumption growth, and continuing development of online applications are driving requirements for high bandwidth, fixed line networks and TV capabilities. Operators in Europe and North America, as well as regional competitors, are acquiring and constructing networks that are capable of supporting ever-growing data needs along with new video capabilities.
Columbus believes that the combined strengths of both companies will accelerate growth, provide the necessary scale to enhance the customer experience, and help to allow Columbus to achieve its goal to become the "Best service provider" and "Employer of Choice" in the region. Similarly, the combination of the two businesses supports CWC's new strategy and its four primary areas of focus: Drive Mobile Leadership; Accelerate Fixed-Mobile Convergence; Reinforce TV Offer; and Grow Business to Business and Business to Government sectors. This strategy is underpinned by their announced US$1.05billion Project Marlin capital investment program. Additionally, CWC believes that the combination of the two businesses will generate material operating cost and capital expenditure synergies.
The combination of Columbus' pay TV capabilities and next-generation, state-of-the-art fibre networks with CWC's region-leading mobile footprint and existing fixed line infrastructure will significantly expand product and service offerings for customers and also advance CWC's quad play ambitions. The combined business will also deliver the benefits of superior quality network infrastructure, fixed-mobile products and bundles, superior TV content at competitive rates, and a more attractive portfolio of products and services in the B2B and B2G segments.
For both companies, the combination transaction will enable greater focus on the Caribbean, Andean and Latin American markets, a region that offers attractive growth.
Cox & Palmer acted as lead legal counsel to Columbus, supported by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer together with Mills & Reeve (UK corporate and securities), Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler (bond and financing) and Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP (USA regulatory)
Citigroup Global Markets Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and RBC Capital Markets, LLC acted as financial advisors to Columbus.
About Columbus International Inc.Columbus International Inc.is a privately held diversified telecommunications company based in Barbados. The Company provides digital cable television, broadband Internet and digital landline telephony in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Curacao under the brand nameFlowand in Antigua under the brand nameKarib Cable. Columbus also provides next generation connectivity and IT solutions, managed networking and cloud-based services under the brandColumbus Business Solutions. Through its subsidiary,Columbus Networks, the Company provides capacity and IP services, corporate data solutions and data centre services throughout 42 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central American and Andean region. Through its fully protected, ringed submarine fibre optic network spanning more than 42,300 km and its 38,000 km terrestrial fibre and coaxial network, Columbus' 3,150 plus professionals provide advanced telecom services to a diverse residential and corporate client base of approximately 720,000 customers.
For more information visit:www.columbus.co
About Cable & Wireless CommunicationsCable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full-service communications provider operating in 16 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. With four leading brands: Mas Movil (Cable and Wireless Panama), LIME (the Caribbean excluding The Bahamas), BTC (The Bahamas) and Cable and Wireless Seychelles, CWC offers mobile, broadband, TV, domestic and international fixed line services and serves over 5.5m customers. CWC also provides premium data centre hosting, domestic and international managed data network services and customised IT Service Solutions to businesses and governments through our Cable & Wireless Business Solutions division.
We are the market leader in most of the products we offer and the territories we serve.
For more information visit:www.cwc.com. || Can Overstock.com (OSTK) Surprise This Earnings Season? - Analyst Blog: Overstock.com Inc.OSTK is slated to report first-quarter 2015 results after the closing bell on Apr 27. Last quarter, the company posted a negative earnings surprise of 76.00%. Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors to Consider
Overstock’s fourth-quarter 2014 earnings of 6 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 25 cents. Revenues of $470 million, however, beat the consensus mark of $452 million.
On a positive note, Overstock, which became the first large retailer to accept bitcoin in Jan 2014 is likely to benefit from the bitcoin-friendly regulatory climate in its home state, Utah. The new bill also proposes that Utah could become a Bitcoin Silicon Valley.
Overstock Club O loyalty program, which costs customers $19.95 a year, comes with free shipping and a generous rewards payout of 5% to 25% on all items purchased. That, along with a new branded credit card, should help boost loyalty to the site and encourage repeat purchases.
Overstock has been accepting bitcoin as payment for a year now. Customers have made $3 million worth of purchases with it so far. Recently, there were reports that it is planning to offer its employees the option of being paid in bitcoin.
With a strong business model and a growing customer base, Overstock should benefit from the shifting demand to purchase gifts and other items online.
Earnings Whispers?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Overstock will beat earnings estimates this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Ranks #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.
Zacks ESP:Both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 20 cents. Hence, the difference is 0.00%.
Zacks Rank:Overstock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Though Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 increases the predictive power of ESP, the company’s ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult.
We caution against stocks with Zacks Rank #4 and 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.
Other Stocks to Consider
Here are some other companies, which you may consider as our model shows that they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:
Groupon, Inc. GRPN has an Earnings ESP of +50.00% and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy)Cognex Corp. CGNX with Earnings ESP of +4.35% and a Zacks Rank #1Apple Inc. AAPL has an Earnings ESP of +1.38% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportOVERSTOCK.COM (OSTK): Free Stock Analysis ReportAPPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis ReportCOGNEX CORP (CGNX): Free Stock Analysis ReportGROUPON INC (GRPN): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || 10 mobile payment systems you need to know: googlewallet.jpg Image: Marguerite Reardon/CNET Nearly every day I am confronted with the fact that I am a rarity, the last of a dying breed. I am someone who still regularly uses cash to make purchases. In today's society, that makes me a dinosaur. Mobile technology has driven advancements in the payments industry that are making it easier and easier to make purchases without ever opening your wallet. The plethora of options doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is on board. According to data collected by 451 Research , many users are still uneasy when it comes to mobile payments due to security concerns. Still, the technology is moving forward and more vendors are accepting mobile payments everyday. If you want to get started with mobile payments, you have to first understand all your options. Here are 12 of the top mobile payment systems available. Google Wallet One of the first major NFC-based payment systems, Google Wallet was released back in September 2011. You can use Google Wallet to make purchases online or in a store, and send money to friends and family. Some have argued that it will be overtaken by Apple Pay, but that may not be the case . In fact, Google recently acquired intellectual property (IP) from Softcard to better compete. Apple Pay Apple Pay debuted alongside the iPhone 6 in late 2014. Users with an iPhone 6 or later, or an Apple Watch, register existing credit or debit cards with the service and use it to make payments with one of those cards. To use Apple Pay, you place your device near a reader and place your finger on the fingerprint scanner to quickly make a purchase. PayPal Known as the go-to payment system for eBay, PayPal also has a pretty useful mobile app. Users can snap a picture of a credit or debit card to add it to their account and make purchases or send money straight from their phone. PayPal has integrations with Uber, Airbnb, and StubHub for convenient payments. Square Cash Square Cash is a mobile payment option that allows users to create a unique username known as a $Cashtag. According to the Square Cash website, users can tweet out their $Cashtag for donations, or use it to pay their rent. You can also use it to pay someone for their services or simply send them some money. Stripe A web and mobile payment system that is "built for developers," Stripe offers a host of tools and APIs to customize it for you or your business. Users can accept Bitcoin through Stripe. Additionally Stripe is integrated with companies such as Lyft, Instacart, and Postmates. Dwolla Dwolla is a payment network for moving money. It doesn't require a credit or debit card, rather, it connects directly to your checking account. Use an email address to transfer money for $0.25 per transaction. Or, if the transaction is $10 or less, it's free. Only one party pays the fee and you can use it to send money to people even if they don't have a Dwolla account. Story continues M-Pesa Vodafone launched M-Pesa back in 2007. It allows users to deposit or withdraw money, transfer money, and make payments with their mobile phone. The actual account for the money is stored on the user's phone, and they use secure SMS messages to send money or make payments. The transactions carry a small fee as well. Very popular in some African markets, M-Pesa is huge in Kenya where the service first launched. Venmo Connect your bank account or debit card to send payments with Venmo. According to the company's website, it's always free to receive money through Venmo and most of the time it is free to send money, depending on what credit card or debit card you're using. Sign up with Facebook or by using an email address. Lifelock Wallet After purchasing Lemon Wallet, Lifelock created the Lifelock Wallet. It acts as a cloud storage system for all the cards you'd normally see in a wallet. Your ID, insurance card, loyalty cards, and payment cards are all stored and accessed through the app. The app touts Lifelock's security protection and users can access their credit score through the app for $.99. Samsung Pay After acquiring the company LoopPay, Samsung will fold its Samsung Wallet to be replaced by Samsung Pay. A technology known as Magnetic Secure Transmission is embedded in Samsung's Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, and it allows users to pay with their phone at a standard magnetic stripe reader. The service was only recently announced and will likely launch this summer. What do you think? Do you use a mobile payment system? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments. Also see What to learn from Apple's new Apple Pay mobile payment platform The liability shift and its impact on mobile payments Are people scared of mobile payments? Why Apple Pay won't be the death of Google Wallet View comments || Coinbase Expands Into The UK: Over the past few months, the UK has made itself a welcome home for bitcoin users, enthusiasts, and entrepreneurs looking to get in on the growing trend of digital currencies.
Many have declared London as a hub for bitcoin businesses due to the city's attitude of acceptance, and it seems that established bitcoin-based firms are beginning to take notice.
Coinbase Exchange Opening
On Tuesday, Coinbaseopeneda regulated exchange in the UK, allowing users to trade bitcoins for both pounds and euros.
Before this week's opening, Coinbase was only operating in the US, but the expansion will allow users in Great Britain to use the service as well.
Positivity In The UK
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said much of his decision to expand into the UK was based on a recent visit to London, where he said the attitude surrounding cryptocurrencies was very optimistic.
Though he admitted the exchange was difficult to open due to regulatory oversight in the UK, Armstrong said the region's regulators were very accommodating and helpful.
Related Link:Bitcoin Wallet Circle Rumored To Be Raising Million
London Emerging As Bitcoin Hub
Armstrong's experience expanding into the UK suggests that the region is making good on pledges by British Economy and Finance Minister George Osbourne to work together with firms and promote digital currencies while still protecting the region against criminal activity.
Coinbase To Continue Growing
Armstrong says that the company's UK expansion is only the beginning of the exchange's growth.
Already the largest exchange by volume in the US, Coinbase is hoping to take its services across the globe to serve several different markets.
See more from Benzinga
• With No Chance Of A Rate Hike, Investors To Focus On Fed's Economic Analysis
• Rising Drug Prices Capture Congress' Attention
• Greece Isn't The Only Flight Risk For The Eurozone
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 21 Inc. Finally Reveals Its Secretive Product: A Bitcoin Mining Chip: Back in March, bitcoin enthusiasts were abuzz with speculation about what 21 Inc. might be working on. The cryptocurrency startup was able to secure upwards of $110 million in fundraising from a spate of big name investors like QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM ) and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. However, the company has been secretive about what it had been working on – until now. A New Kind Of Chip On Monday, the company revealed that it will roll out an embeddable chip that allows users to mine bitcoins from their wireless devices. The chip is designed to verify transactions while running as a background process, thus providing the user with a "continuous stream of digital currency." Related Link: Solving Bitcoins Scalability Problem Integrating Bitcoin Into The IoT 21 Inc. says its chip wasn't designed as a way to make people rich, but instead the company says it's more focused on integrating the cryptocurrency into the Internet of Things (IoT) and creating a micropayment scheme. Micropayment Device The chip, called BitShare, can consolidate, what 21 Inc. expects to be, a large number of micropayments, as the Internet of Things gains traction. Instead of customers paying for each individual service, they can install a BitShare chip and pay for the fees associated with things like connected lightbulbs or automated fire alarms using their mined bitcoin. The company says it eventually hopes to use the technology to make having a smartphone more attainable in developing countries by subsidizing some of the costs through bitcoin mining. Related Link: Bitcoin: Making Progress In Europe Is The Chip Worth It? The chip marks a big development for the bitcoin community, but it isn't without criticism. Many worry about the feasibility of such a product, as it is likely to use a great deal of data and could significantly reduce the battery life of a smartphone. Some say consumers will be unwilling to sacrifice those things for the comparatively small reward, which may be just a few cents worth of bitcoin. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga What A Difference A Second Makes: Are Markets Prepared For Leap Second? Delivery Services Deal With Growing Volume Here's Why U.S. Automakers Fear The Pacific Trade Pact © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Yoox Merger With Net-a-Porter Creates A Force To Be Reckoned With: Online retail has traditionally been associated with low cost, but Italy'sYoox SpA(OTC:YXOXF) and fashion websiteNet-a-Porterhave proven that there is also a market out there for online luxury retail.
Now the two have decided to join forces and cement their position as a major player in the quickly growing industry.
On Tuesday, Yoox announced its plans to buy high-end fashion website Net-a-Porter in an all stock deal that will create Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, estimated to be worth around $2.86 billion.
The new company is expected to generate over $1.4 billion worth of revenue per year.
Luxury Moves Online
The merger comes at a time when online retail is taking off and luxury goods consumers are beginning to turn to the web rather than visiting brick and mortar stores.
Its estimated that about 40 percent of the world's luxury brands can't be found online, but that statistic is slowly changing as high-end department stores likeNeiman Marcus GroupandSaks Incestablish more of an online presence.
Related Link:Can Tidal Compete With Existing Music Streaming Services?
The Best Of Both Worlds
Retailers likeAmazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) andAlibaba Group Holding Ltd(NYSE:BABA) have become increasingly interested in the fast growing luxury market, but Yoox and Net-a-Porter have the advantage of experience on their side.
Yoox is responsible for the technology behind several high-end designers' websites and runs three designer clothing retail sites of its own, while Net-a-Porter's business focuses exclusively on selling designer clothing and footwear.
Yoox founder and CEO Federico Marchetti told theNew York Timesthat the merger will allow both companies to benefit from the other's strengths.
Net-a-Porter is well known for its editorial content and ability to engage customers, something that Marchetti said Yoox is lacking.
See more from Benzinga
• TV For Babies Expanding Despite Controversy
• Meet The 3 Companies Goldman Sachs Says Are Leading The Bitcoin Revolution
• Verizon To Offer Original Programming
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Midas Rezerv Announces the First Gold-Backed Currency on the Bitcoin Blockchain: BANGKOK, THAILAND / ACCESSWIRE / April 24, 2015 / Midas Rezerv has launched a more efficient way to trade physical gold. Trade gold for very low fees and the transparency of blockchain technology. Every Midas Rezerv token is 100% backed by 1 gram of gold. The Midas Rezerv team has launched a decentralized distributed 100% physical gold-backed token platform designed to enhance investments, trading, capital preservation, and payments in physical gold represented by its digital equivalent. The gold holdings are stored in non-bank, fully-insured vaults located in Free Trade Zones, with a permanent proof of holdings available for public access online and via the blockchain. Midas Rezerv aims to disrupt $500 Billion private investment gold market by offering decentralized trading and gold distribution ecosystem on bitcoinblockchain. Current physical gold investing has high premiums to buy, discounts to sell, along with storage and insurance fees. Midas Rezerv offers individuals a cost-effective and secure solution to own, trade, and pay with physical gold in a new fashion, based on decentralized bitcoinblockchain design. Each MRCoin is backed by 1 gram of real investment gold bullion, which is fully auditable in real time, and is digitally marked to specific vault location that it is stored in. Midas Rezerv offers very low transaction fees. "Midas Rezerv brings together 6 years of blockchain technology with 6000 years of gold history. Now anybody can own and securely store physical gold within the reach of a smartphone, and conduct trading and payments in gold within seconds and at a very low cost. If you own MRcoin, you own the gold." -Alexi Lane, Founder of Midas Rezerv- MRCoin works as a bearer-bond coin and is the perfect safe haven to preserve and transfer value, use as trading asset, or as a method of payment. It is redeemable for gold or cash through authorized dealers and bitcoin exchanges. Midas Rezerv will be working with some of the top cryptocurrency exchanges from around the globe. Initial trading of MRCoins vaulted in Amsterdam (MRCAM), has commenced on Master Exchange . Midas Rezerv will be creating easy entry and exit points for gold traders and long-term investors to work in the market for both bitcoin and fiat currencies. Midas Rezerv is working directly with top-tier storage vaults from around the globe, and has currently secured relationships with vaults in Amsterdam, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Story continues Midas Rezerv platform is created and maintained by Amilabs, Ltd ., a blockchain development company specializing in Bitcoin 2.0 infrastructure. You can learn more about Midas Rezerv at https://midasrezerv.com/ . For Direct Inquiries contact Alexi Lane at contact@midasrezerv.com or Marketing Department pr@midasrezerv.com . For Telephone inquiries call: +852-8197-GOLD SOURCE: Midas Rezerv || Greece Promises To Pay, But With What Cash?: After much speculation that Greece was almost out of cash, the nation confirmed this week that it had enough money to make its debt payment to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday. Athens is due to pay 460 million to the IMF, but stalled negotiations with Greece's EU creditors had many worried that the payment would be missed. However, on Sunday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told IMF chief, Christine Lagarde, that Athens would pay on time. But, How? Many are wondering just where Greece will get that money from, as EU lawmakers are still unsatisfied with Athens' proposals of economic reform. Greece's creditors are withholding the next installment of bailout money until Athens proves that it is committed to economic reform and will make the necessary changes and stick to them. Without the EU funding, the Greek treasury is rumored to run dry on April 9. Related Link: Here's What Happens If Greece Runs Out Of Money A New Source Of Income On Monday, the Greek government revealed part of its plan to recoup some of that money; World War II reparations from Germany. Greek Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas claimed in parliament that Berlin owed 278.7 billion in World War II compensation, which German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said was "dumb." German officials say the war reparations claims are being used as a distraction from the nation's crippled finances and are unlikely to pay up. Grexit Still A Worry In any case, it is clear that Greece is strapped for cash, and the deteriorating relationship between Athens and its EU creditors is becoming worrisome for investors. If the two don't come to an agreement soon, Greece may default and be forced to exit the eurozone. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Colorado Residents To Decide If The Government Keeps Or Refunds Their Money Rand Paul Uses Bitcoin To Boost His Campaign Spoiler Alert: Google Could Be Watching What You're Watching © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || USAA creates research team to study use of bitcoin technology: (This story corrects the 8th paragraph of the story which ran on May 8, 2015 to show Dapps Venture Fund is based in Austin, Texas, not San Antonio, Texas)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - USAA, a San Antonio, Texas-based financial institution serving current and former members of the military, is studying the underlying technology behind the digital currency bitcoin to help make its operations more efficient, a company executive said.
Alex Marquez, managing director of corporate development at USAA, said in an interview this week that the company and its banking, insurance, and investment management subsidiaries hoped the "blockchain" technology could help decentralize its operations such as the back office.
He said USAA had a large team researching the potential of the blockchain, an open ledger of a digital currency's transactions, viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation. It lets users make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation.
The blockchain ledger is accessible to all users of bitcoin, a virtual currency created through a computer "mining" process that uses millions of calculations. Bitcoin has no ties to a central bank and is viewed as an alternative to paying for goods and services with credit cards.
"We have serious interest in the blockchain and we think the technology would have an impact on the organization," said Marquez. "The fact that we have such a large group of people working on this shows how serious we are about the potential of this technology."
USAA, which provides banking, insurance and other products to 10.7 million current or former members of the military, owns and manages assets of about $213 billion.
Marquez said USAA had no plans to dabble in the bitcoin as a currency. Its foray into the blockchain reflects a trend among banking institutions trying to integrate bitcoin technology into their systems. BNY Mellon and UBS have announced initiatives to explore the blockchain technology.
Most large banks are testing the blockchain internally, said David Johnston, managing director at Dapps Venture Fund in Austin, Texas. "All of the banks are going through that process of trying to understand how this technology is going to evolve."
"I would say that by the end of the year, most will have solidified a blockchain technology strategy, how the bank is going to implement and how it will move the technology forward."
USAA is still in early stages of its research and has yet to identify how it will implement the technology.
In January this year, USAA invested in Coinbase, the biggest bitcoin company, which runs a host of services, including an exchange and a wallet, which is how bitcoins are stored by users online.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by David Gregorio)
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin traded at $240.52 USD on BTC-e at 07:00 AM Pacific Time || current #bitcoin price (winkdex) is $241.08, last changed Fri, 10 Apr 2015 05:20:00 GMT. queried at: 05:23:14 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 24 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $831.81 #bitcoin #btc || $235.68 at 00:45 UTC [24h Range: $233.75 - $236.52 Volume: 4360 BTC] || Current price: 149.78£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-04-15 19:00:07 BST || current #bitcoin price (winkdex) is $219.96, last changed Wed, 15 Apr 2015 17:55:00 GMT. queried at: 17:57:31 || LIVE: Profit = $1,042.74 (30.13 %). BUY B15.36 @ $225.18 (#Bitfinex). SELL @ $235.00 (#VirCurex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || 1 #bitcoin 611.26 TL, 223.337 $, 212.7 €, 153.19999 GBP, 12000.00 RUR, 27150 ¥, 1469 CNH, 276.15 CAD #btc || $236.00 #bitstamp;
$236.00 #btce;
Instantly buy GH/s with BTC: http://bit.ly/LN53k1
#bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $1,193.71 (3.33 %). BUY B161.09 @ $222.00 (#Bitfinex). SELL @ $222.57 (#HitBTC) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org
|
Trend: down || Prices: 237.10, 233.35, 230.19, 222.93, 225.80, 225.87, 224.32, 224.95, 225.62, 222.88
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2022-09-08]
BTC Price: 19329.83, BTC RSI: 35.89
Gold Price: 1708.00, Gold RSI: 39.20
Oil Price: 83.54, Oil RSI: 37.18
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Doesnt Need Yield When Holding Will Suffice: Advisors, how many clients have you heard tell you they want passive income? Let me rephrase that name me one client who hasnt told you they want passive income? The chase for yield has and will continue to be one of the most difficult challenges an advisor faces from an investment standpoint. I want to challenge the notion that clients will need passive income or yield if bitcoin (BTC) is their unit of account. Why would you risk a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of high double digits for 6% or even 10%? Not only are the risks of chasing yields in crypto space high, the idea of seeking a yield on bitcoin does not make fundamental sense since holding it should suffice. You're reading Crypto for Advisors , a weekly look at digital assets and the future of finance for financial advisors. Subscribe here to receive the mailing every Thursday. So before seeking a yield on bitcoin, lets look at some of the risks of crypto yields and then consider why bitcoin is an outstanding currency to hold due to its deflationary traits. Yield on bitcoin isnt worth the risk The recent events from centralized finance, or CeFi, lenders show clearly that yields arent worth the risk. The bankruptcies of Celsius Network and Voyager Digital are significant lessons that if you dont understand where the yield comes from its best to stay away. Speculation and wild risk-taking became rampant, and yield farmers who left their crypto on those platforms were left holding the bag. Celsius promised quick and outsized yields as large as 18% in order to attract hordes of new users to its platform. They subsidized the yields and took on losses in order to quickly boost their user base. Because the yields were subsidized, they were essentially fake and comparable to a Ponzi scheme. Voyager had also successfully attracted loads of yield-hungry depositors, but it made poor decisions on whom to lend that money. Its biggest lending customer, Three Arrows Capital, had large exposure to the LUNA token. When LUNA imploded, it caused a domino effect that led to the bankruptcy of Three Arrows and, consequently, Voyager. Story continues Although the yields in some cases throughout the industry were advertised in the high double digits, the grand majority of the yields were a mere 6% to 9%. Which begs the question: Why risk a scarce asset that is appreciating 53% annually the last five years for a paltry single-digit yield? Yield on bitcoin is unnecessary The idea of yield comes from an ever-expanding money supply the yield you need is to offset the newly created units. The reason we are obsessed with yield is that the number of dollars in circulation has significantly increased and shows no signs of slowing down. Bitcoin doesnt need a yield because you dont need to offset the increase in the money supply. Unlike dollars that are inflationary and can be printed in endless quantities, Bitcoin is deflationary and capped at a supply of 21 million units. Read more: To Understand Bitcoin, We Need to Understand What Money Is With dollars, your yield is to help you maintain purchasing power over time. But you dont need to find yield to keep pace if you have a scarce asset. A great example is the median home price in the U.S. in 2018 it cost 24.5 bitcoin to own and today it is 20 bitcoin. If we had saved in dollars youd need 30% more today than in 2018 for that same purchase. In other words, simply holding bitcoin would have increased your purchasing power over time, unlike holding dollars that would have reduced your purchasing power during that same period of time. Money that cannot be increased holds its value better. If money holds its value, there is no need for yield since holding it suffices. Holding a currency is saving. Lending out a currency puts it at risk and thus needs a return or yield. Deflation promotes saving, which is good, and bitcoin allows this to happen. Inflation erodes the value of savings, which is bad. Expanding the dollar supply causes inflation and encourages debt and speculation, which rarely turns out well. If you need a refresher on why this is the case, read Jeff Boths seminal book called " The Price of Tomorrow ." The book will challenge those voices who claim inflation is needed for a well-run and functioning economy. All advisors should place this next on their reading list. Bitcoin allows for saving ("hodling") to increase purchasing power and then investing only when it makes sense to put funds at risk. Bitcoin seems risky, but you trade short-term volatility for long-term stability. Read more: Compounding and Saving in Bitcoin: The Power of a Dollar-Cost Averaging Strategy Bitcoin can be held to navigate the unknowns of the future. We can effectively save bitcoin, unlike dollars, knowing the protocol rules will be defended. Those rules include bitcoins hard cap supply of 21 million and its decentralized traits. A great example of rules being defended is the " Block Size Wars ." The rule set and historical precedent demonstrate those who save in bitcoin dont need yield to maintain purchasing power. Therefore, clients can benefit from living below their means to save into bitcoin! || First Mover Americas: Bitcoin's Rally Loses Steam After US Jobs Report: • Price Point:Bitcoin fell as the U.S. jobs report showed hiring accelerated in July from June.
• Market Moves:Omkar Godbole reports onFlow token's price rallyof 40% and how the surge is related to Meta Platform's decision to use the blockchain to expand its non-fungible tokens (NFTs) initiative.
• Chart of The Day:Bitcoin's put-call skew continues to drift lower, indicating a weakening of bearish sentiment.
This article originally appeared inFirst Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context.Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
Gains early Friday in bitcoin (BTC) appeared to reverse after the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 528,000 jobs in July, double the number economists had forecast.
Thereportmay mean the Federal Reserve will be more aggressive in its efforts to tamp down inflation, which is at a four-decade high. Hawkish moves by the central bank tend to depress prices of risky assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies.
The jobs report came at the end of a slow week in crypto that nevertheless brought signs of growing institutional adoption. Asset manager Brevan Howard pulled off the largest crypto hedge fund launch ever, with more than$1 billion in assets under management, and BlackRockformeda partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase to make crypto directly available to institutional investors.Coinbase's sharesclosed 10% higher on Thursday after jumping almost 40% intraday.
Derivatives giant Chicago Mercantile Exchangeannouncedon Thursday that it will roll out bitcoin euro and ether euro futures contracts on Aug. 29, pending regulatory approval.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, appeared to be fairly unaffected by the positive news this week. It has been trading in a range of $22,900 to $24,500 over the last seven days and lost 3% during that period.
Ether (ETH) was down 3.4% on the week, amidconcernsover the Ethereum network’s upcomingMerge. The Merge is set to take place in September. The planned shift to aproof-of-stakenetwork will have a number of consequences, Citigroupsaidin a research report Thursday, including lower energy intensity, the transition of ether into a deflationary asset and a “potential road map to a more scalable future throughsharding."
Altcoins had a positive week with Filecoin taking the lead with a 40% gain. Fantom’s FTM was up 14%, and near, the token of the Near platform, jumped 11%.
[{"Asset": "Loopring", "Ticker": "LRC", "Returns": "+4.4%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Chainlink", "Ticker": "LINK", "Returns": "+4.3%", "DACS Sector": "Computing"}, {"Asset": "Avalanche", "Ticker": "AVAX", "Returns": "+3.5%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}]
[{"Asset": "Terra", "Ticker": "LUNA", "Returns": "\u22121.9%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}]
Meta's NFT Outreach Powers 38% Rally in FLOW Token
By Omkar Godbole
The token of the Flow blockchain surged over 35% in the wake of Facebook parent Meta Platform's decision to use the blockchain to expand its NFT initiative.
CoinDesk datashows FLOW rose 38% to $2.62 in the past 24 hours and went as high as $2.84, which was its highest price since May 31.
The token surged afterMeta announcedthe international expansion of its recently tested digital collectibles feature on its photo and video-sharing platform Instagram anddeclared supportfor NFTs created on the Flow blockchain.
Meta also announced support for Coinbase wallet and Dapper wallet as third-party wallets compatible for use as part of its expansion plan.
The Flow blockchain was created by Dapper Labs and is best known for aNFThit NBA Top Shot. In May, Dapper Labsunveileda $725 million fund to boost “gaming, infrastructure,decentralized finance, content and creators” in the Flow ecosystem.
The Flow token's price rally is backed by a triple-digit jump in futures open interest across major exchanges, including Binance, according to data tracked by Coinglass. Open interest refers to the number of contracts traded but not squared off with an offsetting position.
An increase in open interest means more money is being deployed in the FLOW market and validates the price rally.
FLOW has topped its 100-day simple moving average (SMA), leaving both bitcoin and ether behind, which continue to trade below the key SMA. The bigger downtrend, however, is still intact as seen in the chart below.
By Omkar Godbole
• The 90-day put-call skew, which measures the difference between prices paid for puts relative to calls, continues to decline, indicating a weakening of bearish sentiment.
• According to data tracked by crypto analytics platform Genesis Volatility, call options or bullish bets have been in demand this week.
• "Both short-dated and long dated BTC calls bought outright with relatively cheap volatility," Genesis Volatility said in a market updatepublishedThursday.
• Almost 7% of People in Spain Have Invested in Crypto, Regulator Says: Spain's securities-market authority, CNMV, said it's worried about poor appreciation of the risks even after bringing in new crypto ad warnings earlier this year.
• Crypto Miner Argo Blockchain Faced Equipment Challenges, Higher Costs in July: The London-based company produced 219 bitcoin in the month, 22% more than in June.
• Thailand's Central Bank Extends Retail CBDC Study to Pilot Phase: Pre-empting positive interpretation of the move, the Bank Of Thailand reiterated "it does not have plans to issue Retail CBDC."
• BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik has Been Extradited to the US: The news comes weeks after U.S. authorities called off their previous extradition request, thereby paving the way for Vinnik to be brought to the U.S. || Illegal foreign exchange trading with Bitcoin Kimchi Premium probed in S.Korea: Prosecutors in South Korea are reportedly investigating foreign remittances of over 2 trillion Korean won (US$1.5 billion) at the countrys banks on suspicions of money laundering by crypto speculators. See related article: US$1.5B South Korean kimchi premium crypto scheme prompts 33 arrests Fast facts The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office is examining foreign exchange transactions worth 1.3 trillion won at Shinhan Bank and another 800 billion won at Woori Bank after receiving relevant data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), according to Yonhap . A considerable portion of the transactions were made to China. Multiple local media reports said the FSS has identified the companies involved in the transactions as indulging in illegal profit margin trading using the Bitcoin Kimchi Premium. Kimchi Premium is a term used to describe the premium at which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies trade in South Korea over global markets, as foreign investors are barred from trading locally in crypto. The Bitcoin price in South Korea was once 20% higher than that on a foreign exchange last year during the crypto bull run. Hana, KB Kookmin and NH Nonghyup Bank also show similar records and may be investigated in the near future, according to local news outlet The Asia Business Daily . See related article: Illegal foreign exchange transactions using crypto in South Korea break record, grow fortyfold || 3 Dividend Kings for Income Investors to Count On: It can be tricky to choose the best dividend kings for income investors. These companies have proven their ability to survive and thrive through good times and bad, making them an excellent choice for income investors looking for safety and stability.
In addition, dividend kings for investors tend to be large, well-established companies with strong competitive advantages, reducing the risk of investing in them.
While dividend kings may not offer therapid growth potentialof other stocks, they offer a level of safety and stability ideal for many investors.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
With over half a century of consistent dividend growth, these stocks have proven resilient in even the most challenging economic conditions. If you’re looking for income-producing investments that can offer stability and peace of mind, dividend kings should be at the top of your list.
[{"ADP": "KMB", "Automatic Data Processing": "Kimberly-Clark", "$238.35": "$126.02"}, {"ADP": "GPC", "Automatic Data Processing": "Genuine Parts", "$238.35": "$157.39"}]
Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock
Automatic Data Processing(NASDAQ:ADP) is a company that provides human resource management services. It is an outsourcing partner for companies that need to manage their data-driven processes. The company has a strong long-term investment profile with reliable cash flow.
The ADP business model differs from other traditional companies because it has recurring revenue. It charges clients monthly fees, generating stable cash flow and supporting an annual dividend payment every quarter.
It is a stable business that continuously generates money. In fiscal 2022,revenues were $16.5 billion(10% up from the previous year), while profits were $3 billion (15% up from 2021). ADP forecasts fiscal 2023 revenue growth from 7% to 9% and adjusted diluted EPS growth of 13% to 16%.
ADP is a company that many people in the financial industry don’t know about. That’s because it might seem boring for investors accustomed togrowth stocks.
ADP adds more tools to its platform daily for payroll processing or human resource management, which makes it seem less glamorous than other companies with similar offerings but higher growth potential.
However, the company has been around for a long time and is run very well. The company pays a dividend yield of 1.74%, and its shares are trading at a reasonable valuation. Consequently, Automatic Data Processing is an attractive investment option for income investors seeking safe, reliable income streams.
Source: Trong Nguyen / Shutterstock.com
Kimberly-Clark(NYSE:KMB) produces a wide range of branded items, including paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, and diapers. It is also a major health care sector, supplying products to hospitals and other medical facilities. Kimberly-Clark holds Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Cottonelle on its list of brands.
Sales of the company’s productssurged during the pandemic. Now that the pandemic is subsiding, investors fear that Kimberly-Clark might slow down, but recent quarters reveal accelerating sales growth and robust cash flow.
In the second quarter, the personal care corporation reported sales of $5.1 billion,a 7% year-on-year jump. Second-quarter organic sales also surpassed forecasts with a 9% growth rate.
Kimberly-Clark maintained its sales volumes despite price hikes. Kimberly-Clark Corp. now expects organic sales to rise as much as 7%, compared with 6%. This is primarily due to the company’s price increases earlier this year. However, Kimberly-Clarkexpects inflation to affect pricingfor the rest of the year.
The company has been growing steadily for years now. But investors worry that it might never catch up withProcter & Gamble’s(NYSE:PG) lead in market value. However, Kimberly Clark also offers value compared to the market’s biggest players, which is why it’s one of the best Dividend Kings for income investors.
Source: Shutterstock
Genuine Parts(NYSE:GPC) has been through it all. It was founded in 1928, during the Great Depression era. It survived two World Wars and multiple recessions thanks largely to its loyal customer base.
Light vehicle sales have been on a downward trend this year. Price increases are the most significant reason for this. In July, for example,the average U.S. car price rose to $48,182– a new record high.
The used car market is an economic indicator that can be called upon to assess the health of our economy and consumer spending. However, Genuine Parts can expect a consistent flow into maintenance needs, whether in the case of used cars or new ones.
The auto parts leader reported record second quarter resultswith $5.6 billion in salesand almost doubling earnings. Given its stellar performance, it hiked top- and bottom-line guidance for fiscal 2022.
For the income investor, Genuine Partsdeclared a payout of $0.895, a 9.8% jump over the prior dividend. It translates to a juicy dividend yield of 2.28%.
The dividend payout ratio stands at 45.4%, which means there is room to grow the dividend in keeping with the company’s reputation. Considering all these elements, this is one of the best Dividend Kings for income investors.
On the publication date, Faizan Farooque did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to theInvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
Faizan Farooque is a contributing author for InvestorPlace.com and numerous other financial sites. Faizan has several years of experience in analyzing the stock market and was a former data journalist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. His passion is to help the average investor make more informed decisions regarding their portfolio.
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The post3 Dividend Kings for Income Investors to Count Onappeared first onInvestorPlace. || The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions Felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit: Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - July 13, 2022) - MetaDecrypt Web 3.0 Summit, powered by Woodstock was hosted at the Museum of the Future on July 2nd-3rd 2022, in exclusive collaboration with Khaleej Times.
The summit was inaugurated by Khalifa AlJaziri, AlShehhi, Co-Founder, Dubai Blockchain Center, Ministry of Economy - Advisor - Metaverse & XR. Khalifa shared Dubai's vision to be the center of Web 3.0 technologies and the efforts UAE is taking to be a country that is open to innovative, futuristic Web 3 opportunities with ease in regulations and providing all the support the players may require in this ecosystem. "At the end of the day, you want to be in an ecosystem that accepts you and is waiting for you. At the local and federal levels, we are aware of what's happening globally and are part of creating the future for everyone. We have the appetite to change regulations with the help of the Regulation lab - a lab to test regulations. It is over and above the federal and local governments giving individuals 6-12 month licenses to test their future-oriented technologies", said Khalifa Aljaziri, Al Shehhi.
The two-day knowledge summit encompassed masterclasses and panel discussions by experts from the Web 3.0 space deep-diving into Blockchain, Mining, Fundraise, NFTs, Metaverse and the Future of Work. With over 50 global speakers sharing deep insights and views on the potential of the Web 3 technologies and the accelerated pace at which it is growing. "The market size of the Metaverse is predicted to be USD 800 billion by 2024, and we expect 10,000 Metaverse-related jobs over 5 years", says Thomas Kuruvilla.
The summit ended with felicitating individuals and companies that have been playing a vital role in transforming and shaping the Web 3.0 space.
Figure 1: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_001full.jpg
"Best Metaverse Solution"toTeddy Pahagbhia, a.k.a Mr. Metaverse is one of the most influential people in the Metaverse. After more than 20 years of a corporate life, he launched BLVCK PiXEL, a Metaverse and digital Innovation consultancy based in Paris. The firm operates globally by using an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of Technology and Anthropology, to unlock opportunities and create new ways in the digital age.
Figure 2: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_002full.jpg
"Best LifeStyle Metaverse"toEmmanuel Quezada, CEO, U-Topia. U-Topia is an upcoming and promising metaverse- a kind of game like World of Warcraft. People can just log in and start playing: interact, be immersed, spend time in this other world, and stick with other people. But it is more than that, because they are building a tool to make a bridge between all the Metaverses, and are building a solution to create Metaverses.
Figure 3: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_003full.jpg
"Best Space Metaverse"toThomas Reemerfor Space Heroes - "Space and Crypto - creating the biggest migration to Web 3 for his contribution over the last 15 years to shape Space Heroes as the first project to have global space partnerships and bringing those partnerships to Web3.
Figure 4: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_004full.jpg
"Best Web3 Ecosystem"toMatthias Mende, Visionary Founder, Bonuz - A German Award Winning Innovator who is enthusiastic about technologies with the ultimate target of solving some major humanitarian issues on this planet. Bonuz is a celebrity and brand token launchpad created to help fans connect with celebrities.In Bonuz and Web3, a few tools of their large ecosystem:
- Easy Onboarding through already known and used Web2 authentication and IM systems- Instant Tokenization of goods, services and entities- Feature-rich Marketplace to exchange values
Figure 5: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_005full.jpg
"Blockchain Evangelist of Dubai"toDr. Marwan Alzarouni, a Crypto Pioneer and the CEO of Dubai's Blockchain Center.Also an impact business and a strategic partner to Dubai Future Foundation. He is one of the Middle East's crypto pioneers, founding OTC Supply, the United Arab Emirates' first over-the-counter exchange, and setting up Dubai's first Bitcoin ATM. He is recognized internationally as an advocate of blockchain technology, a strategic advisor and a keynote speaker.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_006full.jpg
Figure 6: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_007full.jpg
"Crypto Mining King'' toBijan Alizadeh. Bijan is one of the leaders in the blockchain ecosystem and has a longstanding track record of spearheading blockchain adoption in the MENA region and globally. In 2015, Bijan co-founded Phoenix Technology, which is building one of the largest Mining farms in the United Arab Emirates and has 450 MW of operational mining farms across Russia, Canada, and the USA.
Tokens of appreciation were also given to the sponsors and partners -
Figure 7: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_008full.jpg
Yoshi Marketsour Gold Sponsor - Yoshi Markets Limited is a Multilateral Trading Facility and Custodian, based in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and has received Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM. As a virtual asset MTF and Custodian, Yoshi Markets aims to be a preferred venue for virtual assets (cryptos) listing, trading, settlement and custody and will offer a fully integrated ecosystem to institutional, HNI and retail investors.
Figure 8: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_009full.jpg
Woodstock Fundfor Sponsor - Powered by Partner. Woodstock Fund is an Emerging Technology Investment Fund. Woodstock invests in early and growth stage Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) startups and companies.
Figure 9: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_010full.jpg
andTDMMour Sponsor - TDMM team leverages decades of experience across top financial institutions in trading stocks, commodities, and digital currencies. Being in Crypto Markets since 2015 TDMM has done liquidity provisioning and market making for legacy tokens such XRP, BCH, ETH & ETC. TDMM actively deploys and operates proprietary, market-neutral, and highly scalable marketing-making technologies across all the major centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Figure 10: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_011full.jpg
Figure 11: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_012full.jpg
Khaleej Timesfor being our "Exclusive Media Partner", the oldest and one of the most widely recognised media brands, khaleejtimes.com clearly leads as UAE's No. 1 news website. A growing community of more than 2.4 million unique users.
Figure 12: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_013full.jpg
One Digital Entertainmentfor being our Digital Media Partner. One Digital Entertainment is Asia's leading digital media, technology and creator network which specializes in many verticals of content and digital media across music, food, comedy, film, fashion and lifestyle domains and works with some beacon creators and platforms like MostlySane, Badshah, Sidhu Moosewala, Yuvraj Singh, CarryMinati, Alia Bhatt, Sanjeev Kapoor, Sony Pictures, Google, Facebook, Spotify and the likes.
Figure 13: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_014full.jpg
Cyber Gearfor being our Knowledge Partner. As metaverse consultants, they can bring your business case to Web 3.0. They can discuss how the metaverse could add significant business value to your company.
Figure 14: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_015full.jpg
LPSfor being our Outreach Partner. STORY-tellers and social media NINJAS driving your business goals. LPS is a team of social media consultants, content creators and production professionals in the Middle East, who provide social media marketing solutions for top consumer brands and companies.
Figure 15: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_016full.jpg
ZEX PR Wirefor being our PR Partner.
Figure 16: The 2022 Web3 Transformation Champions felicitated at the MetaDecrypt Summit
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8861/130731_8506defd0452ebf2_017full.jpg
Talk 100.3for being our Radio partner. Talk 100.3 is a part of the joint venture between Fun Asia Network and Channel 2 group corporation. The first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates, Talk 100.3 Is the only speech radio station catering to the South Asian community, bringing a mix of informed content, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
From a national perspective, we see the UAE making it easy for people to move into Dubai, establish a presence in the city, and use the city and the country as a hub for technological success. VARA will play a central role in creating new investment opportunities in Dubai's fast-growing virtual asset industry as the emirate moves towards safer economic freedom backed by more significant technological innovation and digital transformation. "The UAE government is thinking of possibilities and not thinking of limitations. UAE is the foremost and forward-looking regulator in the world, who does not regulate to hinder progress or technologies but to enable technologies", says Dr Marwan Alzarouni.
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To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130731 || A New U.S. Crackdown Has Crypto Users Worried About Their Privacy: Tornado Cash The U.S. Treasury has banned Americans from using the crypto mixer Tornado Cash Credit - Getty Images The battle between the crypto community and the U.S. government over financial privacy just escalated dramatically, amid government efforts to crack down on criminals. Tornado Cash is a service that helps some cryptocurrency owners protect their anonymity by scrambling information trails on the blockchain. On Monday, the Treasury Department prohibited Americans from using the service , arguing that it has played a central role in the laundering of more than $7 billion. In a statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a Treasury Dept. agency, called Tornado Cash a significant threat to the national security of the United States, and alleged that it has been used repeatedly by North Korean hackers to launder money from multiple million-dollar thefts. But the decision drew vicious backlash from many in the crypto community, who see it as a governmental overstep that runs contrary to their core values of privacy and autonomy. On Twitter, the crypto lawyer Collins Belton called it arguably the most significant legal action that has occurred in crypto and warned that it could produce absolutely gargantuan ripple effects. The Treasurys decision could end up significantly altering the way users engage with crypto. It also sets the stage for a slew of fierce legal and rhetorical battles between the crypto industry and the U.S. government. Hiding crime When someone sends cryptocurrency from one account to another, a record of the transaction is etched into the blockchain forever. Investigators or eagle-eyed sleuths can then use this public information to follow money flows and learn about a person or companys financial activity. The U.S. Department of Justice, for example, traced blockchain records to shut down a global child abuse website and arrest hundreds of offenders. This transparency has given rise to the creation of mixing services, which are designed to hide activity on the blockchain. A user can deposit cryptocurrency into a mixer, which uses complex cryptography to obfuscate the moneys trail and then send it to a brand new wallet address. From there, the user can recover the funds and eventually cash them out anonymously. Story continues As cryptocurrency has exploded in usage both for legal and illegal activity, mixers have become a go-to tool for cybercriminals, according to a recent report from the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. The study says that nearly 10% of all funds sent from illicit addresses are sent to mixers, and that the usage of mixers in illicit activity has increased significantly in 2022. Mixers account for a small share of the overall cryptocurrency ecosystem, but play a significant role in illicit activity, Andrew Fierman, the head of sanctions strategy at Chainalysis, wrote to TIME in an email. The role of North Korea One of the main drivers of this uptick is the increased activity of North Korean hackers, U.S. officials say. In April, U.S. Treasury officials accused the Lazarus Group, a hacking organization allegedly sponsored by North Koreas government, of spearheading the $600 million hack of the popular crypto game Axie Infinitys Ronin network . Those officials accused the North Korean government of using the hack to generate revenue for its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. And the Ronin attackers used Tornado Cash to launder the money, officials say . They say that after $600 million was drained from the Ronin network into a wallet controlled by the Lazarus group, it was then sent to intermediary wallets, then rinsed via Tornado Cash, $10 million at a time. Tornado Cash developers attempts to block the Lazarus wallet from interacting with Tornado Cash were unsuccessful: about 18% of the total amount of Ether flowing through Tornado Cash in recent months167,400 ETHcame from the Ronin hack, according to the blockchain analytics firm Nansen . Ari Redbord, the head of legal and government affairs at the crypto regulatory startup TRM Labs, says the Ronin hack was a major turning point with regards to crypto regulation. Ronin really changed the way the U.S. government sees money laundering in the crypto space: they shifted from the idea that hacks were a financial crime to the idea that they were a true national security concern, he says. Redbord estimates that a billion dollars in North Korean-related laundered funds have gone through Tornado Cash, and that the ten biggest hacks perpetrated by North Korean hackers employed Tornado Cash to launder those funds. So on Monday, the Treasury Department placed Tornado Cash and related smart contract wallet addresses on their Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, in the way they would an enemy of the state. Any Americans who interact with those addresses now may face criminal penalties. Crypto backlash But while Tornado Cash is used by criminals, it is also used widely and legally by all types of users. There are all kinds of reasons people want to build anonymity: I dont want anyone looking at my credit card statements or Venmo, Redbord says. This week, Tornado Cash supporters have argued that the service is simply a neutral tool that can be used for good and bad: that its akin to virtual private networks (VPNs) or The Onion Router (TOR). This is a rough equivalent to sanctioning the email protocol in the early days of the internet, with the justification that email is often used to facilitate phishing attacks, Lia Holland, the campaigns and communications director at the digital rights nonprofit Fight for the Future, wrote in a statement. There are many reasons why someone would want to use Tornado Cash: An employee who gets paid by their company in crypto, for example, may not want their employer to know all of their financial details. An NFT enthusiast who has recently made a lot of money thanks to a savvy investment may not want to become the target of potential harassment or robbery. Tornado Cash may also be useful for those who live under oppressive governments. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, came out in defense of the service this week, writing on Twitter that he himself used Tornado Cash in order to donate to Ukrainian causes without putting the recipient organizations under extra scrutiny. And following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, donors to abortion funds may want to use Tornado Cash to keep their identities hidden. The brewing battles The Treasurys decision to ban Tornado Cash could prove to be a significant turning point for crypto in several ways. First, it shows how far the U.S. government is willing to go in its attempts to corral crypto as it creeps toward mainstream adoption. Tornado Cash defenders have pointed out that the decision is unprecedented in that sanctions have been placed upon a piece of code as opposed to an entity. (Tornado Cash is not an incorporated organization, but a mechanism controlled by software logic.) This step could mean that other types of decentralized bodies, including other smart contracts or DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), might soon be in the crosshairs. Redbord, at TRM Labs, says that the treasurys decision reveals the U.S. governments desire to push crypto toward more centralized systems and platforms that are easier to regulate. The trading platform Coinbase, for example, has requirements that tie every crypto wallet to a verifiable human identity. This action sends a message to crypto exchanges that they need to ensure that they have compliance controls in place to stop cyber criminals from using their platforms, Redbord says. And some major crypto players have fallen in line. Circle, the issuer of the USD Coin ( USDC ), the second biggest stablecoin, froze over $75,000 worth of funds linked to Tornado Cash addresses. And Github, a software development platform owned by Microsoft, deleted the accounts of Tornado Cash developers. But crypto enthusiasts resist centralized attempts to control policies or transactions. Bitcoin, after all, was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, with early adopters seeking a global and unregulated form of currency resistant to the pressures of Wall Street. Many have flocked to crypto because it allows anonymous financial transactions, hidden from surveillance by authorities. In the last few days, Tornado Cash defenders have launched their own offensive against the decision, in several ways. First, they have drawn attention to a perceived logical flaw in the decision: that anyone who interacts at all with a Tornado Cash contract is doing so illegally. Individual users cannot reject incoming transactionssmall amounts of cryptocurrency have been sent to prominent public wallet addressesincluding those associated with Jimmy Fallon and Shaquille ONeal in a stunt that essentially dares the Treasury to take action upon an entire community. (Redbord, for what its worth, says he doubts that individuals were the target of the decision in the first place, or that OFAC will pay much attention to the campaign.) A much bigger battle may be in store: some prominent crypto lawyers have begun floating the idea of challenging the decision on constitutional grounds. Banning software publication is banning speech, Peter Van Valkenburgh, the director of research at Coin Center, said onstage at a crypto conference in Las Vegas on Monday. Even laws that unreasonably chill speech are constitutionally suspect , and can be challenged even before enforcement. As crypto enthusiasts look for a way forward, they must contend with several tough choices: how much to compromise their values in their quest to reach the mainstream; how to tamp down on illegal activities in systems that were built to be oversight-resistant; and whether to cooperate with governments or oppose them, thereby invoking even more ire and scrutiny. For now, it seems that many in the crypto space are responding forcefully to the Treasurys decision by taking an ideological stand. While most people wont ever use a service like Tornado Cash, the governments approach represents a dangerous precedent for limiting the right of Americans to use privacy tools for legitimate and lawful reasons, Miller Whitehouse-Levine, policy director of The DeFi Education Fund, wrote in an email to TIME. Privacy is notand cannot becomea crime. || Bitcoin Could Hit 10% Adoption Rate By End Of The Decade: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Lettuce hands is an expression some people use to describe an investor who sells their Bitcoin at the first sign of trouble, often at a loss. An example of its use in a sentence might be: Elon Musk has lettuce hands because he sold 75% of Teslas Bitcoin holdings in the second quarter. The above sentence is more than an example; it happens to be the truth. During Teslas quarterly results webcast last week, Musk admitted to dumping some $936 million of Bitcoin to raise cash out of concern of an economic pullback due to pandemic lockdowns in China. The chief executive said he sold for a realized gain, but some people online have some serious doubts. To be fair, Musk added that he was open to buying more in the future. But to many Bitcoin fans and advocates, his decision to sell feels like a betrayalespecially since he continues to hold the meme coin Dogecoin, created in 2013 as a joke. When Tesla initially announced in February 2021 that it had bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, the crypto community saw this as signaling the start of a trend of big companies and other institutional investors holding the digital asset on their balance sheets. The enthusiasm only mounted the following month when the electric vehicle (EV) maker announced it would begin accepting Bitcoin as payment. These plans lasted little more than a month before Musk suspended Bitcoin payments. The reason? Mining the asset, he claimed, consumed too much energy and emitted loads of greenhouse gases. We now know that Musks concerns, while valid, were and are not grounded in truth. Some might call them FUD, or fear, uncertainty and doubt. Bitcoin Miners Are The Buyers Of Last Resort When It Comes To Sustainable Energy Musk is right in one respect: Bitcoin mining is energy intensive, no doubt about it, and it will only get increasingly more energy intensive on a per-coin basis as the difficulty rate heads higher. Story continues Where hes mistaken is in saying that Bitcoin mining is dirtier than other industries. The truth is that institutional-size miners usage of renewable, non-carbon-emitting energy has been shown to be greater on average than that of any large country on earth. Below are the second-quarter survey results from members of the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC), of which HIVE Blockchain Technologies is a founding member. According to the data, sustainable energy (wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, etc.) represents an impressive 66% of BMC members power mix. For the entire global Bitcoin network, its nearly 60%. No G20 country comes close to using that level of renewable energy as a percent of total energy use. Sustainable Power Mix: Bitoin Mining Vs. Countries And as many others have pointed out, including myself, large-scale Bitcoin miners are very often the buyers of last resort when it comes to renewable energy. They regularly consume much of the electricity that otherwise would have gone to waste during non-peak hours. This makes sustainable energy more competitive and will encourage further deployment of wind and solar. Dennis Porter, CEO of the Satoshi Action Fund, whose mission is to educate policymakers on the merits of Bitcoin, takes it a step further. Bitcoin mining, he said in a recent tweet, will one day be such an important part of the grid that if they try to ban it, well all be without power. Despite all of this, Tesla still has no plans to begin accepting Bitcoin as payment again. The only digital asset it does accept is Dogecoin, whose market cap is only about 2% the size of Bitcoins. Shanghai Lockdown A Challenge For Tesla In Q2 We continue to like Tesla, nevertheless. The lockdowns in Shanghai were a huge challenge for the carmaker in the second quarter, with profits down compared to the prior quarter. Now that factories are back up and running, though, we expect to see stronger results when the company reports on the third quarter. Like tech stocks and luxury goods stocks, both of which Tesla is considered a member, shares have traded down into bear market territory this year on rising rates, recession fears and global supply chain issues. Telsa vs Tech Stocks and luxury goods Global Bitcoin Adoption To Hit Parabolic Phase In 2030 Teslas suspension of Bitcoin payments raises questions regarding the digital assets viability as a currency and widely accepted medium of exchange. More and more companies and retailers will take your Bitcoin, but so far, a relatively few transactions are made using the crypto. According to one source, Bitcoin currently processes only around seven transactions per second compared to Visas 1,700 and Mastercards 5,000. But it wont be like this forever, says the latest research by blockchain infrastructure firm Blockware Solutions. In a June report, the company looks at historical adoption trends for a number of previous disruptive technologies, including the automobile, radio, internet, smartphone and more. Although the speed of adoption in these cases differed, one thing was certain: Once adoption hit 10% of the population, growth became parabolic as penetration shifted from the early adopters to early majority, and finally to the late majority. Long story short, Blockware predicts that global Bitcoin adoption will break past 10% in the year 2030. After that, growth could become parabolic, eventually reaching 80% of the population in the 2050s. Long-Term Projection of Global Bitcoin Adoption Just as a reminder, Bitcoin supply is capped at 21 million. Divide that among 8 billion people, which is what global population is projected to reach later this year. The model above suggests that owning just one whole Bitcoin and holding it for the long haul could end up generating not only life-changing wealth but generational wealth. Did you miss HIVE Blockchains results for fiscal year 2022? Watch the replay by clicking here! Originally published by U.S. Global Investors on 25 July 2022. For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Crypto Channel . All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. By clicking the link(s) above, you will be directed to a third-party website(s). U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this/these website(s) and is not responsible for its/their content. The Nasdaq 100 Index is a basket of the 100 largest, most actively traded U.S companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The S&P Global Luxury Index is comprised of 80 of the largest publicly-traded companies engaged in the production or distribution of luxury goods or the provision of luxury services that meet specific investibility requirements. Holdings may change daily. Holdings are reported as of the most recent quarter-end. The following securities mentioned in the article were held by one or more accounts managed by U.S. Global Investors as of (06/30/22): Tesla Inc. POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Fixed-Income Investors Should Take Another Look at High-Yield Bond ETFs Jonathan Steinberg on The Blockchain Interviews with Dan Weiskopf Semiconductor ETFs Try to Shake Off Intels Earnings Hit Energy ETFs Surged as Chevron, Exxon Enjoyed Record Quarterly Profits on High Oil Prices Active ETF Strategies to Better Navigate the Emerging Markets READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Russia Rises With China in Latest Japan Threat Assessment: (Bloomberg) -- Russia and Chinas deepening military cooperation that has included joint air and navy drills is raising security concerns in the region, Japan said in its first annual defense report issued since Moscow invaded Ukraine. Most Read from Bloomberg Russian Odesa Missile Strike Tests Day-Old Grain Export Deal Three Arrows Founders Break Silence Over Collapse of Crypto Hedge Fund Teslas Bitcoin Dump Leaves Accounting Mystery in Its Wake Student Loan Borrowers Arent Waiting for Bidens Promised Relief Trump Insiders Recall How He Spurned Pleas to Act as Riot Raged In the report released Friday, the Defense Ministry detailed renewed concerns about the security of Taiwan, which China sees as territory that must be reclaimed. The section doubled in length from last year to 10 pages and includes a description of the islands attempts to bolster its defenses against any attack by China, despite falling ever further behind the mainland in terms of military prowess. Changes to the status quo by force are a problem for the whole world, so we will watch related developments with increased vigilance, while cooperating with our ally the US, friendly countries and the international community, the ministry said. The Kremlins invasion of Ukraine has drastically changed Japans security perspectives, fueling support for increased military spending and stoking worries that Moscows long-time partners China and North Korea may be emboldened to take a more aggressive stance. The Defense Ministry detailed joint drills conducted by Russia and China in the waters and airspace surrounding Japan in an expanded two-page section on military cooperation between two of its nearest neighbors. The two nations undertook joint air exercises near Japan and South Korea as President Joe Biden wound down a visit to the US allies in May. We can see a deepening of military cooperation and this will have a direct effect on the security situation surrounding our country, the ministry said in a summary of the report. We must continue to pay close attention to these developments with concern. Story continues In a foreword to the 500-page report, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said he was full of anger and sorrow over the invasion of Ukraine, and reiterated a warning that it wasnt a matter for Europe alone, but a sign of strategic competition between nations that had particular implications for the existing order in the Indo-Pacific region. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular news briefing in Beijing that diplomats from his country made a solemn representation to their Japanese counterparts over the paper. He added the document smears Chinas national defense policy and the nation was committed to peaceful development. Japan has thrown its support behind Ukraine, imposing a series of sanctions on Russia, while providing non-lethal military equipment to President Volodymyr Zelenskiys government. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has also sought to bolster his countrys security by strengthening ties with a range of countries, including by this year becoming the first Japanese premier to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit. Following Kishidas vow to drastically upgrade Japans defenses in the wake of Russias attack on Ukraine, including a substantial increase in spending, the ministry laid out no target for spending, but offered international context. Its military budget accounts for a lower percentage of gross domestic product than any other country in the Group of Seven, at 0.95% for the fiscal year ending in March, compared with almost 2% for the UK and more than 3% for the US. While the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has called for Japan to match the 2% budget target set by NATO, the government has yet to endorse that goal. Japans defense spending has been rising gradually for a decade, but the recent slump in the yen will mean its money doesnt go as far. (Updates with comments from Chinas Foreign Ministry is paragraph 8.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek The $260 Swatch-Omega MoonSwatch Is Reviving the Budget Brand Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers The US Has Lost Its Way on Computer Chips Ghosts of 2012 Haunt Europe as Rate Hikes Begin Sam Bankman-Fried Turns $2 Trillion Crypto Rout Into Buying Opportunity ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || 3 Best Momentum Stocks to Buy for September: It can be difficult to think about momentum stocks when the market is sinking. That’s especially true heading into September, which is traditionally the worst month of the year for stocks. But while the major indices continue to trend lower , there are a number of stocks that are outperforming and actually rose during August and heading into September. There are also indications that the momentum behind many of these stocks could continue in the coming weeks and months despite continued macroeconomic headwinds that are pushing against the market. While momentum stocks are not always easy to spot, investors stand to gain handsomely if they can find these diamond-in-the-rough names. Whether it has been strong earnings, positive forward guidance, sector strength, or a combination of all these factors, these stocks have managed to post gains for shareholders in an extremely difficult environment. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips As we approach Labor Day, we offer up three of the best momentum stocks to buy for September. DVN Devon Energy $70.77 DKS Dick’s Sporting Goods $109.13 FB Meta Platforms $166.35 Devon Energy (DVN) The logo for Devon Energy (DVN) is displayed on a sign outside an office. Source: Jeff Whyte / Shutterstock.com There are a lot of reasons to be bullish on Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN ) right now. In August, while the S&P 500 index fell 5%, DVN stock gained 11%, bringing its 2022 advance to 50% . Buoyed by higher prices for oil and natural gas, Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy’s share price has climbed 21% in the last month and 58% in the last 12 months. The company is primarily involved in oil and natural gas exploration, and has proven reserves of 1.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, of which 44% is petroleum, 27% natural gas liquids, and 29% pure natural gas. Devon Energy is getting a major boost this year from oil prices that have been as high as $130 per barrel at times. The company most recently reported that its second-quarter earnings had soared 332% from the same quarter a year earlier, due primarily to elevated energy prices. Story continues Its Q2 revenue jumped 133% versus the same period of 2021. And if all this isn’t enough to entice investors, consider the dividend that’s attached to DVN stock. Currently, Devon Energy is paying a quarterly dividend that yields 6.85% , or $1.17 per share. Compare that to the average dividend yield of 1.69% among S&P 500 companies, and DVN stock looks very attractive indeed. Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS) An image of a Dick's Sporting Goods retail location Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com September is the back-to-school month, and that is good news for Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS ) and its shareholders. Heading into September, DKS stock increased 11% in August as strong earnings and anticipation of back-to-school shopping bolstered the share price. Now trading at $108 per share, Dick’s Sporting Goods’ stock is down 6% year to date, outpacing the S&P 500 index that is down 17% since January. With a price–earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.3, Dick’s stock also looks extremely affordable. And its dividend payout that yields nearly 2% helps too. The Pennsylvania-based company recently reported strong Q2 results and lifted its outlook for the remainder of this year, which had Wall Street analysts singing its praises. The company’s Q2 EPS came in at $3.68 versus the $3.58 that had been expected, on average, by analysts. The retailer’s Q2 revenue in the quarter amounted to $3.11 billion compared to the average forecast of $3.07 billion. For the entire year, Dick’s said it now expects EPS of between $10 and $12, up from a previous forecast of $9.15 to $11.70. Equally impressive, management has said that DKS is able to manage inflationary pressures without losing customers. That was music to investors’ ears. Meta Platforms (META) Meta Written On The Googles - Man Wearing Virtual Reality Goggles Inside A Metaverse. FTC investigating META. Source: Aleem Zahid Khan / Shutterstock.com We should have a tech stock on this list, and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META ) looks to have some momentum behind it after a very difficult start to the year. The shares of the parent-company of Facebook appear to have found a bottom right around $155 per share, and they have been creeping above that level, trading at $165 today. During August, META stock gained 1% compared to a 6% decline in the technology heavy Nasdaq index during the month. While the company works to build the “Metaverse,” it can still rely on Facebook, which has monthly active users of 2.93 billion, including its Messenger service. Add in the social media sites that Meta also owns, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, and the number of monthly active users swells to 3.65 billion people, or 45% of the 8 billion people on Earth. While the company’s earnings have been hurt this year by a decline in online advertising, those dollars are starting to return and will eventually exceed pre-pandemic levels. Another reason to like META stock is its valuation . With a current P/E ratio of 13.5, Meta Platforms’ stock is the cheapest among the mega-cap technology names that include Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ). In fact, Meta’s stock now has a lower P/E ratio than either McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD ) or Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ). On the date of publication, Joel Baglole held long positions in AAPL and MSFT. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Joel Baglole has been a business journalist for 20 years. He spent five years as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and has also written for The Washington Post and Toronto Star newspapers, as well as financial websites such as The Motley Fool and Investopedia. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade “On Air” It doesn’t matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post 3 Best Momentum Stocks to Buy for September appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Markets: Bitcoin stuck under US$20,000, Ether edges up, Cardano slides: Bitcoin edged up in Monday afternoon trading in Asia, but it still traded below the US$20,000 resistance line, a level it has now fluctuated around since late August. Ether rose, along with Solana and Polkadot. Cardano reversed morning gains to trade lower.
See related article:Markets: Bitcoin, Ether edge up; Cardano, Solana lead gains in crypto top 10
• Bitcoin was changing hands at US$19,745, up 0.15% in the past 24 hours as of 4 p.m. in Hong Kong. Ether gained 0.91% to trade at US$1,562, according todata from CoinMarketCap.
• Cardano lost 1.06% in the prior 24 hours to US$0.488, though it rose 12.62% over the past seven days — the only coin among the top 10 by market capitalization posting a double-digit seven-day increase. That came after online brokerage Robinhood on Thursdayannouncedthe listing of Cardano on its platform ahead of the blockchain’sVasil hard fork.
• Polkadot traded up 2.89% in the past 24 hours to US$7.47, the biggest mover among CoinMarketCap’s top 10. Solana gained 1.32%.
• Asia equity markets were lower to little changed. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index fell 1.16% to 19,225.70, the lowest level since mid-March. The Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.42%, while the Nikkei 225 index edged down 0.11%.
• China isextending its Covid-19 lockdownsin most parts of the southwestern metropolis of Chengdu and will continue mass testing through Wednesday, pointing to more sluggishness in the economy. The authorities put the city under lockdown on Thursday. Meanwhile, Shenzhen said it would adopttiered anti-virus restriction measuresstarting on Monday.
• Investors seem unimpressed by the FridayU.S. jobs reportthat showed hiring slowed in August in the U.S., with the unemployment rate rising to 3.7% in August from 3.5% in July. While this suggests a possible slowing of inflation, the consensus seems to be it will not change the U.S. Fed’s aggressive policy to raise interest rates.
See related article:Cardano’s Vasil hard fork upgrade confirmed for Sept. 22
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 21381.15, 21680.54, 21769.26, 22370.45, 20296.71, 20241.09, 19701.21, 19772.58, 20127.58, 19419.51
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-01-06]
BTC Price: 7769.22, BTC RSI: 61.47
Gold Price: 1566.20, Gold RSI: 83.13
Oil Price: 63.27, Oil RSI: 70.78
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Can Google's New Quantum Computer Hack Bitcoin?: By Bruce Ng
Ever since Bitcoin was created, the perennial question, asked by skeptics and advocates alike, could be condensed into four simple words:
Can Bitcoin be hacked?
The perennial answer: No, unless, that is, someone, someday achieves a stunning, world-changing breakthrough, creating a computer that’s far faster than any supercomputer in existence today. Nearly everyone agreed that was an extremely remote possibility. But now, some folks fear that day may be closer than expected.
The reason:Google claims to have built a quantum computer.
It’s a computer that’s no longer constrained to just 1s or 0s. Instead, it has bits that exist in multiple states at once, called quantum bits or qubits. It’s a computer that, in theory, could be one billion times faster than today’s fastest computers ... that could run 10,000 years of supercomputer calculations in a meager 200 seconds. It’s a technology that, in theory, might ultimately do things which otherwise take millions of years.
In theory.
So, canGoogle’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) quantum computer hack Bitcoin? No, not even close!
Google’s breakthrough, no matter how noteworthy, is still very new, very experimental and light-years away from the capabilities needed to hack Bitcoin. Here’s why ...
First, Google’s quantum computer merely generates random numbers, like tossing a coin repeatedly. It has no immediate practical applications.
Second, it has only 53 qubits. To crack Bitcoin cryptography, it would needat least 1,500.
Third, it’s not just a matter of quantity. To evolve from 53 to 1,500 qubits will be extremely difficult and will take many years.
Fourth, qubits are highly sensitive. They require supercooled temperatures to operate. They must be stored in enclosed vaults protected from stray dust, vibrations and contaminants. Building a 1,500-qubit quantum computer would be a monstrous undertaking.
“But suppose,” say Bitcoin fearmongers, “that some secret government agency develops a super-quantum computer decades ahead of Google’s. And suppose that computer achieves the 1,500-qubit power that could hack Bitcoin. Then what do we do?”
Our answer: Given the structure of the global tech community today, it’s extremely unlikely any such project exists.
But even if it did, there are several likely scenarios in which the Bitcoin community — and even Bitcoin users themselves — could protect themselves against any quantum-computer attack.
Today, I’ll tell you about two ...
Scenario 1
Quantum-Resistant Passwords
An important cryptography mechanism that Bitcoin currently uses is the private key; and it’s the private key that would be the primary attack point for any future quantum computer.
The private key performs a function akin to that of password: Every time you use a Bitcoin wallet or send funds from a Bitcoin address, you deploy your private key, associated with a Bitcoin address that looks something like this:
14EbGbR5rfPgtvs5NQXXH3cgKAGxmKxweW
When you send Bitcoin, the addresses specify the “from” and the “to” of your transmission.
But the current address system is not written in stone.
It CAN be upgraded to a quantum-resistant address system. And to make that happen in a timely manner, Bitcoin enjoys one of the largest community of developers in the world.
Scenario 2
Users Themselves Take Protective Steps
To better understand how would work, let’s look at traditional banking.
You have a bank account with a balance of $20,000. You’re afraid that, when you make your first wire transfer, some bank employees will gain access to the numbers he needs to move your money to his own personal account.
What could you do to protect yourself?
Simple: As soon as you make your first transfer, immediately withdraw all the remaining funds in your account and move it to a new account or to another bank.
That’s similar to what you could do to protect yourself against any future quantum attack on your Bitcoin address.
When you send Bitcoin to someone, your address doesn’t appear on the Bitcoin ledger until you make your first transaction from that address. No one – including quantum attackers — will ever see your address until AFTER first transaction.
So all you have to do is this: As soon as you make your first transaction, simply move your remaining Bitcoin balance to a new address, which is easy to create. Since your new address has never before been used to send Bitcoin, there’s no way anyone, regardless of computer power, can see it — let alone hack it.
Could a quantum attacker see and hack the address in the few minutes between the moment you send the Bitcoin and the moment it’s received on the other end?
Hah! To do so in such a short period of time would require quantum computing that’s so far away in the future, even the few seconds it takes me to write this paragraph is kind of a waste of time.
But I decided to write it for a reason.
For all those folks who also worry about the destiny of our sun, which will burn out a billion years from now ... or the destiny of our universe which will expand to the point of a Big Chill.
Let’s worry about such doomsday events some other day.
Check out Weiss Crypto Ratings and Indexes:https://www.benzinga.com/cryptocurrency/weiss-crypto-ratings/https://www.benzinga.com/cryptocurrency/weiss-crypto-indexes/
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© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Big Global Growth Rebound Trade of 2020: After months in the making, and a “last mile” that ended up being a race of endurance. It came down to the majesty of a Trump tweet indicating both sides were getting “VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China,” that provided the clearest signpost that a deal was imminent and led to a sharp record-setting rally in equities and a sell-off in Treasuries.
Risk assets have predictably surged, and those investors who were holding on to trade deal premiums were hugely rewarded for their patience as December 15 hedges unwound, and negative equity market bets are getting stopped into trades.
And thanks to the China trade story, no one seemed to care about the U.K. election anymore, except those who are trading pounds. Big mistake as the exit polls are pointing to an 86 Conservative majority and with Lagarde – acknowledging that a combination of structural reform, monetary and fiscal tools need to be available to the ECB, E.U. and U.K. markets could have considerable room to run.
However, for growth assets immediate concerns, the devil will be in the trade deal agreement details and to the extent of the tariff rollbacks, but with one significant trade barrier removed, it looks more and more like the market wants to play “The Big Global Growth Rebound in 2020” trade.
The crucial first signal was from the Feds that gave the all-clear to hedge funds and real money to start putting on USD downside exposure without worrying about a Fed response to Friday’s stonking jobs report.
With a tame inflation environment guaranteed to keep U.S. rates in check and as the persistent global slowdown appears to be decreasing, it’s providing a great set up to extend “risk-on” horizons. Indeed, with high-frequency indicators from PMIs suggesting the data is bottoming, we could be entering a global economic sweet spot.
If this plays out, we should expect a much lower USD, especially against Asia and Euro, which were the two regions most devastated by the manufacturing recession due to the protracted trade war. So, absent the tail risk from trade, the scope for catch-up in F.X. spot returns in more export- and equity-sensitive currencies like KRW, TWD, and MYR.
Stronger commodities and higher oil prices would also be a function of reduced risk from trade.
Oil is upafter the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China. But the complex nature of the Oil market seldom, if ever, elicits a pure binary reaction to what should be a favorable outcome for prices.
While benefiting from the Trade deal, traders remain focused that the market is likely to remain oversupplied in 2020 H1(according to the IEA) just when the effect of the current U.S. tariffs is expected to leak into the U.S. economy.
So, while the current trade deal will most probably limit demand devastation, it might not be enough to counter an oversupplied market in early 2020 hence the possible reason we are not seeing a massive bounce in oil prices now commensurate with the frothy risk-on environment.
But taking out offers might not be a bridge too far as the oil market should flourish in this environment — trade deal aside, which should be hugely bullish. A less hawkish Fed, weaker USD, a growing sense that macro headwinds have diminished, and the emergence of the global growth rebound trade, should all provide the ultimate springboard for oil prices.
Goldis a bit anomalous as I had initially pegged gold lower on a tariff rollback trade deal, but with the tame U.S. inflation environment possibly keeping U.S. yield in check, gold may not necessarily have the blow-off bottom as a result of the trade deal. But in the absence of an absolute dovish Fed, downside risk remains elevated as cross-asset relocation into equities could intensify into the weekend even more so if the global growth rebound trade takes hold.
The exit polls show the Conservatives with a decent majority on 368 seats, versus Labour sliding to 191 seats. If proved right, that is a resounding victory for Prime Minister Johnson. Far more emphatic than polls have suggested in recent days.The GBP/USDadded an instant 2% on the back of the exit poll, trading up at 1.3500(upper-end of the bullish target)
One-way risk-on bias to F.X. flows since the exit polls, and there was little interest in fading the move until 1.3500, But this could have been a result of the exit poll showing the SNP with 55 seats would be a near clean sweep for the party. It would undoubtedly invigorate Scottish calls for another independence vote.
The 200 DMA has been testing, but with the market apparently wanting to play out the tremendous global growth recovery, theAussiecould have legs to run. Sure, the recent run of domestic data, looks dreadful but forward-looking global growth optimism will always trump backward-looking local data any day of the week in currency land.
Phase one deal is a fait acompli, 6.95 targets reached now its time to do it all over again as we enter what could be an even trickier phase 2. Traders won’t be quick to turn a blind eye to the U.S. passage of Hong Kong and Xinjiang Bill’s, which could ultimately be critical for the market’s assessment of the quality of the U.S. and China relationships going forward.
The Ringgit will revel in the afterglow of the US-Trade deal. Absent the tail risk from trade; there is a significant scope for export and equity flow-sensitive currencies like the Ringgit to perform well, especially with cheap valuations on offer at the KLCI.
This article was written by Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific Market Strategist atAxiTrader
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Gapping Rotation In Spy And News Based Rallies Are A Warning || BDAM-Resolving the Crypto Acceptability issues: KOWLOON, HONG KONG / ACCESSWIRE / December 26, 2019 /The crypto and blockchain industry is recording growth at an unprecedented pace on a global scale. The rise of blockchain, tokenization, and decentralized technology has unleashed a new breed of apps, sites, and services not only within the fin-tech space but across all major industries including but not limited to banking, supply chain industry, medical industry, etc. While in the developed countries, crypto projects such as Bitcoin are considered commodities, in economically stricken countries like Venezuela and Iran, these virtual currencies are being used as a mean of payment and store of value.
Acceptability is still a major issue:
However, despite the thriving market cap, this industry is still struggling when it comes to mass adoption. The major reason being the buying process involves a large number of intermediaries, which results in massive third party fees and causes delays of up to days. Similarly, liquidating your crypto assets is also a time-taking process that may result in a beneficiary getting an amount lesser than what it was when sent at the time of transaction because of fee and third-party deductions. Another issue is the utility and acceptance of the respective coins or tokens across merchants and retail stores.
Moreover, the exchanges where cryptocurrency is being traded have also their own set of issues. Take, for example, the issue of high trading fees, security vulnerabilities (several hacking incidents in recent months and years causing loss billions of dollars of loss), uncertain nature of operations in terms of legal compliance, no multi-language support, and poor customer support.
Introducing BDAM - A complete financial ecosystem striving to bridge the gap between the crypto and the existing financial world.
BDAM is a project of the BDAM foundation that aims to provide a complete decentralized ecosystem, and by doing so, resolve issues faced by the crypto industry. In this vision, the foundation offers a state-of-the-art hybrid digital-asset exchange, i.e.,BDAMX, a decentralized payment gateway, i.e.,BDAM Pay, a decentralized application store, i.e.,BDAM dApp Store, and a native blockchain deployed token, i.e.,BDAM Coin.
BDAMX Exchange, the key product of this ecosystem, serves as an innovative crypto-asset platform that uses hybrid technical architecture for combining the best features of both centralized and decentralized exchanges. TheBeta Versionof the exchange is already live while the Mobile version would be live by 1st week of 2020.
The Alpha Version of the BDAMX Exchange would simplify the buying and selling process of cryptocurrencies by integrating user accounts with BDAM Debit Card. A user would simply be able to purchase by using his credit or debit card. So no hassle of doing wire transfers or buying from peer to peer local exchanges where a certain degree of risk always there. Furthermore, with BDAM Pay, which acts as a payment gateway and a multi-coin wallet, users would also be able to spend their tokens across a big network of merchants and eCommerce stores. Moreover, the BDAM Platform would also feature a dedicated remittance engine that will not only enable the mass adoption of crypto assets but also allow efficient remittance: a sector where third-party intermediaries often charge significant fees, while such transaction is being done.
With the provision of a secure and seamless trading platform, a dedicated payment gateway, Crypto Supported Debit cards, and the BDAM dApp store, the BDAM Project is poised to create a complete ecosystem as per the roadmap. The team believes that this will not only resolve the current issues faced by the crypto industry but also enhance the process of crypto adoption and would serve as the bridge between crypto and fiat money. It will further support potential startups by offering them a platform to deploy their business while creating much-needed liquidity and helping them to grow and be the industry leader of tomorrow.
To know about the project more, please visit our websitehttp://www.bdamcoin.com/and read the BDAM white paper today.
Contact:Name: Bdam FoundationEmail:m.younas@bdamcoin.com
SOURCE:BDAM
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/571342/BDAM-Resolving-the-Crypto-Acceptability-issues || Ex-Morgan Stanley Executives Launch Crypto Derivatives Platform in Singapore: A team of Morgan Stanley veterans has launched a crypto derivatives trading platform, claiming it is faster and more secure than some of the market’s biggest players. Jack Tao, who served as a senior leader at Morgan Stanley’s electronic trading desk, said he launched Phemex last month with a team of more than 30 developers, including eight executives from the investment banking giant. Tao left his job at Morgan Stanley in New York and co-founded the crypto trading firm in Singapore in July, envisioning a platform that would be as fast and secure as stock and futures exchanges. Related: Waves and the Tricky Task of Being a Russian Crypto Brand The budding firm has made some big promises. “Phemex is ten times faster than traditional crypto trading platforms with the ability to manage 300,000 TPS – the fastest matching engine online,” said Tao, who specialized in high-frequency trading. No existing platform has achieved such transaction speeds, he said. Phemex’s architecture can reduce latency so as to deliver an order entry and response time of less than one millisecond while maintaining stable APIs for algorithmic trading, according to Tao. While crypto trading is fiercely competitive, Tao believes Phemex has a comparative advantage as a small platform. Related: Bakkt’s Bitcoin Futures Launch in Singapore in Just Two Weeks “Big trading platforms such as CME [Chicago Mercantile Group] are very great platforms for traditional securities trading, but that’s also why they are relatively slow to adopt emerging technologies and trade digital assets,” Tao said. Such platforms are more cautious about entering into new markets whereas startups tend to be more experimental with new frontiers, he said. Phemex offers retail and institutional investors perpetual contracts for bitcoin, ethereum and XRP with up to 100 times leverage. These are similar to futures contracts, except they have no expiration date. As the exchange gains traction, it plans to also offer contracts backed by traditional financial products, including stock indexes, interest rates and commodities, Tao said. The ex-Morgan Stanley developers have created their own hierarchical deterministic cold wallet system. It assigns an independent deposit address to each user to keep assets in the cold wallets directly. The move to Singapore is aimed at meeting demand in the Asian markets with a more favorable regulatory environment, Tao said. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced last month that it would allow crypto-based derivatives to be traded on regulated platforms. Story continues Related Stories Blockchain Sleuthing Firm Chainalysis Slashes 20% of Workforce Orchid’s Decentralized VPN Network Set for Early-December Launch View comments || The top 10 finance search terms in 2019 on Yahoo Search: The pound has fluctuated significantly over the past year. Photo: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images 2019 has been a turbulent year for the British economy, from Brexit drama and a general election to stagnating growth and iconic firms hitting the wall. Some of that upheaval and uncertainty is reflected in the most-searched for finance terms by Yahoo Search users throughout the year. Here are the 10 most commonly searched terms: 10. Gold price Investors turn to perceived safe havens like gold when times are tough. There may be no yield, but the value of gold ( GC=F ) is less susceptible to market stress and interest rate decisions, providing a hedge against currency decline and inflation. With the trade row between the US and China gripping market attention for much of the year, gold’s fortunes have waxed and waned with the latest twists in the tariff war. 9. Universal credit Brexit may dominate the political agenda, but the UK government is also embarking on one of the biggest shakeups of Britain’s social security system in decades. Universal credit is gradually replacing six other benefits, rolling them into one payment for unemployed and low-income households alike. Some of the changes are complex and controversial and leave certain claimants worse-off, so high search traffic should come as no surprise. 8. Lloyds share price Lloyds is Britian's top retail bank. Photo: Dinendra Haria / SOPA Images/Sipa USA This reflects Lloyds’ ( LLOY.L ) status as one of Britain’s most-traded stocks. The UK’s biggest retail bank and mortgage lender, its UK-focused operations mean it is often seen as a convenient proxy for investors betting on or against the health of the wider UK economy. 7. House prices Property prices have continued to grow across much of Britain in recent years, but a slowdown has hit London and the south-east. Current and aspiring home-owners are often keen to keep track of the latest trends, not least as Brexit turmoil has spooked many would-be sellers and buyers alike. Rightmove is predicting prices will rise 2% in 2020. 6. Minimum wage The UK government increases the national minimum wage every year and rates vary for different age groups, meaning employees and employers both need to keep up to date with current entitlements. Story continues The minimum wage has also attracted significant political attention this year. Chancellor Sajid Javid pledged in October to raise it to two-thirds of median UK pay , while Labour promised an immediate hike from its current £8.21 rate to £10 an hour. 5. Bitcoin Bitcoin rallied after Facebook unveiled Libra. Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images The announcement of Facebook’s Libra project sparked renewed attention on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin this year. Rather than triggering competition fears from rivals, it boosted hopes that Facebook’s plans could lift the sector as a whole and prompted a rally in other cryptocurrencies. But a regulatory backlash and several major companies’ decisions to quit the project, including Visa and PayPal, have sown fresh doubts over its future. 4. Thomas Cook collapse The collapse of the world’s oldest travel firm earlier this year not only marked the end of an era, but also left more than a million people out of pocket. The UK government had to oversee the biggest peacetime repatriation effort in history, flying home 150,000 stranded customers. Staff told Yahoo Finance UK they feared for their homes, and many customers were still waiting for refunds for cancelled bookings from the authorities even after a 90-day deadline earlier this month. 3. London Stock Exchange The latest share price movements and announcements from Britain’s major listed companies naturally drew significant search traffic from readers in the business world. But the London Stock Exchange itself ( LSE.L ) also attracted significant attention after receiving and starkly rejecting a surprise £32bn takeover bid from Hong Kong in September. 2. Forex The pound’s fortunes against the dollar ( GBPUSD=X ) and euro ( GBPEUR=X ) have dovetailed with the latest Brexit developments. Investors have taken flight on the several occasions Britain has looked on course for a radical break with the EU , which would devastate trade ties. First Theresa May and then Boris Johnson took Britain close to the cliff-edge as prime ministers ahead of two Brexit deadlines that were eventually missed in 2019. 1. Brexit Prime Minister Boris Johnson drives a Union Jack-themed JCB in the election campaign. Photo: PA The B-word has dominated political debate in Britain for much of 2019, from the TV studios to family living rooms. While Brexit has bored some and frustrated others, it has clearly gripped the attention of large swathes of the country. With countless political, economic and other consequences that could be felt for decades to come, Brexit was the most searched-for finance term in 2019. || Three best crypto portfolio trackers to use in 2020: Cryptocurrencies are some of the most volatile assets in circulation, making them almost impossible to track on a daily basis. Luckily, a number of cryptocurrency portfolio trackers have been made available since the hype-fuelled bull market in 2017. Here are the three top portfolio trackers for cryptocurrency holdings. Blockolio Made famous by Ian Balinas infamous Instagram screenshots in 2017, Blockfolio is one of the longest-running portfolio trackers. It allows users to input an array of cryptocurrencies alongside the price it was purchased for and/or sold at. The appealing user interface, coupled with it being used by several leading influencers, saw Blockfolio become one of the top downloaded cryptocurrency apps in 2017. CoinStats CoinStats seamlessly integrates cryptocurrency market data, financial news and portfolio tracking services. Unlike other portfolio providers CoinStats feeds directly into a variety of exchanges, giving users the chance to see the latest bid and ask price on respective exchanges as well as the volume and open interest. It also has the capability to sync wallets and exchanges to the app, which allows users to track the real-time value of their portfolio instantly. Delta Delta was another popular portfolio tracker from 2017. It supports more than 3,000 cryptocurrencies and 300 exchanges while offering price alerts to users so they dont miss out on major market moves. The app also provides users with insightful trading analysis on completed trades, this means that users can see where theyve gone wrong, or right, with specific trades and how they can gain an edge in the future. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . To purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash, click here . The post Three best crypto portfolio trackers to use in 2020 appeared first on Coin Rivet . || German banks to offer Bitcoin custody by 2020: German banks seem to be spearheading the charge for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by offering custody services for Bitcoin, according to local news outlet Handelsblatt . Customers will reportedly be able to invest, hold, and track investments in cryptocurrencies starting from 2020. The move aims to combat the rising issue of money laundering within Germany. This was highlighted earlier this year as financial giant Deutsche Bank faced action over a $20 billion Russian money laundering scheme . However, Germany’s approach has been criticised by numerous financial analysts and experts. Niels Nauhauser stated that banks are too aggressive in targeting new customers and that cryptocurrency offerings may result in a significant loss. “Basically, banks sell a variety of financial products if the commission is right. If they are allowed to sell cryptocurrencies and keep them for a fee, they run the risk of returning a total loss to their clients, without them knowing what they are getting into,” he said. Earlier this week, an official at the European Central Bank stated that the ECB was investigating the potential launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) . Benoît Cœuré, executive board member of the ECB, claimed that a CBDC could “ensure that citizens remain able to use central bank money even if electronic payments become even more popular”. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post German banks to offer Bitcoin custody by 2020 appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Four Bitcoin lost on the Lightning Network finally recovered: A crypto enthusiast who lost four Bitcoin on the Lightning Network in October has now managed to recover most of the missing funds, according to an update post on Reddit. What is the Lightning Network? One of the most interesting projects in the cryptocurrency space, in my opinion, is the Lightning Network protocol (LN). Even though some traders and analysts have plenty of criticisms regarding the development of the LN, I argue the open-source P2P payment channel technology is here to stay. The LN not only affects Bitcoin, but the technology can also gap bridges between projects. In a way, the Lightning Network has the potential to achieve what many other projects can only dream of: to become an interoperable protocol between blockchains. At the moment, the platform consists of over 10,000 nodes, 35,000 open channels, and over 850 BTC in network capacity. The Lightning Network is gaining traction As discussed in this article , the Lightning Network is a payments channel linked to the Bitcoin network, and is also being developed for use with other cryptocurrency projects such as Litecoin. Instead of relying on hard forks to upgrade transaction storage per block (block weight), the LN allows for the integration of off-chain payment state channels between nodes. The LN creates direct off-chain connections between nodes instead of validating all information on the main chain. These connections are opened up by storing Bitcoin on a Lightning channel. In the graph above, we can see the amount of BTC being stored in Lightning channels, courtesy of bitcoinvisuals . It is true that the LN had a major spike in adoption in late 2018 and then stabilised around the summer this year. However, in my opinion, this correction is directly linked to lower BTC/USD volumes, which fell over 50% in the same time span. Just recently, crypto exchange Bitfinex announced it is launching support for the Lightning Network. It therefore seems that the P2P payments protocol is gaining traction by the day. Story continues So what happened to the four Bitcoins that were lost in October? How did the funds get locked? The problem occurred as a result of a bug in a recently implemented functionality called SCB — Static Channel Backup. SCB is quite important to avoid users losing funds due to hardware problems. Let’s say you have some channels open with local-balance committed, so your BTC is locked in an open channel. Without SCB, you run the risk of losing these funds in the event of a hard-drive failure or the VM crashing. Terrible issue, right? The LN developers agree, which is why they developed the SCB functionality. However, this implementation had just been released in April 2019. As it was brand new, some issues can be expected. Even one of the main LN developers, guggero, wrote on GitHub when replying to the user regarding the “buggy” SCB implementation: “Yes, you are right. That’s why there still is a -beta suffix in each version that we release.” Essentially, the user’s Bitcoin got locked in a closed channel thanks to SCB as it hadn’t been updated correctly. How were the funds unlocked? After looking at the main discussion issue on GitHub, one of the contributors explained what the user had to do. Simply put, the user had to let the nodes run for a while in order to find the missing outputs. Afterwards, they only needed a quick sweep to find the coins. “Let it run – for a week or two if it needs to. There’s a lot of scanning your node has to do. Watch your logs, your listchaintxns and closedchannels, and see what happens, if you like. Because every now and then, it should find a closing transaction that it needs to sweep funds from.” Guggero concluded that there’s still around 3.7 BTC that should be claimable by the user’s node, so it seems that most (if not all) of the lost funds have eventually been recovered. The post Four Bitcoin lost on the Lightning Network finally recovered appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Chainalysis Report on PlusToken Scammers Blamed for Mondays Crypto Selloff: As bitcoin and ether prices fell below technically significant levels, some traders are citing fear emanating from a report about the alleged PlusToken Ponzi scheme as the reason for the plunge. The slide began at 18:28 UTC on Monday. In just seven minutes, bitcoin slipped 4 percent, to $6,800 from $7,085 according to data from Coinbase. In that time, ether took a bigger hit, dropping 7 percent from $140 to $130. Neither had seen such lows since Nov. 25, when the crypto markets suffered a temporary selloff. With little news to go on, the markets found at least one culprit: Chainalysis new report , published nearly four and a half hours earlier in the day, saying 20,000 BTC (now worth $137 million) and 790,000 ETH (now worth $102 million) remain likely controlled by PlusToken scammers. Related: Chinese City Warns Investors: Crypto Isnt Blockchain Further, Chainalysis claims $185 million in stolen bitcoin have already been liquidated by individuals related to PlusToken. Six people tied to PlusToken were arrested and extradited to China from Vanuatu, where Beijing claimed the company operated a Ponzi scheme. Chainalysis said it was able to track down $2 billion in cryptocurrencies taken from victims, with a lot of that going to other investors a hallmark of traditional pyramid schemes. The arrests occurred a little more than a week before bitcoin reached its 2019 peak of $12,575.90. Since then, the cryptocurrency, which represents the lions share of the sectors overall market cap, has drifted downward. While Chainalysis wouldnt say for certain that liquidations from PlusToken-related accounts sunk bitcoins price, the blockchain forensics firm was willing to claim that those cashouts cause increased volatility in Bitcoins price, and that they correlate significantly with Bitcoin price drops. A trader at an over-the-counter cryptocurrency broker attributed Mondays steep decline to jitters that more of PlusTokens ill-gotten bitcoin and ether was going to flood the market. Story continues Related: Bitmains Miner Manufacturing Subsidiary Had $680K in Assets Frozen in a Contract Dispute This [Chainalysis post] may have something to do with it, driving a little bit of fear among participants, he told CoinDesk, quickly adding: Its not news. Im not sure why that story is driving the market. People see stuff on Twitter and make their own conclusions. Its largely the tail wagging the dog. Related Stories Chinas SEC May Soon Have a Crypto-Savvy Department Chief: Report Implosion: MATIC Erases Four-Week Rally in Just Two Days || The Week Ahead – It’s a Hectic Week Ahead. Stats and Geopolitics are in Focus: It’s a busy week ahead on theeconomic calendar, with 61 stats to monitor over the week.
After a shortened week last week, it’s a busy week ahead on the economic data front.
ISM and Markit Manufacturing PMI numbers get things going on Monday. The market’s preferred ISM Manufacturing PMI will have the greatest impact on the day.
The focus will then shift to a busy Wednesday.
ADP nonfarm employment change figures for October are due out ahead of ISM and Markit service PMI numbers.
On the day, the ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI and ADP numbers will have the greatest impact on the Dollar.
On Thursday, expect factory orders to provide direction ahead of a busy Friday.
November wage growth, nonfarm payrolls, and the unemployment rate will be in focus on Friday.
Strong labor market conditions continue to support consumption and service sector activity.
Any weak numbers would test the Greenback ahead of prelim December consumer sentiment figures.
The weekly jobless claims figures and October trade data on Thursday will be of less influence in the week.
Outside of the numbers, trade talks will continue to influence as will impeachment chatter. Hearings resume in the week ahead.
The Dollar Spot Index ended the week flat at $98.273.
It’s also a busy week ahead on theeconomic data.
In the first half of the week, November manufacturing and service PMI numbers are due out on Monday and Wednesday.
Barring deviation from prelims, the focus will be on Spain, Italy, and the Eurozone numbers.
Through the 2ndhalf of the week, German factory orders and retail sales figures are due out on Thursday. On Friday, industrial production figures for October are due out.
Following stats that were skewed to the positive last week, the markets will be looking for a pickup in private sector activity.
Spanish unemployment change figures on Tuesday will likely have a muted impact on Tuesday. Barring deviation from 2ndestimates, the Eurozone’s GDP numbers would also likely be brushed aside.
Outside of the numbers, expect geopolitical risk to also influence.
From the U.S, progress towards a phase 1 trade agreement will provide direction, while we can expect UK politics to also begin to influence.
The EUR/USD ended the week down by 0.03% to $1.1018.
It’s a relatively busy week ahead on theeconomic calendar.
Finalized November private sector PMIs are due out on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Following disappointing prelim figures, any upward revisions would be a boost for the Pound.
November’s BRC Retail Sales Monitor on Tuesday will also provide direction early in the week.
While the stats will influence, the UK General Election will remain the key driver, with just 11 days remaining until Election Day.
Debates, interviews, opinion polls, and election result predictions will drive the Pound in the week ahead.
The GBP/USD ended the week up by 0.71% to $1.2925.
It’s a busy week ahead on theeconomiccalendar.
Key stats include 3rdquarter productivity figures on Monday, October trade data and the Ivey PMI on Thursday.
At the end of the week, November employment figures will also influence.
While the stats will provide direction, the Bank of Canada will deliver its interest rate decision on Wednesday.
Last week’s 3rdquarter GDP numbers could ultimately deliver a more dovish statement that would weigh on the Loonie.
In the week prior, BoC Governor Poloz had stated that interest rates were at the right level to support the economy…
The Loonie ended the week down by 0.61% to C$1.3282 against the U.S Dollar.
It’s also a busy week ahead.
At the start of the week, manufacturing numbers along with company gross operating profit figures will provide direction.
The focus will then shift 3rdquarter GDP numbers due out on Wednesday.
On Thursday, October retail sales figures and trade data will also have a material influence on the Aussie.
From elsewhere, private sector PMI numbers out of China will also influence.
The NBS figures released on Saturday were Aussie Dollar positive, ahead of the more influential Caixin figures due out on Monday and Wednesday.
On the monetary policy front, the RBA delivers its December interest rate decision.
The monetary policy meeting minutes from November had revealed that the Board discussed a rate cut in the last meeting.
Since the last RBA meeting, it’s been a mixed bag on the economic data front.
While September trade data and business and consumer confidence were positives, wage growth and employment figures have disappointed.
When considering the fact that the RBA’s main area of concern continues to be over consumer spending, weaker wage growth and a slide in employment would support a more dovish stance on policy.
On the geopolitical risk front, chatter on trade will need monitoring and will remain a key driver.
The Aussie Dollar ended the week down by 0.34% to $0.6763.
It’s also a relatively busy week ahead on theeconomic calendar.
Key stats include 3rdquarter capital spending figures on Monday and October household spending figures due out on Friday.
Barring deviation from prelim figures, finalized manufacturing and service sector PMIs will likely have a muted impact.
From elsewhere, private sector PMI numbers out of China and geopolitics will ultimately drive the Yen in the week.
The Japanese Yen ended the week down by 0.76% to ¥109.49 against the U.S Dollar.
It’s a particularly quiet week ahead on the economic calendar, with no material stats due out of New Zealand.
A lack of stats leaves the Kiwi in the hands of market risk sentiment throughout the week.
The Kiwi Dollar ended the week up by 0.19% to $0.6422.
It’s a relatively busy week on theeconomic datafront. Following NBS Private Sector PMI numbers from Saturday, the focus will be on the Caixin surveys.
The Manufacturing PMI due out on Monday and Services PMI on Wednesday will influence risk appetite in the week.
Outside of the numbers, however, expect updates from Beijing and Washington to have the greatest impact.
The Yuan ended the week up by 0.09% to CNY7.0325 against the Greenback.
Impeachment:Open door testimony resumes after the Thanksgiving holiday. While Trump is still nowhere nearer to being thrown out of office, the hearings will continue to draw interest…
Trade Wars: There’s still no sign of an actual phase 1 agreement, in spite of positive updates from both sides. Another week of positive chatter but no actual concrete progress may test the broader market… In the early hours of Thursday, Trump signed the HK Bill to protect HK protestors. China’s reaction will be key…
UK Politics: The UK General Election is just 11 days away. Expect the Pound to be particularly sensitive to the opinion polls, predictions and televised debates and interviews. Boris Johnson’s lead has tumbled, raising the chances of a hung parliament and more Brexit uncertainty. That’s not going to be particularly positive for the Pound.
Bank of Canada: On Wednesday, the BoC delivers its final monetary policy decision of the year. BoC Gov. Poloz last spoke of interest rates being at the right level to support the economy. Economic data has been mixed, however. Will the Committee remain divided or more aligned with the governor?
RBA: The last RBA minutes were mode dovish than the rate statement had suggested, weighing on the Aussie. With wage growth and employment figures disappointing, a more dovish statement could be on the horizon. The RBA may need to decide whether it’s worth spooking consumers with one last rate cut…
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• European Equities: A Week in Review – 29/11/19
• The Weekly Wrap – Positive Stats Battled Against Trump and the HK Bill
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 01/12/19
• Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Weakens Under $1471.30, Strengthens Over $1474.80
• Natural Gas Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Low Demand, High Production Likely to Keep Pressure on Prices
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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https://t.co/C3C3ZLWvSm || https://t.co/pCRzee0J2G #bitcoinUK #cryptocurrency #portland #Russia #memphis #ico #godblessamerica #Top10 #houston #minneapolis #btc #abraaj #investment #TokenSales #icoalert #london #miami #bancor #oklahomacity #PrivateEquity #seattle #AVCJjapan #miv #kualalumpur #sydney #paris || Bitcoin makes a good endowment trust vehicle, one paying ever decreasing increments to purchase the same value in the marketplace.
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Trend: up || Prices: 8163.69, 8079.86, 7879.07, 8166.55, 8037.54, 8192.49, 8144.19, 8827.76, 8807.01, 8723.79
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Keep LI Stock on Your Watchlist for Now: Li Auto(NASDAQ:LI) stock, like its peers, has struggled lately. The market has become increasingly pessimistic about the near-term prospects for China-based electric vehicle (or EV) manufacturers.
This could have you thinking the sector has been oversold. After all, this big decline only came about on the initial signs of a slowdown in Chinese EV sales, not on news of this industry going from boom times to tough times.
Still, many of the China EV stocks popular among U.S. investors could continue to move in the wrong direction, as market conditions worsen.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Even Li Auto, which has less of the issues plaguing comparable names, may not be a screaming buy at present levels. However, at the right price, it could become a great opportunity.
[]
As recently as a few months ago, it seemed as if China EV stocks had the potential to make a comeback in the closing months of 2022.
Despite issues like pandemic lockdowns (which disrupted vehicle production), and the initial signs of a Chinese economic slowdown, the market was bullish that factors likegovernment incentiveswould keep the industry in high-growth mode.
Now, however, signs of softening demand in China for EVs arestarting to emerge. The latest monthly vehicle delivery numbers among the most heavily-followed Chinese EV makers also indicate growth challenges ahead. Investors are now less hopeful that the industry will report stronger results this quarter than it has in the preceding quarters.
With this sharp turn in market sentiment, it’s no surprise that LI stock has been in an extended slump. Further signs that EV demand is in for a moderate-to-severe slowdown market could mean more underwhelming returns ahead.
That said, long-term trends remain favorable for this space. Not only that, there are factors specific to Li Auto that make it a much stronger way to play these long-term trends, relative to its competitors.
I wouldn’t say “the party’s over” for this industry. Multi-year forecasts continue to call for EV sales in China to hit15.3 million annually by 2030, or 155% above current estimates for 2022.
However, instead of spreading your bets around, by buyingNio(NYSE:NIO) andXPeng(NASDAQ:XPEV) as well, you may be better off sticking to just LI stock.
Li Auto is already on track to become profitable. AsInvestorPlace’sThomas Niel pointed out on Oct. 5, analyst forecasts call for this company to reportpositive earnings per share (or EPS) in both 2022 and 2023.
Nio and XPeng aren’t anywhere close to hitting profitability, especially XPeng. As I recently argued,XPeng’s cash burnhas been on the rise in recent quarters, which is something that could continue to put pressure on its shares.
Li Auto has something else on its rivals: a more cautious approach to expansion into areas like Europe. Li is looking to form partnerships in Europe. Nio and XPeng, on the other hand, are both looking to penetrate this market on their own. That’s a riskier approach, given the rising competition there.
Li Auto stock currently earns a B rating inPortfolio Grader. There isn’t a great urgency to add it to your portfolio today, even as a speculative position. Given near-term issues playing out in the Chinese electric vehicle industry, this stock will likely stay under pressure.
More negative macro and/or industry-specific news could send the stock back to its 52-week low ($16.86 per share), or perhaps to even lower prices. Nevertheless, while it’s a good idea to steer clear of NIO or XPEV, even if they become cheaper from here, at lower prices LI may be worth scooping up.
By keeping more focus on its home market, there are fewer concerns and less uncertainty with LI stock compared to its rivals. That’s why you should consider adding it to your watchlist as a possible buy down the road.
On the date of publication, neither Louis Navellier nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
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The postKeep LI Stock on Your Watchlist for Nowappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Let The Experts Guide You Through Crypto Winter: Melbourne, Australia --News Direct-- Caleb & Brown This educational guide exploring How To Protect Crypto Assets in a Bear Market was created in conjunction with Caleb & Brown and Benzinga. Caleb & Brown is the world’s leading cryptocurrency brokerage. Learn more here . 2022 has proven a challenging year for cryptocurrencies and equities so far. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY), Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC) and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEARCA: DIA) have declined by 25%, 35% and 20%, respectively, from their 2021 highs. Cryptocurrency has mirrored these declines, albeit with greater intensity. The Bitcoin (BTC) price has come down to a low roughly 75% off its all-time-high, and Ethereum’s (ETH) price has declined to a low ~82% off its all-time-high. Altcoins like Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC) and Dogecoin (DOGE), all of which were stellar 2021 performers, have been dragged in the tracks left by their larger market cap counterparts, seeing their prices decline approximately 87%, 72% and 90% since their 2021 highs. A report by IMFBlog, a blog on economic and financial insights run by the government-backed International Monetary Fund (IMF), concludes, “There’s growing interconnectedness between virtual assets and financial markets,” leading many to believe that while poor macroeconomic conditions persist, cryptocurrencies will likely remain in their dire state. Despite what the headlines may suggest, there’s no need to panic. Volatile periods are typical in the crypto market. What’s important in these periods is to protect mental and financial capital and avoid catastrophic behaviors. For Caleb & Brown , the world’s leading cryptocurrency brokerage, helping investors navigate the complexities of buying, selling and swapping cryptocurrency is a core function of their business. Through their personalized broker service, investors gain access to experts with a wealth of experience in navigating crypto markets. What’s more: Caleb & Brown’s brokers are available 24/7, ready to discuss every concern, idea or speculation. Whether you’re mapping out a hedging strategy, considering dollar-cost averaging (DCA) or aiming to learn more about cryptocurrency in general, C&B’s brokers can guide you through it all. Using Key Indicators And Performance Road Maps As Guides Like Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) and Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (NASDAQ: IBKR), Caleb & Brown provides top-of-the-line brokerage services at affordable rates and exceptional speed. Story continues Unlike its two counterparts, however, Caleb & Brown prides itself on providing a personal touch to its brokerage services for crypto beginners and sophisticated investors alike. This allows the company to help investors understand the market and their own goals so they can determine an investment strategy. For example, through consultations with brokers, Caleb & Brown will allow investors to: Appropriately diversify their crypto portfolios based on their risk tolerance Seek education about altcoins and learn about their risk and reward potentials Use key indicators, like all-time highs and market dominance, to tailor a strategy and time horizon for future returns Protect their gains by making sure risk is well-managed and hasty decisions are avoided As opposed to being a platform where one simply executes trades, Caleb & Brown’s personalized experience creates an environment for investors to upskill, learning about key investing concepts, such as risk management, and wealth-building concepts with a broker by their side. Speaking on this topic, the company says on its website, “We say it as it is, investing in crypto is not always smooth sailing. That’s why we exist, to help you navigate the complexity and reduce the risk, so that you can capitalize on this transformative asset class and build a better future.” The End Of The World? Contrary to prominent news headlines, all is not lost. Bear markets and crypto winters are cyclical occurrences that provide a necessary cool-off period for the economy before the next bull run. Every bear market in history has replicated this cyclical process. Even Bitcoin’s recent 70%+ declines have been seen at least three times before, as discussed in a previous article . The market can be a noisy and confusing place, but it doesn’t have to be. Enjoy peace of mind thanks to the education and personalised service of Caleb & Brown’s crypto brokers here . Are you interested in gauging if now could be the right time to invest in crypto? If so, read this previous article in this series here , to learn about the tried-and-test dollar-cost averaging investment technique to get started. Caleb & Brown helps clients safely trade cryptocurrencies with a 24/7 personal broker service. Caleb & Brown's clients range from beginners needing a trusted partner, to seasoned investors and institutions looking to execute trades of any scale and complexity, seamlessly. The crypto brokerage has grown to support 21,000 clients across 100 countries, continuing to put personalised service, education and consumer protection at the heart of everything they do, as has been the company's promise since its foundation in 2016. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Chris Nedelkos chris@calebandbrown.com Company Website https://calebandbrown.com/ View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/let-the-experts-guide-you-through-crypto-winter-228281476 View comments || Which Meme Coin Will Bring Bulls Back This Uptober; Dogecoin, Big Eyes Coin, Or Shiba Inu?: Uptober is statistically the best month for crypto; records indicate an average 25% rise in value. So, naturally, the crypto community is eager to determine which coins could create this value increase. So, let’s start by looking at whether Dogecoin (DOGE), Big Eyes Coin (BIG), or Shiba Inu (SHIB) are in a position to bring the bulls back. So, what exactly is Dogecoin? Dogecoin was born when memes met crypto Dogecoin (DOGE) one fine December morning in 2013. It is an open-source, peer-to-peer meme token with a small cost and a huge community that has secured its place at the top of the crypto rankings. The logo of Dogecoin is an adorable image of the well-loved Japanese dog breed Shiba Inu. Dogecoin was created as a meme of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Since its launch, this coin’s community has grown and flourished, securing itself as a go-to tipping currency for its community members. How has Dogecoin performed so far this Uptober? Since the beginning of Uptober, Dogecoin (DOGE) has seen some pits and falls; starting out with a value of $0.06185, reaching a momentary high of $0.06638 on Wednesday the 5th, and finding a new low of $0.0565 on the 13th, falling alongside other cryptos like Bitcoin and Shiba Inu. Since the 13th, it has not recovered its starting value of $0.6185 and has hovered between $0.059 and $0.060. At the time of writing, Dogecoin is priced at $0.05908 with a market cap of $7,837,386,744 (according to CoinMarketCap). The movement within the previous week’s experts attributed to Elon Musks’ Twitter activity (no surprises there) and macro effects that caused the drop on the 13th. What should we expect from Dogecoin in the Following Weeks? Dogecoin (DOGE) will likely have to wait until the overall market conditions are more favourable before it sees a dramatic rise in value. In the next few weeks, experts cannot predict the future of this coin as so many volatile factors determine it. What makes Shiba Inu Unique from Dogecoin? The meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB) is an altcoin based on the Ethereum (ETH) protocol. Shiba Inu’s community is as strong as Dogecoin and has been the driving force behind this meme coin’s growth. Story continues When Shiba Inu launched into the cryptocurrency market in 2013, it set out to be the “Dogecoin Killer”. Shiba Inu was determined to replace Dogecoin at the top, win the favour of Elon Musk, and become the one meme to rule them all. Since its launch, it has developed and innovated to serve its community better and provide value for the wider ecosystem by creating the ShibaVerse, and ShibEternity, a play-to-earn game (P2E). These features make it a unique coin and ecosystem from Dogecoin. How has Shiba Inu Faired since Uptober Started? Shiba Inu (SHIB) has performed similarly to Dogecoin (DOGE); however, it has fallen further from the beginning of the month. SHIB started at $0.00001133, rose to a momentary high of $0.00001175 on the 5th, and sunk to a low of $0.000009496 on the 13th. Unlike Dogecoin, Shiba Inu dived on the 10th and the 13th; this consecutive steep decline is bad news for the future of Shiba Inu. Shiba Inu is, at the time of writing, priced at $0.00001008, with a market cap of $5,534,816,083. Could Shiba Inu Bring the Bulls Back before the End of Uptober? The previous week’s activity is not a good indication of Shiba Inu’s (SHIB) ability to bring the bulls back in weeks to come. However, due to its engaged Shiba ecosystem, it most likely will achieve more growth than Dogecoin. What is the Definition of Big Eyes Coin? Big Eyes Coin (BIG) is a community meme token based on the Ethereum network with a cute cat as its logo. The Big Eyes Coin is determined for its adorable big-eyed cat to compete with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu for the top positions on the rankings. The main aims of Big Eyes Coins are to move wealth into the DeFi and protect the oceans and sea life within them. The Big Eyes tokenomics is therefore structured in this way; 5% of the total supply of tokens is committed to a visible charity wallet, and 70% of the tokens will be available for the general public to buy in presale. How have Big Eyes Coin Performed in its Presale? Big Eyes (BIG) meme coin is currently in its presale stage 5, with over $8 million raised so far and CEX secured. This coin has had a very positive start in its presale, and many investors are excited to see it launch in the near future. Another reason why investors are excited is that Big Eyes Coin promises to release a limited NFT collection designed to reach the top ten. A really positive indication of the performance of this coin in its presale stages is the fact it was able to raise $500K in one day. Will the Bulls Return in Time for Big Eyes Coin Presale? Big Eyes Coin’s (BIG) growth and unique cat features are in stark contrast to Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu’s (SHIB) downward trend. This is a good indication that Big Eyes will be in with the best chance to bring the bulls back this Uptober. To join Big Eyes thriving community, check out the links below: Presale: https://buy.bigeyes.space/ Website: https://bigeyes.space/ Telegram: https://t.me/BIGEYESOFFICIAL || First Mover Asia: Bitcoin Climbs Back Past $19.5K Amid Fresh Hopes for a Fed Retreat; Binance's Failed Plan to Boost the Price of Luna Classic: Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:
Prices:Bitcoin climbs past $19.5K in a good day for cryptos.
Insights:Binance's plan to burn a small amount of LUNC’s bloated supply failed to have a lasting impact on the hyperinflated token.
Catch the latest episodes ofCoinDesk TVfor insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis. Andsign up for First Mover, our daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context.
●Bitcoin (BTC): $19,566+2.5%
●Ether (ETH): $1,322+3.0%
●CoinDesk Market Index (CMI): $963+2.6%
●S&P 500 daily close: 3,678.43+2.6%
●Gold: $1,707 per troy ounce+2.7%
●Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 3.65%−0.2
Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found atcoindesk.com/indices.
Bitcoin and Ether Climb Amid Renewed Hopes for a Fed Retreat
By James Rubin
Crypto investors who have appreciated bad, economic news more than good in recent months were feeling chipper on Monday as the latest manufacturing indicators arrived cooler than expected.
Bitcoin was recently trading over $19,550, up more than 2% over the past 24 hours, amid a surprising monthly decline in the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, which measures factory activity. The drop didn't send asset prices soaring, but it offered faint hope that the economy was slowing meaningfully, inflation would soon be waning, and the U.S. central bank would be able to ratchet back its recent monetary hawkishness. Markets have been desperate for signs of improvement in the inflation battle that Federal Reserve officials see as key to long-range economic stability.
Ether was recently changing hands at just above $1,300, up roughly 3% from a day earlier, same time. Most other major altcoins in market value were trading higher, with ATOM and MATIC both rising more than 5%. TheCoinDesk Market Index(CMI), a broad-based market index that measures performance across a basket of cryptocurrencies, increased by over 2.5%.
Equity markets enjoyed a rare upswing with the tech-focused Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) jumping 2.3%, 2.6% and 2.7%, respectively. The increases followed a September of almost unbroken declines as investors continued to fret about rising prices and the prospect of a harsh recession.
Meanwhile, yields on 10-year U.S. Treasurys declined, continuing their path of the past few days after rising to 15-year highs late last month. Yields and asset prices usually travel in opposite directions. The decline may also reflect a surge in investor confidence that Fed policies are working.
Markets remained jittery about Credit Suisse as the investment banking giant tried to allay fears about its financial health, although the company's share price wound up only falling by about 1% on Monday. In Florida, the toll from Hurricane Ian continued to rise, although the cost in repairs and lost economic growth remains unclear.
In an email to CoinDesk, Jon Campagna, partner and head of trading and capital markets at crypto investment firm CoinFund, noted optimistically that bitcoin and cryptos in general have struggled in September but had their best performance in the last quarter of the year with an average quarterly return of more than 100%. "It remains to be seen if history can repeat itself for Q4 the way it did for the month of September," he wrote.
And Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at financial tech firm iCapital, told CoinDesk TV's "First Mover" program that bitcoin's price was "a lot closer to the bottom than we have been, although she added that bitcoin was unlikely to escape the $19,000 to $20,000 band that it has been occupying "until and unless the Fed pivots."
"Until then, I think, unfortunately, we're still going to be kept around these current levels," she said.
[{"Asset": "Cosmos", "Ticker": "ATOM", "Returns": "+5.8%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Polygon", "Ticker": "MATIC", "Returns": "+5.0%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Chainlink", "Ticker": "LINK", "Returns": "+3.9%", "DACS Sector": "Computing"}]
[{"Asset": "Stellar", "Ticker": "XLM", "Returns": "\u22123.3%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Terra", "Ticker": "LUNA", "Returns": "\u22120.3%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}]
Binance's Failed Scheme to Boost Luna Classic's Price
By Krisztian Sandor
The crypto exchange Binance’s planned “burn” of luna classic (LUNC) – the remnant cryptocurrency of the failed blockchain project Terra prior to itsreboot– was supposed to boost the price. At least, that was the speculation of many crypto traders.
But the impact turned out to be underwhelming.
Since the mechanism was implemented a week ago, Binance destroyed – “burned” in crypto terms, or a reduction in the outstanding supply – $1.8 million worth of LUNC, based on atweetMonday by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. That amount represents only 0.08% of the total supply of the token, too minuscule to make any measurable impact on the tokens' hyperinflated supply.
The price of LUNC dropped 12% in the last 24 hours, to $0.0003037, according to cryptocurrency price trackerCoinGecko.
LUNC is the native token of the Terra Classic blockchain, whichimploded this May, wiping out $60 billion in market value; the project’s algorithmic stablecoin lost its peg to the dollar, and LUNC, the token that was supposed to be its stabilizer, fell into hyperinflation. While most crypto developers and projectsleftthe blockchain, some community members attempted to bring new life to the network by introducing a scheme that reduces the bloated supply of the token.
Read more:Luna (LUNA) vs. Luna Classic (LUNC): What Is the Difference?
LUNC almost doubled its pricelast week after Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, unveiled its own supply-reduction scheme, CoinDesk reported last week. The crypto exchangeimplementeda mechanism that destroys the same amount of coins as the fees it collects from trading LUNC.
LUNC became the third-most traded asset on Binance with trading volume after bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), according todataby CoinMarketCap.
The burn was calculated based on the token’s trading volume between Sept. 21 and Oct. 1. So Binance took 5.6 billion tokens out of circulation by sending them to a “burn” address, according toblockchain data.
Given that there are more than 6.8 trillion tokens in circulation, the burn rate works out to a meager 0.08% of the total supply – extrapolating to only a few percentage points of reduction on an annualized basis.
Binance's scheme “is meaningless in its direct impact,” a crypto trader who goes by the pseudonym ofOgle, told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat.
“At this rate, assuming the volume continued to be as high as now (which I doubt), it would take 15 years to get to the total burn goal.”
MetaBeat Conference(San Francisco)
11:30 a.m. HKT/SGT(3:30 a.m. UTC):Reserve Bank of Australiarate statement
9 .m. H1HKT/SGT(1 p.m. UTC): Speech by Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John C. Williams
In case you missed it, here is the most recent episode of"First Mover"onCoinDesk TV:
SEC Charges Kim Kardashian for Promoting EthereumMax; Bitcoin Holds Above $19K
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian paid $1.26 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges relating to her promotion of ethereumMax. Plus, what do analysts expect from the crypto markets this month? "First Mover" chatted with Anastasia Amoroso, iCapital chief investment strategist. And Matthew Price discusses Binance's new training program for law enforcement.
Kim Kardashian Pays $1.26M Fine to SEC for Promoting EthereumMax Without Disclosing Reimbursement:The reality TV star also agreed not to tout any cryptocurrencies for three years.
Crypto Exchange Coinbase Fixes Technical Problem That Temporarily Halted Payments and Withdrawals From US Bank Accounts:The exchange says the issue was identified and a solution implemented.
Ex-CEO of Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius Withdrew $10M Weeks Before Company Froze Customer Accounts: Report:Alex Mashinsky resigned as CEO on Sept. 27; the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid July.
Deglobalization Is Happening. Crypto Is Part of the Answer:The rise of a common global financial infrastructure will continue as the international landscape becomes even more fragmented by war and disaster.
Citi Says Decentralized Crypto Exchanges Are Gaining Market Share From Centralized Peers:Increased crypto regulation could drive users to decentralized platforms, the bank said. || SEC's Gensler Holds Firm That Existing Laws Make Sense for Crypto: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler told the Practising Law Institute last week that existing securities laws fit the crypto markets in a speech that’s garnered attention from all parts of the digital currency ecosystem. Prior to the speech, I had the opportunity to speak with the longtime regulator about his agency’s approach to crypto. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. Gensler's words The narrative SEC Chair Gary Gensler was one of CoinDesk’s 2021 Most Influential honorees for his role running the federal regulator. He spoke to CoinDesk ahead of last week’s speech on cryptocurrencies and how they fit into federal regulations, echoing comments he made in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal last month. Why it matters The following interview has been edited for clarity. You can also watch the video above. Breaking it down Nikhilesh De, CoinDesk: Thank you so much for joining me and agreeing to speak about all things crypto. I know it must be one of your favorite subjects. I wonder if we could get things started with previewing your speech to the SEC Speaks [program] tomorrow. You're talking about crypto, you're addressing a lot of I want to say frequently heard complaints from the crypto industry that the SEC is not doing enough to provide clarity. You do seem to address that head on. So I’m wondering if you could just speak to how you are looking at this issue. What are the top-of-mind issues for you when you're talking about crypto regulation? SEC Chair Gensler: So, Nik, good to be with you, good to be with an audience of CoinDesk subscribers or viewers. I think about investing in the context of markets. We had the Securities and Exchange Commission set up nearly 90 years ago, and it was to protect the investing public. And the speech that you reference, I start with those foundational things around President [Franklin] Roosevelt [and] Congress [and] what they tried to put together, and the first chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Joe Kennedy [father of later President John Kennedy and senators Robert and Ted Kennedy]. Story continues And so I think of it in that context. And 90 years later those basic bargains are really what it's about when somebody is raising money from the public – the public gets to decide which risks they take. We at the Securities and Exchange Commission are not a merit regulator. If you want to take a risk, take a risk. But we are, and what our regime is about, is about disclosure, making sure there's full and fair and truthful disclosure. Even President Roosevelt called it the “ truth in securities act ,” the first of our four key acts. And so I think of it all in that context. Satoshi Nakamoto writes the white paper Halloween night in 2008 – a number of years later, people start to invest in it, they're buying and selling it. Some years later, we start to see other coins, other tokens. And, you know, if you just look at coinmarketcap.com , there's like 10,000 or so tokens listed there. Some have more liquidity than others, of course, and some have more value than others. But what is the investing public doing? They're investing for a better future, based upon the efforts of others. There [are] websites you go to, Medium posts that you read, there's Crypto Twitter, there's Reddit forums and places you can look for information. And it's about that common enterprise and that entrepreneurial effort which is the hallmark of investment contracts, which are securities. So I think that's where we are, that most of the tokens meet the traditional standards that our Supreme Court has laid out, and that we, the SEC, have a role to help protect investors and instill and enhance trust in these markets. But back to you, Nik. Well, you know, so to your point about instilling trust to these markets, you've said on numerous occasions that you believe a lot of crypto trading platforms, which we commonly referred to as crypto exchanges, should be registered as national Securities Exchanges because in your view, and in the view of your predecessor Jay Clayton, and in the view I think of many other SEC staffers and even lawyers, a lot of cryptocurrencies do resemble securities. What's the next step? They don't just resemble securities, they are securities. Thurgood Marshall, a great Supreme Court Justice, wrote in an opinion – and I think it was in the 1970s – that the Congress painted with a broad brush to protect the public when somebody is raising money from the public and the public anticipates a profit. That's kind of the core. And yes, the service providers, if you wish, the crypto exchanges, the crypto lending platforms, whether they call them such centralized or decentralized (so-called DeFi), they're transacting and providing services to the public. And they're providing those services around some very small handful of non-security tokens, crypto non-security tokens. But the vast number of these thousands of tokens – without prejudging any one of them – meet the standard of being a security, and thus the platforms have an obligation to come in and register, work with us and find a path forward. Ultimately, it's about protecting the investing public and, if the investing public is investing in crypto, to have some basic protection. So we just went through a time, earlier this year, where a number of platforms went bankrupt, or they just froze out their customers. I wonder about how many of your readers got frozen out or held [cryptos], and they just get in line in bankruptcy court. Even if the platform started to honor their obligations, sometimes they were frozen for three hours or three days or a week. And there are basic protections in our securities laws that guard against that. What's more, right now, if you're investing on any one of these service providers [or] platforms, you're not getting those basic protections insuring against fraud, manipulation, what's called front-running. The platforms are an amalgam of different services. Not only are they doing what you might be familiar with at the New York Stock Exchange, but they are also … acting as a broker against you. They're like an amalgam of dealers trading against their public, they could be trading ahead of you. And our securities laws say no, that's not allowed. So there are a lot of protections that you right now are not getting the benefit from but should be because it's the law. Right. My question is what's the next step in having these platforms registered as securities exchanges or come in? The next step is if they successfully register, the investing crypto public can get to decide. These are, by their very nature, speculative assets. There's give or take 10,000, and pretty much any venture capitalist would probably tell you that most startups fail. That's just the nature of the economics of startups. And so the investing public will get a fuller disclosure about those individual token projects. You'd also have protections in your trading against fraud, manipulation and the transparency of those platforms, how orders are matched and the like. And that if they are also dealers, that this amalgam of different features that they're doing gets separated out. If you have a desire to take your crypto and lend it, that you actually have some disclosures [from] the service provider providing you that interest. And remember, if somebody says reward or yield or interest or return, the label doesn't matter. It's similar to when you put your money with the money market fund and you say, well, they're going to give me a return. Then they actually have to disclose what they're doing with your money, and it's your money ultimately. What are they doing with it? Are they trading like a hedge fund or are they lending it to somebody else? Are they putting it in safe assets or more speculative assets? I guess I should clarify. If these platforms don't come in voluntarily, which it doesn't look like any of them will, is the SEC prepared to bring enforcement actions? Is there a rulemaking process? Nik, [the SEC has] been doing that by my predecessors. I think you can go to our website and read about it. And sometimes the entrepreneurs and service providers in this field will say, ‘what has the SEC said on this?’ The SEC has said a lot. We've, as a commission, as a five-member commission – I've spoken to this numerous times, dozens and dozens of times, every enforcement action – it's voted on by a five member commission, by my predecessor commissions and then I'm what I'm honored to chair, we’ve spoken about it directly. In 2017, five years ago, in two really important circumstances, something called the DAO Report , and the Munchee order , both in 2017, [we] laid out – consistent with Supreme Court cases – when tokens are securities, and so it's actually pretty straightforward there. And we are a cop on the beat. That's what Congress set up in the 1930s. But we work with market participants and, and I said this, quoting Joe Kennedy, the first chair of the SEC, who spoke clearly on this – he said, “no honest business need fear the SEC.” Come in, we will look to see how we can facilitate compliance using those tools in our regulatory toolkit. We have various tools that the community understands about how to try to fit this in. Look, I'm technology neutral. Before I was in this job, I was not so technology neutral, maybe. I was honored to be at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and studying and researching and teaching on the intersection of finance and new technology, around artificial intelligence and finance, but also around this topic, crypto markets and finance. And the job I’m in now, I'm technology neutral. I mentioned that to give you a sense of where I come from, but I'm not public policy neutral. I think that the investing public not only deserves to be respected and to get its basic disclosure and anti-manipulation [and] anti-fraud protections, but also other issuers, other companies and entrepreneurs that raise money, need to have somewhat of a level playing field here. I think, without that, this field can't reach any of the goals that many of the readers of CoinDesk might believe. If you believe in crypto, and I know there are both people that believe in it and don't believe in it, but if you believe in it and you want to invest in it, I would say this. Few things ever persist without coming into basic public policy perimeters protecting investors, not undermining our capital markets or our financial stability at large. Being inside of the remit of fostering just legal activity and not illicit activity. Those are our basic bargains in our economy. There's a lot to unpack in all of that. We're seeing enforcement actions being brought against companies that conducted initial coin offerings as far back as 2017, 2018. Is the SEC able to keep up with the sheer numbers, the 10,000 cryptocurrencies out there, or does the agency need more resources to address that? I thank you for raising that. I joined an agency about a year and a quarter ago that had actually shrunk about 5% in the prior four or five years. And the capital markets, as we all know, had grown quite significantly, not just in value but in complexity and numbers of public companies, number of investors, and then this crypto field came up. Though it's give or take upon this recording a trillion dollars of worldwide asset value, the U.S. capital markets are a little over $100 trillion in total. So we've got a lot going on. I'm really proud of this agency, but we had shrunk about 5%. So absolutely, I think that we should be at least where we were in 2016, and should be above that. We should have grown in this period of time. I would say this to any of the lawyers and accountants and entrepreneurs out there that are advising folks in this field: If you're in, if you're thinking about doing a project, come in, talk to us, let's get it right. If you've been doing a project for three, six years and so forth, don't wait for us to knock on your door. But I would say this also, Nik, this is a very concentrated ecosystem, some would say otherwise. But there's really a handful – five, eight, crypto exchange platforms – that have the dominant market share. Similarly in so called lending platforms, even though a handful of them just went bankrupt. Also in the so-called decentralized finance, or DeFi, space, these are highly concentrated actors and players, they often have hundreds of tokens and so on. So given what we've discussed, it's highly likely they have securities on them. Come in, work with us, work on getting the right facilitation around your exchange function, your broker-dealer function, your custodial or clearing house function, your lending. We've spoken in a clear voice. I mean, over a year ago, in a speech , I said, “Make no mistake, if you have a platform, and you're lending or borrowing crypto securities, you've got to come in and work with us and get registered.” And we did that with a company named BlockFi earlier this year. And we're still sorting through in the crypto lending space. So there's a path forward here. Do you think that, not necessarily the SEC specifically but some of these lenders that are currently bankrupt – we've heard that numerous state regulators and the SEC have been looking into quite a few of them. Celsius Network, for example, just today, the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation said that over 40 states are looking into Celsius’ operations. But that hasn't stopped these companies from taking investors' money. And then, as you pointed out, [Celsius is] currently going through bankruptcy proceedings. Is there something more that regulators could be doing to be proactive on this issue, to have prevented getting to a point where these companies are built up, and they have this huge customer base and then they go to the courts and say, ‘we need some bankruptcy protections while we try to restructure our operations’? So, for your listening public, let me just explain, I can't speak to any one company. I can speak about things in the past as I did the settlement with one company as I did about BlockFi or the DAO Report from 2017. So let me just go to a more generic general question that I think you have. I think the investing public, whether you want to go and buy crypto or even, you think that it's all too highly priced in so you want to short it. And remember, those risks are your choices. Whether you're pro or you want to go short, that, entirely your choices. There's a role for the official sector. The bulk of the tokens, though maybe not the bulk of the market value in crypto, but the bulk of the tokens have entrepreneurs at the middle, have a website, you're reading the Reddit post, you're reading the Medium and Crypto Twitter, you're following those, and there's somebody in that middle generally touting that. We're trying to help and look out for you. On these concentrated actors, the centralized actors, the exchanges, the lending the custody, the so-called DeFi, right now you're not getting the compliance. The investing public is not only taking a risk on crypto, but you're also taking a risk that the platforms are even doing what they're saying they're doing. I think that we're actually aligned with the crypto investing public more than sometimes the news would report. I do think that in terms of the lending platforms, it's unambiguous. Because it doesn't matter what you hand over to a platform, if you hand over gold, if you hand over bitcoin, or you hand over any one of 1,000 plus alternative coins. Frankly, if you hand over chinchillas , that the platform is taking those funds of value and doing something with it, they might be operating a hedge fund, they might be lending it out, they might be operating other investment schemes. That platform is under the securities laws book because of how they've taken that money from you. You deserve the benefits of disclosure and certain investor protections. And we're going to continue to be leaning into that. But at the same time, trying to work with the platforms, the service providers, there's probably only 20 or 30 that you really cover at CoinDesk actively. I apologize, maybe you're going to tell me that you cover a lot more lending and exchanges and platforms. It's a pretty concentrated market share. Yeah, I mean, I can't speak with any certainty as to how much we cover. We've grown quite a bit in the last couple years. I do know, we have written about some of the potential dangers posed by these same companies that we're now talking about. But, you know, it brings you back to my first question, which is what role does or should the SEC have in being more active with these lenders, with these trading platforms, and all these other service providers that refuse to [register]. They believe that they don't need to come in to talk to the SEC or register. At what point does it go from an invitation to something more forceful? So, let me let me close on this, because I know our time is about up. I think that the platforms would be prudent to take the opportunity and work with us. We are a cop on the beat. And that's what Congress wants, that laws and roles are meaningful. As everybody knows, if there wasn't a cop, things would get a little messy on the highway. If I could just do an analogy to football. I mean, what would the game of football look like if we didn't have rules of the play and everything and there were no refs on the field? Congress writes the ultimate laws, but we are the ones that have to oversee the markets, like the refs on the field, and write some of the on-field roles. That game of football would look really messy after a while, and after a while it wouldn't even look like rugby. It would be really messy. And the fans wouldn't want to come after a while. I just think that you're right. There is a role to work with these companies and service providers, both in the intermediary space and the token space. But also we're going to be a vigorous cop on the beat. We're going to work very closely with our colleagues at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, because part of this market, what I'll call crypto non-security tokens, I think it's very few tokens, but, again, they have a lot of market value. We're gonna work with our colleagues at the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve around stablecoins and ensuring that there's the appropriate safety and soundness in those markets as well. And our international colleagues, I mean, there's a lot to be done here. If we're successful, there'll be more trust in these markets and investors will get to decide and entrepreneurs will decide and projects will win or lose or fail, based on their inherent risks. But right now we've got another set of risks. And it's the risk of non-compliance with investor protection or non-compliance with broader safety and soundness public policies, and working with our fellow regulators. We're going to continue to use the authorities Congress gave us but also the mandates to help best protect the public. Thank you for your time. I really appreciate it. All right. Thank you, you be well. Biden’s rule Changing of the guard Key: (nom.) = nominee, (rum.) = rumored, (act.) = acting, (inc.) = incumbent (no replacement anticipated) I think I'm going to replace this chart in the coming weeks as it seems pretty static now. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions on what I should have up here instead? Outside CoinDesk: ( The Washington Post ) Former U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated federal Judge Raymond Dearie to be a special master who can review the materials seized by the Department of Justice to verify whether they were classified or not, a nomination the DOJ says it will agree with. I’m flagging this largely because Judge Dearie ruled in 2018 that the federal government could prosecute (alleged) initial coin offering frauds under securities laws. Bitcoin drops below $22,000 after US inflation data https://t.co/0LiyXWNjUe pic.twitter.com/ipptVF1fuF — Bloomberg Markets (@markets) September 13, 2022 If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Twitter @nikhileshde . You can also join the group conversation on Telegram . See ya’ll next week! || Crypto Loans Are Booming in Latin America Amid Runaway Bank Rates and Inflation: It is not easy for Latin Americans to borrow money from traditional banks at a time of extremely high interest rates and relentless inflation. So some in the region have turned to crypto to gain access to needed credit. Back in 2020, when coronavirus pandemic-induced inflation hit, Latin American central banks were among the first to hike interest rates, with further increases in 2021 and 2022. As a result, traditional banks' lending rates grew exponentially, acting as a trigger to the growth of crypto platforms, which offer up to 50% lower rates and zero maintenance fees. Ledn , a Canada-based lending platform with more than 125,000 users, started operating in Latin America in 2019. The region now accounts for 50% of the loans granted by the company, Ledn co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Mauricio Di Bartolomeo told CoinDesk. “As the adoption of cryptocurrencies grew in Latin America, we noticed that people had to sell their bitcoins to spend on their daily lives,” Di Bartolomeo said. “That was when we saw credit could help people grow their businesses or projects without selling their crypto.” Ledn offers credits in U.S. dollars and the USD coin (USDC) stablecoin, with an annual interest rate of 7.9%. When receiving USD or USDC loans, the collateral in BTC must double the loan. The company provided $500 million in loans in Latin America, with an average amount of a bitcoin-backed loan of $9,206, Di Bartolomeo said. In July, Buenbit, a Latin American crypto exchange, started offering crypto credits in Argentina via NuArs, a stablecoin pegged to the Argentine peso (ARS) that operates on Binance’s blockchain and must be collateralized in the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin DAI. Since the launch of that lending feature, the amount borrowed from NuARS grew by 70%, Manuel Calderon, Buenbit’s financial manager, told CoinDesk. He said the borrowing limit expanded from 1 million ARS (equivalent to $3703) to 5 million ARS ($18.518) in September, adjusting to user demand. Story continues Depending on the amount borrowed, the collateral required can go up to 90%, Calderon said. The annual interest rate is about 69.5%, though it can change on a daily basis as the markets fluctuate, he added. With Argentina’s traditional banks, loan rates can exceed 200% annually, according to data from major institutions surveyed by CoinDesk. “This feature is designed for those who do not want to sell U.S. dollars but need to get hold of pesos for an expense, either short term or longer term,” Calderon said. “This way, you can keep the dollars and use them as collateral to take out a loan.” Calderon said that approximately 30 loans are opened and 25 closed per day on Buenbit’s platform. “Users go from small and medium companies that want to get 5 million NuARS to buy machinery, to people who get only 3,000 pesos (US$11) to pay a small expense like eating in a restaurant,” he said. In August, Num Finance, which developed a stablecoin pegged to the Peruvian sol called NuPEN, started offering loans in NuARS and NuPEN on its own platform in Argentina and Perú. According to Santiago Mignone, Num Finance’s CEO, more than $250,000 were lent over the last month. “Latin America is a region that has far fewer credit facilities than countries with similar incomes, such as Eastern Europe or South Africa,” Mignone said. “There is a great incentive for crypto products that bring new modalities to help expand credit in several ways.” Num Finance’s credits can be 100% collateralized with bitcoin, ether or DAI, among other crypto, while the interest varies according to the referencial rates of each country. In Argentina, the rate of NuARS is 59%, while NuPEN’s rate rises up to 6%. A troubled region In August, Mexico’s central bank announced a monthly rate hike for the tenth consecutive month, adding 75 basis points and taking interest rates to an all-time high of 8.5%. Brazil, one of the first countries to tighten its monetary policy in 2020, accounts for the second-highest interest rate in the world with 13.75%. But the first place, by far, goes to Argentina, whose central bank announced in September a 550 bps raise, hitting a 75% reference interest rate. Private banks are even more risk-averse when granting a loan. In Brazil, the largest private bank, Itau, offers personal loans with an annual interest rate that can go up to 172.85%, according to its website . In Argentina, the annual interest rate offered by the largest private player, Banco Santander, can reach 230%. “These rates make it impossible for citizens to repay loans as inflation continues to rise,” Darian Yane, an Argentine economist specializing in crypto, told CoinDesk. Latin America has some of the highest inflation in the world, with an average of approximately 11% year to year . These numbers have even affected the steadiest countries, such as Chile and Peru , whose citizens have recently started adopting crypto as a hedge against inflation. Furthermore, in Latin America financial inclusion is still low. Up to 50% of its workforce works in informal conditions and therefore lacks a credit score necessary to apply for a loan. “For someone living outside the banking system whose income is in local currency, who can't access credit, can't access a bank account, a credit card, anything ... that’s when crypto becomes a solution,” Yane added. || Ether May ‘Inevitably’ Turn Into a Store of Value After Ethereum’s Merge, Consensys Economist Says: Ethereum’s historicMergemay change the way its native token, ether (ETH), is used, according to Lex Sokolin, head economist of decentralized protocols at software company ConsenSys.
“A fairly large portion of people are going to be staking their ETH in the protocol to secure the protocol,” Sokolin told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover,” on Monday. “Which in a sense, is going to inevitably turn at least some ETH into a store of value inside of the network.”
Ethereum is expected to transition from aproof-of-work(PoW) to a quicker and less energy consuming protocol known asproof-of-stake(PoS) in a matter of days.
Read more:How Does Ethereum Staking Work?
Sokolin, who focuses on areas of decentralized finance and autonomous organizations (DAOs), said Ethereum’s use as collateral in DeFi suggests there are those who are “certainly supportive of ETH as a store of value, ultra sound money type asset.”
Sokolin added that ETH is not only “being used to power the protocol,” but it is also oftentimes being used as “a unit of account for all sorts of goods and NFTs inside of Web 3.”NFTsare known as non-fungible tokens and give collectors ownership of the digital items they’ve bought into.
Read more:Ethereum Blockchain’s Upgrade May Lead to Greater Institutional Adoption of Ether: Bank of America
“It has both of those functions,” Sokolin said. “The sound money function as well as the store of value function.”
In the short term, Sokolin predicts the growth rate of ETH will be higher than bitcoin.
“The thing I would be excited about in regards to Bitcoin would be to see more Bitcoin incorporated into Web 3, likely through bridging or rapping,” Sokolin said. “And if it could be used as collateral inside of Web 3, that would be even more powerful.”
Read more:Ethereum Merge May Not Be Immediately Deflationary, Crypto Trading Firm QCP Says || New to The Street TV Announces its 385th Episode with Four Featured Guest Interviews, Airing on Bloomberg TV as a Sponsored Program, Tonight, September 15, 2022, at 9:30 PM PT: FMW Media Works Corp New to The Street TV Announces its 385th Episode with Four Featured Guest Interviews, Airing on Bloomberg TV as a Sponsored Program, Tonight, September 15, 2022, at 9:30 PM PT New to The Street’s show will feature the following four (4) corporate interviews: 1). Cryptocurrency- Fantom Foundation (CRYPTO: FTM) ($FTM) 2). Mikra Cellular Sciences (a division of Lifeist Wellness, Inc.) (TSXV: LFST) (FRANKFURT: M5B) (OTCMKTS: NXTTF) 3). Cryptocurrency – Pawtocol (CRYPTO: UPI) ($UPI) 4). Sekur Private Data, Ltd. (OTCQX: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FRA: GDT0) - https://www.newtothestreet.com/ NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FMW Media’s New to The Street TV announces its business show broadcasting as a sponsored program on Bloomberg TV , Tonight, September 15, 2022, at 9:30 PM PT. New to The Street’s show will feature the following four (4) corporate interviews: 1). Cryptocurrency- Fantom Foundation’s (CRYPTO: FTM) ($FTM) interview with Professor Bernhard Scholz, Ph.D., Chief Research Officer (CRO). 2). Mikra Cellular Sciences’ (a division of Lifeist Wellness, Inc. ) (TSXV: LFST) (FRANKFURT: M5B) (OTCMKTS: NXTTF) interview with Faraaz Jamal, CEO, Mikra Cellular Sciences & COO, Lifeist Wellness, Inc. 3). Cryptocurrency – Pawtocol’s (CRYPTO : UPI) ($UPI) interview with Colin Jordan, CEO, and Marlina Cotter, Animal Rescue Coordinator. 4). Sekur Private Data, Ltd.’s (OTCQX: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FRA: GDT0) interview with Alain Ghiai, CEO. Episode #385 Professor Bernhard Scholz, Ph.D., the Chief Research Officer (CRO) at Fantom Foundation (CRYPTO: FTM) ($FTM) (“Fantom”) and a professor at the University of Sydney, Australia , talks with TV Host Jane King. Fantom is a layer-1 blockchain that uses Lachesis’ aBFT (asynchronous Byzantine Fault-Tolerant) consensus algorithm , allowing multiple DeFi Smart Contracts and other transactions to be executed efficiently and timely with lower transactional fees. Bernhard explains the evolution of the blockchain industry, which started shortly after the global financial crisis in 2008. Bitcoin appeared as a new monetary platform, a secure distributed ledger based on complicated mathematical combinations. Popularity multiplied, and even today, $BTC is a reliable cryptocurrency. In 2015, Ethereum appeared in the crypto industry, a unique blockchain with attributes that can program money and automate financial transactions on a DeFi platform. As Fantom’s CRO, Bernhard is opening a research lab to continue to grow $FTM’s blockchain innovations, looking to create exciting new uses. Anyone can learn about blockchain and cryptocurrencies with plenty of reliable sources on the internet and YouTube videos. The Fantom Foundation platform ecosystem sees its speed, security, and scalability as some of its main attributes that attract end-users. The on-screen QR code is available during the show; download or visit Fantom Foundation - https://fantom.foundation/ . Story continues New to The Street TV’s Host Jane King from the Nasdaq Marketplace studio interviews Faraaz Jamal, CEO, Mikra Cellular Sciences (“Mikra”) and COO, Lifeist Wellness, Inc . (TSXV: LFST (FRANKFURT: M5B) (OTCMKTS: NXTTF). Mikra is biosciences and consumer wellness Company that develops innovative therapies for cellular health. Faraaz explains the microscopic cellular level benefits of Mikra’s CELLF™ product , recommending it as a more effective alternative to multivitamins and supplements. The unique make-up of CELLF allows it to pass through the digestive system and be absorbed into the mid-small intestine (jejunum) and distributed to cells. As a nutraceutical gel with a buttery-type consistency, the product contains nutrient doses similarly used in other non-related clinical studies. Many other products in today’s market contain fillers and other non-essential ingredients that don’t contribute to the body’s nutritional needs and demands. Faraaz tells viewers that s consumer demand for CELLF is so high that being “SOLD-OUT” is not unusual, and Mikra stays busy meeting demands. About 80% of their orders are from returning customers. Currently, the Company sells its product through its e-commerce outlets. It is also working with a larger retailer with an expectation of them accepting CELLF as a new product offering. If you are feeling sluggish and lack energy throughout the day, CELLF can help. Mikra Cellular Sciences is a Lifeist Wellness, Inc. subsidiary that develops, produces, and sells bioactive consumer products. The on-screen QR code is available during the show; download or visit Mikra Cellular Sciences - https://wearemikra.com/ . From the Nasdaq Marketplace studio, New to The Street TV welcomes back Pa w t o col t o c ol (CRYPTO: UPI) ($UPI) , a blockchain technology Company that is creating better lives for pets and pet owners. Colin Jordan, Chief Executive Officer, and Marlina Cotter, Animal Rescue Coordinator talk with TV Host Jane King, updating viewers about current corporate ongoings. Marlina explains her role with the Company, finding animal rescue shelters that qualify to receive crypto donations. Shelters need to be a 501(c) not-for-profit organization that provides rescue services for high-risk and elderly pets. Pawtocol’s PetFund currently donates 10% of its revenues to five (5) pet rescue organizations, three in Arizona and two in California. Marlina tells viewers that New York and Florida pet shelters will soon receive donated crypto funds. Colin updates viewers about Pawtocol’s sponsored football game, played on September 10, 2022, between the University of Arizona and the Mississippi State University. Pawtocol’s logo branded banners hung throughout the University of Arizona football stadium, and during the game, Pawtocol gave away prizes , including its $UPI (Universal Pet Income) token. The ecosystem creates real-world solutions, uses, and products/services for pet owners using Pawtocol’s $UPI token blockchain. The on-screen QR code is available during the show; download or visit Pawtocol – https://pawtocol.com/ . Mr. Alain Ghiai, Chief Executive Officer, Sekur Private Data, Ltd.’s (OTCQX: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FRA: GDT0), talks with New to The Street TV’s Host Jane King about the Company’s end-to-end Swiss-hosted cybersecurity and internet privacy solutions for secure communications and data management. Alain informs viewers about a website, threatpost.com , an excellent resource to learn about current and ongoing cybersecurity hacks. The most recent comes from Telegram and Discord, with hackers gaining access to end-users’ devices through the apps built-in features. Hackers exploited Telegram’s mass broadcasting feature, which enabled them to steal information. SekurMessenger , with its SekurSend feature, is a solution for individuals and businesses looking for an encrypted close-loop program that ensures privacy. In October 2022, Sekur expects to roll out SekurMessenger/ SekurMail for companies and organizations as an enterprise platform with administrative capabilities that onboard their personnel quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. The encrypted close-loop private and secure message system platform gives a must-needed solution for businesses/organizations constantly under hack alerts. Alain told viewers to expect new product rollouts/upgrades, video tools , and website changes throughout the fall of 2022. The Company owns, controls, and operates its servers in Switzerland , a country with the most stringent privacy laws in the world. Sekur Private Data, Ltd. never mines/sells data, doesn’t use 3 rd party software/hardware, and no phone number is needed. Sekur Private Data, Ltd. built its entire culture around privacy and security. The on-screen QR code is available during the show to download more info or visit Sekur Private Data, Ltd. - https://www.sekurprivatedata.com/ and http://www.Sekur.com . About Fantom Foundation (CRYPTO: FTM) ($FTM): Fantom Foundation (CRYPTO: FTM) ($FTM) is an open-source, decentralized Smart Contract platform for DApps and digital assets created as an alternative to Ethereum. Fantom aims to overcome the limitations of previous generation blockchains and balance three components: scalability, security, and decentralization. The project offers tools to simplify integrating existing DApps, a complex staking reward system, and built-in DeFi instruments. Fantom is a Layer-1 blockchain that uses a scratch-built consensus mechanism and independent consensus layer, Lachesis, to facilitate DeFi and related services based on smart contracts. Lachesis provides security for other layers, including Opera, Fantom’s EVM-compatible Smart Contract chain. Fantom’s key strengths are its performance and efficient transaction processing; transactions settle in 1-2 seconds, costing just a few cents per transaction. As a result, Fantom provides higher scalability but lower cost - https://fantom.foundation/ . About Mikra Cellular Sciences : Mikra Cellular Sciences (“Mikra”), a division of Lifeist Wellness, Inc. (TSXV: LFST) (FRANKFURT: M5B) (OTCMKTS: NXTTF), is a breakthrough Company seeking to unlock cellular potential and maximize the health of humans. Mikra intends to bridge the scientific gap between cellular health and consumer wellness and focuses on one’s health at the cellular level. Human cells are responsible for the overall functionality of human biology. Mikra continues to develop products that can enhance cellular absorption of key and need minerals and nutrients to improve health and wellness. CELLF™ product is clinically tested and engineered to bring balance to the body and mind on a cellular level - https://wearemikra.com/ . Lifeist Wellness, Inc. (TSXV: LFST) (FRANKFURT: M5B) (OTCMKTS: NXTTF) is sitting at the forefront of a post-pandemic wellness revolution, leveraging the advancements in science and technology to build breakthrough companies that transform human wellness. Its portfolio business units include CannMart, a B2B wholesale distribution business that facilitates recreational cannabis sales to Canadian provincial government control boards; CannMart Labs, a BHO extraction facility for the production of high-margin cannabis 2.0 products; the CannMart.com marketplace, which provides US customers with access to hemp-derived CBD and smoking accessories; Australian Vapes, the country’s largest online retailer of vaporizers and accessories; Findify, a leading AI-powered search and discovery platform; and Mikra, a biosciences and consumer wellness company seeking to develop innovative therapies for cellular health. Information on Lifeist and its businesses - www.lifeist.com , www.cannmart.com , www.australianvaporizers.com.au , www.wearemikra.com , and email: ir@lifeist.com . About Pawtocol (CRYPTO: UPI) ($UPI) : Pawtocol (CRYPTO: UPI) ($UPI) introduced to the pet industry a new era of blockchain technology that can educate and positively impact the global pet community. With the $UPI token, pet owners can create data-driven value owned and controlled by them in a decentralized, transparent, and digital ownership ecosystem. Pawtocol’s blockchain-powered solutions will always put the pet community first, generating support for shelters and rescues through the NFT marketplace. While improving the lives of pets and pet owners with their blockchain pet tag, community participant gets compensation, strengthening the Pawtocol community - https://pawtocol.com/ . About Sekur Private Data Ltd. (OTCQX: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FRA: GDT0): Sekur Private Data, Ltd. (OTCQX: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FRA: GDT0) is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss-hosted solutions for secure communications and secure data management. The Company distributes encrypted emails, secure messengers, secure communication tools, secure cloud-based storage, disaster recovery, and document management products. The Company sells and serves consumers, businesses, and governments worldwide through approved wholesalers, distributors, and telecommunications companies. Contact Sekur Private Data, Ltd. at corporate@globexdatagroup.com or visit https://www.sekurprivatedata.com and https://www.sekur.com . About FMW Media: FMW Media operates one of the longest-running US and International sponsored and Syndicated Nielsen Rated programming TV brands, “New to The Street” and its blockchain show “Exploring The Block.” Since 2009, these brands have run biographical interview segment shows across major U.S. Television networks. The paid-for-TV programming platforms can potentially reach over 540 million homes in the US and international markets. FMW’s New to The Street / Newsmax TV broadcasting platform airs its syndication on Sundays at 10 -11 AM ET. FMW is also one of the nation’s largest buyers of linear television, long and short-form paid programming - https://www.newsmaxtv.com/Shows/New-to-the-Street & https://www.newtothestreet.com/ . Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking statements within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at which such performance or results are achieved. This press release should be considered in all filings of the Companies contained in the Edgar Archives of the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. CONTACT: FMW Media Contacts: “New to The Street” Business Development Office 1-516-696-5900 Support@NewtoTheStreet.com Bryan Johnson +1 (631) 766-7462 Bryan@NewToTheStreet.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eac09a1c-3ec2-4e45-95cd-498d2cdd2489 || Worried About a Financial Crisis? Enter – Self Custody.: You know what helps me sleep better at night? Having bitcoin (BTC) in cold storage.
Cold storage is an offline digital wallet that allows you to securely store your bitcoin and other digital assets through possession of unique private keys.
Unlike having your money held in a bank – which controls the funds, can lend them out freely and can even freeze the account – cold storage allows you to be your own banker and maintain full control.
That’s why I call bitcoin a bearer asset and think it’s a unique opportunity for clients of financial advisors in 2022. What is a bearer asset, you may ask? A bearer asset entitles the holder of an asset the rights of ownership or title to the underlying property.
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Most assets, like cash, stocks and bonds, are held by financial institutions on behalf of their customers and rely on centralized databases listing them as an asset owner.
By contrast, having bitcoin in self custody is a big benefit because it allows the owner to hold it without counterparty risk, the possibility that a third party may default on its contractual obligations.
Come hell or high water, bitcoin is secure in cold storage because the digital asset is in true possession by the owner.
Read more:Hot vs. Cold Crypto Storage: What Are the Differences?
For the first time in history, we’re experiencing a year where the long-term U.S. Treasury bond, the risk-off asset,has fallen even further than the S&P, which is down over 20%.
So, if we are on the brink of a financial crisis, we’ll want to be on guard.
From experience of previous financial crises, we know that the cascading risk can lead to contagion of other assets previously thought to be “safe.”
Individuals may be responsible for losses in these environments, but custodians or other financial intermediaries can also expose assets to risk.
I’ve written previously aboutwhy bitcoin belongs in portfolios even in a bear marketas well ashow to think about it in a portfolio with clients.
As currency markets are beyond strained, even the New York Times is askingwhether bitcoin is going to be the “flight to safety.”
My crystal ball is cloudy, but the bitcoin optimist in me thinks bitcoin is a much needed asset, as I recently tweeted, “#Bitcoin was created following the last Great Financial Crisis. If we are entering another one, wouldn’t it make sense to have the best “outside” money you can w/o counterparty risk?”
Bitcoin provides the ability to eliminate counterparty risk, eliminate the risks of supply inflation and allows for self-custody. All of those factors could help clients of financial advisors sleep better at night when the financial world is figuring out which side is up and which is down.
The good news is that financial advisors can be the heros who walk clients through the cold storage process.
Clients have two options when it comes to cold storage, although the latter can allow advisors to be more involved.
1. Clients can look into single signature wallets such as Ledger, ColdCard or BitBox.
2. They can look into multi-signature wallets – such as Casa or Unchained – or build a DIY set-up with Caravan, Electrum, Lily and others.
I believe the use of a multisignature wallet with an advisor holding one of three or more keys will be a billable and much-needed service for clients going forward.
Today, fees range from $250 to $3,000 for self-custody help and assistance in setting up multisignature wallets. To some that may sound like a lot. But if you hold a large amount of wealth in bitcoin, it’s worth doing it right.
Read more:Multisignature Wallets Can Keep Your Coins Safer (If You Use Them Right)
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with clients on self-custody both in-person and virtually around the country.
I can say from experience that helping clients understand why self-custody is important – and building their confidence in it – is tremendously valuable.
There are not many advisors today who understand all the options and can walk clients through the process.
When it comes to self-custody, a crypto-savvy financial advisor can serve as a great source of knowledge. || Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Jumps 3% to Hit New All-Time High: Competition amongBitcoinminers has reached a new record high as the network’s mining difficulty jumped another 3.44% on Sunday to hit a new all-time high of 36.835 trillion hashes, data fromBTC.comshows.
While the latest increase is not as significant as theprevious difficulty adjustmentof almost 14% earlier this month, it still means there's even more pressure on miners to spend additional resources to perform the same amount of work.
Mining difficulty measures the computational power required to validate Bitcoin transactions and, consequently, how hard it is to find new blocks and earn rewards.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Jumps 14%, Hitting All-Time High
The network’s difficulty adjusts approximately every two weeks to reflect the level of competition among miners. Lower mining difficulty indicates less competition—and vice versa.
At the same time, Bitcoin’s average hash rate, or the computational power the network is using to process transactions, is currency at 263 EH/s, up from 258 EH/s the day before, meaning more machines are being connected.
The latestBitcoin miningdifficulty hike comes as the leading cryptocurrency continues to struggle slightly above the $19,000 level.
At the time of this writing, Bitcoin is changing hands at $19,314, up 0.2% over the day, and up 0.7% in the last week.
This means more woes for miners who need to sell more Bitcoin than they actually earn to compensate for the dwindling profits.
According to a recent IntoTheBlock report, the amount of Bitcoin held in reserve by mining companiesfell this month to 1.91 million BTC—the incredible lows not seen since February 2010, when the network was just a little over a year old.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 20602.82, 18541.27, 15880.78, 17586.77, 17034.29, 16799.19, 16353.37, 16618.20, 16884.61, 16669.44
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2015-07-10]
BTC Price: 284.89, BTC RSI: 74.55
Gold Price: 1157.70, Gold RSI: 40.82
Oil Price: 52.74, Oil RSI: 33.37
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
The Future of Bitcoin; the Opportunity and Obstacles: POINT ROBERTS, WA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - June 04, 2015) -Investorideas.com, a global news source covering leading sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology releases commentary from some of the leading digital currency experts along with management from two public plays within the sector.
As Wall Street and global financial markets enter the space, these experts give insight into the future of Bitcoin and the obstacles and the opportunities it presents.
The following are questions and answers from the participating experts; Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang"www.briankellycapital.com, David Berger,Founder and CEO,Digital Currency Council (DCC), Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp. and Michael Sonnenshein, Director of Sales & Business Development, Bitcoin Investment Trust(OTCQX: GBTC).
Interviews:
Brian KellyQ: Investorideas.comYou have said you were a skeptic like many in the beginning and now you are a respected expert in the sector. With recent acceptance from The New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Richard Branson and a list of new entries every day, what do you see as the turning point for Bitcoin becoming legitimate?
A: Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang"It seems that financial institutions finally realized that Bitcoin and the blockchain is more than a currency. They realized it is a tool to flatten the costs of financial services.
Q: Investorideas.comDo you see many publicly-traded stocks in play now and are you hearing of IPO's in the space?
A: Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang"I would expect IPOs in the next 3 years. If we use internet companies in 1995 as a template, it took about three years for major IPOs.
Q: Investorideas.comWith the major financial institutions now getting involved, where do you see Bitcoin headed in the next few years and how will it impact the future of currency?
A: Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang"A year ago the survival of Bitcoin was 50/50...with recent investments it's clear that blockchain technology is here to stay.
David BergerQ: Investorideas.comCan you give us background on the creation of the Digital Currency Council (DCC) and why you formed it?
A: David Berger,Founder and CEO,Digital Currency Council (DCC)The early mission of The Digital Currency Council was to set a common standard of understanding amongst professionals and help those professionals achieve that standard. Today, our over 1500 members across 90 countries are using the knowledge they've gained to build various exciting businesses and streamline existing business processes. Our software is integral to these more complex efforts.
Q: Investorideas.comWith a primary focus of education, what kind of individuals and companies are you seeing come forward to understand Bitcoin and what percentage of the financial community at large do you think is getting involved now?
A: David Berger,Founder and CEO,Digital Currency Council (DCC)We are at the very beginning. Most individuals and firms have a very limited understanding. Our work with these individuals and firms begins with general competency training. These general competencies are sufficient to ensure that a firm is aware of the opportunities and risks. Our customized software solutions help those firms that recognize an opportunity to capitalize.
Q: Investorideas.comWhat do you see as the primary obstacles to the acceptance of digital currency?
A: David Berger,Founder and CEO,Digital Currency Council (DCC)It's important that we ensure that bad actors don't hijack this groundbreaking technology. The general public will accept and adopt technologies that make their lives better but only if they trust that the risk doesn't outweigh the benefit.
Q: Investorideas.comWhat do you see for Bitcoin within the next year and over the next 5 years?
A: David Berger,Founder and CEO,Digital Currency Council (DCC)The next five years will bring increased integration, complexity, and utility. Bitcoin will become so easy to use that you won't even realize you're using it.
Brad MoynesQ: Investorideas.comWhat do you think was the turning point for making Wall Street and the financial institutions take notice and want to participate in Bitcoin?
A: Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp.The opportunity to develop technology that could make financial institutions including stock exchanges, broker-dealers, banks, transfer agencies and the DTC more efficient and less costly to reporting issuers, investors and consumers would be considered by Wall Street as a really good thing. The fact that DNCT (blockchain) technology has the potential to achieve this and that many of these institutions have already invested considerable capital into the technology at the fastest rate to date, suggests that the turning point has already occurred. In addition, the recent announcement that the NYDFS has released the final version of its long-awaited regulatory framework for digital currency companies shall provide clarity to the industry as a whole and ease concern regarding over-regulation and the threat of stifling growth and innovation.
Q: Investorideas.comWhat do you think are some of the hurdles and obstacles for Bitcoin?
A: Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial CorpPerhaps over regulation. Bitcoin appears to be holding its value at current levels and the Blockchain is gaining considerable awareness across a broad selection of industries. I would expect many hurdles & obstacles along the way but with big break-through ideas later this year and in 2016 to look forward to.
Q: Investorideas.comWill your exchange, when launched, offer any educational tools for trading and investing in Bitcoin? What kind of investors/traders do you see currently in the space and do you see the demographics changing?
A: Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp.The exchange will offer our users the tools they need to buy & sell crypto-currencies including Bitcoin. Our customer service will be the best in the business with rapid response time to meet user demands, answer questions and provide solutions. We will also have a Bitcoin forum for users to create various discussion topics. Generally these forums are an excellent way for users to gain information and educate among themselves.
There are several investor/trader profiles which include day-traders, medium to long-term investors seeking capital gains and entities who offer investor's exposure to Bitcoin via open market equity-share purchases that tie their shares to an underlying asset [bitcoin] on a pre-determined ratio basis.
A beneficial change to the demographic would be an increase in demand for bitcoin in day-to-day use and consumer point of sale purchases.
Michael SonnensheinQ: Investorideas.comThe Bitcoin Investment Trust's shares are the first publicly quoted* securities solely invested in and deriving value from, the price of Bitcoin. Can you tell investors how investing in the shares of (GBTC) will give them a different value/investment opportunity than strictly trying to buy and sell Bitcoin?
A: Michael Sonnenshein, Director of Sales & Business Development, Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC)Purchasing Bitcoin outright can be a harrowing experience for investors. More often than not, they don't know who to purchase Bitcoin from (are there counterparties they trust), what price they should pay, or how to handle Bitcoin safely and securely. Even if investors can overcome these challenges, storing Bitcoin on one's own can be a liability. If Bitcoin holders are hacked or lose the private key to their Bitcoin wallet, they have zero recourse.
In sharp contrast to this experience, purchasing shares of The Bitcoin Investment Trust gives investors the ability to gain exposure to Bitcoin without the aforementioned challenges and through a titled security in the investor's name. Consequently, shares are eligible to be passed onto beneficiaries under estate laws and are eligible to be held in certain IRA, Roth IRA, and other brokerage and investment accounts (this is not possible with outright Bitcoin). The Bitcoin Investment Trust has also brought together credible service providers, as shares are marketed and distributed through a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, and the Trust's financial statements are audited annually by Ernst & Young LLP.
Each share of The Bitcoin Investment Trust represents approximately 0.1 Bitcoin and shares are tied to a daily 4pm net asset value that is representative of the Bitcoin market price. Qualified accredited investors have the ability to purchase shares of The Bitcoin Investment Trust at the daily NAV through an ongoing private placement. However, these shares carry resale and transfer limitations. Both accredited and non-accredited investors have the ability to purchase shares of The Bitcoin Investment Trust on OTCQX under the symbol: GBTC. These shares have been deemed freely tradable and are subject to market-driven price movement, which does not reflect the restricted shares daily NAV.
In offering these two avenues for investors, their Bitcoin exposure is able to sit alongside their existing investments and their exposure to Bitcoin is attained through a transparent and familiar experience. Additionally, as a titled security, The Bitcoin Investment Trust has resonated well with investors' financial advisors, lawyers, and accountants. More information on The Bitcoin Investment Trust is available through its sponsors website,www.grayscale.co
Q: Investorideas.comWhere does the company see the Bitcoin industry now as Wall Street has begun to embrace it and what was the turning point that legitimatized Bitcoin? Where do they see the future of Bitcoin1-5 years from now?
A: Michael Sonnenshein, Director of Sales & Business Development, Bitcoin Investment Trust(OTCQX: GBTC)Bitcoin is still in infancy and we'd liken where Bitcoin and digital currencies are in their development to the internet in the mid-to-late 1990's. Namely, just like there were plenty of naysayers who didn't believe in the internet's potential, there are folks who occupy that same mindset when it comes to Bitcoin. While we can't be sure of Bitcoin's ultimate fate, we can see is that there is an unprecedented amount of venture capital and human capital pouring into the space. Entrepreneurs are building the infrastructure and applications that will support Bitcoin's continued adoption and usage globally.
Over the past two years, there has been increasing attention paid to Bitcoin from Wall Street. Every bank, broker-dealer, asset manager, and other institution had formed internal task forces assigned to understanding Bitcoin. Recently, many of these firms (and the work of these internal teams) have begun putting their reputations on the line by publicly getting involved in Bitcoin with the likes of Goldman Sachs, UBS, Nasdaq, the NYSE, and other globally recognized institutions integrating Bitcoin into their businesses and/or making strategic investments in some of the aforementioned companies laying the ground work for increased adoption. I think we will continue to see more of these large players get involved in the space over the coming years and that Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology will ultimately shake up and transform the entire financial services landscape for the better.
Bios:Brian Kellywww.briankellycapital.comBrian Kelly is an investor, author, and financial markets commentator. He is an expert in global financial markets, macro-economics and digital currencies. Brian Kelly has over twenty years' experience in financial markets and is the author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang -- How Alternative Currencies are About to Change the World."
Brian is a graduate of the University of Vermont where he received a B.S. in finance. He also holds an M.B.A. from Babson Graduate School of Business with a concentration in finance and econometrics.
A passion for investments and entrepreneurship has led Brian to start several successful investment businesses. His most recent start-up BKCM LLC is a global investment management firm specializing in Global Macro and Currency investing.
Prior to BKCM LLC, Brian was Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Shelter Harbor Capital LLC and managed the Shelter Harbor Capital Global Macro Hedge Fund. As well, Mr. Kelly was a co-founder and President of MKM Partners, a brokerage firm catering to institutional investment managers.
Brian provides money management services to a select clientele and consults on digital currencies.
David Berger,Founder and CEO,Digital Currency Council (DCC)David Berger is the Founder and CEO of The Digital Currency Council (DCC), the leading provider of digital currency-related training, certification, and continuing education. Mr. Berger is an attorney with extensive experience in finance in the United States and Asia. He has a passion for building professional networks that support members' advancement with actionable commercial insight.
Prior to launching the DCC, Mr. Berger was the CEO of Americas at Campden Wealth, the parent company of the Institute for Private Investors -- the premier decision support network for ultra high net worth investors and family offices. Mr. Berger is also the founder of Private Investor Collective, a Hong Kong-based network for sophisticated private investors, and played a key role in the development of two network-based advisory firms for CEOs in Asia Pacific. He also founded Asia Executive Solutions, a Hong Kong-based strategy consulting firm, where his clients included SecondMarket, Corporate Executive Board, and NPD Group.
Prior to his career in finance, Mr. Berger was an attorney in the Washington, DC office of the global law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP, where he focused on securities law. Mr. Berger also spent two years at the United States Department of Justice. He is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Emory University.
About BIT-X:Bit-X Financial Corp is a Vancouver; British Columbia based Company listed on the OTC.QB under the trading symbol BITXF. Bit-X Financial Corp is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC."www.bitxfin.com
About The Bitcoin Investment Trust(OTCQX: GBTC)The Bitcoin Investment Trust is a private, open-ended trust that is invested exclusively in Bitcoin and derives its value solely from the price of Bitcoin. It enables investors to gain exposure to the price movement of Bitcoin without the challenge of buying, storing, and safekeeping Bitcoins. The BIT's sponsor is Grayscale Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group.
About Investorideas.comInvestorIdeas.com newswire is a global investor news source covering multiple sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology.
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Disclaimer/ Disclosure: The Investorideas.com newswire is a third party publisher of news and research as well as creates original content as a news source. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Investorideas is a news source on Google news syndication partners. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated by featured companies, news submissions, content marketing and online advertising. Contact each company directly for press release questions. Disclosure is posted on each release if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and is published for the sole interest of our readers. Disclosure: BITXF is a PR client of Investorideas.com and compensates us for news publication, PR and media. (two thousand five hundred per month and 144 shares ) More info:http://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.aspandhttp://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp
BC Residents and Investor Disclaimer : Effective September 15 2008 -- all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info:http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894. Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. || BTCS Management Cancels Outstanding Options Ahead of Merger: ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Jul 7, 2015) - Bitcoin Shop, Inc. ( OTCQB : BTCS ) ("BTCS" or the "Company"), a blockchain technology focused company which secures the blockchain through its transaction verification services business, announced today that its management team has agreed to voluntarily cancel all 12,450,000 of their options, representing all of the Company's outstanding options, ahead of the Company's anticipated merger with Spondoolies-Tech ("Spondoolies"). Charles Allen, Chief Executive Officer of BTCS, commented, "As we continue to progress in our planned merger with Spondoolies, we see the cancellation of our outstanding options as a strategic move that will afford us the opportunity to create a comprehensive plan post-merger that properly addresses all stakeholders involved. We anticipate adopting a new equity incentive plan that will be structured to support our performance-based culture and align with the interests of our shareholders. During its first year of operation, Spondoolies successfully launched five different hardware products which are widely recognized in their respective categories. Subsequent to its first product launch in March 2014, Spondoolies announced un-audited revenue of more than $28 million for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2014. The pending-merger between Spondoolies and BTCS will leverage the respective expertise of both companies to create a new global leader in the blockchain sector. About BTCS: BTCS is an early mover in the blockchain and digital currency ecosystems and the only "Pure Play" U.S. public company focused on blockchain technologies. The blockchain is a decentralized public ledger and has the ability to fundamentally impact all industries on a global basis that rely on or utilize record keeping and require trust. BTCS secures the blockchain through its rapidly growing transaction verification services business and plans to build a broader ecosystem to capitalize on opportunities in this fast growing industry. BTCS continues to evaluate and build additional blockchain technology consumer solutions. BTCS also actively partners and integrates with strategic digital currency and blockchain technology companies who provide products or services that are complementary to its business strategy. For more information visit: www.btcs.com Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release, including those related to an anticipated merger, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. || 21 Inc. Finally Reveals Its Secretive Product: A Bitcoin Mining Chip: Back in March,bitcoinenthusiasts were abuzz with speculation about what21 Inc.might be working on.
The cryptocurrency startup was able to secure upwards of $110 million in fundraising from a spate of big name investors likeQUALCOMM, Inc.(NASDAQ:QCOM) and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
However, the company has been secretive about what it had been working on – until now.
A New Kind Of Chip
On Monday, the companyrevealedthat it will roll out an embeddable chip that allows users to mine bitcoins from their wireless devices.
The chip is designed to verify transactions while running as a background process, thus providing the user with a "continuous stream of digital currency."
Related Link: Solving Bitcoins Scalability Problem
Integrating Bitcoin Into The IoT
21 Inc. says its chip wasn't designed as a way to make people rich, but instead the company says it's more focused on integrating the cryptocurrency into the Internet of Things (IoT) and creating a micropayment scheme.
Micropayment Device
The chip, called BitShare, can consolidate, what 21 Inc. expects to be, a large number of micropayments, as the Internet of Things gains traction. Instead of customers paying for each individual service, they can install a BitShare chip and pay for the fees associated with things like connected lightbulbs or automated fire alarms using their mined bitcoin.
The company says it eventually hopes to use the technology to make having a smartphone more attainable in developing countries by subsidizing some of the costs through bitcoin mining.
Related Link: Bitcoin: Making Progress In Europe
Is The Chip Worth It?
The chip marks a big development for the bitcoin community, but it isn't without criticism.
Many worry about the feasibility of such a product, as it is likely to use a great deal of data and could significantly reduce the battery life of a smartphone. Some say consumers will be unwilling to sacrifice those things for the comparatively small reward, which may be just a few cents worth of bitcoin.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• What A Difference A Second Makes: Are Markets Prepared For Leap Second?
• Delivery Services Deal With Growing Volume
• Here's Why U.S. Automakers Fear The Pacific Trade Pact
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Could Marijuana Help House Prices?: In states where marijuana has been legalized, many homeowners have complained that the opening of pot dispensaries could bring down property values. However, in Colorado, where both medical and recreational marijuana has been legalized, some claimthe opposite is true.
New Jobs
In Denver, home prices have risen 10 percent since March 2014, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.Some saya large part of that rise can be attributed to the marijuana industry.
The new industry has created thousands of jobs across a variety of sectors. Not only are businesses directly linked to pot – like growers and dispensaries – taking on new employees, but security companies, electricians and hotels have all seen an influx of business due to marijuana.
Related Link:Marijuana Industry Blazes The Path For A New Kind Of Lawyer
Access To Marijuana
The rental market in Colorado has also been booming as people from out of state come in looking for access to marijuana. Some families are interested in obtaining medical marijuana to treat a chronic condition, while others are keen to live in Colorado to enjoy the relaxed lifestyle the new laws permit.
Still Some Concern
While the real estate market in Colorado appears to be booming, some warn that it will fizzle as the long-term problems with pot settle in.
For one, laws allowing people to cultivate up to six plants means prospective buyers will need to look for a new set of issues when it comes to home inspections. Buyers will need to check for tampering with the home's electrical systems and mold issues associated with marijuana growing before committing to a new home.
Another concern is increased traffic in neighborhoods where marijuana is being grown. Many people disregard the state's limit of six plants and set up illegal grow houses, which could decrease the value of properties in the area.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Have You Met The Bitcoin Booty Girls?
• AgriScience Makes Smart Soil To Improve Farming
• Dutch Bank Issues Europe's First Certified Climate Bond
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin May Not Go Mainstream, But Blockchain Will: The challenges associated with using a cryptocurrency have kept much of the public from rushing to adopt bitcoin. Issues related to trust and security have plagued the digital currency after several widely publicized scams painted bitcoin as a tool for criminal activity.
However, while the general population has been slow to adopt digital currencies themselves, blockchain, the system bitcoin runs on, could have a place in everyday life.
Blockchain In Banks
Banks have been receptive to the possibility that blockchain could vastly improve their outdated systems.UBS(OTC: OUBSF) has already jumped on board the concept by setting up a research lab in London that focuses on how blockchain can be used in banking.
Related Link:"Dope" Becomes The First Movie To Allow Bitcoin Ticket Sales
Now,Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR)(NYSE:SAN) is similarly exploring how blockchain could revamp its business with a research team called Crypto 2.0. The Spanish bank believes there is potential for using blockchain to do things like facilitate international payments and develop smart contracts.
Regulation Will Weigh Down Progress
Head of Santander's fintech investment fund InnoVentures, Mariano Belinky toldBusiness Insiderthat the bank could develop a working prototype system that would facilitate real-time international payments in a matter of months, but that it would likely take much longer to pass such a system through the financial sector's strict regulations. The bank says it would also need to partner with a few like-minded banks across the globe in order to make the new system viable, but has already been in talks with several other institutions about the possibility.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Europe's nine hottest tech firms right now: Europe is producing more $1-billion-dollar technology start-ups -- or "unicorns" -- than ever before, as investors pour money into the region's stars. Funding for tech firms in the region almost doubled from $2.88 billion in 2014 to $5.65 billion so far this year, according to GP Bullhound, the technology-focused investment bank. As part of London Technology Week, an awards ceremony -- The Europas -- identified some of Europe's hottest tech companies, with a panel of judges made up of venture capitalists and journalists deciding the victors. Companies were nominated across 25 different categories, including best e-commerce start-up and best entertainment start-up. Here are some of the winners. Winner: Spotify Despite being nine years old, music-streaming service Spotify won this award, as it continues to "change the music industry," according to the organizers of The Europas. The Swedish start-up recently raised a $526 million round of funding giving it a valuation of over $8 billion. Spotify has 20 million paying subscribers, and 75 million members overall. But Spotify has come under fire from those in the music industry and has been accused of paying low royalties to artists. Last year, pop star Taylor Swift pulled her whole music collection off the platform in protest. Spotify is now competing in an extremely tough market with competition from the likes of Apple Music, Jay Z's Tidal service and Google. Other nominees in the category included Shazam and Soundcloud. Winner: Deliveroo It seems that we cannot get enough of food delivery companies, and Deliveroo impressed the judges most. The London-based start-up allows people to order food from restaurants like Ping Pong and Gourmet Burger Kitchen and have it delivered. Earlier this year, Deliveroo received a $25 million round of funding from Accel Partners. Other nominees included another food service Delivery Hero and Hello Fresh. Winner: Citymapper Citymapper won three awards at The Europas including "best travel start-up" and the coveted "grand prix" prize. Story continues It's an U.K.-based urban navigation app designed to help people get around some of the world's biggest cities. Last year, Citymapper got a $10 million round of funding led by London-based Balderton Capital. Other nominees in the category included YPLan and Wallapop. Winner: Adyen Adyen is Netherlands' first "unicorn" and provides much of the back-end technology for online, mobile and in-store payment systems. Last year, the Dutch company raised a $250 million round of funding led by General Atlantic, Temasek and Index Ventures. Fintech has become an increasingly hot space, with companies looking to disrupt the businesses of major financial institutions. Other nominees in the category included money transfer service TransferWise, and peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Circle. Winner: Digital Shadows Cybersecurity has been in the headlines over the past year following a number of high-profile attacks on companies. Digital Shadows describes itself as a "cyber threat intelligence company" aimed at protecting businesses from dangerous hack attacks and data loss. The London-based start-up recently bagged $8 million in funding. Other nominees included email encryption company Whiteout Networks and security intelligence firm Cyberlytic. Winner: Blockchain Blockchain is the world's most popular bitcoin (: BTC=) wallet provider, offering storage and enabling people to buy things with the cryptocurrency. The company also provides information and data on the block chain - the public ledger of bitcoin transactions. A number of investors have questioned the future of bitcoin, claiming that the underlying block chain technology will be more important in the future. Still, this has not stopped people talking about the digital currency. Last year, Blockchain raised $30.5 million in funding, after rival Bitpay announced a $30-million funding round. Other nominees in the category included bitcoin payment processing company Bitpay, and a bitcoin transaction start-up Safello. Winner: Space Ape Games So-called "casual gamers" are set to drive $30 billion of revenues to the mobile games markets this year, according to market research firm Newzoo, and start-ups are capitalizing on this. Space Ape Games is a mobile gaming company behind popular title Samurai Seige. The British start-up raised $7 million of funding at the end of last year led by Accel Partners. Other nominees in the category included Moshi-Monster-maker Mind Candy and another mobile gamemaker, Omnidrone. Winner: Hassle.com Everything nowadays is on-demand and can be ordered from a smartphone. At The Europas, it was Hassle.com - a service that allows you to order a cleaner straight to your door - that took the prize in this category. The sharing economy refers to the swathe of start-ups that allows users to rent things owned by others, such as Airbnb or BlaBlaCar. Hassle.com raised around $6 million in a funding round last year. Other nominees in the category included ridesharing app BlaBlaCar, and parking space booking app JustPark. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || The Future of Bitcoin; the Opportunity and Obstacles: POINT ROBERTS, WA and NEW YORK, NY --(Marketwired - June 04, 2015) - Investorideas.com, a global news source covering leading sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology releases commentary from some of the leading digital currency experts along with management from two public plays within the sector. As Wall Street and global financial markets enter the space, these experts give insight into the future of Bitcoin and the obstacles and the opportunities it presents. The following are questions and answers from the participating experts; Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang" www.briankellycapital.com , David Berger,Founder and CEO, Digital Currency Council (DCC) , Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp. and Michael Sonnenshein, Director of Sales & Business Development, Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) . Interviews: Brian Kelly Q: Investorideas.com You have said you were a skeptic like many in the beginning and now you are a respected expert in the sector. With recent acceptance from The New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Richard Branson and a list of new entries every day, what do you see as the turning point for Bitcoin becoming legitimate? A: Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang" It seems that financial institutions finally realized that Bitcoin and the blockchain is more than a currency. They realized it is a tool to flatten the costs of financial services. Q: Investorideas.com Do you see many publicly-traded stocks in play now and are you hearing of IPO's in the space? A: Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang" I would expect IPOs in the next 3 years. If we use internet companies in 1995 as a template, it took about three years for major IPOs. Q: Investorideas.com With the major financial institutions now getting involved, where do you see Bitcoin headed in the next few years and how will it impact the future of currency? A: Brian Kelly, author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang" A year ago the survival of Bitcoin was 50/50...with recent investments it's clear that blockchain technology is here to stay. David Berger Q: Investorideas.com Can you give us background on the creation of the Digital Currency Council (DCC) and why you formed it? A: David Berger , Founder and CEO, Digital Currency Council (DCC) The early mission of The Digital Currency Council was to set a common standard of understanding amongst professionals and help those professionals achieve that standard. Today, our over 1500 members across 90 countries are using the knowledge they've gained to build various exciting businesses and streamline existing business processes. Our software is integral to these more complex efforts. Story continues Q: Investorideas.com With a primary focus of education, what kind of individuals and companies are you seeing come forward to understand Bitcoin and what percentage of the financial community at large do you think is getting involved now? A: David Berger , Founder and CEO, Digital Currency Council (DCC) We are at the very beginning. Most individuals and firms have a very limited understanding. Our work with these individuals and firms begins with general competency training. These general competencies are sufficient to ensure that a firm is aware of the opportunities and risks. Our customized software solutions help those firms that recognize an opportunity to capitalize. Q: Investorideas.com What do you see as the primary obstacles to the acceptance of digital currency? A: David Berger , Founder and CEO, Digital Currency Council (DCC) It's important that we ensure that bad actors don't hijack this groundbreaking technology. The general public will accept and adopt technologies that make their lives better but only if they trust that the risk doesn't outweigh the benefit. Q: Investorideas.com What do you see for Bitcoin within the next year and over the next 5 years? A: David Berger , Founder and CEO, Digital Currency Council (DCC) The next five years will bring increased integration, complexity, and utility. Bitcoin will become so easy to use that you won't even realize you're using it. Brad Moynes Q: Investorideas.com What do you think was the turning point for making Wall Street and the financial institutions take notice and want to participate in Bitcoin? A: Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp. The opportunity to develop technology that could make financial institutions including stock exchanges, broker-dealers, banks, transfer agencies and the DTC more efficient and less costly to reporting issuers, investors and consumers would be considered by Wall Street as a really good thing. The fact that DNCT (blockchain) technology has the potential to achieve this and that many of these institutions have already invested considerable capital into the technology at the fastest rate to date, suggests that the turning point has already occurred. In addition, the recent announcement that the NYDFS has released the final version of its long-awaited regulatory framework for digital currency companies shall provide clarity to the industry as a whole and ease concern regarding over-regulation and the threat of stifling growth and innovation. Q: Investorideas.com What do you think are some of the hurdles and obstacles for Bitcoin? A: Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp Perhaps over regulation. Bitcoin appears to be holding its value at current levels and the Blockchain is gaining considerable awareness across a broad selection of industries. I would expect many hurdles & obstacles along the way but with big break-through ideas later this year and in 2016 to look forward to. Q: Investorideas.com Will your exchange, when launched, offer any educational tools for trading and investing in Bitcoin? What kind of investors/traders do you see currently in the space and do you see the demographics changing? A: Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp. The exchange will offer our users the tools they need to buy & sell crypto-currencies including Bitcoin. Our customer service will be the best in the business with rapid response time to meet user demands, answer questions and provide solutions. We will also have a Bitcoin forum for users to create various discussion topics. Generally these forums are an excellent way for users to gain information and educate among themselves. There are several investor/trader profiles which include day-traders, medium to long-term investors seeking capital gains and entities who offer investor's exposure to Bitcoin via open market equity-share purchases that tie their shares to an underlying asset [bitcoin] on a pre-determined ratio basis. A beneficial change to the demographic would be an increase in demand for bitcoin in day-to-day use and consumer point of sale purchases. Michael Sonnenshein Q: Investorideas.com The Bitcoin Investment Trust's shares are the first publicly quoted* securities solely invested in and deriving value from, the price of Bitcoin. Can you tell investors how investing in the shares of (GBTC) will give them a different value/investment opportunity than strictly trying to buy and sell Bitcoin? A: Michael Sonnenshein, Director of Sales & Business Development, Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) Purchasing Bitcoin outright can be a harrowing experience for investors. More often than not, they don't know who to purchase Bitcoin from (are there counterparties they trust), what price they should pay, or how to handle Bitcoin safely and securely. Even if investors can overcome these challenges, storing Bitcoin on one's own can be a liability. If Bitcoin holders are hacked or lose the private key to their Bitcoin wallet, they have zero recourse. In sharp contrast to this experience, purchasing shares of The Bitcoin Investment Trust gives investors the ability to gain exposure to Bitcoin without the aforementioned challenges and through a titled security in the investor's name. Consequently, shares are eligible to be passed onto beneficiaries under estate laws and are eligible to be held in certain IRA, Roth IRA, and other brokerage and investment accounts (this is not possible with outright Bitcoin). The Bitcoin Investment Trust has also brought together credible service providers, as shares are marketed and distributed through a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, and the Trust's financial statements are audited annually by Ernst & Young LLP. Each share of The Bitcoin Investment Trust represents approximately 0.1 Bitcoin and shares are tied to a daily 4pm net asset value that is representative of the Bitcoin market price. Qualified accredited investors have the ability to purchase shares of The Bitcoin Investment Trust at the daily NAV through an ongoing private placement. However, these shares carry resale and transfer limitations. Both accredited and non-accredited investors have the ability to purchase shares of The Bitcoin Investment Trust on OTCQX under the symbol: GBTC. These shares have been deemed freely tradable and are subject to market-driven price movement, which does not reflect the restricted shares daily NAV. In offering these two avenues for investors, their Bitcoin exposure is able to sit alongside their existing investments and their exposure to Bitcoin is attained through a transparent and familiar experience. Additionally, as a titled security, The Bitcoin Investment Trust has resonated well with investors' financial advisors, lawyers, and accountants. More information on The Bitcoin Investment Trust is available through its sponsors website, www.grayscale.co Q: Investorideas.com Where does the company see the Bitcoin industry now as Wall Street has begun to embrace it and what was the turning point that legitimatized Bitcoin? Where do they see the future of Bitcoin1-5 years from now? A: Michael Sonnenshein, Director of Sales & Business Development, Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) Bitcoin is still in infancy and we'd liken where Bitcoin and digital currencies are in their development to the internet in the mid-to-late 1990's. Namely, just like there were plenty of naysayers who didn't believe in the internet's potential, there are folks who occupy that same mindset when it comes to Bitcoin. While we can't be sure of Bitcoin's ultimate fate, we can see is that there is an unprecedented amount of venture capital and human capital pouring into the space. Entrepreneurs are building the infrastructure and applications that will support Bitcoin's continued adoption and usage globally. Over the past two years, there has been increasing attention paid to Bitcoin from Wall Street. Every bank, broker-dealer, asset manager, and other institution had formed internal task forces assigned to understanding Bitcoin. Recently, many of these firms (and the work of these internal teams) have begun putting their reputations on the line by publicly getting involved in Bitcoin with the likes of Goldman Sachs, UBS, Nasdaq, the NYSE, and other globally recognized institutions integrating Bitcoin into their businesses and/or making strategic investments in some of the aforementioned companies laying the ground work for increased adoption. I think we will continue to see more of these large players get involved in the space over the coming years and that Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology will ultimately shake up and transform the entire financial services landscape for the better. Bios: Brian Kelly www.briankellycapital.com Brian Kelly is an investor, author, and financial markets commentator. He is an expert in global financial markets, macro-economics and digital currencies. Brian Kelly has over twenty years' experience in financial markets and is the author of the book "The Bitcoin Big Bang -- How Alternative Currencies are About to Change the World." Brian is a graduate of the University of Vermont where he received a B.S. in finance. He also holds an M.B.A. from Babson Graduate School of Business with a concentration in finance and econometrics. A passion for investments and entrepreneurship has led Brian to start several successful investment businesses. His most recent start-up BKCM LLC is a global investment management firm specializing in Global Macro and Currency investing. Prior to BKCM LLC, Brian was Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Shelter Harbor Capital LLC and managed the Shelter Harbor Capital Global Macro Hedge Fund. As well, Mr. Kelly was a co-founder and President of MKM Partners, a brokerage firm catering to institutional investment managers. Brian provides money management services to a select clientele and consults on digital currencies. David Berger, Founder and CEO, Digital Currency Council (DCC) David Berger is the Founder and CEO of The Digital Currency Council (DCC), the leading provider of digital currency-related training, certification, and continuing education. Mr. Berger is an attorney with extensive experience in finance in the United States and Asia. He has a passion for building professional networks that support members' advancement with actionable commercial insight. Prior to launching the DCC, Mr. Berger was the CEO of Americas at Campden Wealth, the parent company of the Institute for Private Investors -- the premier decision support network for ultra high net worth investors and family offices. Mr. Berger is also the founder of Private Investor Collective, a Hong Kong-based network for sophisticated private investors, and played a key role in the development of two network-based advisory firms for CEOs in Asia Pacific. He also founded Asia Executive Solutions, a Hong Kong-based strategy consulting firm, where his clients included SecondMarket, Corporate Executive Board, and NPD Group. Prior to his career in finance, Mr. Berger was an attorney in the Washington, DC office of the global law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP, where he focused on securities law. Mr. Berger also spent two years at the United States Department of Justice. He is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Emory University. About BIT-X: Bit-X Financial Corp is a Vancouver; British Columbia based Company listed on the OTC.QB under the trading symbol BITXF. Bit-X Financial Corp is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC." www.bitxfin.com About The Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) The Bitcoin Investment Trust is a private, open-ended trust that is invested exclusively in Bitcoin and derives its value solely from the price of Bitcoin. It enables investors to gain exposure to the price movement of Bitcoin without the challenge of buying, storing, and safekeeping Bitcoins. The BIT's sponsor is Grayscale Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group. About Investorideas.com InvestorIdeas.com newswire is a global investor news source covering multiple sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology. Follow Investorideas.com on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Investorideas Follow Investorideas.com on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Investorideas Sign up for free news alerts at Investorideas.com http://www.investorideas.com/Resources/Newsletter.asp Disclaimer/ Disclosure: The Investorideas.com newswire is a third party publisher of news and research as well as creates original content as a news source. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Investorideas is a news source on Google news syndication partners. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated by featured companies, news submissions, content marketing and online advertising. Contact each company directly for press release questions. Disclosure is posted on each release if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and is published for the sole interest of our readers. Disclosure: BITXF is a PR client of Investorideas.com and compensates us for news publication, PR and media. (two thousand five hundred per month and 144 shares ) More info: http://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.asp and http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp BC Residents and Investor Disclaimer : Effective September 15 2008 -- all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894 . Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. View comments || BTCS Management Cancels Outstanding Options Ahead of Merger: ARLINGTON, VA--(Marketwired - Jul 7, 2015) -Bitcoin Shop, Inc.(OTCQB:BTCS) ("BTCS" or the "Company"), a blockchain technology focused company which secures the blockchain through its transaction verification services business, announced today that its management team has agreed to voluntarily cancel all 12,450,000 of their options, representing all of the Company's outstanding options, ahead of the Company's anticipated merger with Spondoolies-Tech ("Spondoolies").
Charles Allen, Chief Executive Officer of BTCS, commented, "As we continue to progress in our planned merger with Spondoolies, we see the cancellation of our outstanding options as a strategic move that will afford us the opportunity to create a comprehensive plan post-merger that properly addresses all stakeholders involved. We anticipate adopting a new equity incentive plan that will be structured to support our performance-based culture and align with the interests of our shareholders.
During its first year of operation, Spondoolies successfully launched five different hardware products which are widely recognized in their respective categories. Subsequent to its first product launch in March 2014, Spondoolies announced un-audited revenue of more than $28 million for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2014. The pending-merger between Spondoolies and BTCS will leverage the respective expertise of both companies to create a new global leader in the blockchain sector.
About BTCS:BTCS is an early mover in the blockchain and digital currency ecosystems and the only "Pure Play" U.S. public company focused on blockchain technologies. The blockchain is a decentralized public ledger and has the ability to fundamentally impact all industries on a global basis that rely on or utilize record keeping and require trust. BTCS secures the blockchain through its rapidly growing transaction verification services business and plans to build a broader ecosystem to capitalize on opportunities in this fast growing industry. BTCS continues to evaluate and build additional blockchain technology consumer solutions. BTCS also actively partners and integrates with strategic digital currency and blockchain technology companies who provide products or services that are complementary to its business strategy. For more information visit:www.btcs.com
Forward-Looking Statements:Certain statements in this press release, including those related to an anticipated merger, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not limited to Risk Factors relating to its digital currency business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. || Costas Inc. Is Pleased to Present Its Position on the Financial Technology Space: NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jul 6, 2015) - Costas Inc. (OTC PINK:CSSI) Costas Inc. (CSSI) or "Costas" has focused over the last year and invested heavily in Distributed Asset Technology; "DAT" is the systemic foundation to what is now known as Digital Currency "DC". DC has taken the world by storm and created a new class of asset. Quite simply, the world economy has evolved from gold and silver as the only accepted form of payment to paper currency and now DC has started to weave itself into the fabric of our global economy.
The public generally associates DC with the market's preferred digital coin, Bitcoin. Bitcoin and its peers, have fascinating properties that Costas strongly believes will accelerate the speed at which a store of value can move regionally and/or globally. Decentralized currency without borders is now a viable option for consumers. DC and the institutions that bridge the gap between merchants, consumers and investors stand to capitalize exponentially as investment floods into the space.
There are very few opportunities in the realm of DC available to investors through public markets. Investment in the space, to most, is out of reach apart from purchasing DC coins. Costas intends to create a portfolio of diverse DC businesses under its umbrella. Costas will offer a unique opportunity to invest in a cross-section of companies in what The Company believes is the most exciting investment vehicle made available in decades.
Costas will acquire companies in full, or a take a significant position in a variety of companies, then facilitate their growth. Costas is also open to creating businesses by putting capable people together, giving them an equity stake and capitalizing them. In the event that there is no pre-existing company with whom to partner, Costas would create its own company to fill that investment vacuum. We are actively searching for strong innovative leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit to either join our board of directors or to offer their services to targets we are looking to acquire and thereby incentivizing them to partner with Costas.
Costas, through its relationships, has the ability to raise capital for the companies it chooses to acquire or create. The management at Costas has built relationships with investment groups that focus on funding, incubating and growing potential business ventures. This network spans the globe and truly has very few limits. We feel confident we can pair any opportunity with the appropriate funds and management, preparing them for their entry into any competitive market.
Safe Harbor Act Notice:
Statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the company and its management. Such statements reflect management's current views, are based on certain assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, events, or performance may differ materially from the above forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors, and will be dependent upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the company's ability to obtain additional financing and the demand for the company's products. Any investment in the company would be extremely speculative and involve a high degree of risk and should not be pursued unless the investor could afford to lose their entire investment. Before investing, please review this filing, all past public filings with the SEC, all current Pinksheets.com filings and consult a registered broker dealer or contact the financial industry regulatory authority ("FINRA") for more information regarding locating a qualified party to assist in making an investment decision. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any change in the company's expectations with regard to these forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated events. Factors that may impact the company's success are more fully disclosed in the company's most recent public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will," and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
About Costas Inc.
Costas Inc. is a publicly traded company focused on investing in and incubating promising digital currency-based businesses and entrepreneurs by providing access to a global infrastructure of financial and legal professionals and investment groups. Costas identifies "Fintech" emerging companies that, with some incubation and professional experience, will become the next standard in banking, commercial trading and lending. || MovieTickets Sees Benefit In Adding Bitcoin: Weeks after MovieTickets.com included bitcoin as a payment option for ticket purchases, the company said it had already begun to reap the rewards.
MovieTickets CEO Joel Cohensaidthat the decision to include cryptocurrency payments has given the company more exposure as well as increasing sales.
The site allows users to purchase any available movie tickets using the cryptocurrency, and it appears consumers are taking advantage of that option.
Adding Bitcoin
MovieTickets is one of the most popular online ticket-purchase websites in the US with around 240 different theater chains offering film tickets on the site. As mobile payments gain traction, the site found itself adding new check-out options; and with support from Open Road Films and its new film Dope, the site decided to include a bitcoin option as well.
Bitcoin Exposure
The site's bitcoin integration represented a major step toward mainstream adoption for bitcoin as it put the cryptocurrency in front of thousands of people who may not have otherwise considered using it. To date, Cohen says the company has processed "several hundred" bitcoin transactions.
Paving The Way
MovieTickets said that one of the biggest hurdles in incorporating bitcoin was educating theater owners on the process. With many of them wary of the cryptocurrency or simply unaware of it at all, the site had some difficulty getting everyone comfortable with using bitcoin.
For the moment, bitcoin transactions remain only a small fraction of MovieTickets' sales, but Cohen says he expects to see that figure continue to increase as the currency becomes more widely accepted.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 22 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,147.44 #bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 20 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,278.11 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 234.46€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-07-05 00:20:03 CEST || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 16132.00 INR Sell : 15630.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || $242.44 at 17:15 UTC [24h Range: $241.90 - $245.00 Volume: 2233 BTC] || Bitcoin traded at $237.0 USD on BTC-e at 08:00 AM Pacific Time || 1 #bitcoin 620.49 TL, 231.34 $, 210.029 €, 151.00001 GBP, 12061.00 RUR, 29800 ¥, 1510 CNH, 287.23 CAD #btc || One Bitcoin now worth $260.38@bitstamp. High $268.00. Low $252.80. Market Cap $3.714 Billion #bitcoin || Bitcoin traded at $225.95 USD on BTC-e at 06:00 AM Pacific Time || $236.40 at 15:45 UTC [24h Range: $234.15 - $237.00 Volume: 5274 BTC]
|
Trend: down || Prices: 293.11, 310.87, 292.05, 287.46, 285.83, 278.09, 279.47, 274.90, 273.61, 278.98
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-10-02]
BTC Price: 10575.97, BTC RSI: 45.67
Gold Price: 1900.20, Gold RSI: 47.05
Oil Price: 37.05, Oil RSI: 36.83
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Wasabi Wallet Patches Flaw That Could Have Thwarted Bitcoin Privacy Feature: Wasabi Wallet users need to upgrade to the latest version if they want to continue using the CoinJoin feature to keep their Bitcoin transaction histories private.
That’s because those running older iterations of the wallet can no longer use this feature to mix their coins with users who have the newest version.
The Wasabi Wallet team hard-forked the wallet Thursday to address a vulnerability discovered by a team member at Trezor, a leading maker of hardware wallets. A hard fork is a code change that makes older versions of a software incompatible with newer ones.
Related:Wasabi Wallet Is Revamping Its CoinJoin Design to Allow Bitcoin Mixing With Differing Values
The flaw’s discovery is another example of the open-source community’s camaraderie and cooperation. Developers are constantly tinkering to improve their peers’ software, and manyvulnerabilitieshave beenresponsibly disclosedduring these processes to patch flaws before they can be exploited by bad actors. (Sometimes, however, the disclosures by rival teams are less-than-cordial, as evidenced by thelong-running tensionsbetween Wasabi and rival Samourai Wallet.)
Read more:Hardware Wallet Flaw Lets Attackers Hold Crypto for Ransom Without Touching Device
According to a Wasabi Walletblog post, Trezor hardware wallet developer Ondřej Vejpustek responsibly disclosed the potential denial-of-service (DoS) attack to the Wasabi team on May 10 (a DoS attack entails an attacker spamming a network or protocol with the hopes of stymying its operations, hence “denial of service”).
“Vejpustek has been very cooperative since the beginning and left us total freedom on how to manage the disclosure, both in terms of time and communication. This demonstrates the importance of proper communication between security researchers and dev teams. This is how a responsible disclosure should be,” Wasabi Wallet contributor and marketing strategist Riccardo Masutti told CoinDesk, adding that Vejpustek was paid a bitcoin bounty for his efforts.
Related:Twitter Hacker Is Mixing Bitcoin Loot Using a Wasabi Wallet, Elliptic Says
This hypothetical DoS attack, whichWasabi Walletassumes has never been carried out, would have interfered with the wallet’s implementation of CoinJoin, a privacy protocol that allows users to mix their bitcoin with others’ to obscure the coins’ transaction histories.
Wasabi Wallet’s CoinJoin implementation requires each participant to take out as much as they put in. If, for instance, 10 participants join a mix for 0.1 BTC, then each user must send exactly that amount (plus a miner fee) and must receive that exact amount for the mix to be successful and to retain CoinJoin’s privacy protections. Mixing coins makes it harder for blockchain snoops and nosy parkers to pin bitcoin transactions to known addresses and their owners’ identities.
Read more:Wasabi Wallet Is Revamping Its CoinJoin Design to Allow Bitcoin Mixing With Differing Values
The disclosed DoS vulnerability would have halted the mixing process. The attacker would register bitcoin for a mix without that bitcoin being signed (verified) by the mix’s coordinator, while at the same time submitting a real, verified transaction to the mix.
The result would be an incongruity between the total value of inputs made to the CoinJoin and the value of expected outputs. As a result, the coordinator would unwittingly “build a transaction that can’t be valid, since the sum of all inputs is less than the sum of all outputs,” according to Vejpustek’s analysis.
If the attack were pulled off, it would foil the CoinJoin, though it would not have given the attacker the ability to steal any coins nor could they deanonymize any peers in the mix.
Wasabi Wallet patched the fix with the hard fork deployed Thursday. This upgrade was applied tov.1.1.12of the wallet, which was released on Aug. 5.
• Wasabi Wallet Patches Flaw That Could Have Thwarted Bitcoin Privacy Feature
• Wasabi Wallet Patches Flaw That Could Have Thwarted Bitcoin Privacy Feature || Klever and Cred Announce Partnership to Allow Crypto Interest Earning in Klever App: SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2020 /Klever, the newly launched 4th generation crypto wallet ecosystem with over 250,000 daily active users, has officially partnered with Cred, the industry leading crypto-backed lending and borrowing platform with customers in over 190 countries. Klever and Cred will jointly offer seamless in-app staking and interest to Klever's global user base.
The partnership allows Klever App wallet users to lend their Bitcoin (BTC), TRON (TRX), Ethereum (ETH) and other top cryptocurrencies directly inside the Klever App, in return for interest payments on their coins.
The developer teams of both Klever and Cred have worked closely together over recent months to enable a seamless user experience. This goal has been achieved, as Klever users will soon be able to easily and quickly earn interest with Cred by sending funds directly from their Klever wallet to Cred's staking program of their choice, all done inside Klever's built-in browser.
The partnership enables Cred's platform services to be fully integrated into the Klever App, offering Klever users the ability to receive monthly interest payments, with the option to roll over pledged assets for additional periods. No minimum amount of funds of BTC, TRX or ETH are required and the interest can be paid in both stablecoin and cryptocurrencies of the user's choice.
"Klever was made to enhance the financial freedom of our more than 800k users globally by putting the keys to their funds in their hands and empowering them to become smarter investors. Our partnership with such a well-established and reputable fintech firm like Cred further advances these goals," stated Dio Iankiara, CEO and Co-Founder ofKlever.io. "We are proud to have worked closely with the Cred team to develop a joint product in which our users can feel safe to put their crypto and earn high interest without ever leaving the Klever App, while being in full compliance with both US and other domestic regulation." - Dio Iankiara, CEO of Klever
The Klever ecosystem has over 250k daily active users (DAU), 580k monthly active users (MAU), and more than 800k total users and downloads worldwide. The Klever wallet has been developed and optimized over the course of 3 years, and runs on top of its own Klever OS, an underlying technology that ensures unmatched security through military-grade encryption, the simplest of user experience and an ability for any developer to plug-in a whitelabeled Klever wallet into their application through an SDK.
The partnership between Klever and Cred will also enable Klever users to soon be able to Swap Cred's LBA utility token inside the Klever App, as LBA will be added to the Klever Swap tool with 5 direct trading pairs in BTC, KLV, TRX, ETH and USDT. Users can reduce the Swap fees by using or holding KLV in their wallet, while the benefit of holding LBA is that the user will enjoy premium interest rates when joining and signing up for Cred's programs for lending.
Klever currently supports the three most active blockchains in the world, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum and TRON blockchains, including all the thousands of ERC20, TRC10 and TRC20 tokens running on top of those chains. Klever will be adding the world's top blockchains consecutively directly after launch, with emphasis on educating Klever users on the properties, benefits and staking opportunities of those blockchains. Many of the cryptocurrencies supporting these public chains will be available for lending and staking with Cred.
"Cred is fortunate to work with highly popular wallets like Klever, a valuable member of the blockchain community," said Dan Schatt, CEO and Co-Founder of Cred. "Our mission is to provide fair, inclusive and equitable financial services and we look forward to continuing our strong collaboration with the Klever team." - Dan Schatt, CEO of Cred.
About Klever
Klever App is a simple, secure & decentralized p2p crypto wallet for Bitcoin (BTC), TRON (TRX), Ethereum (ETH) and other top coins, tokens and cryptocurrency assets. With over 800k downloads from 193 countries worldwide, the Klever ecosystem caters to a global audience of blockchain enthusiasts and cryptocurrency holders. The wallet is available in 30 different languages. Klever App is built on top of Klever OS, which uses advanced security mechanisms that completely protects the user's private keys, and makes private keys and sensitive data available only on the user's specific device, utilizing the latest military-grade technology for encryption. For more information and to download the Klever App for iOS or Android, visitwww.klever.io.
About Cred
Cred is a global lending and borrowing platform serving customers in 190 countries. Founded on the belief of fairness, Cred's mission is to harness the power of blockchain to allow everyone to benefit from superior financial services. The San Francisco-based company brings together a diverse team of financial technology veterans, entrepreneurial leaders, machine learning, and the power of blockchain technology. For more information, visitwww.mycred.io.
Contact:
Dan Edelsteinpr@marketacross.com+972-545-464-238
SOURCE:Cred
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/604074/Klever-and-Cred-Announce-Partnership-to-Allow-Crypto-Interest-Earning-in-Klever-App || Bitcoin and Ripple’s XRP Weekly Technical Analysis – August 10th, 2020: Bitcoin rose by 5.57% in the week ending 9thAugust. Following on from an 11.11% rally from the previous week, Bitcoin ended the week at $11,675.3.
It was a bullish week for Bitcoin and the broader market. Bitcoin slipped to a Monday intraweek low $10,943.0 before making a move.
Steering clear of the first major support level at $9,967, Bitcoin rallied to a Friday intraweek high $11,900.
Falling short of the week’s first major resistance level at $12,119, Bitcoin fell back to $11,500 levels before finding support.
5 days in the green that included a 4.93% rally on Wednesday delivered the upside for the week.
Bitcoin would need to avoid a fall through $11,506 pivot to support another run the first major resistance level at $12,069 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break out from the current week high $12,060.
Barring another extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.
In the event of a breakout, Bitcoin could break out from the second major resistance level at $12,463 to target $13,000 levels.
A fall through the $11,506 pivot would bring the first major support level at $11,112 into play.
Barring an extended sell-off, Bitcoin should avoid sub-$11,000 levels and the second major support level at $10,549.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 2.80% to $12,002.0. A bullish start to the week saw Bitcoin rise from an early morning low $11,675.3 to a high $12,060 on Monday.
Bitcoin tested the first major resistance level at $12,069 at the start of the week.
Ripple’s XRP slipped by 0.04% in the week ending 9thAugust. Following the previous week’s 33.50% breakout, Ripple’s XRP ended the week at $0.28781.
A bullish start to the week saw Ripple’s XRP rally to a Monday intraweek high $0.31950 before hitting reverse.
Falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.3395, Ripple’s XRP slid to a Friday intraweek low $0.27742.
Steering well clear of the first major support level at $0.22249, Ripple’s XRP revisited $0.29 levels before slipping back to sub-$0.29 levels and into the red.
3-days in the red reversed Monday’s 7.68% rally to leave Ripple’s XRP in the red for the week.
Ripple’s XRP would need to avoid a fall through the $0.29491 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.31240.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripple’s XRP to break back through to $0.31 levels.
Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely cap any upside.
In the event of another breakout, 23.6% FIB of $0.3134 and the second major resistance level at $0.33699 could come into play.
A fall through the $0.29491 pivot would bring the first major support level at $0.27032 into play.
Barring an extended broader-market sell-off, however, Ripple’s XRP should steer well clear of the second major support level at $0.25283.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was up by 2.62% to $0.29536. A bullish start to the week saw Ripple’s XRP rise from an early Monday low $0.28821 to a high $0.29550.
Ripple’s XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested at the start of the week.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – August 10th, 2020 || Ebang International Holdings Inc. Establishes Subsidiary in Canada in Preparation of Establishing Digital Asset Financial Service Platform: HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ebang International Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: EBON, the “Company,” “we” or “our”), a leading application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) chip design company and a leading manufacturer of high-performance Bitcoin mining machines, today announced that it has established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Canada to improve its industrial chain layout and upgrade its digital asset financial service platform. The Company’s new subsidiary in Canada received a Money Service Business License from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada on September 16, 2020, which will allow the Company to engage in foreign exchange trading, digital currency transferring and dealing in virtual currencies in Canada. Mr. Dong Hu, Chairman and CEO of the Company, commented, “Following our Singapore subsidiary, we are pleased to announce that the Company has established its presence in Canada. This move is in line with the Company’s growth strategy to capture the growth opportunity along the value chain of the blockchain industry and establish a digital asset financial service platform. Our new Canadian subsidiary lays a solid foundation for the Company to enter into North America, a market that that represents high recognition of digital currency and robust investment opportunity in digital currency trading platforms.” There is no guarantee that the Company will receive any additional requisite regulatory approvals and licenses to operate its proposed business in Canada in a timely manner or on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or that the Company will commence such proposed business as planned, or at all. Shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this press release. About Ebang International Holdings Inc. Ebang International Holdings Inc. is a leading application-specific integrated circuit ASIC chip design company and a leading manufacturer of high-performance Bitcoin mining machines. The Company has strong ASIC chip design capability underpinned by nearly a decade of industry experience and expertise in the telecommunications business. The Company is one of the few fabless integrated circuit design companies with the advanced technology to independently design ASIC chips, established access to third-party wafer foundry capacity and a proven in-house capability to produce blockchain and telecommunications products*. The Company was also a leading Bitcoin mining machine producer in the global market in terms of computing power sold in 2019*. For more information, please visit https://ir.ebang.com.cn/ . *According to an industry report prepared by Frost & Sullivan in 2019 Story continues Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements w ithin the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include , w ithout limitation, the Company ’ s development plans and business outlook, which can be identified by terminology such as “ may, ” “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “ potential, ” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “ continue, ” “likely to” and other similar expressions . Such s tatements are not historical facts, and are based upon the Company’s current beliefs, plans and expectations, and the current market and operating conditions . Forward-looking statements involve inherent known or unknown risks , uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company ’ s contro l , which may cause the Company ’ s actual results , performance and achievements to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date indicated, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise , except as required under applicable law. Investor Relations Contact For investor and media inquiries, please contact: Ebang International Holdings Inc. Email: ir@ebang.com.cn Ascent Investor Relations LLC Ms. Tina Xiao Tel: (917) 609-0333 Email: tina.xiao@ascent-ir.com View comments || Blockchain Bites: Aave’s Advance, BitMEX’s Block, Turkey’s Bitcoin Trot: A branch of the Fed is looking at 30 blockchain networks to possibly support a “digital dollar,” Turkey is experiencing a bitcoin bull run and the Aave protocol has taken a leap forward for DeFi. You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Top shelf “Can’t stop the nodl” Turkey is experiencing a dollarization crisis and a bitcoin bull run , exchange volume data reveals. BTCTurk, the largest crypto exchange in Istanbul, has seen volumes roughly quadrupled over the past year, attracting roughly 100,000 active monthly users by July 2020 out of nearly one million accounts, CoinDesk’s Leigh Cuen reports. “August might be the highest volume ever and the highest level of registrations in any month this year,” CEO Ozgur Güneri said. “This also correlates to the volatility in prices.” Related: First Mover: Anything-Goes Token Market Repudiates Rich-Only Venture Capital Club Digital dollars The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, one of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks operating under the U.S. central bank, is evaluating more than 30 different blockchain networks to determine if they would support a digital dollar, CoinDesk’s Nikhilesh De reports. This follows on news from earlier this month the Boston Fed is actively testing a tokenized version of the U.S. dollar with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Digital Currency Initiative, looking at how it might complement the existing greenback. BitMEX blocked Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX will block users in the Canadian province of Ontario beginning in September. Without going into detail, the exchange said it was “mandated” by the state’s securities regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission. Existing positions may run till Jan. 4, 2021, but no new contracts will be filled. The news comes as the sometimes controversial exchange moves to become more compliant with regulators, having brought in compulsory “know-your-customer” verification procedures earlier this month, CoinDesk News Editor Daniel Palmer reports. Story continues Wandering yuan? China’s central bank said experiments of its digital yuan project only involve small retail transactions . The statement, from a People’s Bank of China employee, came after rumors of a Shenzhen house sale conducted through the DCEP (digital currency, electronic payment). The seller had been paid with a large amount of the digital currency, but was unable to convert it into the traditional version of the currency, Chinese news source Global Times reported. The PBoC employee later told news source Sina scenarios involving larger-sized transactions during the pilot period are not yet being addressed. Mining news Enegix may become one of the largest bitcoin mining facilities in the world if it opens in September. The 180 megawatt (MW) data center will be able to support 50,000 mining rigs, according to sales director Dmitriy Ivanov. Assuming full capacity with Bitmain’s AntMiner S19 series or MicroBT’s WhatsMiner M30, they could produce mining power of about 5-6 EH/s – approximately 4% of bitcoin’s current hashrate , CoinDesk’s Paddy Baker reports. The $23 million project would draw as much electricity as 180,000 U.S. homes and employ about 160 people in Kazakhstan. Separately, Nasdaq-listed Marathon Patent Group has deployed two shipments of mining machines , increasing the company’s hashrate by 130 petahash per second to 186 petahash per second. Quick bites Barstool’s Dave Portnoy Is Bad at Trading Cryptocurrency (Zack Voell/CoinDesk) Money Reimagined: DeFi-ing History (Michael Casey/CoinDesk) People Aren’t Buying the “ Great American Recovery ” Narrative (Nathaniel Whittemore/The Breakdown) “Yield farming” is flashy , but in some ways it resembles what’s happening in traditional markets (Frank Chaparro/The Block) Binance Taps DeFi Excitement to “Fuel” Expansion Strategy in India (Leigh Cuen/CoinDesk) At stake Related: Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Weary Bulls, ETC's Action Plan, INX's IPO Aave advances Aave, a DeFi money market protocol, has brought unsecured borrowing to decentralized finance (DeFi). CoinDesk’s Brady Dale reports the protocol’s credit delegation function is live, allowing users with collateral on Aave to delegate their credit line to a third party they trust, earning a cut of the interest. Aave, like most other DeFi protocols, had allowed users to earn interest on cryptocurrency and borrow against it. Unsecured borrowing represents “a significant shift for DeFi lending, which until now has been predicated on only one of the traditional “four C’s” of credit: collateral,” he writes, (“capacity,” “capital” and “character” were the remaining three). What people are saying: “I think it’s healthy and natural to experiment around these models. But they do have a lot of risks around them, for obvious reasons, if the assets can’t be recovered in time for the primary owner,” Joseph Kelly, CEO of Unchained Capital, a company that writes loans against bitcoin collateral. Market intel Bitcoin up, dollar down Bitcoin was up slightly at about $11,776 early Monday , rising along with European equities, stock futures, gold, copper and oil amid market optimism, CoinDesk’s First Mover reports. The dollar weakened. Prices have now spent 27 straight days above $10,000, the third-longest period in the five-digit zone in bitcoin’s 11-year history. According to Cryptoslate, the streak suggests “$10,000 as strong support, which typically is a positive medium-term sign.” Bearish bets Bearish bets in bitcoin futures from leveraged funds hit record highs on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole said. Last week, leveraged funds increased their short positions by 110% to a record high of 14,100 contracts, according to a Commitment of Traders (COT) report published by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday. Crypto derivatives research firm Skew suggests these short positions are “a function of attractive cash and carry levels,” an arbitrage strategy. Op-ed Crypto Long & Short It wasn’t just Coinbase alum Brian Brooks, now head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), who wanted to open the possibility for banks to custody crypto – the OCC had been looking at this for some time. CoinDesk Head of Research Noelle Acheson looks at the growing number of regulators and politicians – including from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Congress – trying to “support crypto innovation while protecting investors for longer than many realize.” Thus, “ the OCC’s recent bold move is probably not the only welcome surprise we’ll see from an official body this year ,” she writes. Podcast corner Yielding curves On the latest Long Reads Sunday podcast, Nathaniel Whittemore looks at markets’ reaction to Federal Reserve minutes suggesting yield curve control is off the table . Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: Aave’s Advance, BitMEX’s Block, Turkey’s Bitcoin Trot Blockchain Bites: Aave’s Advance, BitMEX’s Block, Turkey’s Bitcoin Trot || Why It’s Time to Pay Attention to Mexico’s Booming Crypto Market: Luis Sosa, 39, the creative director at a startup in Mexico City, watched with skepticism as his friends invested in bitcoin a decade ago. Even after they made good on their investments, Sosa kept his distance. Now, his attitude toward crypto is changing, but not for the reasons you’d think. “With the increasingly onerous banking requirements in Mexico, I am very tempted to use crypto, especially to buy things online,” Sosa said. Related: Nigerians Are Using Bitcoin to Bypass Trade Hurdles With China Sosa is not alone. In a trend that is largely unnoticed outside of the country, Mexico is embracing cryptocurrency at a breakneck speed. In the eight months between September 2019 and May 2020, the trading volume of Mexico’s leading crypto exchange, Bitso , grew by 342%, according to the exchange. Earlier this year, Bitso announced it had surpassed 1 million users on its platform, of which 92% are Mexican. For comparison, there are 35 traditional brokerages in the country with under 400,000 active trading accounts in total, according to Mexico’s financial authority, CNBV . “It is truly shocking because we are seeing how only one cryptocurrency exchange has demonstrated greater potential than 35 dedicated investment management entities,” said Eloisa Cadenas, CEO of consulting firm CryptoFinTech and professor at the Mexican Stock Exchange Group . But…Why? Related: Bitcoin Entering 'New Adoption Cycle,' Coin Metrics Exec Says Sosa is drawn to crypto in part for its potential to transfer money more easily. In Mexico, that is becoming increasingly hard to do. In its effort to crack down on criminal activity, Mexico may have made simple transactions difficult for ordinary citizens as well. The country has long struggled with tax evasion and money laundering. But two years ago, Mexico decided to put substantial prevention methods in place. In August 2019, right before Bitso’s trade volume began its dramatic climb, the government began implementing new fintech laws that sought to govern financial service providers in the banking and private capital sectors, from entrepreneurs to crowdfunding institutions. Story continues According to the new laws, tech firms that hold deposits for users had to register as a financial institution within the country. But compliance was expensive, with applications running over $35,000 and the law requiring businesses – even startups – to have a minimum annual profit of $100,000. National media reported at the time that of the 500 listed startups in the country, 201 had to be approved by regulators to continue operations. Once the new laws rolled in, only 85 ended up applying for accreditation. Bitso was among the firms approved to continue operations in Mexico. Read More: Experts Say Mexico’s Regulations Raise the Bar ‘Too High’ for Crypto Entrepreneurs In order to comply with the new banking laws in Mexico, PayPal announced it will no longer be holding deposits on customer accounts. Now, it only processes payments as an intermediary, which means Sosa can no longer maintain a balance on his account. When Sosa’s mother, based in New York, wants to send him money, she can use PayPal or Western Union if she pays a transaction fee . Instead, she sends funds from her Apple Pay account to Sosa’s, where the funds remain inaccessible until he travels to the U.S. With the increasingly onerous banking requirements in Mexico, I am very tempted to use crypto, especially to buy things online Crypto trading platforms can facilitate faster money transfers at a lower cost than banks. According to Cadenas, who is also pursuing a PhD in financial engineering, the combination of Mexico’s stringent new banking laws, expensive financial services and large unbanked population is driving public interest in cryptocurrencies. Like other countries, crypto is used primarily for speculation and trading in Mexico, Cadenas said. But the multibillion-dollar flow of remittances into the country, particularly from the U.S., and the difficulties involved in money transfers, have created a unique business opportunity for crypto platforms that promise to make transactions easier and cheaper. “Internally, we can say that the use of cryptocurrencies is becoming more attractive compared to what other financial institutions offer,” Cadenas said. Record-Breaking Remittance Flows In 2014, Bitso launched Mexico’s first bitcoin exchange. According to Bitso co-founder and CEO Daniel Vogel, in 2016 Bitso grew thanks to young adult gamers in Mexico paying f or video games with bitcoin on the digital media platform Steam. But all that went away the following year, when bitcoin’s value soared from $900 to $20,000 in a matter of months. By the end of the year, bitcoin transaction fees also spiked , accounting for up to 40% of a single transaction. The young gamers simply couldn’t afford it anymore. “Transaction fees went through the roof, from costing a fraction of a penny to $20 or $30 on their Steam accounts, and that use case just disappeared,” Vogel said. The year of speculation was 2017, with crypto market capitalization reaching $600 billion , and U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase becoming the #1 app on iTunes . “But this is Mexico. You don’t have as much disposable income as places like the U.S. or Europe or Asia. And so even though trading revenue did go up, we didn’t grow as much as some of the international players,” Vogel said. But there was a massive untapped market just begging for new players: remittances. Bitso had already partnered with payment platform Ripple to enable the quick transfer between dollars and pesos via liquid XRP , and the firm began processing remittance transactions. Read More: The New US-Mexico-Canada Trade Pact Holds Opportunity for Distributed Tech “We transacted, I think on a weekly basis, almost 10% of the remittances from the U.S. to Mexico and on a monthly basis over 7% of remittances. And that was super exciting,” Vogel said. Today, with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading through the region, Mexico’s central bank reported that in June 2020, Mexican workers in the U.S. sent home a whopping $3.56 billion in remittances, up 11% from the previous year. Almost all of those transactions were electronic transfers, through bank accounts, Western Union , PayPal’s Xoom and crypto trading platforms like Bitso. But there are charges involved. Last year, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blasted Western Union and Xoom for charging high fees on remittance transfers. For instance, Xoom charges up to 4% in transaction fees, and earns profits on the exchange rate each time money is sent to Mexico. Internally, we can say that the use of cryptocurrencies is becoming more attractive compared to what other financial institutions offer Comparatively, depending on which exchange you use, the transfer cost of that money via cryptocurrency can be as low as 0.1%, Cadenas said. According to Bitso’s website , a number of withdrawal methods, including bank transfers, are free for users receiving funds through the exchange. According to Cadenas, Bitso processed 3.5% of incoming remittances in January this year, which increased to 5.3% in a matter of weeks. But there’s another problem: A 2018 global database on financial inclusion published by the World Bank revealed 63.1% of Mexican adults (ages 15 and above) didn’t have a bank account. The Banks According to Jonathan Terluk, senior economic and public policy analyst at EMPRA , an emerging markets consulting firm that focuses on Mexico, the country’s large unbanked population and cash-driven informal sector is made up of workers or businesses that are not registered with the government. Between 55% and 60% of the total employed population in the country belong to this informal sector and are paid in cash, he added. Mexican citizens without bank accounts use digital payment systems provided by the likes of Oxxo , a chain of grocery stores akin to America’s 7-Eleven franchise, that accepts cash payments for everything from groceries to phone bills and electric bills. The system also processes payments for online purchases, and allows users to deposit money into debit cards or bank accounts. Since it has partnered with Xoom and Western Union, remittances can be sent to your nearest Oxxo for cash pickup. “We’ve had to come up with all these workarounds, because people don’t trust credit cards or banks that much and a lot of people just use cash,” Sosa said. One reason for the general distrust in banks, Cadenas said, is that Mexico’s traditional financial services are expensive. The average annual interest rate for a credit card can be around 27.4% in Colombia, while the weighted annual interest rate of a classic credit card at Mexico’s Citibanamex is 56.3%. According to Cadenas, the annual interest on a personal line of credit is around 21% in Colombia, approximately 45.34% in Peru and 67.2% or higher in Mexico . “To give an example, if today I request a [line of] credit of approximately $10,000, in five years, I will end up paying $30,000, it’s crazy,” Cadenas said, after calculating the amount on the government’s credit simulator . By contrast, anyone can create an account and wallet on crypto exchanges to start trading. Setting up an account is usually free, and exchanges may charge a trading fee (Bitso charges between 0.05% and 0.5%). Bitso’s transfer platform works like peer-to-peer lending app Venmo, where you can store, send and receive money free of charge. To serve the large population without bank accounts, crypto platforms usually offer multiple withdrawal methods that include transferring funds directly to your mobile phone, or a digital coupon to avoid bank deposit fees. Taxes Another reason why crypto might be an appealing option to a population that feels exploited by traditional financial services is that even though crypto platforms are regulated in the country, there is no comprehensive framework on how it’s taxed. In accordance with anti money-laundering requirements, crypto firms must report transactions (one-time or over a period of six months) exceeding roughly $2,500 to the financial authority as a “vulnerable transaction,” Diego Ramos Castillo, crypto litigator and founding partner of a commercial law firm in Mexico told CoinDesk. Beyond that, there are no specific rules for crypto: Mexico is still trying to figure out exactly how to tax it, and right now, there is room for a bit of interpretation. Read More: Central Banks, Stablecoins and the Looming War of Currencies For instance, according to Ramos, there are certain tax perks to storing your wealth in crypto: If you want to open and maintain an account that holds any type of foreign currency, you are required to declare any gains or losses you have made during a period of time, even if those are just price fluctuations of the currency you’re holding. But you can hold your funds in stablecoins – cryptocurrencies backed by fiat assets in order to reduce volatility – more easily, Ramos said. Stablecoins are not considered a foreign currency so “you can have an account holding stablecoins, that would be the same as having a U.S. dollar account but you have the tax benefit of not having to report or declare the gains or losses until you sell the stablecoins,” Ramos said. Regulations The fintech regulations enacted last year included a whole chapter on virtual assets. As a consequence of the bill, exchanges were no longer allowed to hold or custody fiat currencies without a license. But applying for compliance was expensive and threatened to put crypto startups and entrepreneurs out of business. A provision in the bill also required Mexico’s central bank to issue specific secondary rules on how virtual assets would be regulated. According to Ramos, the law banned financial institutions from issuing or transferring the “risk of cryptocurrency” to the customer in any way. But institutions were still allowed to use crypto for internal operations, Ramos said. Read More: Mexico is Getting Eight New Cryptocurrency Exchanges But the regulations issued by the central bank sounded worse than they actually were, Ramos said, because the government did not ban crypto or call it illegal, and that was good enough. “The central bank recognized that crypto activities were permitted in Mexico. They were not illegal. What they were saying with this secondary provision was that financial institutions should take care and if possible avoid participating actively in the crypto industry,” Ramos said. So operating a crypto business in Mexico is expensive, thanks to the new fintech licensing requirements, but well within the law. Looking Ahead It will take some time for crypto firms to become the leading processors of remittances, or the go-to digital payment system in Mexico. Across the country, cash is still the preferred method of payment and cryptocurrencies are not widely accepted. The industry has its own shortcomings, starting with the fact that not many people understand how crypto works , and it seems daunting compared to a short walk to the nearest Oxxo. Sosa, for instance, will still need a bit more convincing before he actually opens a bitcoin wallet. “For the average consumer, I still find it’s just way too onerous. And, you know, I’m not gonna ask my mom to create a crypto wallet because that means that I’m going to spend six days walking her through it,” Sosa said. Nevertheless, startups are continuing to enter the Mexican crypto space. For instance, while Bitso is looking to expand outward, having already established itself in not only Mexico but also in Argentina, startups like crypto exchange Mexo are uniquely targeting local users. Mexo co-founder and partner Bo Zhou told CoinDesk that everything about the platform, starting with its Spanish-language website, is designed to attract users in Mexico to conduct local transactions. AirTM , headquartered in Mexico, provides blockchain-powered dollar accounts to users worldwide. Last year, the startup distributed $300,000 in donations to Venezuelans in need. Read More: Crypto Exchange AirTM Targets Troubled Markets With $7 Million Raise It appears Mexico not only has a large population open to exploring alternatives to traditional financial services, but a number of factors have aligned almost perfectly to facilitate mass adoption. It can also play a role in advancing financial inclusion, Cadenas said. “Cryptocurrencies in Mexico are a reality for those who not only seek to invest, but for individuals and companies that have the enthusiasm to improve their living conditions with more accessible financial products,” Cadenas said. Related Stories Why It’s Time to Pay Attention to Mexico’s Booming Crypto Market Why It’s Time to Pay Attention to Mexico’s Booming Crypto Market || Nevada Woman Charged in Bitcoin Murder-for-Hire as a Mystery Hacker Again Turns Tipster: A Nevada woman is facing federal charges for allegedly paying a darkweb hitman $5,000 worth of bitcoin to murder her ex-husband in a case that shares striking parallels with another recent murder-for-hire plot.
• The hit, ordered in spring 2016, did not go through. But 36-year-old Kristy Lynn Felkins was indicted in California federal court Thursday for allegedly paying a phony hitman 12 BTC (at the time worth $5,000) to see that it did.
• Homeland Security agents traced the murder-for-hire bitcoin to a LocalBitcoins account associated with Felkins, who, through a pseudonym, had allegedly discussed mixing her bitcoin with the scammer prior to allegedly paying him, authorities said.
• Chat logs cited in acriminal complaintdetail a month-long back-and-forth in which the scammer tries and fails to up-sell the Felkins-linked pseudonym on a more expensive method of killing before ultimately ghosting her, the murder uncommitted.
• Federal agents said their tip came from an unnamed foreign hacker who “scraped” the murder-for-hire site for information, chat logs and bitcoin addresses and then handed it to the Feds “in or about January 2019.”
• The Felkins hacker-tipster generally matches the description and circumstances of another hacker-tipster federal agents cited in a separate but similar darkweb murder-for-hire investigation CoinDeskcovered last month.
• In that case, agents said their source was providing information in multiple ongoing investigations but declined to provide his name or the site he had scraped.
• The hacker-tipster is additionally described in this case’s filings as a foreigner convicted outside the U.S. of possessing child pornography. His information has proven “to be reliable,” agents wrote.
• He is working with the U.S. government without any expectation of monetary gain or get-out-of-jail-free cards, according to the Felkins complaint.
• A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for confirmation that the two hacker-tipster sources are the same.
The charges demonstrate how individuals who view bitcoin as a gateway to criminal dealings – thinking, perhaps, that the crypto provides unparalleled economic anonymity in a digital-first world – can readily wind up in the Fed’s crosshairs when bitcoin’s immutable and highly traceable ledger gives their transactions away.
• Nevada Woman Charged in Bitcoin Murder-for-Hire as a Mystery Hacker Again Turns Tipster
• Nevada Woman Charged in Bitcoin Murder-for-Hire as a Mystery Hacker Again Turns Tipster
• Nevada Woman Charged in Bitcoin Murder-for-Hire as a Mystery Hacker Again Turns Tipster
• Nevada Woman Charged in Bitcoin Murder-for-Hire as a Mystery Hacker Again Turns Tipster || Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Traders Looking to Sell Rallies Until Demand Returns: U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures closed lower last week and posted their biggest weekly decline since June as fears of a slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic compounded worries about week oil demand.
After a mostly steady trade early in the week, sellers started to take control after a government report showed a drop in domestic gasoline demand. The selling pressure increased after a report concluded that China would limit its buying in September. Another report later in the week said middle distillate inventories at Asia’s Singapore oil hub have surpassed a nine-year high.
The week ended with prices pressured by extended declines in the U.S. equities market and by a report showing U.S. job growth slowed further in August as financial assistance from the government ran out.
Last week,October WTI crude oilsettled at $39.77, down $3.20 or -7.45% andDecember Brent crude oilfinished at $43.18, down $3.07 or -7.11%.
Oil prices took a hit on Thursday and is vulnerable to further downside pressure this week after a weekly government report highlighted weak U.S. gasoline demand data.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed domestic gasoline demand during the week-ending August 28 fell to 8.78 million barrels per day (bpd) from 9.16 million bpd a week earlier. Consumption of other products also fell.
Late in the week, prices were further pressured by a report from Refinitiv that suggested the crude oil that had been flooding into China in recent months will probably ease back to more normal levels from October onwards.
Finally prices extended their declines on Friday amid a plunge in the U.S. equities market and a report that showed U.S. job growth slowed further in August as financial assistance from the government ran out.
It’s going to be hard to generate demand out of thin air so we expect prices to remain under pressure this week. If there is a rally, it is likely to be fueled by short-covering and probably designed to set up the next short opening.
Our work indicates that the selling was mostly fueled by small speculator liquidation since the major hedge funds and managed futures accounts have been mostly participating in the products and not crude oil. We could see more volatility to the downside if the hedge funds decide to turn bearish crude oil. However, don’t expect them to sell weakness. They’ll be looking at selling a rally.
I don’t think we’ll form a meaningful bottom until U.S. policymakers approve a number stimulus plan. A long-term bottom? Not likely until the COVID-19 numbers start to improve or a successful vaccine is created, tested, approved and administered.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – September 7th, 2020 || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Clings to $10.4K; Ether in Smart Contracts Highest Since 2016: Bitcoin stuck around $10,400 for most of Tuesday. Meanwhile, ether holders are increasingly choosing smart contracts to park the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $10,494 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. EDT). Gaining 0.10% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $10,357-$10,532 BTC above its 10-day moving average but below the 50-day, a sideways signal for market technicians. After bitcoin prices fell sharply Monday, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency stayed near the $10,400 mark on spot exchanges such as Coinbase Tuesday. “Bitcoin remains in pullback-mode after having seen an initial reaction to short-term oversold conditions that left strong support intact in the $10,000 area,” said Katie Stockton, an analyst for Fairlead Strategies. “The loss of momentum has been significant, but overbought conditions are no longer an issue and the intermediate-term uptrend that began in March still has a hold.” Related: First Mover: Bitcoins Hit Exchanges as Bloomberg Touts Crypto and DeFi Hedge Fund Seeks $50M Read More: Equity Markets Turmoil Could Push Bitcoin Below $10K, Say Analysts Momentum has certainly slowed down since Monday, when massive selling and $34 million in derivatives liquidations on BitMEX led to a $507 million volume day on major spot exchanges. Tuesday did not even approach that level, and was at $210 million in spot volume as of 4 p.m. ET. “We are at 50% of all-time-highs, which is a good area for future consolidation, but the perpetual funding rate for BTC is showing negative,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer for cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin. Like futures contracts, perpetual swaps allow traders to long or short a position, taking advantage of movements in a cryptocurrency’s price. The difference is there is no expiration date in the swap, hence the term “perpetual” and the requirement of a funding rate, which rolls over between long and short traders at eight hour increments. Essentially, short traders are paying those going long for exposure when the funding rate is negative. Related: Bitcoin Market Weakening After Macro-Based Sell-Off, On-Chain Data Suggests “This signals there is a lot of indecision in the BTC market,” added Lau. “We could continue to see short term sell-offs and an overall more bearish outlook in the coming months.” Michael Gord, CEO of cryptocurrency brokerage firm Global Digital Assets, has seen a shift in sentiment heading into a fourth quarter full of precariousness. “I think we’ve got to be close to the bottom,” Gord said. “Leading up to the U.S. election and debates, more institutional holders of bitcoin are preferring to hold cash and determine whether or not to re-enter afterwards.” Story continues Ether supply in smart contracts at 2020 high Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down Tuesday trading around $343 and slipping 0.44%% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT). The amount of ether parked in smart contracts is at its highest level since 2016, when investors plowed into The DAO , an early decentralized finance (DeFi) precursor. The percentage of ether supply in smart contracts is at 15.96%, the highest level since July 25 2016. Brian Mosoff, CEO of investment firm Ether Capital, says this metric proves Ethereum’s ability to offer DeFi capabilities which its cryptocurrency competition simply does not provide. Read More: What Is DeFi? “The ETH in various DeFi contracts is probably an indicator that ETH holders want to continue to hold the asset but are looking for ways to generate yield,” said Mosoff. “This shows how ETH acts as a productive asset, contrasted with bitcoin, where it may be a great store of value but it lacks the productive yield layer that ETH does.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mixed Tuesday, mostly in the green. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT): tezos (XYT) + 6.6% 0x (ZRX) + 3.3% monero (XMR) + 2% Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT): orchid (OXT) – 15.6% chainlink (LINK) – 1.5% xrp (XRP) – 0.77% Read More: Uniswap Users Say Uniting Can Strengthen UNI Equities: Asia’s Nikkei 225 is closed for holiday Tuesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1% as losses in the airline sector dragged down the index . Europe’s FTSE 100 ended the day in the green 0.43% despite the UK imposing some new restrictions spurred by a new wave of coronavirus infections . In the United States the S&P 500 gained 1% as the tech sector was up on Tuesday, including Amazon climbing 5.1% . Commodities: Oil was flat, in the red 0.02%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $39.76. Gold was in the red 0.52% and at $1,902 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields were mixed Tuesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, fell most on the 2-year, in the red 1.4%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Clings to $10.4K; Ether in Smart Contracts Highest Since 2016 Market Wrap: Bitcoin Clings to $10.4K; Ether in Smart Contracts Highest Since 2016 View comments || Human Capital: Coinbase and Clubhouse aside, Ethel’s Club founder wants to take us 'Somewhere Good': Welcome back to Human Capital, a weekly digest about diversity, inclusion and the human labor that powers tech. This week, we're looking at a number of topics because a lot went down. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took a controversial stance on social, Clubhouse found itself under scrutiny again, but this time around anti-Semitism and a new site launched that sheds light on some of the negative experiences of underrepresented people in tech. Meanwhile, the founder from Ethel's Club unveiled Somewhere Good, which aims to provide a safe social platform for people of color. The timing couldn't be better. Human Capital launches as a newsletter on Friday, October 23. Be sure to sign up here to get it sent straight to your inbox. Stay Woke Coinbase CEO’s stance on societal issues stirs up controversy Over the weekend, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the company does not engage on border societal issues when they are not related to its core mission. On political causes, Armstrong said Coinbase also does not advocate for any causes or candidates that are not related to its mission “because it is a distraction from our mission.” In that Medium post, Armstrong recognized that some employees may disagree and even resign. A couple of days later, Armstrong began offering employees who don’t feel comfortable with the direction of the company a severance package, The Block Crypto reported . “It’s always sad when we see teammates go, but it can also be what is best for them and the company,” Armstrong wrote in an internal memo. “As I said in my blog post, life is too short to work a company that you aren’t excited about.” It's quite a statement to make just weeks away from a very important presidential election. But Armstrong's justification seems to be that he doesn't want the internal strife that has happened at companies like Google and Facebook to happen at Coinbase. Obviously, people have feelings and thoughts about Armstrong’s stance. One on side, there’s Y Combinator Founder Paul Graham saying Coinbase will push away the “aggressively conventional-minded” people but that those types of people “tend not to be good at building things anyway.” And on another side, there’s Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pointing out how Armstrong’s stance leaves people behind. #Bitcoin (aka “crypto”) is direct activism against an unverifiable and exclusionary financial system which negatively affects so much of our society. Important to at *least* acknowledge and connect the related societal issues your customers face daily. This leaves people behind: https://t.co/0LMlF1qcmG — jack (@jack) September 30, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Story continues Then, there’s also confusion around how Armstrong could say that Black lives matter in June and then go on to say that workers essentially need to leave their politics and beliefs that don’t relate to work at home. Well, GitHub Director of Engineering Erica Baker tweeted that someone probably forced Armstrong’s hand into speaking out about Black lives. so tl;dr coinbase engineers walked off because brian wouldn't say "Black Lives Matter," he posted it so they'd get back to work, now he's having an executive "YOU AREN'T THE BOSS OF ME!" meltdown* about it. 🙄 *executive meltdowns come in many flavors pic.twitter.com/tSYNmeOVTf — EricaJoy (@EricaJoy) September 29, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js The latest Clubhouse drama The invitation-only audio social app was home to a discussion titled, "Anti-Semitism and Black Culture" this week. During the discussion, someone reportedly said Black and Jewish communities differ because of their relationship to economic advancement, Bloomberg reported . In response, another person reportedly said, “The Jewish community does business with their enemies; the Black community is enslaved by their enemies" -- to which some people pushed back, saying it perpetuates a harmful stereotype about Jewish people. I apologize to anyone who felt threatened or harmed by anything said in the CH room I started tonight. I had no intention of negativity. — ashoka finley (@lifesupremacist) September 29, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Ethel’s Club founder teases Somewhere Good, a digital space that centers people of color Amid private social app Clubhouse finding itself again under heavy scrutiny, there perhaps is no better time for the emergence of a platform that provides a safe space for people of color. Naj Austin, founder and CEO of subscription-based physical and digital community Ethel’s Club, is building Somewhere Good to be a one-stop shop for people of color . Beyond being a place for people of color to connect, it’s also about creating a safe space for folks to be their authentic selves. “A lot of how we’re talking about Somewhere Good with investors is this idea of a new online world where our identities are centered,” Austin told me. “The vision for Somewhere Good is you take your phone out of your pocket and, as a Black person or person of color, all of your needs are met there in that one place.” Greylock teams up with Management Leadership for Tomorrow to diversify tech’s wealth cycle Greylock is one of a number of VC firms that have kicked into action following the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other unarmed Black people and people of color. The multi-pronged partnership will enable Greylock to tap into MLT’s network of around 8,000 Black, Latinx and Indigenous professionals and connect them with potential roles at the firm’s portfolio companies. Additionally, Greylock and MLT will work together to support retention at those companies, as well as help MLT professionals pursue careers in venture capital. “And look, VCs and tech startups — we just have to be honest that we’ve been really bad at getting this right,” Greylock Partner David Sze told TechCrunch. “Historically, I mean, we’ve let the system sort of evolve without much top down oversight in regards of diversity and inclusion and we just really need to change that.” Twitter releases latest diversity report Twitter’s most recent diversity report showed that the company has done an okay job of increasing representation of Black employees at its company since 2017. In 2017, Twitter was just 3.4% Black and in August 2020, Twitter was 6.3% Black. Image Credits: Twitter By 2025, Twitter aims for at least 25% of its workforce to be underrepresented minorities, and at least 10% of that overall 25% to be Black. Overall, Twitter is 41.4% white, 28.4% Asian, 5.2% Latinx, 3.7% multi-racial and less than 1% Indigenous. Twitter’s technical team is also mostly white (41.4%) so perhaps it’s no wonder why Twitter has had some algorithmic bias issues . DiscoTech highlights diversity issues in tech A new site popped up that details the discrimination people experience in tech. The folks behind DiscoTech describe themselves as “a diverse group of cross-tech organizers who are committed to ending discrimination in the workplace.” The posted experiences -- all anonymous -- describe sexism, racism, ageism, sexual harassment and assault, weight discrimination, suicide and mental illness. Here are a few stories that jumped out: On being a woman in tech: After introducing myself to a peer at a social gathering, I was asked if I had 'come to Microsoft to find a husband?' The blatant question left me speechless, and I was shocked by his total disregard for my professional aspirations. My friend overheard and she quickly asked if he would pose the same question to a man, asking if he'd 'come to Microsoft to find a partner?' He got defensive and denied his originally offensive inquiry. On being underpaid in tech : This event happened prior to my joining the team, but I didn't find out about it until years later. The hiring manager bragged openly about how 'little' she hired me for while I was desperately leaving a toxic work environment. I pushed back, she was persistent and being afraid of losing the offer I took it. I ended up leaving the position for a job that paid market value. Irony. On being a Black woman in tech : I'm not sure where to begin with the amount of discomfort I've experienced in the work place. As a Black, woman in tech I'm all too familiar with being an extreme minority. I guess you could say my discomfort began at the beginning of my professional career. I accepted a position at my company in a 6 month training program for recent college graduates. Upon arrival at orientation I realized I was the only Black woman out of 70 participants. 70 other co-workers and I was the only one. I felt completely alone and as if I had no one who could relate to my unique experience. From there, it was small incident after small incident that caused my discomfort to grow. From my technical trainer referring to me as Sheba, as in the Queen of Sheba, in the middle of a training session to my colleagues constantly questioning my intelligence, work became a stressful environment. It didn't help that when I tried to reach out throughout the company for assistance with existing in the workplace, I was often told to keep to myself and try my best to ‘fit in.’ It took me a while to find a support system but I'm glad I finally did because the amount of microaggressions I face on daily basis is often overwhelming. Labor Organizing Shipt shoppers protest new pay model Shipt shoppers are organizing a handful of actions in protest of Shipt’s new pay structure that began rolling out this month. The first action is happening from Saturday, Oct. 17 through Oct. 19, when workers are calling on their fellow Shipt shoppers to walk out and boycott the company. Organizers are asking for shoppers not to schedule any hours or accept any orders during that time. “Our goal is to draw attention to the fact that this pay scale really does affect shoppers and regardless of Shipt’s position of it taking into account effort and benefitting shoppers, we are finding it is the opposite on both fronts,” Willy Solis, a Shipt shopper in Dallas and lead organizer at Gig Workers Collective, told TechCrunch. “It’s not holding up to the true reality. We are getting paid less for more effort.” Spin workers ratify first union contract A group of 40 workers at Ford-owned Spin ratified their first union contract with Teamsters Local 665 this week. The group of workers consists of shift leads, maintenance specialists, operations specialists, community ambassadors, and scooter deployers and collectors. “This new contract gives us job security and immediate money up front, with guaranteed increases each year going forward. We also got holiday pay and vacation, which we didn’t have before we organized,” Spin worker Shamar Bell said in a statement. “All this means a lot during the pandemic. We know our union will have our back if our boss or the city government tries to make changes. I can say for sure, we’re proud to be Teamsters.” As part of the three-year agreement, Spin workers will get annual pay raises of more than 3% each year, six paid holidays (compared to zero holidays), vacation days based on years of employment (compared to no vacation days), five sick days a year, a $1,200 per employee ratification bonus, benefits accrual for part-time workers and other benefits. In Other News Serious injuries at Amazon fulfillment centers topped 14,000, despite the company’s safety claims - TechCrunch Lack of oversight and transparency leave Amazon employees in the dark on Covid-19 - NBC News Newsom signs law mandating more diversity in California corporate boardrooms - The Los Angeles Times Bird Is Quietly Luring Contract Workers Into Debt Through a New Scooter Scheme - OneZero AOC flagged ‘material risks’ to Palantir investors in letter to SEC By the way, TechCrunch Sessions: Mobility is coming up next week. Since you made it to the end of this, here's a 50% off code for you to get full access to the event. This code will get you into the expo and breakout sessions for free. View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: up || Prices: 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Hashed CEO Simon Kim Explains Why Consumer-Focused Apps are the Future of Blockchain: Cryptocurrency has an adoption problem , or so the perceived wisdom says. Bitcoin and Ethereum are perennially popular within the blockchain and cryptocurrency community. But to the average consumer new to the crypto scene, theres a dizzying learning curve, involving wallets, exchanges, consensus models, and a sea of technical jargon besides. Some people within the blockchain community pride themselves on being able to wax lyrical about transaction speeds and Merkle trees. However, there are also those who believe that this exclusive approach is creating too many barriers, holding back cryptocurrency from gaining mass mainstream adoption. Simon Seojoon Kim is a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits, a venture partner at Softbank Ventures Asia, and a leading blockchain evangelist. Hes also the CEO of Hashed, Koreas preeminent blockchain venture firm with a global portfolio of projects. Simon Kim giving an opening speech at the Korea Blockchain Week 2019 Hashed invests predominantly in early-stage companies, with a focus on South Korean startups. However, the firm has also provided backing to companies in China, Japan, and the USA. Builders, Not Pickers So what attributes does Kim look for from his investments? Kim believes its less about the firms themselves, and more about the hands-on approach that his firm takes to investing in startups. We approach our investments as builders, not just pickers. We participate as core technical contributors to developing global infrastructure, and weve built a network of projects and people that connects industry pioneers with the knowledge and resources necessary to unlock the potential of blockchain. The approach is paying off, and not just in financial terms. Bucking the perception that blockchain faces adoption challenges, Hashed has provided backing to two projects in particular that have gained rapid, widespread adoption in Asia, namely public blockchains Klaytn and Terra . Kakao, the company behind the dominant Korean messaging service Kakaotalk, operates the Klaytn blockchain. Klaytn sells itself on being application-focused, user friendly, and service-centric. Klaytn has established partnerships with Samsungs Blockchain division, and Shinhan Bank, one of the largest in Korea. Story continues Terra is the platform of choice for Chai, a payment gateway application that is integrated with TMON, one of Koreas biggest e-commerce providers. As such, Chai is also gaining rapid traction among a growing user base, which currently numbers over 1.6 million people. Secret Sauce for Consumer Adoption Kim believes that the reason Klaytn and Chai have seen such significant success in terms of adoption in their strong focus on creating a smooth user experience from the point of onboarding. We see many western projects with a heavy focus on research and ideology on issues such as mechanism design. At the same time, they often fail to take into account the dynamics of a real-world consumer setting. Projects such as Klaytn and Chai take a different approach, focusing on improving the UX layer which is the key to overcoming challenges with mass adoption. From the consumer perspective, this means that they dont have to surmount all the barriers of onboarding to crypto that many existing users now take for granted. Kim explains: The common factor of Klaytn and Chais success is that users do not have to think about how to safeguard their private keys. In other words, users do not need to know that it is a blockchain application. By offering an easy-to-use simple UX and private key storage, they have been successful in onboarding a meaningful number of users. A More Pragmatic Approach to Regulation While Kim is evidently a champion of removing barriers to blockchain adoption as a means of attracting users, he also recognizes the substantial challenges that Western regulators are creating for major blockchain projects. The most notable examples from recent years are Facebooks ( NASDAQ: FB ) Libra cryptocurrency, and Telegrams Open Network (TON) platform. Mark Zuckerberg has been famously hauled in front of Congress to try and explain Libra to bemused members of the House. Regulators have been hesitant to sign off on his plans, leading to indefinite delays to the implementation of the project, and the loss of big-name backers, including PayPal ( NASDAQ: PYPL ) and Visa ( NYSE: V ) . Meanwhile, Telegrams TON has suffered an even worse fate. After the SEC ruled that the initial token sale was an offering of securities, the Telegram CEO announced his firm was withdrawing from the project entirely, effectively canceling it. The U.S. authorities have now been dragging their heels for years on concrete legislation regarding blockchain and cryptocurrencies. However, while the process has taken a few years to get off the ground in Korea, authorities there have now provided comprehensive guidance, which Kim believes will help to foster innovation. He states: Although the lack of regulation brought some freedom, it has also been a bottleneck for blockchain-related businesses in Korea. New guidance that will be rolled out next March will create a clear framework for the use of virtual assets and the operation of virtual asset service providers. I believe this represents a new beginning for Korea as it takes its first step to creating a more hospitable environment. A Blueprint for Fostering Innovation? Overall, the net effect of the difference in approach from regulators could be that American tech firms find their innovation efforts are being quashed by a lack of clear guidance. Meanwhile, countries like Korea, and crypto-friendly Switzerland, are leaping ahead and finding new ways to introduce consumer-friendly blockchain products to the masses. Blockchain and crypto have been suffering from a usability problem for a long time, so taking a consumer-focused approach appears to be a sound approach to crack the problem, based on the evident success of Asian blockchain projects. Now, US and European governments and blockchain entrepreneurs need to examine the right approach to ensure that they arent left behind, and can reap the economic benefits of the technology. Disclosure: None. || Trading to Commence for Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust and Grayscale Litecoin Trust: New York, Aug. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Grayscale Investments®, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, today announced thatGrayscale® Bitcoin Cash TrustandGrayscale® Litecoin Trusthave received DTC-eligibility. Eligible Shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust will be available to trade on OTC Markets under the symbol: BCHG and eligible Shares of Grayscale Litecoin Trust will be available to trade on OTC Markets under the symbol: LTCN. This announcement follows FINRA’s verification that the required diligence to begin quoting BCHG and LTCN pursuant to Rule 15c2-11 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, has been completed.The Trusts are open-ended trusts sponsored by Grayscale and are intended to enable exposure to the price movement of each Trust’s underlying assets through an investment vehicle, avoiding the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping digital Bitcoin Cash or Litecoin directly.SECONDARY MARKETS for the PRIVATE PLACEMENTSThe Trusts have offered private placements to accredited investors since March 2018. As of July 31, 2020, there were 6,028,000 Shares outstanding of BCHG and each Share represented ownership of 0.00941311 Bitcoin Cash. As of July 31, 2020, there were 2,500,800 Shares outstanding of LTCN and each Share represented ownership of 0.09413112 Litecoin. Shares created through each Trust’s respective private placement become eligible to sell into the public market after a statutory one-year holding period under Rule 144 of the Securities Act.*All investors with access to U.S. securities will be able to buy and sell freely-tradable shares of BCHG and LTCN through their investment accounts in the same manner as they would other unregistered securities.INVESTMENT OBJECTIVEThe investment objective of each Trust is for the Shares (based on assets per Share) to reflect the value of the assets held by such Trust, determined by reference to the appropriate TradeBlock index at 4:00 p.m. New York time, less such Trust’s expenses and other liabilities.TradeBlock's BCX Indexis the reference for Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust andTradeBlock's LTX Indexis the reference for Grayscale Litecoin Trust. The Trusts will not generate any income and regularly distribute Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin respectively, to pay for its ongoing expenses. Therefore, the amount of Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin represented by each respective Share gradually decreases over time.The Trusts are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not subject to disclosure and certain other requirements mandated by U.S. securities laws.GRAYSCALE PRODUCT FAMILYGrayscale's investment products are available to institutional and individual accredited investors through their respective periodic and ongoing private placements. In addition to its Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) offering, Grayscale’s single-asset investment products provide exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Horizen (ZEN), Stellar Lumens (XLM), XRP, and Zcash (ZEC). Additionally, Grayscale’s diversified investment product, Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund offers coverage of the upper 70% of the digital currency market by market capitalization. As of July 31, 2020, Grayscale managed approximately $5.2 billion in assets.BCHGandLTCNrepresent Grayscale’s fifth and sixth publicly-quoted investment products. Grayscale® Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC), Grayscale® Ethereum Trust (OTCQX: ETHE), Grayscale® Ethereum Classic Trust (OTCQX: ETCG), and Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund (OTCQX: GDLC) are also publicly-quoted and available to all investors with access to U.S. securities. Investors will be able to find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for Shares onwww.otcmarkets.com/stock/BCHG/overviewonce trading for BCHG commences and www.otcmarkets.com/stock/LTCN/overview once trading for LTCN commences.*Each Trust offers a private placement to accredited investors. The investment objective of each Trust is for its Shares to reflect the value of assets held by such Trust, less such Trust’s expenses and other liabilities. Because each Trust does not currently operate a redemption program, there can be no assurance that the value of the Shares will approximate the value of the assets held by such Trust, less such Trust’s expenses and other liabilities, and the Shares may trade at a substantial premium over, or a substantial discount to, such value and such Trust may be unable to meet its investment objective.This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.About Grayscale Investments®Grayscale Investments is the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, with more than $5.2B in assets under management as of July 31, 2020. Through its family of 10 investment products, Grayscale provides access and exposure to the digital currency asset class in the form of a traditional security without the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping digital currencies directly. With a proven track record and unrivaled experience, Grayscale’s products operate within existing regulatory frameworks, creating secure and compliant exposure for investors. For more information, please visitwww.grayscale.coand follow@Grayscale.
CONTACT: Marissa Arnold marissa@grayscale.co || You Can Now Buy Hedera Hashgraph’s HBAR Token via Simplex: Distributed public ledgerHedera Hashgraph’s native cryptocurrency HBAR is now available for purchase through Israel-based global fiat payment processorSimplex, the companies announced Monday.
• In a statement, Simplex said the integration will enable users to buy and sell HBAR with a credit or debit card using its global platform.
• Simplex is anEuropean Union-licensedfinancial institution that provides global fiat infrastructure to enable secure credit card processing for the crypto industry. It already supports a host of cryptocurrencies on its platform includingbitcoin(BTC),ether(ETH),bitcoin cash(BCH),XRPandlitecoin(LTC).
• Hedera Hashgraphlaunchedits network in September and has since processed over 200 million transactions worldwide, the companies said.
• Hedera had a shaky start; the HBAR tokencrasheda month following its launch, and the company had towithholdtokens from investors in an effort to stabilize price.
• HBAR spiked earlier this year when Googleannouncedit will be joining Hedera’s governing council, which includes other high-profile multinational firms includingBoeing, Avery Dennison, IBM and Tata Communications.
• Earlier this year, BinanceintegratedSimplex into its platform to expand the range of fiat currencies users can use to purchase crypto.
Also read:Australian Payment Card Company to Trial Micropayments Using Hedera Hashgraph
• You Can Now Buy Hedera Hashgraph’s HBAR Token via Simplex
• You Can Now Buy Hedera Hashgraph’s HBAR Token via Simplex
• You Can Now Buy Hedera Hashgraph’s HBAR Token via Simplex
• You Can Now Buy Hedera Hashgraph’s HBAR Token via Simplex || Coinbase says batching bitcoin transactions has saved clients 75% in fees: Crypto exchange Coinbase said it has saved its customers 75% in transaction fees by batching bitcoin transactions since early 2020, according to a blog post published Tuesday. The announcement comes five months after the exchange rolled out Bitcoin transaction batching on both Coinbase and Coinbase Pro, batching all bitcoin send requests on the platforms. The feature reduces the load on the Bitcoin blockchain network by bundling multiple customer send requests into a single transaction, rather than creating a new transaction for each request. This leads to a reduction in transaction fees. According to Coinbase, 100% of these savings go directly to the customer. The exchange also said it has reduced its number of daily transactions by 95%. "This transaction count reduction is beneficial for the network as a whole, and should help lower fees for all Bitcoin users," the blog post stated. © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slides to $11.8K; Uniswap at $7M in Monthly ETH Fees: Bitcoin’s prices were off from Monday’s high. Meanwhile, high fees on Ethereum helped decentralized exchange Uniswap rake in $7 million over the past month.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $12,002 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 2.8% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,825-$12,412
• BTC below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bearish signal for market technicians.
Read More:Bitcoin Mining Pools See Hashrate Drop Amid Rainstorms in China
After hitting a 2020 high Monday, bitcoin dipped to as low as $11,825 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase on Tuesday. Seychelles-based BitMEX saw plenty of action during this price rise and fall, as both long and short traders were wiped out in automatic liquidations, the crypto equivalent of a margin call. During Monday’s sharp price rise, BitMEX liquidated short traders by as much as $10 million in one hour. During Tuesday’s decline, long traders were wiped out at a rate of $6.7 million in an hour.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Sinks to $11.6K as Ether’s Gas Keeps Rising
Many traders, including Andrew Tu of quant trading firm Efficient Frontier, see $12,000 as “resistance” or a price level that is tough to overcome but when it is, bitcoin can break to higher territory.
“Bitcoin finally broke its $12,000 resistance Monday,” said Tu. “Now it’s on to $13,000 and $14,000 as resistance, assuming that we can hold above $12,000.”
Bitcoin’s price was just under $12,000 as of press time after the selling pressure earlier.
Michael Rabkin of Chicago-based trading firm DV Chain told CoinDesk both retail and institutional interests are fueling fresh bitcoin highs, and the asset is headed higher. “Bitcoin’s popularity is growing in the mainstream media and with traditional investment firms as the U.S. continues its stimulus,” he told CoinDesk.“Even though this can’t last forever there is no end in sight, so people are looking for alternatives” to the U.S. dollar, Rabkin added.
Related:Stablecoin Demand May Drop if Traders Abandon Bitcoin ‘Cash and Carry’ Strategy
Indeed, the U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s strength relative to a basket of other currencies,is at an over-two-year low Tuesdayas the coronavirus-inflicted global economy continues to cause problems for the American economy.
Every time bitcoin’s price moves higher over the remaining months of an uncertain 2020, there will be renewed investor interest in crypto, added Efficient Frontier’s Tu. “It’s all part of this current bull cycle we’re in,” Tu said. “It’s a positive feedback cycle in which double-digit rises cause more retail and professional investors to jump in, which begets further rises.”
Read More:Bitcoin Holding Sentiment Strongest in Nearly Two Years
Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down Tuesday at around $424 and slipping 2.7% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:DeFi-Yield-Hunting Token YFI Explodes to $11K From $32 in One Month
The decentralized exchange, or DEX, Uniswap V2 has crossed $7 million in fees collected over the past month. It is currently number one on the Ethereum network, according tofee tracker ETH Gas Station. The DEX also dominates the market for trading volume, at $233 million in the past 24 hours and over 60% of market share.
George Clayton, managing partner of alternative asset firm Cryptanalysis Capital, says Ethereum’s growth is “crazy.” He noted the second company on Ethereum’s fee rankings, Tether, rakes in $6.3 million in fees per month andis deployed on other blockchains. “Tether is the only major project to spread out on other blockchains,” Clayton said. “I’m a bit surprised others haven’t followed yet given Ethereum’s gas problems. Something has to give.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly in the red Tuesday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• basic attention token(BAT) + 13.9%
• nem(XEM) + 4.5%
Read More:Elliptic Adds Monitoring Support for Binance Chain and BNB
Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• chainlink(LINK) – 13.6%
• bitcoin gold(BTG) – 7.6%
• tezos(XTZ) – 5.4%
Read More:Chainlink Up Nearly 1,000% Since ‘Black Thursday’ Crash
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed in the red 0.20% astensions between the U.S. and China were cause for investor concern in Tokyo.
• In Europe, the FTSE 100 ended the day slipping 0.50% asconcerns about rising coronavirus cases spooked investors.
• The United States’ S&P 500 gained 0.30% to anall-time high of 3,386.15 as the index regained all of its losses from March's crash.
Read More:Dust Attacks Make a Mess in Bitcoin Wallets, but There Could Be a Fix
Commodities:
• Oil is down 0.37%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.57.
• Gold was in the green 1% and at $2,001 as of press time.
Read More:The OCC’s Crypto Custody Letter Was Years in the Making
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bonds all slipped Tuesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year, in the red 5.3%.
Read More:Bitcoin Mining Pools See Hashrate Drop Amid Rainstorms in China
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slides to $11.8K; Uniswap at $7M in Monthly ETH Fees
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slides to $11.8K; Uniswap at $7M in Monthly ETH Fees || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.comALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BC
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. 1-800-204-6203info@alt5sigma.com
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/602288/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || Red River Capital Corp and Bitcoin Solutions Announce Proposed Qualifying Transaction: Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - September 14, 2020) - Further to the news release issued June 2, 2020 by Red River Capital Corp. (TSXV: XBT.P) (" Red River " or the " Corporation "), Red River and 1739001 Alberta Ltd. o/a Bitcoin Solutions (" Bitcoin Solutions ") are pleased to announce that they have entered into a share purchase agreement (the " Agreement ") dated September 11, 2020 among the Corporation, Bitcoin Solutions and shareholders of Bitcoin Solutions (the " Bitcoin Solutions Shareholders ") to complete a reverse takeover whereby Red River will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Bitcoin Solutions in consideration for the issuance of common shares of the Corporation (the " Acquisition "). Red River intends that the Acquisition will constitute its Qualifying Transaction, as such term is defined in the Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies (the " CPC Policy ") of the TSX Venture Exchange (the " Exchange "). The Corporation, upon completion of the Acquisition, expects to change its name to "Bitcoin Well Inc." or such other name as may be approved by Red River and Bitcoin Solutions and is acceptable to the Exchange (the " Name Change "). Such entity is to be referred to herein as the " Resulting Issuer ". Trading of the common shares of the Corporation has been halted and will remain halted in accordance with Exchange policies until all required documentation with respect to the Acquisition has been received and the Exchange is otherwise satisfied that the halt should be lifted. Summary of the Acquisition Pursuant to provisions of the Agreement, Red River will acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding securities of Bitcoin Solutions in exchange for the issuance of an aggregate of approximately 120,250,000 common shares of Red River (the " Red River Shares ") to the Bitcoin Solutions Shareholders at a deemed price of $0.12 per share, representing an aggregate acquisition price of approximately $14.4 million. Each holder of Bitcoin Solutions Class A Shares or Bitcoin Solutions Class B Shares will receive 8.917 Red River Shares for every Bitcoin Solutions Class A Share or Bitcoin Solutions Class B Share held, and each holder of Bitcoin Solutions Class I Shares or Bitcoin Solutions Class F Preferred Shares will receive 10 Red River Shares for every Bitcoin Solutions Class I Share or Bitcoin Solutions Class F Preferred Share held. The number of Red River Shares to be issued in connection with the Acquisition was determined pursuant to arm's length negotiations between the management and the board of directors of each of Red River and Bitcoin Solutions. As a result of the Acquisition, Bitcoin Solutions will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Red River and the Resulting Issuer will carry on the business that was conducted by Bitcoin Solutions prior to the Qualifying Transaction within the cryptocurrency industry. The Agreement also provides that the Name Change will become effective upon the closing of the Acquisition. Completion of the Acquisition and the issuance of the Red River Shares are subject to approval by the Exchange. It is anticipated that the Resulting Issuer will be listed as a Tier 1 Industrial Issuer. Story continues In addition, each issued and outstanding stock option to purchase Bitcoin Solutions Class I Shares (" Bitcoin Solutions Option ") will be exchanged for 10 options of the Resulting Issuer (" Resulting Issuer Options "), having substantially the same terms and condition as the Bitcoin Solutions Option, and will entitle the holder thereof to acquire, upon exercise thereof, and for the consideration payable therefor, one common share of the Resulting Issuer. As of the date of this press release, there are 330,376 Bitcoin Solutions Options outstanding. The number of Resulting Issuer Options that will be issued as a result of the conversion of Bitcoin Solutions Options shall be 3,303,760. Upon closing of the Acquisition, 1,333,332 Resulting Issuer Options to certain directors and officers of the Resulting Issuer shall be issued. It is also anticipated that following closing of the Acquisition, 833,333 Resulting Issuer Shares (as defined herein) will be issued to Adam O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Bitcoin Solutions and the proposed Chief Executive Officer and a proposed director of the Resulting Issuer. On closing of the Acquisition, the Resulting Issuer is expected to have approximately 125,750,000 common shares outstanding on a non-diluted basis. In connection with the Acquisition, the Resulting Issuer will apply to list its common shares (the " Resulting Issuer Shares ") on the Exchange. Arm's Length Transaction The Acquisition is arm's length and is therefore not a Non-Arm's Length Qualifying Transaction under the CPC Policy. Accordingly, the CPC Policy does not require Red River to obtain shareholder approval for the Acquisition. Bitcoin Solutions Overview Bitcoin Solutions, a private company incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta), is currently profitable and offers convenient, secure and reliable ways to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through its network of trusted Bitcoin automated teller machines (" ATM ") and web-based transaction services. Specifically, Bitcoin Solutions carries on the business of: facilitating the purchase and sale of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Canada; owning and operating Bitcoin ATMs, related ATM equipment, and all associated services including, without limitation, selling, distributing, leasing, financing, installing and servicing ATMs and associated ATM equipment; providing electronic processing services relating to transactions requested or carried out using ATMs (for equipment owned by Bitcoin Solutions or third parties); offering bill payment solutions; providing merchant solutions; and, sale of gift cards for Bitcoin. Bitcoin Solutions currently owns and operates over 60 cryptocurrency ATMs across Canada, and facilitates/performs transactions across the country with multiple payment methods on its website. History and Background Since inception, Bitcoin Solutions has been focused on placing and acquiring profitable cryptocurrency ATMs throughout Canada and became the first company to deploy cryptocurrency ATMs in Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2014. Since that time, strong relationships have been developed with payment processors, armoured car vehicle companies, Bitcoin professionals, and other vendors that are integral to the success of Bitcoin Solutions, while its current team has been built to succeed with low turnover. Future expansion plans are facilitated by partnerships with strategic software groups, which provides Bitcoin Solutions with a competitive advantage, along with the ability to acquire up to 100 additional ATMs without significant capital outlay. In addition to physical ATMs, Bitcoin Solutions offers expanded services through its website, enabling support for paying bills with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies online, accepting in-person payments at Canada Post, buying gift cards with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin. The following table sets out a summary of selected audited financial information for Bitcoin Solutions for the years ended December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 and the unaudited financial information for the six-month period ended June 30, 2020. The selected information was prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. All figures are in Canadian dollars. Fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 Fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 Six months ended June 30, 2020 Summary Operating Results Net sales or total revenues $14,539,490 $11,964,363 $14,489,332 Income (loss) from continuing operations $117,415 ($492,795) ($145,511) Net income (loss) $117,415 ($492,795) ($145,511) Balance Sheet Data Total assets $2,267,460 $1,866,994 $5,491,656 Total long term financial liabilities $1,410,203 $1,315,425 $1,026,694 Shareholders' equity (deficit) $(181,469) ($149,086) ($335,538) Completion of the Acquisition Completion of the Acquisition will be subject to certain conditions, including but not limited to: (a) receipt of all necessary approvals of the boards of directors of Red River and Bitcoin Solutions; (b) receipt of all necessary third party consents; (c) approval of the Acquisition by the Exchange as the Corporation's Qualifying Transaction; and (d) the Exchange approving the listing of the common shares of the Resulting Issuer. Sponsorship Under the policies of the Exchange, the parties to the Acquisition will be required to engage a sponsor for the Acquisition unless an exemption or waiver from this requirement can be obtained. Red River intends to apply to the Exchange for a waiver of the Exchange's sponsorship requirements on the basis that it is not a foreign issuer, the management of Red River upon completion of the Qualifying Transaction will possess appropriate experience and qualifications and the granting of a sponsorship waiver by the Exchange would not be contrary to the public interest and that it would be appropriate in these circumstances that the Exchange exercise its discretion to waive the sponsorship requirement. However, there is no assurance that this waiver will be granted. Filing Statement In connection with the Acquisition and pursuant to Exchange requirements, Red River will file a filing statement on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ), which will contain details regarding the Acquisition, Bitcoin Solutions, Red River and the Resulting Issuer. The Resulting Issuer's Management, Board of Directors and Insiders In connection with the Acquisition, it is expected that there will be changes to the Corporation's management and board of directors. Brief biographies for the anticipated members of management and the board of directors of the Resulting Issuer are set out below: Adam O'Brien, President, Chief Executive Officer, Director, Control Person and Promoter As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bitcoin Solutions, Adam O'Brien is a leading advocate for education, consumer protection and the decentralization of financial services. Adam was first exposed to Bitcoin in 2013. After witnessing success buying and selling person to person he founded Bitcoin Solutions with the objective to make Bitcoin accessible and understood. Adam serves as Co-chair of the Fintech Committee for the Canadian Blockchain Consortium, Canada's largest non-profit network of blockchain companies and influencers. He is recognized as a first mover in the Bitcoin ATM field strives to bring Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to the mainstream making them easy, approachable and accessible for all. Mandy Johnston, Chief Financial Officer Mandy Johnston has successfully built and led finance and business operations teams for the past twenty years in multiple industries across North America, including automotive, building materials, oil and gas, and professional sports. She was previously the VP of Finance and Business Administration for the EE Football Club of the CFL, based in Edmonton. Mandy holds a CPA (US-CO), CMA (US) and earned an MBA in Strategic Management and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Accounting from The University of Alabama. She also volunteers as a Global Director on the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Board and is a member of the IMA's Performance Oversight & Audit Committee. Heather Barnhouse, Corporate Secretary Heather Barnhouse is a partner in the Corporate/Commercial practice group of Dentons' Edmonton office. Her practice is focused on a combination of merger and acquisition activity, as well as on helping entrepreneurs scale their companies, often through a technology play. She also regularly advises companies on the best practices of governance, and assists companies with establishing policies and practices to effect good governance. She has her Director designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors, and has experience chairing boards, and serving in the role of Corporate Secretary, with private companies, not for profits and Crown corporations. Julian Klymochko, Director Julian is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Accelerate Financial Technologies Inc., an alternative investment management firm. Prior to founding Accelerate in February 2018, Julian was the Chief Investment Officer of Ross Smith Asset Management where he managed a number of alternative investment strategies for nearly a decade. He founded and managed Canada's first cryptocurrency investment fund. Julian also managed a 6-time award winning market neutral hedge fund and founded an award-winning event-driven arbitrage fund. Prior to Ross Smith Asset Management, he was an Analyst at BMO Capital Markets. He attended the University of Manitoba where he graduated with a Bachelors of Science (Engineering) and a Bachelors of Commerce (Finance). Julian is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder. David Bradley, Director of Strategy and Director Dave Bradley is a prominent figure in the Bitcoin industry and is widely considered one of the leading experts in Canada on bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Prior to his current role as the Director of Strategy at Bitcoin Well, Dave founded the world's first bricks-and-mortar Bitcoin store and co-founded the successful company, Bull Bitcoin, which is Canada's longest-serving bitcoin brokerage. He also serves as a Vice President for the Canadian Blockchain Consortium, Canada's largest non-profit network of blockchain companies and influencers. Carman McNary, Director Carman commenced his law practice in Edmonton in 1981, and since 1999 has been with Dentons Canada LLP (formerly FMC), most recently as Counsel. He practices tax and corporate law and provides strategic advice to organizations and boards. He was previously Managing Partner (Edmonton office) and National Tax Lead (Canada). Beyond law, Carman is a director of a number of private companies, and has chaired and served on a wide variety of community and non-profit entities and organizations. Carman completed the Director Education Program in 2013. He also served as an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Armed Forces, from 1975 - 2008, retiring with the rank of Captain (Navy) after appointments in command at sea and ashore as well as international appointments. Carman was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2010, and awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Alberta in June, 2019. His community service and leadership have also been recognized with the award of both the Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals. Eric Sauze, Director Mr. Sauze is the Chief Financial Officer of JAG Flocomponents Ltd., a manufacturer and distributor of valves to the North American oil & gas industry. Eric has also held the roles of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer with the industrial distribution companies Commercial Solutions Inc. (a TSX listed company) and CFE Industries Ltd. (a TSX Venture Exchange listed company). While working with the international accounting firm KPMG, he received his CPA designation (Chartered Accountant) in 1992. In addition, he earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2001. Mr. Sauze is currently a director and the Audit Committee Chair for Bri-Chem Corp., a distributor of drilling fluids listed on the TSX. Richard Gauthier, Insider, Control Person Mr. Gauthier was an original shareholder and seed capital investor of Bitcoin Solutions. Mr. Gauthier has no active role with Bitcoin Solutions and will have no active role with the Resulting Issuer. Mr. Gauthier is an insider and control person (as such term is defined by the policies of the Exchange), due to his shareholdings. Following the Acquisition, it is anticipated that Mr. Gauthier will hold approximately 21% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Resulting Issuer. About Red River Capital Corp. Red River is a CPC that completed its initial public offering and obtained a listing on the Exchange in July 2018 (trading symbol: "XBT.P"). It does not own any assets, other than cash or cash equivalents and its rights under the Agreement. The principal business of Red River is to identify and evaluate opportunities for the acquisition of an interest in assets or businesses and, once identified and evaluated, to negotiate an acquisition or participation subject to acceptance by the Exchange so as to complete a qualifying transaction in accordance with the policies of the Exchange. For further information please contact: Red River Capital Corp. Julian Klymochko, Director and Chief Executive Officer Phone: 403-801-2445 1739001 Alberta Ltd. o/a Bitcoin Solutions Adam O'Brien, Director and President Phone: 1-888-711-3866 Cautionary Statement Statements in this press release regarding Red River and Bitcoin Solutions which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, such as the completion of the proposed Qualifying Transaction. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties such as the risk that the closing may not occur for any reason. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: the terms and conditions of the Acquisition, the completion of the Acquisition, as presently proposed or at all, the Name Change and the completion thereof, the Red River shareholder meeting, the business and operations of Bitcoin Solutions and the Resulting Issuer, go-forward management of the Resulting Issuer, the trading of the Resulting Issuer Shares, the listing of the Resulting Issuer as a Tier 1 Industrial Issuer and the number of Resulting Issuer Shares issued and outstanding at the time of closing. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements due to factors including but note limited to: the decision to not close the Qualifying Transaction for any reason, including adverse due diligence results and Exchange refusal of the Qualifying Transaction, adverse market conditions, the need for additional financing, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, the delay or failure to receive board, shareholder, court or regulatory approvals . Except as required by law, Red River and Bitcoin Solutions do not intend to update any changes to such statements, Completion of the Acquisition is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable pursuant to Exchange Requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Acquisition cannot close until the require shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Acquisition will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Acquisition, any information released or received with respect to the Acquisition may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the Acquisition and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Not for distribution in the U.S. or to U.S. newswire services To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/63790 || Mothers nearly fed babies metal shards after sheep farmer contaminated food to blackmail Tesco, court hears: Nigel Wright is accused of trying to extort 200 Bitcoin from Tesco after planting shards of metal in baby food products: Julia Quenzler/SWNS Two mothers have described nearly feeding their babies food contaminated with shards of metal allegedly placed there by a sheep farmer as part of a plot to extort £1.4m in cryptocurrency from Tesco. Nigel Wright, a 45-year-old from Rochdale , is accused of bombarding the supermarket chain for nearly two years with letters and emails claiming he would only reveal the stores in which he had planted poisoned and dangerous goods if he was transferred 200 bitcoins. He allegedly claimed to be part of a cohort of farmers angry at being underpaid by Tesco , signing off his threats as “Guy Brush and the Dairy Pirates”, but now claims travellers had threatened to kill him and his family unless he paid them £1m. The sheep farmer admits planting baby food laced with metal in a Scottish store, but denies doing so in Greater Manchester – the two locations where mothers discovered such products. The Old Bailey heard on Tuesday that Harpreet Kaur-Singh, from Rochdale, had been preparing to give her nine-month-old daughter her dinner in December 2019 when she noticed “metal chippings” in the food. Giving evidence via video link, Ms Kaur-Singh said she had tipped the contents of a Heinz Sunday chicken dinner into a bowl and was preparing to microwave it when she saw the slivers of metal. “I didn’t think anything of it and just binned it,” she told the court. She later found more metal in a jar of Heinz pasta stars. “I showed it to my husband and he said ‘it’s metal chippings’ so I binned it and binned all the [baby] food,” she said, adding: “It was like shredded chippings of metal – my husband is a construction worker and he saw the metal and knew it was metal.” Ms Kaur-Singh did not contact Tesco until she heard about a product recall for all Heinz baby food – some 42,000 jars – after a mother in Dumfries and Galloway discovered a similarly contaminated product. Morven Smith, of Lockerbie, had been feeding her 10-month-old son a jar of Heinz sweet and sour chicken baby food in December 2019 when she spotted slivers of craft knife blade in the jar. Story continues “I took the bowl out of the microwave – I gave my son a couple of spoonfuls and noticed something shiny – I pulled it out with my fingers at that point,” Ms Smith said. “It was horrendous. I felt sick I was so shocked.” Ms Smith said her husband found a second blade stuck at the bottom of the jar. “I didn’t think someone might have done this on purpose,” she said, adding that at first she had only planned to contact Heinz and Tesco. But upon wrapping the jar and the blades in a freezer bag, she noticed someone had drawn a circle with a cross through it on the bottom of the product. “I felt sick when I first saw this,” she said. “I knew at this point the jar had been marked and someone had done it on purpose.” Mr Wright is accused of contaminating the jar with the blades, and of depositing it in a Tesco in the Scottish town while delivering a tractor to a buyer on behalf of his neighbour. Ms Kaur-Singh said she did not notice any similar mark on the contaminated jars she bought in Rochdale. There is no evidence to suggest that there were other jars containing metal except for the three discovered, but further letters from Mr Wright to Tesco relating to Cow & Gate baby food resulted in 140,000 units of the firm’s products being withdrawn from Tesco shelves. Mr Wright denies two counts of contaminating goods and three counts of blackmail against Tesco. He faces a further charge of blackmail for allegedly threatening to kill a driver during a road-rage altercation unless he paid him £150,000 worth of bitcoin . Mr Wright allegedly tracked the motorist down and sent him a letter including a picture of the complainant and his wife with bullet holes and a target superimposed on it, the court heard on Monday. The defendant was traced to his family home on a farm outside Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. Drafts of messages sent to Tesco were found on his laptop, along with photos of tins of food and jars of baby food and slivers of metal. While he admits carrying out various aspects of the campaign, including planting metal-laced food in Lockerbie, he claims to have been acting in fear of his life after travellers came to his land demanding £1m. He alleges the group of men threatened to rape his wife and kill him and his two children. But the prosecution alleges that “over a period of two years from spring 2018, the defendant hoped to make himself rich by means of blackmail”. “You the jury will have to determine whether his story of being threatened by travellers is true,” prosecutor Julian Christopher said on Monday. “The prosecution suggest that it changes whenever he is confronted with more evidence which he has to explain, and is completely untrue,” he added. The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues. Additional reporting by PA Read more Farmer ‘tried to extort £1m from Tesco by lacing baby food with metal’ Chicks at farms for Tesco, Ocado and McDonald’s made to die of thirst Supermarkets drop goat-milk firm after violent attacks on animals || Bitcoin Rides to Year High on Back of Gold Rally, Dollar Slump: (Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin surged to the highest in almost a year as the slump in the dollar and rally in gold bolstered the notion that cryptocurrencies will emerge as a viable alternative to traditional monetary systems.
The largest digital token climbed as much as 15% to $10,944, the highest price since August. The rally accelerated after the coin breached $10,500, a level that it had failed to sustain gains after surpassing in June and February.
Bitcoin, which crypto fans have often touted as “digital gold,” is in favor as the yellow metal hits record levels, concerns rise about the health of the world economy and the dollar falls. Advocates tout cryptocurrencies as a way to protect wealth from government action such as stimulus measures, which are often viewed in inflationary.
“It’s attracting the momentum players,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. “And of course, the momentum players play such a big role nowadays that it’s giving Bitcoin the big move.”
Also, last week, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said American banks can provide custody services for customers’ crypto assets, which could help boost the asset class’s appeal with some investors.
The cryptocurrency had been hovering near its 50-day moving average for weeks before pulling above it in the past couple of days.
Bitcoin has enjoyed above-average flows this year, and those flows are relatively high versus their five-year average when compared with those of exchange traded funds in other asset classes, according to a report from JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategist John Normand on Friday.
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©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Bitcoin Crosses $11,400 Mark, Beats Major Indexes In July Gains: Bitcoin on Friday crossed the $11,460 mark, its highest July peak in eight years. The cryptocurrency gained about 23% in July.
What To Know: Analysts said the spike could be an outcome from the directive of U.S. officials that allowed all nationally chartered banks to open and maintain crypto wallets for their customers.
“There’s definitely a more bullish sentiment since that announcement came out and as we’ve all seen, has resulted in an upward movement,” Michael Rabkin, head of institutional sales at DV Chain,told Coin Desk.
A positive news cycle on the crypto market is boosting the market, he said.
According to various sources and DeFi Pulse, funds on Defi Platforms stands at over$4 billion.
See Also: The Top 10 DeFi Projects To Watch In The Second Half Of 2020
Why It's Important: Rough second-quarter GDP results and surplus money printing by the Federal Reserve coupled with a rising debt scenario left investors frowning. In order to avoid the backlash of anticipated inflation, gold has become a popular investment in 2020, along with bitcoins.
With stocks taking a beating on Friday, with global indexes down or flat, it's a crucial time for bitcoin.
What's Next: Some analysts believe the latest peak could just be the start of a bull phase for bitcoin. Bitcoin has successfully beaten major equity indexes for July.
Related Link: Is Cryptocurrency Here to Stay This Time?
See more from Benzinga
• General Motors Teases GMC Hummer EV In Foray Into Electric Truck Race
• Coca-Cola Enters Hard Seltzer Market With Alcoholic Topo Chico
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Money Talks: Alternative Financing Might Be Right for Your Business: Most people stay pretty mum about their money. Business owners are no exception -- even when it comes to the cash they might need to have a discussion or two about: the capital they need to run their companies. They used to say nothing -- at least not publicly -- if they were turned down at the bank and less still if they sought capital from a source other than a traditional bank or union. And they were turned down often: A Harvard Business School study last year found that just 37 percent of small businesses applied for bank loans, and almost half of those -- 43 percent -- got less than what they requested. Or nothing at all. Weeks of paperwork and waiting, wasted. Oh, how the times have changed. Thanks to technology and a dismal bank lending climate, business owners have discovered alternative finance, and they're recognizing that it can be even better than a bank loan. Now that's something worth talking about. Related: Accepting Bitcoin Payments: The Risks and Benefits In 2008, there was more than $700 billion in loans of $1 million or less outstanding to small businesses in the U.S. By the end of 2013, there was less than $600 billion of these loans. The tighter lending protocols implemented as a result of the recession were choking off capital to small businesses. And even if money were available, there were fewer banks to lend it: The total number of banking institutions in the U.S. -- which had once been more than 18,000 -- fell to about 6,300 in 2013. This was only part of the problem. The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business loan as a loan of $1 million or less. It calls a loan of less than $100,000 a “micro” loan. But most small businesses need far less than even micro. They might need $10,000 for new equipment or $40,000 for new inventory. With their costly overhead, document-intensive processes and collateral requirements, loans that small are a non-starter for banks. It’s not surprising that small businesses have found another way: alternative finance and, more specifically, alternative finance delivered over the Web. Story continues Related: 3 Startups Offer New 'Microloan' Options for Entrepreneurs With Big Ambitions In just a few minutes, small business owners can research finance options that better match their needs and apply. They can get small amounts for short terms. They don’t need to feel shamed for a blemished credit record because alternative finance companies can be more flexible on credit risk, and they can use a broader range of metrics to gauge the likelihood of there being a problem with the funding down the road. Perhaps most importantly, business owners know almost instantly how much financing they'll qualify for. But all of that might have counted for very little if alternative finance hadn’t just become so cool. Alternative finance companies help businesses find funders they've never met who believe in their business and their prospects for growth. Business owners are speaking out about the funding they've gotten from alternative finance companies There are now more Google searches for alternative finance than there are for some of the country’s largest banks, and it's great that established businesses are creating partnerships with alternative finance companies. With new options coming from alternative finance providers, I don’t think it will be long before the alternative finance industry gets to say -- like McDonald’s -- “billions and billions served." Related: Crowdfunding's Growth Spurt Going Strong || Entrepreneurs Look With 'Hungry Eyes' At The Marijuana Startup Scene: The growing business of legal marijuana in the United States has opened up an entirely new industry for entrepreneurs hoping to get a slice of the pie.
Theaverage cannabis consumerspends almost $2,000 per year on marijuana related products, a relatively large spend that has spawned a new startup culture outside Silicon Valley.
Canada Home To Many Pot Startups
While cities like Boston and New York have started to give Silicon Valley a run for its money in terms of attracting the best and the brightest, the California city remains the number one destination for startups hoping to raise money and gain traction.
When it comes to the business of weed though,Canadais the home of choice for up and coming pot-firms. Since Canadian laws already allow medicinal marijuana at a federal level, new businesses are able to engage with banks and operate without fear of being closed down.
Some startups are braving the ever changing U.S. political landscape to base their businesses on American soil; but most of those companies are unable to secure bank loans or even open accounts, leaving them with large sums of cash and hefty security fees.
Pot-Tech
The technology space is one of the most inviting sectors for entrepreneurs looking to start a marijuana-based business.
The scalability of tech products means that the companies in this arena can grow and change rapidly, an important factor as the marijuana trade is still in its infancy.
Related Link:As 2016 Election Approaches, Marijuana Could Be A Hot Topic
Companies likeMassRoots, a weed-based social media site, andEaze, a pot-delivery service are springing up everywhere as developers race to fill the gap between technology and the new marijuana industry. Though there has been a positive reception for such companies among pot supporters, many of them have struggled with differing marijuana policies from state to state.
Apple(NASDAQ:AAPL) refused to allow customers to download weed-related apps for months until developers implemented controls keeping users whose states had not legalized weed from using their services.
A Need For Quality Weed
Growers likeVida CannabisandCann Trustare also gaining traction as the demand for quality products rises in the states.
Growing companies face more barriers to entry than some other startups as they are required to invest in the equipment necessary for producing marijuana plants as well as hiring educated staff that can care for and harvest the plants correctly.
Investors Take Notice
The boom in pot-startups has not been lost on big name investors. Calvin Broads, Jr, also known as Snoop Dogg, said earlier this year that he wasplanningto raise $25 million in order to invest in cannabis companies.
The famous rapper has already poured money into non-pot startups likeRobinhoodandReddit, but says his next venture will be weed-based.
Earlier this year, Peter Thiel's venture capital firm,Founders Fund, poured money into Privateer Holdings, a company that invests in several marijuana startups.
See more from Benzinga
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || New App Allows Seamless Bitcoin Investment: Pieter Gorsira is hoping to take some of the confusion out of investing in cryptocurrency by giving people a way to invest seemingly trivial parts of their income into bitcoin quickly, easily, and often without even thinking about it. Gorsira is the man behind a new startup called Lawnmower which is looking to help people save their loose change' by investing in bitcoin. A Little Off The Top Lawnmower connects to a user's bank account and rounds each purchase up to a whole number and invests the extra cents in bitcoin. For example, a purchase of $2.50 would result in Lawnmower taking the additional $0.50 and saving it. Once a user has at least $4.00 in savings, the app purchases a bitcoin. Adding Up The idea behind the app is to integrate saving and spending to make it easier for users to accumulate funds. Not only does it promote saving, but it also allows people to expose themselves to bitcoin without making a huge commitment. How It Works The company requires users to set up a Coinbase account, as the bitcoins are bought using that exchange, and is able to link to multiple bank accounts. At the moment, Lawnmower is only in beta testing, but the company is hoping to use the feedback from current users to launch a comprehensive product to the general public soon. Related Link: Cryptocurrency Finds A Place In Education With Smileycoin While bitcoin has had a difficult year, scaring many users away with its volatility, Lawnmower claims users' small investments over time help mitigate some of that risk. A New Market While bitcoin has typically seen the most usage among the tech-savvy crowd, Lawnmower is hoping to find a new audience for the cryptocurrency. The company believes that much of the general public is interested in bitcoin, but don't have the technological know-how to get involved. Lawnmower removes some of those barriers and allows people who wouldn't otherwise invest dip their toe into the cryptocurrency pool. See more from Benzinga A Busy Week For Eurozone Finance Ministers And Central Bankers Cryptocurrency Finds A Place In Education With Smileycoin The Future Of Robots © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin brokerage Circle gets $50 mln investment: April 29 (Reuters) - Bitcoin brokerage Circle Internet Financial Inc said it closed a $50 million investment round led by Goldman Sachs and IDG Capital Partners.
The company also said it will start giving customers the ability to hold, send, and receive U.S. dollars.
Circle, a startup founded in 2013 by Brightcove Inc founder Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville, allows customers to hold, transfer and receive the digital currency, Bitcoin.
The company said if its users choose to keep dollars instead of bitcoin in their accounts, they can pay any person or merchant who accepts bitcoin without ever holding bitcoin themselves.
Circle will handle instant conversion from dollars to bitcoins and vice-versa.
The feature will be initially available to select customers and the company will offer it to more users every week.
Goldman Sachs and China-based IDG Capital were joined by all of Circle's existing investors.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru) || Trading Internet earnings: 7 plays on mainstays: Facebook(NASDAQ: FB)reeled after earnings on Wednesday, but some CNBC "Fast Money" traders would be quick to scoop up the stock.
The social media giant dropped 2 percent in extended trading after it reported first-quarter revenue that missed analysts' expectations. But as the company's monthly active users in March rose 13 percent year-over-year, to 1.44 billion, trader Brian Kelly would buy on the slide.
"If you can't monetize that, then you really shouldn't be in any type of business whatsoever. So, on weakness, you buy Facebook," Kelly said.
Read MoreFacebook user growth crushes estimates
Trader Pete Najarian agreed that the stock has upside.
"I think tomorrow morning, as the dust settles, we're going to start to see really what the direction of Facebook is going to be," he said.
But trader Dan Nathan expressed more skepticism. He noted that user growth and ad revenue on mobile platforms may start to reach a saturation point. He said he preferred Google stock to Facebook.
EBay(NASDAQ: EBAY)-another Internet name that reported on Wednesday-soared in extended trading. The company beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue expectations, driven by strong growth in its PayPal service.
Read MoreEBay jumps after beating Street on profit, revenue
The stock popped 5 percent in after-hours to roughly $60 per share. Trader Guy Adami believes eBay shares could "make the push to the next level."
The company also said the previously announced split of eBay and PayPal into separate publicly traded companies would take place in the third quarter. Nathan noted that he would look to take a long position in an independent PayPal and short eBay, as its core marketplace segment fell off 4 percent year-over-year.
Disclosures:
Pete Najarian
Pete Najarian is long AMAT, AAPL, BABA, BAC, BMY, BP, CSX, DISCA, FOXA, GE, KKR, KO, LLY, LOCO, MBLY, MRK, PEP and PFE. He is long calls AAPL, BK, DAL, EBAY, EEM, F, FB, FL, GE, GS, HZNP, IMAX, JBLU, KO, MAC, MYL, NEE, NTAP, OC, PBR, PFE, RAD, SYY, TEVA, TSX, UA, UAL, VZ, XLF, XOM and ZIOP. Today, he bought IMAX calls. Today, he bought EBAY calls. Today, he sold AMGN calls. Today, he bought AAPL calls. Today, he bought FB calls.
Dan Nathan
Dan Nathan is long BBRY June call spread, EBay May/July call spread, IWM May put fly, KO April 24th call fly, LULU May puts, M May call spread, NKE call spread, QQQ May 108/ 98 put spread, SHAK, T, TWTR, WMT June call spread, XLP May put spread and XLY May puts. Today, he bought EBay May/July call spread.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BTC=, CTRL calls, GSG, BBRY, SPY puts and U.S. dollar. He is short 30-year bond futures. He is short Australian dollar. He is short yen. He is short yuan.
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS and INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || Coin.co CEO: Bitcoin's Impact On Society Will Rival The Internet: Bitcoinis praised by those who have benefited from the digital currency, butnot everyone agreesthat it will last.
Alex Waters, CEO ofCoin.co(a bitcoin payments company), recently told Benzinga about his grand vision for the cryptocurrency.
"I think [it will] rival the Internet as far as how widely it could affect the world in a positive way," said Waters, whose company is among those that are competing in theBenzinga Fintech Awards. "I could say that the Internet has enabled things like email and social networks and personal websites, blogs. In many of the same ways, bitcoin enables (as a platform) decentralized organization and tokenization of securities and commodities and a whole bunch of really compelling things that are built on top of a platform."
Waters defended his bold prediction by comparing the Internet to electricity.
"I think to look at it as electricity has given us the Internet, maybe the Internet has given us bitcoin," he said. "So, what I say is, it rivals the Internet as far as its impact on humanity and the benefits to humanity. As much as electricity has benefited humanity, perhaps the Internet rivals that."
Related Link:6 Reasons To Attend The Benzinga Fintech Awards
Future Success - Or Failure?
Waters said that it was "really hard to say" what bitcoin will look like in the distant future, but he is confident that it will survive and remain the leader in its field.
"As far as, 'Will bitcoin be the thing that exists in 10 or 20 years [and] be the dominant digital currency?' -- I think so," said Waters. "I think, very much like Linux, it is an open-sourced platform. It is able to adapt and grow. If a competitor were to come up with something innovative that's better, bitcoin could just incorporate those changes."
Waters noted that bitcoin has already achieved critical mass, has momentum and a "large number of really intelligent people working on it."
"Tons of people have invested money into it," he said. "For example, the amount of venture capital invested in bitcoin companies last year surpassed that of the Internet in 1994. This year some analysts predicted that approximately $200 to $500 million will be invested in bitcoin companies."
Rejected Ideas
Waters realizes that some people may never be persuaded to use bitcoin until it has obtained a high degree of mainstream acceptance. He said the same thing happened with other ground-breaking technologies, such as the automobile.
"Historically, cultures scoff at new technology," Waters explained. "A good example (in recent history) was the automobile. It was laughed at. It was sensationalized politically and in the media for enabling rum-runners to avoid the prohibition laws. Obviously that's silly, looking retrospectively."
Waters said that the media's "sensational painting of bitcoin" is equally as silly.
"If we look at percentages of dark market and that sort of thing, it's not really a concern," he added. "It's still a concern, but it's not as it's portrayed. I think people will scoff at things like a unified global currency or something as sci-fi as credits."
As recently as 15 years ago, Waters believes some individuals may have scoffed at the idea of building robots that resembled humans.
"And yet we see [Google-owned] Boston Dynamics building actual robots that look and resemble humans in the way they move around and behave," he said. "I think bitcoin is one of those things where people discredit it or doubt it, but it is such a technological advancement that it will have its day."
Coin.co's Next Step: The Benzinga Fintech Awards Gala
Coin.co is heading to the Benzinga Fintech Awards Gala on April 8. Space is limited (the initial batch of tickets are already sold out), so Benzinga is encouraging interested parties topurchase their ticketsimmediately (use coupon code BZFRIEND to save $100 off the regular admission price).
Disclosure:At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Newnote Financial Partners with Rebit to Offer International Remittance Service: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 15, 2015 /Newnote Financial Corp. (the "Company"), (CSE: NEU; OTCQB: NWWTF; 1W4.F) is pleased to announce the Company has signed a strategic partnership with Rebit.ph of the Philippines to enable users a cost effective method of transferring funds to their respective countries.
In 2014, an expected US$436 Billion was remitted by migrants back to their families in the developing world. The cost of sending those remittances is estimated at US$47 billion.
Rebit.phis a service of Satoshi Citadel Industries, a Philippine-based holdings company for Bitcoin-related ventures. The Philippines is the second largest recipient for remittances in Asia, with a total of US$26 billion transferred in 2013, of which $2 billion was from Canada alone.
Newnote and Rebit generate revenue by charging a small transaction fee, which is significantly less than the charges of conventional banks and money transfer agents, which charge hefty fees for international transactions.
Through the integration of Rebit's API and Newnote's Cointrader.net Bitcoin Exchange API, users of Cointrader will have the ability to send funds internationally starting with the Philippines. The process is simple once a client has registered for a Cointrader account and has deposited cash or Bitcoin. Users define how much money they wish to transfer, hit send, Bitcoin is then moved to Rebit's wallet in the Philippines, and the recipient is notified by text-message that the funds have arrived and have either been deposited into a bank account or picked up in person at the Makati office.
CEO & President of Newnote, Paul Dickson, reports: "This strategic partnership with Rebit marks the first of many opportunities Newnote will have in the coming months by fully monetizing our Cointrader.net API possibilities. We're pleased to be working with Rebit and looking forward to announcing service to other countries in the near future."
About Newnote Financial Corp.
Newnote Financial Corp. is pioneering innovative crypto-currency and Bitcoin related software products and services geared at the growing business segment of this bourgeoning market. The Company owns and operates the Cointrader.net Bitcoin Exchange and offers Point-of-Sale services to merchants accepting Bitcoin for merchandise. Newnote has positioned itself to be a leading contender in delivering opportunities to startup businesses world-wide and continues to create new opportunities for its clients and its shareholders. Newnote has a clear vision on the direction in which this new and unique business is headed and is continually adjusting and adopting new business practices in both technology and the policies & procedures required by banks and securities regulators.
Newnote Financial Contact Information
Paul DicksonPresident, CEO & DirectorNewnote Financial Corp.CSE: NEU; OTCQB: NWWTF; 1W4.FSuite 709-700 West Pender StreetVancouver, BC V6C 1G8Phone: 604-229-0480Fax: 604-685-3833web:www.newnote.comBitcoin exchange:www.cointrader.net
Forward-Looking Information:
This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business and trading in the common stock of Newnote Financial Corp. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the company's management. Although the company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.
The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.
To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/newnote04152015.pdf
SOURCE:Newnote Financial Corp. || Smokeys Daylily Gardens Accepts Chicago's Digital Currency DNotes And Bitcoin For Daylily Purchases: Chicago based digital currency DNotes can now be used to buy flowers at Smokeys Gardens, one of the largest daylily growers in the world CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / May 7, 2015 / Smokeys Daylily Gardens ( http://smokeysdaylilygardens.com/ ), established in 2007 and one of the largest daylily growers in the world, becomes the first merchant to accept DNotes ( http://dnotescoin.com ) as a form of payment for daylily purchases. This is a pilot project to demonstrate the significant benefits to merchants in accepting DNotes, a proven stable digital currency built from the ground up with trust and integrity. Hailing from Chicago, Bitcoin alternative DNotes was created on February 18, 2014, with an objective to meet the full functions of fiat currency as a unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange within three years. DNotes has taken a very different path since day one in building a trustworthy stable digital currency with reliable long term appreciation. Using blockchain technology, embedded features to prevent inflation and exemplary means of storage; DNotes may very well exceed fiat money in global online payments in the future. The same team that created DNotes built Smokeys Daylily Gardens in a highly fragmented industry with a blurred line between a business and a hobby. A solid business plan with a firm commitment to be the best in class, coupled with hard work and flawless execution quickly led the seven year old company to be one of the largest daylily growers in the world. Daylily is the second largest selling perennial plant with 79,360 registered cultivars according to AHS (American Hemerocallis Society) Smokeys Gardens offers the best selections of high end daylilies. Using a single 38 acre farm, highly trained and motivated employees, the best farm equipment and the most efficient processes, Smokeys gardens plants, harvests, and ships more daylily plants in one week than most of its competitors in an entire season. Story continues Co-owner Rocky DeLucenay pointed out that, "Efficiency and highly motivated employees are the key elements for small business owners to remain successful these days. We are always interested to save money where we can." She went on to explain that 100% of the business is processed online using paypal, credit and debit cards with some personal checks. The merchant fees along with charge backs often average around 8% of revenue. The cost of transactions using DNotes is near zero, while protecting the company from fraud and chargebacks. Unlike Bitcoin which has been highly volatile, DNotes is a stable digital currency with a proven record of reliable appreciation. DNotes also hosts long term savings plans (CRISP) for children, employees, retirees and students. Haley Mullet, a medical student and a third year employee of Smokey Daylily Gardens and new CRISP for students savings account holder states: "Working in the farm is hard work but it has been rewarding and inspiring to work with a group of professionals who truly want to be the best in class including a genuine concern and contribution to our financial future". To help students like Haley to keep up with costly student loans DNotes are hosting free giveaways for CRISP for Students account holders. CRISP accounts are free, the giveaway will continue with a limited supply of free DNotes. Chicago business leader and co-founder of DNotes Alan Yong is a strong advocate of small business owners, and is concerned about underfunded retirees and the constant struggles of small business owners. The need to constantly use high interest credit cards to supplement cash flow coupled with high transaction cost, reversed charges and credit card fraud has continued to put a damper on employers' ability to support pay raises and facilitate job growth. There has never been a more urgent time for the employer and the employee to foster a new mindset of partnership to confront these new realities for mutual benefits and survival. DNotes is committed to encourage and promote this new partnership by offering CRISP For Employee Incentive Benefits along with CRISP for Retirement, both with the potential for high returns. Accepting DNotes as payment is a significant competitive edge leading to revenue gain and meaningful savings that can be used as employee incentive benefits and owners retirement savings. As the first real world business to accept DNotes as a payment method Smokeys Daylily Gardens is ahead of the curve; well positioned to reap the rewards of instant transactions and low transaction fees. Anyone wishing to learn more about Chicago's very own global digital currency DNotes can contact Alan Yong at contact@dnotescoin.com . He will be attending the Chicago Bitcoin Meetup on Tuesday May 12, 2015 if anyone wishes to meet him in person. http://www.meetup.com/The-Chicago-Bitcoin-Center-at-1871-Official-Meetup/ To learn more about Smokeys Daylily Gardens please go to: http://smokeysdaylilygardens.com/ To buy DNotes with Bitcoin please go to: http://poloniex.com/exchange#btc_note Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to FDIC and other consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. For more information about us, please visit http://smokeysdaylilygardens.com/ Contact Info: Name: Rocky DeLucenay Email: rocky@smokeysdaylilygardens.com Organization: Smokeys Daylily Gardens SOURCE: Smokeys Daylily Gardens || Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing: Bitcoin is getting a big boost…from Goldman Sachs (GS).
The financial juggernaut and China’s IDG Capital Partners are investing $50 million inCircle Internet Financial, a start-up that provides services to help consumers use the virtual currency. Goldman is the first major Wall Street bank to make such a big bet on bitcoin.
But as Yahoo Finance Technology Reporter Aaron Pressman points out, Goldman isn’t interested in speculating in bitcoins. It’s focusing on how bitcoin operates.
“The technology behind the scenes that enables bitcoin to work, that’s something that venture capitalists and a lot of banks have been looking at,” he says. “And maybe really will be what comes out of this.”
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App
Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task believes Goldman is just trying to stay one step ahead of the competition.
“Everybody around Wall Street is looking at bitcoin and trying to figure out whether they’re going to wait for the regulations or try to get ahead of the regulations and dip their toe in the water,” he explains. “And that’s what Goldman is doing.”
Task adds Goldman likely feels more and more of us will be using the virtual currency in the future…and wants to get on that bandwagon now.
There’s going to be a greater adoption of bitcoin use as a method of payment,” he says. “I think that’s its promise…and what Goldman is betting on here.”
Task believes Goldman sees bitcoin as being an attractive consumer electronic money alternative.
“Apple Pay (AAPL) doesn’t do anything for me as a consumer,” he argues. “But if I can transfer bitcoins to somebody else around the world and pay for goods and services, I think they want to be part of that process.”
And Yahoo Finance’s Jen Rogers says having Goldman associated with bitcoin is a pretty important milestone for the virtual currency.
“It does seem to add legitimacy because it’s such a big name,” she notes.
Also from Yahoo Finance
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Uber now drops off food, not just people || Chrysler joins Starbucks in 'schooling' American workers: The hot new corporate “perk” is: education.
Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) is now offering free college tuition to its 188,000 dealership employees.The programprovides a no-cost online bachelor’s degree through the for-profit Strayer University (STRA), and is similar toa planannounced earlier this year between Starbucks (SBUX) and Arizona State University.
Yahoo Finance Editor in Chief Andy Serwer points out that in the current work environment, firms need to both build a smarter workforce…and give smart people a reason to join their operations.
“Increasingly, companies are frustrated about getting educated workers and they’re looking to differentiate and attract workers,” he says. “I think you’re going to see more and of this, particularly as wages rise and the competition-- the supply/demand balance-- shifts to making it difficult to find good workers.”
Fiat Chrysler executive Al Gardner makes that point in explaining why the carmaker is launching this program.
“Many of our dealers have expressed concern over the availability of talent to fill open positions due to business growth and turnover in their stores, especially in metro markets.”
That doesn’t surprise Yahoo Finance’s Jen Rogers.
“Once you find them you want to keep them,” she says. “And the turnover is a real issue in dealerships--between 45% and 60%.”
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App
Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli adds many businesses are responding like Fiat Chrysler to what they recognize as a real need.
“Corporate America is stepping in where they see gaps in educating workers, retaining them and essentially having people get what they feel like they ought to get out of a career,” he explains.
Serwer sees that as well.
“There’s a story in theNew York Timestoday about income mobility and how, in certain parts of the country, there is none anymore,” he points out. “So companies are going to step into the breach here. I think they’re going to have to add on all kinds of perks.”
And Serwer believes offering free college tuition is a really important perk considering the divide between people’s skills and what’s needed in the 21st century workplace.
“God knows there’s a gap,” he says. “We need to educate people in this country.”
Also from Yahoo Finance
Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing
McDonald's comeback plan: Is it enough?
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 25 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $972.56 #bitcoin #btc || 1 #bitcoin 616.43 TL, 237.002 $, 210.712 €, 141.10003 GBP, 11762.00 RUR, 28791 ¥, 1320 CNH, 281.94 CAD #btc || ★MONA/JPY
0~12【もなっくす】
11.4~11.6【Zaif】
★MONA/BTC
0.00040~0.00040【AllCoin】
0.00038~0.00045【もなとれ】
0.00040~0.00041【bittrex】
00:30現在 || LIVE: Profit = $786.11 (21.94 %). BUY B14.67 @ $243.04 (#BTCe). SELL @ $246.00 (#VirCurex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 22 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,088.50 #bitcoin #btc || $255.56 at 19:00 UTC [24h Range: $251.50 - $257.01 Volume: 6039 BTC] || 2015年4月18日 13:00:09
btc_jpy
直近[last]:27525円
買[bid]:27495円
売[ask]:27525円
高値[high]:28156円
安値[low]:27200円
API by Zaif || LIVE: Profit = $801.75 (21.62 %). BUY B15.37 @ $240.89 (#Bitfinex). SELL @ $246.00 (#VirCurex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 15639.00 INR Sell : 15143.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 14970.00 INR Sell : 14475.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin
|
Trend: up || Prices: 233.13, 231.95, 234.02, 235.34, 240.35, 238.87, 240.95, 237.11, 237.12, 237.28
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 10/12/18: Bitcoin Cash ABC back in the $100s Bitcoin Cash ABC gained 7.11% on Sunday, reversing Saturdays 4.29% fall, to end the day at $105.72. The Sunday partial recovery left Bitcoin Cash ABC down 37.72% for the week. Bullish through much of the day, Bitcoin Cash ABC recovered from an early morning intraday low $97.71, breaking through the first major resistance level at $107.14 to strike a late afternoon intraday high $110 before easing back. Bitcoin Cash ABC managed to hold above the first major support level at $93.15 with the days $97.71 low, a second day of steering clear of major support levels after some heavy losses earlier in the week. At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC was down 1.6% to $104.04, with a bullish start to the day hitting reverse, Bitcoin Cash ABC falling from a morning high $107.89 to a morning low $103.2 before finding support, the major support and resistance levels left untested early on. For the day ahead, a move back through to $104.5 and hold by the early afternoon would support an afternoon recovery to bring the mornings $107.89 high into play, while sentiment across the broader market will need to materially improve for Bitcoin Cash ABC to take a run at the first major resistance level at $111.24. Failure to move back through to $104.5 and hold by the afternoon could see Bitcoin Cash ABC pullback deeper into the red, with a fall through the morning low $103.2 bringing sub-$100 levels and the days first major support level at $98.95 into play before any recovery. {alt} Litecoin Finds Support Litecoin gained 4.63% on Sunday, reversing Saturdays 2.34% loss, to end the week down 24.12% at $25.3. Tracking the broader market, Litecoin rallied from a start of a day intraday low $24.06 to a late afternoon intraday high $26.62 before easing back to $25 levels by the days end. The moves through the day saw Litecoin break through the first major resistance level at $26.28, while leaving the first major support level at $22.53 untested on the day. Story continues At the time of writing, Litecoin was down 1.5% to $24.92, with Litecoin falling from an early morning high $25.65 to a morning low $24.82, the early moves leaving the days major support and resistance levels untested. For the day ahead, a move back through the morning high $25.65 would bring $26 levels and the days first major resistance level at $26.69 into play before any pullback. Barring a broad based market rally, Litecoin will likely struggle beyond Sundays high $26.62 to pin back a break out from the first major resistance level. Failure to move through $25.33 to this mornings high could see Litecoin fall back further through the day, with a fall through the morning low $24.82 bringing the first major support level at $24.03 and $23 levels into play before any recovery. The days second major support level at $22.77 could be tested later in the day should the negative bias persist. {alt} Ripple Avoids sub-$0.30s Ripples XRP rose by 2.05% on Sunday, following on from a 1.65% gain on Saturday, to end the day at $0.31697. Upward momentum through the weekend saw Ripples XRP cut the weekly deficit to 14.77%. Bucking the trend from the broader market Ripples XRP, a relatively range bound morning saw Ripples XRP ease to a late morning intraday low $0.30476, steering well clear of the first major support level at $0.2896. An early afternoon bounce back saw Ripples XRP rally to an intraday high $0.3295, falling short of the first major resistance level at $0.3363, before easing back to $0.31 levels. At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was down 0.37% to $0.3158, a morning high $0.32178 and morning low $0.3148 leaving the major support and resistance levels left untested early on. For the day ahead, a move back through $0.3171 would signal another run at $0.32 levels to bring the days first major resistance level at $0.3294 and $0.33 levels into play before any pullback, with Sundays high $0.3295 likely to limit upside in the day, barring a broad based cryptomarket bounce. Failure to move back through and hold above $0.3171 could see Ripples XRP pullback through the morning low $0.3148 to bring $0.30 levels and the days first major support level at $0.3047 into play before any recovery, sub-$0.30 support levels unlikely to be tested barring materially negative news hitting the wires. {alt} This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: EUR/USD Price Forecast EUR/USD Turns Bullish On Broad Based US Greenbacks Weakness Crude Oil Price Update Overcoming $54.82 Could Trigger Acceleration to Upside Forex Daily Outlook December 10, 2018 What is Price Action and How to Analyse Candlesticks Bitcoin Can the Bulls Make it 3 in a Row? Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 10/12/18 || This Kid Has Been Begging For A Bitcoin For Over 15,000 Tweets: Begging in the Bitcoin world is nothing new. Go to any gambling site or even some exchange troll boxes, and you will find people asking for Bitcoin. Look at any Tweet by a major Bitcoin personality, and you will find people asking for Bitcoin. Go to any forum, Reddit related to cryptocurrency, or anything else of that nature, and you will find the same.
This reporter has occasionally seen such people who consistently beg for cryptos as “begshits” or “trolls.” The negative connotation is not without merit. After all, there are plenty ofways to get crypto without buying it or even really working for it.
This Twitter account, which is likely powered by a script of some sort, has spammed “BeastGangPaulers” for crypto consistently, at least once an hour, often twice per hour, for the entirety of this year. As a result, he has nearly 16,000 tweets dedicated to the purpose. They all read the same:
Hey its the top of the hour time to beg mrbeastyt for a bitcoin. Pls give me a bitcoinorIts 30 minutes past the hour time to beg mrbeastyt for a bitcoin.
Presumably the user in question,YouTube gaming star Mr. Beast, who has more than 12 million subscribers on the video sharing platform and over half a million Twitter followers, has blocked the beggar, who does not tag him in the tweets. This is understandable, of course: being notified 15,000 times that someone wants you to give them a Bitcoin for free is not a pleasant user experience.
It seems perhaps the motive for the Twitter trolling account was born of a contest that MrBeast ran last year, which this other YouTuber says he won:
The address that @PlsGiveBitcoin would like a Bitcoin donated to has never received a single satoshi as of time of writing. Perhaps he’s hoping that in the spirit of Christmas, users might change this, as his Tweets show up if you search Bitcoin on Twitter (which is how this reporter came upon the scoop.)
For his part, @MrBeastYT doesn’t seem to have ever acknowledged the request. According to his YouTube feed, however, he continues to give money away regularly, with videos like this:
YouTube continues to be the platform du jour for everyday people to go from video game addicts to live streaming sensations, and the like.
Perhaps in the future a decentralized version will emerge which builds in some equitable money-making scheme. An effort in this direction is calledD.Tube, which is built onSteem.
The postThis Kid Has Been Begging For A Bitcoin For Over 15,000 Tweetsappeared first onCCN. || Your Thanksgiving Turkey’s Provenance Might Be on a Blockchain (Seriously): Honeysuckle White is giving family and friends gathering for Thanksgiving dinner this year the opportunity to talk turkey with a traceable blockchain code on more than 200,000 turkeys sold through 3,500 retailers around the U.S. The traceable turkeys, a limited supply of which is also available through internet retailer Amazon, offer consumers a high-tech connection to the farm where the centerpiece of the meal began its journey to the table.
The blockchain, which Honeysuckle White developed using Hyperledger’sSawtoothplatform, is intended to establish a “proven and trusted environment to build a transparent food chain, integrating farmers and producers, suppliers, processors, distributors, retailers, regulators and consumers,”according to a company release.
With more than 70 independent farms participating in Honeysuckle’s traceable turkey program, Cargill, the Minnesota-based agricultural giant owner of Honeysuckle, hopes to establish a stronger connection with consumers. While incorporating a blockchain element to the supply-and-distribution chain means the development of a data-rich environment, Cargill’s current emphasis in using the technology centers on storytelling.
Putting turkeys on the blockchain marks a deeper dive into data development for companies utilizing the technology. “Most people don’t know what we mean by it,” Deb Bauler, CIO of Cargill’s Protein and Salt Division, toldBitcoin Magazine. Rather than maintain a focus solely on data, utilization of the blockchain also opens an opportunity around a brand’s narrative.
Through a text or entering the on-package code at the Honeysuckle White site, consumers trace their turkey to its specific family farm, including the state and county of the farms, and they can also view the history and see photos of the family farm. The code also includes messages from the farmers.
Down the road, the Honeysuckle blockchain could include an Internet of Things element. This could include things such as the temperature of the truck transporting the turkeys to retail outlets.
“It’s a unique value statement,” Bauler said.
Honeysuckle, based in Wichita, Kansas, began implementing its traceable turkey program last year with a pilot that included only four farms and 60,000 birds available for the holiday season. With the successful pilot, Honeysuckle’s expansion of the program addresses consumer demand for food source transparency. Kassie Long, Honeysuckle White’s brand manager, says the company’s promotion of the product includes social media and other forms of advertising.
Thanksgiving turkey buying typically begins on the first weekend in November. As the season progresses and Honeysuckle garners retailer and consumer feedback, the company gains the ability to perform a “robust analysis” of the program on a wider scale, Long says. Included here are things like taking note of the development and strengthening of brand loyalty through repeat customers.
Still, transparency in food choice is an aspect of consumer demand familiar to Honeysuckle. According to a company release, a November 2017 survey reported 88 percent of consumers “agree that brands need to be transparent in their food production.” According to the same survey, 80 percent of consumers agree “that at Thanksgiving, it is important for their turkey to be raised by a family farmer.”
For consumers, buying blockchain-tracked food seemingly provides a kind of psychological security around food safety issues. For Honeysuckle and other traceable food providers, the security triggers a stronger bottom line through increased sales. According to areported 2015 studyconducted with consumers in South Korea, traceable information translates to more sales and increased brand and product trust.
TheFood Safety Magazinestory cites the study’s co-author, Rajiv Kishore, as noting that when “the customer believes regulatory authorities are ensuring accurate production information, he or she is more likely to buy food that is tracked using traceability information, and even less likely to actual use the food traceability information.”
The crux of the observation jives with the consumer research conducted by the Honeysuckle team. That is, consumers’ rising awareness around food safety weighs favorably in their buying decision. However, customers also added the caveat that they weren’t necessarily inclined to act on blockchain tracking, Long said.
Darrell Fraser, one of the original pilot participants in the Honeysuckle White traceable turkey program, says the care involved in producing more than five flocks of turkeys each year remains the same. For him, adding the blockchain element to his yields has largely translated into pursuing a kind of vanity grocery shopping. The Texas-based farmer, who has raised turkey flocks for nearly 25 years, says he has yet to find a turkey in the grocery store with roots back to his farm.
“I’ve looked and looked and still haven’t found one,” he says.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || If Apple Is a Services Business, It Needs to Start Reporting Like One: Last month, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CFO Luca Maestri told investors the company will no longer report hardware unit sales going forward. "The number of units sold in any 90-day period is not necessarily representative of the underlying strength of our business," Maestri said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call . This may have been a long time coming for Apple. Management has been pushing investors to focus on its growing services business, which generated over $37 billion in revenue for the company last year. That makes it the company's second-biggest segment after iPhone. Giving investors more information about services and the metrics driving services revenue may finally shift the focus from how many iPhones Apple sold in the last 90 days to how strong its ecosystem is. A woman holding an iPhone Xs and an umbrella in the rain. Image source: Apple. One number Apple is definitely reporting next quarter While investors won't see how many of the latest iPhones and iPads Apple sold during the holiday season, they will get a glimpse at a number they've never seen before. Apple will report cost of sales for each of its reporting segments including services. This will be the first time investors get a glimpse at services gross margin, and Maestri said, "We believe it is an important metric for our investors to follow." Apple's services gross margin is likely well over 50%; analysts' consensus estimate is 56%. That number is probably trending upwards, otherwise it's unlikely the company would've chosen to report it. For reference, Apple's overall gross margin last year was 38.3%. Reporting gross profits for each segment will enable Apple to shift the focus to profit growth instead of revenue growth, of which services is a much bigger contributor. What investors might hope for Apple only promised to provide gross margin details for its reporting segments, but investors can hope for more. It's unlikely the company will provide a complete quantitative picture of its user base, but additional qualitative commentary would be useful to cement the shift in focus. Story continues Investors might get an update on the installed base. "Our installed base is growing at double digits," CEO Tim Cook said on the fourth-quarter earnings call. "That's probably a much more significant metric for us from an ecosystem point of view and the customer loyalty." The last update was 1.3 billion active devices Apple announced with its first-quarter results released earlier this year. Additional details like unique users, churn rate or switch rate, and lifetime value of a customer would be very useful for thinking of Apple as a services business. Breaking out things like App Store downloads, Apple Music subscribers , iCloud customers, or subscription services might give investors a clearer picture of what's going on in the services business, too. It's quite a wish list, but Apple has given at least some commentary around most of those metrics at some point. Management knows its decision to stop reporting unit sales didn't go over so well , so it might try to make it up to investors with additional details while not committing to regularly reporting those numbers. Shifting the focus to profits Apple's main goal with its decision to stop reporting unit sales and start reporting gross margin on its segments is to shift the focus to profits. If it can do that, it won't have to worry about the impact of a bad quarter of iPhone sales on its stock price. That's especially pertinent in a smartphone market where unit sales are practically saturated, and unit growth is hard to come by. Instead, Apple's management can move the focus to how much profit it's making off of each active user. It can show investors how much each customer is worth to the company in terms of service attachments and expected lifetime value. That's something long-term investors have been focusing on for a long time now, but the rest of the market refuses to give up its obsession with unit sales every quarter. Apple's management is making that decision for them now. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Adam Levy owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdown: Bitcoin priceon Wednesday traded inside a narrow session range as the market assessed the bearish correction of the previous day.
TheBitcoin/Dollar ratestarted the trading session with a jump towards $3,850 but rejected extended upside targets in a pullback action that stretched to as low as $3,686. Before the European session matured, the pair had already bounced back from the said support to pursue another attempt to break $3,850. As of now, it is hanging midway between the two levels, trading at $3,791.
The Bitcoin market is noticing a moderatelyhigh selling sentiment near $4,100-4,200 zone, which makes it difficult for the market to establish a sustainable bullish bias. Earlier in November, the price had faced similar difficulties while establishing a breakout target above $4,400. After that, the price had fallen towards $3,127-3,130 zone, which is now considered the interim bottom area.
The uptrend, however, is still intact. The Bitcoin/Dollar rate is fluctuating up and down inside the parameters defined by a rising wedge channel. The pair is now at the last of its legs before attempting a clear breakdown action towards the next nearest downside target. At the same time, the area could see the accumulation of long targets towards the channel resistance, which would bring it close to testing the 50-period moving average as well.
Meanwhile, the RSI momentum indicator is finding it difficult to break above 60 to establish a clear near-term bullish bias. It has now reversed again from the 55-58 neutral area.
The slow action on Wednesday has restricted our trading parameters. Today, we have $3,850 acting as our interim resistance and $3,686 to the downside as interim support. Like always, our priority is to stick to our intrarange strategy which means opening a long order towards resistance whenever bitcoin bounces back from support and opening a short position towards support on every pull back action from resistance.
We will switch to our breakout strategy the moment we see bitcoin breaking above the resistance level, or breaking down the support level. That said, a break above $3,850 will have us put a long position towards $4,055, our primary upside target. As we place this order, we will also maintain a stop loss position just 1-pip below our entry level, to exit the market on a small loss should the bias reverse.
Looking to the south, a break below $3,686 would confirm a breakdown scenario and we will immediately open a short position towards the next downside target near $3,439. A stop loss just 1 pip above the entry point will meanwhile define our risk management strategy for the day.
Trade safe!
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdownappeared first onCCN. || Goldman Sachs Still Can’t Hold Crypto on Behalf of Clients Despite Growing Demand: Nearly three months have passed sinceGoldman Sachs, a $73 billion investment bank based in the US,saidthat it is not ready to facilitate the delivery of “physical Bitcoin” to its clients. The banking giant is still not able to hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of its clients, despite growing demand from clients.
At a conference in New York, Justin Schmidt, the head of digital asset markets at Goldman Sachs,said:
“One of the things they ask me is ‘Can you hold our coins?’ and I say ‘No, we cannot. One of the things we have to take into consideration when we’re building out our business is what we can and cannot do from a regulatory perspective.”
Goldman Sachs has been facilitating investments intoBitcoinfutures for its customers for awhile. In an interview with Bloomberg TV in China, for the first time, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomondirectly confirmedthat the company has been clearing Bitcoin futures contract since June.
“We are clearing some futures around Bitcoin, talking about doing some other activities there, but it’s going very cautiously. We’re listening to our clients and trying to help our clients as they’re exploring those things too. Goldman Sachs must evolve its business and adapt to the environment,” Solomon said.
The US-based bank has already entered the cryptocurrency market and has been assisting investors to trade Bitcoin in the futures market.
However, Bitcoin futures markets that are currently in existence in the US market do not promise the physical delivery of Bitcoin, meaning investors are not technically buying Bitcoin from the futures markets but rather contracts that reflect the price of the dominant cryptocurrency.
Bakkt, the cryptocurrency trading exchange developed by ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is set to open a futures market in January that delivers physical Bitcoin to its investors, but as of now, no regulated US futures market holds cryptocurrencies for its customers.
For Goldman Sachs to hold cryptocurrencies for its clients, it needs regulatory approval to operate as a regulated and trusted crypto custodian. Several companies likeCoinbaseandBitGohave implemented unique methods to be approved as a custodian.
BitGo, for instance, launched its own regulated custodian, BitGo Trust.
Goldman Sachs executive Justin Schmidt said that custody is an important component which the bank lacks, and without regulatory approval, it will not be able to directly hold digital assets for the bank’s client base.
“Custody is this foundational piece that is absolutely necessary. Custody is part of an overall integrated system where different parts need to work well with each other and safely with each other and you have to be able to trust all the different parts in that chain, from buying something to transferring it to storing it in for the long-term,”addedSchmidt.
As Schmidt said, clients at Goldman Sachs have begun to ask the bank to provide custodian solutions to protect their investments in digital assets. Over time, as the space finds more regulatory clarity, the bank could find an appropriate time frame to begin operating as a custodian. But as of now, Goldman Sachs believes it is not ready to do that just yet.
Images from Shutterstock
The postGoldman Sachs Still Can’t Hold Crypto on Behalf of Clients Despite Growing Demandappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Price Uptrend Exhausts ahead of $4,500 Reclaim: Bitcoin priceon Friday corrected 5% from its intraday high at $4,172, hinting that theongoing uptrendis close to exhaustion.
The Bitcoin-to-Dollar pair found a compelling resistance area near $4,000 that reversed the breakout attempts on four separate occasions today. To the downside, the area near $3,880 provided similarly strong support to keep the upside bias alive. As a result, the Bitcoin market today was mostly choppier as it bounced between the two strong parameters at each of its sides.
The trend is heading into a slowdown phase, where bulls are not entirely convinced for an extended upside momentum but are still adamant about keeping the supports alive. At most, the bitcoin market could attempt to establish higher highs towards $4,423-4,500 area but the fears of potential downside corrections linger near such levels. Small traders would find it difficult to play higher highs when the market remains inside a giant bearish pattern.
The Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) tells a lot about the buying sentiment near peaks. Since September 17, the momentum line has found it difficult to set ambitious upside targets above 55-57 area. Now is the fifth time when bitcoin is setting itself to break above 60 to maintain its buying sentiment. If it does then achieving 4,500 could be a lot easier than it is now. If not, then forming a double bottom towards $3,127-3,130 area could be a scenario to watch out for.
TheBitcoin/Dollar priceaction has found itself inside a range that is defined by $3,883 as interim support and $4,172 as interim resistance. These are not strong levels but give day traders a psychological parameter to plan their breakout or intrarange positions in advance.
That said, any sign of reversal from $3,883 would have us open a long position towards $4,172 and a reversal from $4,172 would have us open a short position towards #3,883. It would be our safest intrarange strategy in case the pair plans to overextend its stay inside the said area. A stop-loss order maintained 1-pip from the entry level against the direction of the price action will define our risk management perspective.
In the case of a breakout action, such that the bitcoin/dollar pair manages to break above $4,172, we will open one long order towards $4,270 while maintain a stop loss position just 1-pip below the entry level. To the downside, a break below $3,883 would have put a short towards $3,637. A stop just 1-pip above the entry level would minimize our losses should the bias reverse.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBitcoin Price Uptrend Exhausts ahead of $4,500 Reclaimappeared first onCCN. || Coinbase Now Lets You Convert your Altcoins into Bitcoin: Want to convert your altcoins to bitcoins this Christmas? Coinbase has launched Coinbase Convert, a new feature that allows retail users to make direct crypto-to-crypto conversions on the exchange.
The new feature, which wasannouncedon December 17, 2018, will allow customers to sell one cryptocurrency to buy another, saving traders both time and multiple fees.
According to the company announcement, "conversions complete instantly and at a lower cost than if done via two separate transactions.”
Coinbase Convert will initially support conversions between bitcoin, ether, litecoin, ethereum classic, 0x and bitcoin cash, but more cryptocurrencies are expected to be added to the queue, based on customer feedback.
Using the Convert feature, the digital asset platform will charge a 1 percent fixed fee, according to itsfee disclosure page.
The crypto-to-crypto feature is targeted at retail users who don't trade much or those who want to spend less time converting their cryptocurrencies.
The addition of Coinbase Convert comes a few days after the exchange partnered with PayPal to facilitate zero-feecash withdrawals on PayPal. The integration of PayPal into the withdrawal options available on its platform makes it faster to cash out of Coinbase.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || BitTorrent Creator Aims to Kill Bitcoin with the Green Cryptocurrency Chia: Known for inventing torrenting (BitTorrent) in the early noughties, Bram Cohen might also end up getting famous for an entirely different thing solving the electricity wastage problem of bitcoin . Cohens newest creation, a cryptocurrency known as Chia which bills itself as green money for a digital world, is the very antithesis of bitcoin. Unlike bitcoin which uses the electricity-guzzling proof-of-work consensus mechanism, the chia cryptocurrency uses proof-of-space where the mining process uses the hard disk space. Speaking to Breaker magazine Cohen stated that hard disk space is readily and widely available and most of the time unutilized: The idea is that youre leveraging this resource of storage capacity, and people already have ludicrous amounts of excess storage on their laptops, and other places, which is just not being utilized. There is so much of that already that it should eventually reach the point where if you were buying new hard drives for the purpose of farming, it would lose you money. More Secure? Besides reducing electricity usage, Cohen also claims that Chia cryptocurrency is relatively more secure compared to bitcoin. bittorrent According to Cohen who created the BitTorrent protocol in 2001 while still a student at the University of Buffalo, though it would be monstrously expensive to purchase the resources required to attack the bitcoin network, it is possible to do it. For the Chia network, per Cohen, not so easy though: To attack Chia youd have to get access to more resources than the network as a whole, which will be a huge amount of resources once everyone has signed up. The cost of acquiring them upfront would be huge, higher than the cost of the ASICs youd need to attack bitcoin, so to overwhelm the system would be much more difficult. While the proof-of-space consensus mechanism may appear more secure on paper, it also has its own limitations and this includes the possibility of a re-mining from genesis attack occurring. Story continues Proof-of-time With this sort of attack, a bad actor possessing significant network resources creates a new blockchain from the ground up with the goal of switching it for the original blockchain when it gets longer. When executed perfectly the bad actor gets into a position where they can get the new blockchain accepted by the majority of nodes while also taking possession of any number of coins and/or cancelling previous transactions. To prevent this sort of attack, Cohen has introduced the proof-of-time consensus mechanism. While this does not prevent a bad actor from rewriting years of work, they would require a lot of time to pull it off. Though it was supposed to be launched towards the end of this year, the world will have to wait a little longer for a greener cryptocurrency as the rollout has been pushed forward. Featured image from Flickr/ Thomas Hawk . The post BitTorrent Creator Aims to Kill Bitcoin with the Green Cryptocurrency Chia appeared first on CCN . || Bitcoin – Bears in Control as the Year Comes to an End: Bitcoin gained 2.14% on Sunday, partially reversing a 3.54% fall on Saturday, to end the day at $3,977.3.
A bullish start to the week failed to deliver another cryptomarket rally off the back of the previous week’s 23.4% gain, with Bitcoin ending the week down 2.34% and of greater significance, back at sub-$4,000 levels.
Following a late in the day sell-off on Saturday, Bitcoin fell to a start of a day intraday low $3,838.9, holding above the day’s first major support level at $3,802.3 before finding support.
There were no fireworks through the day, with Bitcoin only managing a move through to a mid-day intraday high $4,003.8 before easing back, with sub-$3,900 support holding Bitcoin back from a slide back to $3,800 levels.
The moves through the day saw Bitcoin come within range of the first major resistance level at $4,042.70 and the first major support level at $3,802.3.
For the Bitcoin bulls a run at $5,000 levels was needed before the year was out to shift the negative sentiment that has plagued Bitcoin and the broader market since the return of crypto volatility in late October.
Failing to hold onto $4,000 levels in the week will continue to raise doubts over whether Bitcoin has bottomed out or is about to get hit by another sell-off that would deliver the widely predicted sub-$3,000 floor.
The bearish sentiment has seen Ethereum close the market cap gap on Ripple’s XRP, with Ethereum looking ripe to retake the 2ndspot, though much will depend on the Token Taxonomy Act, a recovery in the ICO market only a good thing for Ethereum that has struggled over the year.
Get Into Cryptocurrency Trading Today
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 1.75% to $3,907.9, with moves through the early morning seeing Bitcoin slide from a start of a day morning high $3,986.9 to an early morning low $3,873.4, Bitcoin calling on support at the first major support level at $3,876.2, whilst falling short of $4,000 levels and the first major resistance level at $4,041.1.
For the day ahead, a hold onto $3,900 levels through the morning would support a move through the morning high to bring $4,000 levels and the first major resistance level at $4,041.1 into play, with sentiment across the broader market to play a hand in how Bitcoin closes out the day.
Early moves and a failure at the start of the day for Bitcoin to break through to $4,000 levels will likely weigh through the morning.
Failure to hold onto $3,900 levels through the morning could see Bitcoin slide back through the morning low $3,873.4 to bring $3,700 levels and the second major support level at $3,775.1 into play before any recovery.
The way the year is coming to a close, it could be a tough start to 2019 and if there’s no good news from regulators, it may be more than just a tough January.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#Doviz
-------------------
#USD : 5.2733
#EUR : 6.0400
#GBP : 6.6908
--------------------------------------
#BTC
-------------------
#Gobaba : 20876.66
#BtcTurk : 20687.00
#Koinim : 20830.00
#Paribu : 20501.00
#Koineks : 20598.00 || [12:00] Most mentioned tickers in the last 4 hours: $BTC $ETH $XRP $TRX $NEO $LTC $ADA $WAVES $DIG $CVTpic.twitter.com/nVEaoHPlyo || #Visa has got to be THE example of OG fintech. #Fintech before it was so cool to shorten those seven hard-to-pronounce syllables ("#financial #technology") down into the two that we know and love so much today. http://youtu.be/t9LhAEK-pg0 cryptocurrencies #btc #xrp || 2018/12/08 12:00
BTC 386201.5円
ETH 10673.8円
ETC 437.7円
BCH 11971.5円
XRP 35.2円
XEM 8.2円
LSK 137円
MONA 62.3円
#仮想通貨 #ビットコイン #Bitcoin #bitFlyer #Coincheck || My answer to Why will BTC not have 98% dominance in the future when 99% of all the coins are garbage? They are centralized, proof of stake and does nothing new or have not done a single thing yet just talk trash. https://www.quora.com/Why-will-BTC-not-have-98-dominance-in-the-future-when-99-of-all-the-coins-are-garbage-They-are-centralized-proof-of-stake-and-does-nothing-new-or-have-not-done-a-single-thing-yet-just-talk-trash/answer/Razvan-Tase?srid=k7Z9 … || #Bitcoin Is 'Here To Stay' Says Wall Street Boss Amid Crypto Rout https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2018/11/29/bitcoin-is-here-to-stay-says-wall-street-boss-amid-crypto-rout/ … || Preços Bank To Crypto:
BITCOIN: R$ 19.974,92
BITCOIN-CASH: R$ 1.315,91
ETHEREUM: R$ 614,28
SMARTCASH: R$ 0,07
ZCORE: R$ 2,83
http://bktc.com.br #stratum #fuckthebanks
19/11/18-22:00 || We should use the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" chart to get excited for each new price break
http://ElixiumCrypto.com/3/
Register Now & Start Buying & Selling Cryptocurrency
#Crypto #Cryptocurrency #Bitcoin #BTC #Ethereum #ETH #Ripple #XRP #EOS #Stellarpic.twitter.com/3un3VfxmRM || Did you know I write for other #fintech, #p2plending & #bitcoin companies? I'm really good too :) http://dld.bz/fThEJ pic.twitter.com/xV09s9JWkr || Not Another Bitcoin Interview with Danny Johnson of PINKcoin https://youtu.be/nVNzpye-6QY via @YouTube
|
Trend: down || Prices: 3943.41, 3836.74, 3857.72, 3845.19, 4076.63, 4025.25, 4030.85, 4035.30, 3678.92, 3687.37
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Crypto and Investment Scams Are Skyrocketing This Year: Athitat Shinagowin / Getty Images/iStockphoto 2020 was a record year for investment and cryptocurrency scams — with 26,500 cases reported to the government, resulting in a loss of $419 million — and 2021 is on pace to exceed those numbers, according to a new survey. See: Elon Musk Impersonators Scam People Out of $2 Million in Crypto – Here’s How to Keep Your Money Safe Find: Moving Scams Are Up 91% From Last Year – Here’s How to Avoid One The new Motley Fool survey finds that 2021 will be a record year for investment fraud as 14,079 investment scams were reported to the Federal Trade Commission in the first quarter of 2021 and those victims lost $215 million. This represents about half of the total reported scams and losses in all of 2020, which suggests 2021 will be a record-setting year for investment scammers. “2021 is on track to be even more costly, with cryptocurrency scams playing a leading role,” Jack Caporal, research analyst at The Motley Fool, tells GOBankingRates. “Younger Americans appear to be either targeted by crypto scammers or are more susceptible to crypto scams. Scammers are tapping into cryptocurrency’s growing popularity and the ubiquity of social media to take advantage of the general public,” he adds. The survey did find that the use of cryptocurrency and social media by scammers has skyrocketed, but many people don’t report when they’re targeted by a scam, plus almost 75% of people targeted by fraud or a scam are less likely to invest in the future. People aged 20-49 are most likely to report losses from crypto investment scams and almost 74% of those targeted by such a scam said they’re less likely to buy crypto in the future, the survey finds. In 2020, cryptocurrency became the most common payment method used in investment scams and fraud, While previously, wire transfer topped the list, cryptos became prevalent in 2020, partly because of its increasing popularity, which made it a prime target for scams. Since October 2020, Americans have lost more than $80 million to crypto fraud. Story continues In a May report, the FTC said that while investment scams top the list as the most lucrative way to obtain cryptocurrency, scammers will use whatever story works to get people to send crypto. “That often involves impersonating a government authority or a well-known business. For example, many people have told the FTC they loaded cash into Bitcoin ATM machines to pay imposters claiming to be from the Social Security Administration. Others reported losing money to scammers posing as Coinbase, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange. In fact, 14% of reported losses to imposters of all types are now in cryptocurrency,” according to the report. Motley Fool’s Caporal says that one explanation for the scam surge is that recent fluctuations in the values of meme stocks and certain cryptocurrencies may be generating a sense of “fear of missing out” among investors who want to make big gains quickly on the next big stock or cryptocurrency. “As a result, investors may be more willing to pursue opportunities that sound too good to be true, particularly in the cryptocurrency space, which scammers are increasingly operating in,” he says. See: 18 Online Shopping Traps and Scams To Watch Out For Find: 25 Sneaky Car Dealership Tricks To Avoid at All Costs Social media is also playing an increasing role in investment scams, as scammers have used social media and messaging apps, sometimes posing as celebrities, to reach out to investors and promise them high returns for a huge upfront payment and subsequent fees, according to the Motley Fool. The Motley Fool outlines signs of an investment scam to watch out for: Being unable to determine an alleged broker’s physical location, being asked to deposit money (especially cryptocurrency), upfront communicating solely through social media or a messaging app and being promised returns that are too good to be true. In addition, the FTC has several recommendations, including: Research before you invest. Search online for the company and cryptocurrency name, plus “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” Be wary of guarantees and big promises. Scammers often promise you’ll make money quickly , or that you’ll get big payouts or guaranteed returns. They might offer you free money paid in cash or cryptocurrency — but, even if there’s a celebrity endorsement, don’t buy it. You’ll make money if you’re lucky enough to sell your crypto for more than you paid. Don’t trust people who say they know a better way. Anyone who says you have to pay by cryptocurrency, wire transfer or gift card is a scammer. If you pay, there’s usually no way to get your money back. You can report cryptocurrency scams , go to: reportfraud.ftc.gov . More From GOBankingRates 31 Days of Living Richer We Asked, You Answered: The 2021 U.S. Small Business Spotlight What It Means To Live a Truly Rich Life and How To Achieve It Monifi Review: Mobile Banking That Can Improve Your Budgeting This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Crypto and Investment Scams Are Skyrocketing This Year || Bitcoin Drops Amid Weibo Crypto Suspensions, Goldman CIO Survey: (Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin and most other top cryptocurrencies fell on Sunday on concerns that there may be a further crackdown on the industry in China and as a report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. served as a reminder that institutional adoption may be a long process.
Bitcoin and many others in the top 30 cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins declined in the past 24 hours as of 12:20 p.m. in London on Sunday, according to pricing data from CoinGecko, though No. 2 Ether was slightly higher. Chinese social-media service Weibo suspended some crypto-related accounts -- when trying to view them, a message comes up that says the accounts have been reported for violations of laws, regulations or Weibo rules.
Chinese authorities have recently cautioned on crypto trading and Bitcoin mining efforts are being curtailed, which have put pressure on prices.
“Uncertainty about China crypto regulations are still a headwind,” said Jonathan Cheesman, head of over-the-counter and institutional sales at crypto derivatives exchange FTX, in a note Sunday. “So far it’s been pretty piecemeal, focusing on mining, new issuance, and retail influencers.”
Weibo’s media relations officer didn’t reply to an email request for comment sent on Sunday. The micro-blogging service took similar action in 2019 when it suspended the accounts of exchange operator Binance Holdings Ltd. and blockchain platform Tron.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is also struggling with technical levels, remaining below its 20-day and 200-day moving averages.
Bitcoin “remains vulnerable to a test of critical support at $29,000 with downside to risk to $20,000,” Evercore ISI technical strategist Rich Ross wrote in a note Friday. He said he’s a “seller” currently, with a $41,000 buy stop.
Bitcoin went on a furious rally at the beginning of the year, surging to almost $65,000 amid enthusiasm about institutional adoption, the idea that it’s a store of value akin to “digital gold,” and with endorsements from big-name investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller.
The cryptocurrency has retreated by more than $25,000 since then and was recently trading around $36,000. It’s still up about 25% this year.
“We are in a choppy range,” FTX’s Cheesman said. “The key level for the bulls to hold is $33,400 as it keeps the pattern of higher lows intact.”
In a development that undermines the narrative about institutional adoption, a Goldman Sachs note on Saturday showed that not everyone in finance is eager to jump in.
“We held two CIO roundtable sessions earlier this week, which were attended by 25 CIOs from various long-only and hedge funds,” the strategists led by Timothy Moe wrote. “Their most favorite is Growth style but least favorite on Bitcoin.”
Still, support for Bitcoin continues to grow in some quarters. In comments from a video broadcast at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said he plans to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country, while San Francisco-based Square Inc. said it will invest $5 million to build a solar-powered Bitcoin mining facility. The project will be constructed at a Blockstream Mining site in the U.S. through a partnership with the blockchain technology provider.
Separately, a video posted on YouTube on Friday that appears to be from the group “Anonymous” criticizes Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Office Elon Musk for a variety of reasons including his social-media commentary about Bitcoin. Musk, for his part, continued to tweet actively into the weekend about crypto and other matters.
(Updates markets throughout and adds quotes from FTX.)
More stories like this are available onbloomberg.com
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©2021 Bloomberg L.P. || Bitcoin (BTC) Regains Footing After Refusing to Break Down: Bitcoin (BTC) created a bearish engulfing candlestick on July 5 but did not break down the following day. Its trading inside a longer-term range and a shorter-term symmetrical triangle. BTC trading range BTC created a bearish engulfing candlestick on July 5. The next day, it attempted to initiate an upward move but only left a long upper wick in place (red icon). However, the MACD did not give a bearish reversal signal, creating a higher momentum bar instead. In addition, the Stochastic oscillator made a bullish cross. The closest support and resistance levels are found at $32,000 and $40,550. BTC Chart By TradingView Short-term consolidation The six-hour chart is similarly undecided. Its possible that BTC is trading inside a symmetrical triangle, though the resistance line of the channel has not been validated enough times. The symmetrical triangle is normally considered a neutral pattern. Technical indicators are also undecided. The MACD is at the 0-line while the RSI is freely moving above and below 50, a common sign of an undetermined trend. BTC Chart By TradingView Wave count The wave count is currently unclear. Due to the presence of the triangle, it does make sense that the movement is part of the X wave of a complex corrective structure. BTC Chart By TradingView The previously outlined bearish count in which the current movement is a 1-2/1-2 wave structure is becoming less likely. This is due to the failure to initiate a sharp downward movement after the breakdown from the channel. On the contrary, BTC is in the process of reclaiming the support line of the channel instead. While it is technically still possible, it would be validated with a breakout from the descending resistance line connecting the highs of wave 2 (black) and sub-wave (red) 2. BTC Chart By TradingView For BeInCryptos previous bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here. || Crypto of the Day: Internet Computer (ICP). See Why!: Internet Computer just recently launched to the public in May 2021. Unlike SafeMoon, Shiba Inu and other new cryptocurrencies in 2021, Internet Computer has been in development for several years by some of the greatest minds in cryptography.
What is Internet Computer?
Internet Computeris an innovation upon normal blockchain technology. While other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum are focused on Proof-of-Stake technology, ICP uses neither Proof of Work or Proof of Stake. Instead, it uses queries and calls.
This revolutionary technology aims at being able to combine the high-speed data processing power of the internet with the security and trustlessness of blockchain technology. Internet Computer is made by the DFINITY foundation which has hundreds of impressive team members.
Internet Computer (ICP) is Up 30% in 24 Hours
Internet Computer has seen a massive 30% increase in price in just 24 hours. This being said, the coin has a long way to go before reaching new all-time highs. The token hit a local low of about $28 just a few days earlier and has since seen a resurgence in interest.
Why is ICP Moving?
Like other new cryptocurrencies, Internet Computer has shown higher volatility than more established digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Generally speaking, cryptocurrency assets get more stable the longer they’ve been trading, so you can expect huge price fluctuations from ICP.
On top of this, Internet Computer was hit hard during the recent correction in the cryptocurrency markets. While many other altcoins dropped by 50%, ICP has fallen over 90% from its peak.
This is due to 2 main factors:Coinbase listing hype and Seed and Presale investors with short vesting periods. Since listing on Coinbase grants cryptocurrency access to so many new investors, it’s not uncommon for crypto to pump the day it’s listed on the platform. On top of this, early accredited investors (including the likes of Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital) who purchased ICP for less than $2 per coin are now able to sell their investments. This created major sell pressure for the token, but it looks like the worst may be behind us.
Where to Buy Internet Computer
Internet Computer (ICP) is available for purchase on Binance and Coinbase. Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and the platform allows investors to trade a variety of altcoins.
Most U.S investors choose Coinbase for crypto investing, as it’s a publicly traded company, so you can rest easy knowing your funds are in good hands. Plus, you can sign up today and start earning free crypto with Coinbase Earn.
[{"Exchange": "Coinbase", "Best For": "Earning Crypto", "Overall Rating": "5 Stars", "Start Investing": "Get Started"}, {"Exchange": "Binance", "Best For": "Altcoin Trading", "Overall Rating": "4.5 Stars", "Start Investing": "Get Started"}]
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq set record closing highs as Fed meeting looms: (For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.) * Lordstown slumps after CEO, CFO resign * Tech-heavy Nasdaq outperforms S&P 500, Dow * Indexes: Nasdaq, S&P gain; Dow down (Adds comment, details; updates prices) By David French and Medha Singh June 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq unofficially finished at record highs on Monday as most traders focused on this week's Federal Reserve meeting and not on adding to existing positions. Investors are seeking new cues from the central bank on its inflation outlook, after recent data indicated the U.S. economy is regaining momentum but not overheating. This has eased investor worries about inflation. While the Fed has reassured that any spike in inflation would be transitory, policymakers could begin discussing the tapering of bond buying at the Tuesday-Wednesday meeting. Most analysts, however, do not expect a decision before the central bank's annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference in August. Any shift in the Fed's dovish rhetoric could upend equity markets. The three main benchmarks are all trading higher year to date. "There are really good arguments on both sides of the inflation argument, but to think it's a good idea to make substantive changes right now, based on continued increase in inflation or a transitory rate, seems silly to me," said Mark Stoeckle, CEO and senior portfolio manager of the Adams Funds. High-growth tech-related stocks, which were at the heart of a sell-off driven by fears of rising rates, have regained their footing this month at the expense of economy-linked industrials , financials and materials stocks. Materials and financials dragged on the S&P 500 on Monday, while technology and consumer discretionary were in positive territory. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85.52 points, or 0.25%, to 34,394.08, the S&P 500 gained 7.76 points, or 0.18%, to 4,255.2 and the Nasdaq Composite added 104.72 points, or 0.74%, to 14,174.14. Story continues Having traded up earlier in the day as crude prices hit their highest levels in more than two years, the energy index slipped. Lordstown Motors Corp tumbled after it said Chief Executive Steve Burns and Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez have resigned, days after the electric-truck maker warned that it may not have enough cash to stay in business over the next year. The news weighed on special purpose acquisition companies that are trying to merge with electric-vehicle manufacturers, as Lordstown Motors did. Churchill Capital Corp IV, which is combining with Lucid Motors, and ArcLight Clean Transition Corp, which announced a tie-up with electric bus maker Proterra, were among those lower. Tesla gained as CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the electric-car maker may resume bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin vaulted back above $40,000 on Musk's comments. (Reporting by Medha Singh and Devik Jain in Bengaluru and David French in New York; Editing by Maju Samuel and Dan Grebler) || Bitcoin ETFs Start Trading In Brazil and Dubai. U.S. Yet To Approve One: Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been launched in Brazil and Dubai. However, the United States is yet to approve a single cryptocurrency ETF application. The world’s leading economy is lagging in the cryptocurrency game.
South American giant Brazil and Middle Eastern nation Dubai havelaunched their Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.The ETFs began trading yesterday, the same day the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed its decision on yet another Bitcoin ETF.
The BrazilianBitcoinETF, called the Bitcoin ETF QBTC11, obtained the green light from the country’s regulatory agency in March. Bitcoin ETF QBTC11, launched by QR Capital, began trading on the Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3).
Meanwhile, the DubaiBitcoinETF was launched by the Canadian asset management firm 3iQ. Dubai regulators approved the ETF proposal in April, and it began trading on the Nasdaq Dubai bourse a few hours ago.
Market analysts believe that Bitcoin ETFs would make it easier for institutional investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency market. With Bitcoin ETFs, institutional investors cantrade cryptocurrencieswithout actually holding the coin.
BitcoinETFs are now available in a few countries, including Canada, Brazil and Dubai. However, the United States is yet to approve one despite dealing with numerous proposals. The US SEC announced yesterday that it hadpostponed its decisionon the Valkyrie Bitcoin ETF application until August 10.
The SEC was supposed to decide on June 26. However, it has extended the review period by another 45 days. This is the third application it has postponed the decision process so far this year, after making similar moves with the WisdomTree and VanEck proposals.
Some analysts have tiedBitcoin’sprice prediction to the approval of an ETF in the United States. With a Bitcoin ETF in the US, the cryptocurrency market could be exposed to billions of dollars. The crypto market could also achieve the mainstream status it is seeking.
However, at the moment, institutional investors will have to gain exposure to Bitcoin by investing in ETFs in Canada, Brazil and Dubai or via other investment vehicles.Bitcoin’sprice is down by 2% over the past 24 hours, and it is currently trading just above $33k per coin.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Continue to Favor Upside || NFT Craze Remains a Nonfactor for Ether’s Price: Not everyone’s happy with the rapid growth of the non-fungible tokens (NFTs), especially some people who are already inside the volatile crypto market for a bit longer time, aka, the “crypto natives.”
As NFTs gain popularity despite an overall bearish sentiment in the crypto market, some NFT critics inside the markettookto Twitter blaming the non-crypto natives who cash out theiretherimmediately after NFT sales for the lackluster price movement of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
But according to multiple analysts and market participants, the impact of NFT sales, if any at all, remains a nonfactor on ether’s prices. Instead, the complaint showcases many traders and investors’ frustrations in a dull market.
Related:What Is Bitcoin Freedom?
The speculation “is more like a reflection of the current market sentiment,” Daniel Lv, co-founder of China-based blockchain Nervos Network, told CoinDesk through a representative.
The blame, though, isn’t completely irrational since growth in the NFT market has not quite slowed down partly because of the large number of endorsements it has received from non-crypto celebrities.
The sort of statement or action by non-crypto people like Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, only further legitimated the blame: Beeple, who received his record-breaking $53 million in ether (ETH) for selling his NFT through Christie’s,told The New Yorkerthat he converted ether into fiat, which was seen by the crypto industry as a “betrayal.”
“I’m not remotely a crypto-purist,” he said in The New Yorker interview. “I was making digital art long before any of this [nonsense], and if all this … NFT stuff went away tomorrow, I would still be making digital art.”
Related:Tron, Stuck in Polygon’s Shadow, Deserves Its Own Place in the Sun, Founder Says
Meanwhile, data compiled by CoinDesk Research also shows that the monthly ether flow to centralized exchanges moved in tandem with the monthly NFT trading volume. A large inflow of ether or other cryptocurrencies to exchanges poses some pressure to their prices as more tokens are available for sale on the exchanges.
While all that is happening in the NFT market, ether, the cryptocurrency that is a main payment supporting NFT sales, is down about 50% from its all-time high price a little more than two months ago and is struggling to clear $2,000.
It’s worth pointing out that even when NFT’s monthly trading volume hit its highest level this year in May, the volume denominated by the U.S. dollar was still relatively small at around $250 million compared with the amount of ether deposited on exchanges at nearly $50 billion.
“NFTs, though still extremely popular, are just one component of the Ethereum ecosystem,” said Brian Mosoff, CEO of investment firm Ether Capital.
According toCoinGecko, ether has a circulating supply of about 116.8 million. At the time of publication, more than6.3 millionether are locked in the ETH 2.0 network and about9.6 millionether are locked in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Only about 1.1 million ether went into NFTs this year so far, according to data compiled by blockchain data citeDappRadar.
“We’re far from the stage where ether prices are impacted by NFTs, regardless of non-crypto native sellers entering the space and potentially cashing out their ether,” Patrick Barile, chief operation officer at DappRadar, said via a representative earlier Thursday, citing that NFTs’ trading volume in the past 24 hours was only about 0.1% of ether’s.
That said, ether, alongside other alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins), remains highly correlated withbitcoin, the No. 1 cryptocurrency by market capitalization, despite different fundamentals. When bitcoin gets hit, othersfollow.
“What we are seeing [in ether’s correction] is still a shakeout of new money that entered the space over the last half year,” Mosoff said. “Overzealous newcomers are being tested in their conviction that the asset class is truly here to stay.”
• Bitcoin Momentum Improves; Faces Resistance at $34K
• Bitcoin Options Market Sees Low Chance of Record High This Year || HIVE Expands Its Growth Strategy in Sweden by Sourcing More Green Energy: This news release constitutes a "designated news release" for the purposes of the Company's prospectus supplement dated February 2, 2021, to its short form base shelf prospectus dated January 27, 2021. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 18, 2021 / HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV:HIVE)(OTCQX:HVBTF)(FSE:HBF) (the "Company" or "HIVE") is pleased to announce its recent expansion in Sweden with a 4.6 megawatt ("MW") facility in the town of Robertsfors. This brings the total capacity in Sweden to more than 33 MW and 133 MW worldwide. HIVE has installed itself in the historic 'Diamond Factory' in the small municipality of Robertsfors in the northern part of the country - consistent with its ESG strategy to invest in cold climate locations with access to stable, low-cost, green, and renewable energy sources. HIVE has already established itself on the premises and started production in the first hall while planning their data centre expansion with an option for more space as the need for additional capacity arises. 'We are excited to welcome a long-term and serious customer at the factory', said well-known entrepreneur and landlord Mikael Bergmark at BrukEtt. He continues: 'HIVE is a world-class company that is leading the way for the blockchain sector with its solid ESG strategy; investing only in areas with green and renewable energy, which is precisely what Robertsfors can offer. We are also pleased to see that several local electricity and construction companies are already working in the facility'. HIVE has been operating in Sweden since 2018 and Executive Chairman Frank Holmes believes that this time and commitment to the country has been worthwhile. 'While some companies are struggling to find suitable locations for their entry or expansion in Sweden, HIVE is in the position of choosing among several new opportunities that have been presented to us. This is a testament to our reputation as a reliable operator.' continued Holmes. Story continues About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. went public in 2017 as the first cryptocurrency mining company with a green energy and ESG strategy. We are listed on the TSX.V exchange and our shares have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq. HIVE is a growth-oriented company in an emergent industry. We are building a bridge between the blockchain sector and traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art green energy-powered data centre facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland which produce newly minted digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continuously on the cloud. Since the beginning of 2021, HIVE has accumulated the majority of its ETH and BTC coin production, which we hold in secure storage. Our deployments provide shareholders with exposure to the operating margins of digital currency mining, as well as a portfolio of crypto-coins such as BTC and ETH. HIVE traded over 2 billion shares in 2020. For more information and to register to HIVE's mailing list, please visit www.HIVEblockchain.com . Follow @HIVEblockchain on Twitter and subscribe to HIVE's YouTube channel . On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. "Frank Holmes" Executive Chairman For further information please contact: Frank Holmes Tel: (604) 664-1078 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Information Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. "Forward-looking information" in this news release includes but is not limited to, statements with respect to listing and trading on the Nasdaq; about the Company's program to upgrade and expansion of its cryptocurrency mining equipment; the potential for the Company's long term growth; the business goals and objectives of the Company, and other forward-looking information includes but is not limited to information concerning the intentions, plans and future actions of the parties to the transactions described herein and the terms thereon. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to the Company's ability to successfully mine digital currency; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory, or at all; a decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Company's operations; the volatility of digital currency prices; continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may have a material adverse effect on the Company's performance as supply chains are disrupted and prevent the Company from operating its assets; and other related risks as more fully set out in the Filing Statement of the Company and other documents disclosed under the Company's filings at www.sedar.com . The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions about the current profitability in mining cryptocurrency (including pricing and volume of current transaction activity); profitable use of the Company's assets going forward; the Company's ability to profitably liquidate its digital currency inventory as required; historical prices of digital currencies and the ability of the Company to mine digital currencies will be consistent with historical prices; and there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. SOURCE: HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/652366/HIVE-Expands-Its-Growth-Strategy-in-Sweden-by-Sourcing-More-Green-Energy || Bitcoin On-Chain Analysis: Mining Indicators Suggest BTC Close to a Bottom: BeInCrypto looks at on-chain Bitcoin (BTC) data as it relates to miners. More specifically, the difficulty ribbon compression, the hash ribbon, and the Puell multiple metrics are analyzed. Both the difficulty and hash ribbons show values that have historically been associated with bottoms. In addition, the Puell multiple suggests that the bull run has not yet reached a high. Bitcoin difficulty ribbon compression The Difficulty ribbon is an indicator that creates a band of moving averages (MA) of the Bitcoin mining difficulty. This metric is the estimated number of hashes for mining a block. Difficulty ribbon compression uses a normalized standard deviation in order to quantify the values given by the difficulty ribbon. Low values (those between 0.01 and 0.05) have historically represented periods close to the bottom. The three most notable dips inside this area occurred in January 2013, August 2015, and April 2019, preceding significant BTC price increases. With the exception of two short-lived periods above 0.05, the difficulty ribbon has stayed inside this threshold since April 2020 and is currently at 0.034. Bitcoin Difficulty Ribbon Chart by Glassnode Hash ribbon values Bitcoins difficulty is adjusted every 2016 blocks. This amounts to an adjustment roughly every two weeks. On the other hand, Bitcoins hash rate is calculated each day. This value is based on the number of blocks found by miners each day. Therefore, the difficulty lags the hash rate by two weeks, since the latter is calculated daily, while the former is adjusted once every two weeks. The hash ribbon is an indicator that uses the hash rate in order to determine miner capitulation, meaning that the cost of mining is higher than the rewards. It does that by using a 30-day and 60-day MAs of the hash rate. In the chart below, a cross between the MAs is represented by a shift from light to dark red. Historically, these values have represented bottoms. The indicator has been dark red from May 17 to June 3 and is now back in light red. Nonetheless, it has been some shade of red since the beginning of April. The only other periods that miners capitulated for such a long time were between August 2011-January 2020 and November 2018-January 2019. Bitcoin Hash Ribbon Chart By Glassnode Puell multiple The Puell Multiple is an indicator that divides the dollar value of all coins minted in a single day with a yearly moving average. A high profitability value occurs when current income is considerably above the yearly average. High values are considered those between 4 and 10. In the chart below, these are highlighted in red. Historically , tops have occurred when this indicator reaches values inside this area. Story continues The April 2013 high had a value of 10.1 The December 2013 high had a value of 9.41 The December 2017 high had a value of 6.72 The current Puell Multiple value is 1.17 while the yearly high so far has been 3.43, reached on March 14. Therefore, it has not yet reached the 4-10 level. If the bull run were to end, it would be the first time in recorded history in which the Puell Multiple has not reached a value between 4-10 before a top. Bitcoin Puell Multiple Chart By Glassnode For BeInCryptos latest bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here. View comments || For NFL player Cassius Marsh, the magic came with gathering of nerds: Former pro soccer player Jermaine Jones, left, shows football cards to Cassius Marsh, co-founder of Cash Cards Unlimited, during a visit in May. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) He still remembers it. The same episode, every night, on the TV in his room. A Caterpie evolves into a Metapod. That Metapod evolves into a Butterfree. There was never a new ending to this episode of "Pokémon," the only VHS cassette that Cassius Marsh owned as a kid. At that age, he didn’t have the money to buy another. Yet as he lay horizontally watching the show in his red bunk bed, those same yips and mews and zings never got old. He was hooked on the show’s concept of evolution. Marsh, a former UCLA star and current defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers , grew up loving trading card games based on improving one’s collection, such as "Pokémon" and "Magic: The Gathering." He’s never stopped loving them. “Life is my personal [role-playing game],” Marsh said, smiling. “Wake up and try and build my character, day in and day out.” He’s building his character through training on the football field. He’s building his character as a partner and as a father. He’s building his character, most recently, by co-founding his own trading card shop, Cash Cards Unlimited , in Westlake Village. Cassius Marsh is always evolving. :: It’s a Friday afternoon in late May, and Jermaine Jones, a broad-chested, retired pro soccer player, steps into Cash Cards Unlimited, a shop co-founded by Marsh as the trading card market was experiencing sizable growth. Jones and Marsh stand at the white center island in the middle of the showroom ripping open packs of NFL cards. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Marsh’s thighs, fresh off a morning workout, ripple under bright orange, tiger-striped shorts. But Marsh’s fingers, the nails painted a warm hue of lavender, are delicate with the cards, laying each carefully on the countertop. “A lot of card shop owners, they’re just stoked to have a card shop. But I really wanted to do so much more. I wanted to influence the whole market.” Cassius Marsh, NFL player and longtime trading card collector Story continues Cassius Marsh, left, and friend Nick Nugwynne, co-founders of Cash Cards Unlimited, are photographed inside their business in Westlake Village. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Perhaps the content does not warrant the care. “Packs are dookie!” Marsh exclaims, laughing. He’s carved out a solid football career, but Marsh’s own trading card probably wouldn’t sell for much. A former four-star recruit out of Oaks Christian High in Westlake Village, he was selected in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks. Three years in Seattle preceded stops in New England, San Francisco and Arizona and most recently a 2020 season split between Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. “This last couple years has just been a whirlwind of movement,” said Holly Ann LeBlanc, Marsh’s mother. In that whirlwind, Marsh’s off-field passion has provided moments of stillness. Some players might bring a book on the road to occupy their spare time. Marsh brings some of his "Magic: The Gathering" decks — a strategic, turn-based fantasy card game. “Coaches traditionally teach you that you shouldn’t do anything outside of football — you need to lock in on that, that’s all your mind should ever be thinking about,” Marsh said. “But I think it’s a beautiful thing to be multifaceted.” Marsh has come to be known as the “Foil King” in "Magic" circles for his collection of ultra-rare cards. “Some people probably look at it like, ‘Wow, dude, you’re nuts. What are you doing? That’s so much money you’re spending on these cards,’ ” Marsh said. Shop manager and co-founder Chris Cyre, left, watches Jermaine Jones open up a pack of soccer cards purchased at Cash Cards Unlimited. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Marsh is investing. The rarest "Magic" cards are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Marsh first doubled, then tripled and quadrupled his collection. From that came the co-founding of Cash Cards Unlimited with business manager Nick Nugwynne. The shop is an upscale haven for the "Pokémon," "Magic" or sports trading card fan, with doting staff and even Marsh waiting to engage customers in the world of opening packs to discover what awaits them. One of the most rewarding aspects of the store to Marsh and Nugwynne is watching a kid’s eyes light up when they walk in. Marsh has seen children shed tears just because their grandmother bought them a pack of "Pokémon" cards. Those moments help preserve the childhood memories Marsh says he will never forget. The red bunk bed. The VHS cassette. The wonderment. “That makes you feel good, to feel like a kid again,” Marsh said. “Just opening a pack and opening something, like, epic as f---.” :: Colorful tattoos cover nearly every inch of Marsh’s body. Stringy blond hair falls to his shoulders. Physically, he’s hard to identify from his childhood self. Yet Cassius now is the same as Cassius then, LeBlanc says. At 23, his mother got into a car accident on the freeway that ejected her through the windshield. She broke her back. To this day, she has no feeling in her right foot. But two years later, LeBlanc had Marsh. Off the football field, she was fiercely protective of her son. Marsh didn’t play video games. He wasn’t allowed to sleep over at friends’ houses. He had to find other ways to fill his spare time. "Yu-Gi-Oh" and "Pokémon" beckoned him. As a kid, Marsh’s brother would take him around his apartment complex to battle friends for ownership of rare "Pokémon" cards. One day, the two won a wager for a foil Zaptos. “I was just so fired up,” Marsh recalled, grinning. “And I remember the kid being pissed , right, because it’s a Zaptos!” Customers, including Gabriella Cowan, left, and her father Jeff, from Ventura, visit Cash Cards Unlimited. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Marsh’s immediate friends in later years were a group of football players. He had another crowd that he hung out with too — much older "Magic: The Gathering" fanatics at the hobby shop A Hidden Fortress in Simi Valley. The two circles never mingled. Marsh would disappear on Friday afternoons to go compete. “We were very machismo guys in high school,” said Nugwynne, who went to Oaks Christian at the same time as Marsh. “For us, there was even a stereotype where we felt uncomfortable talking about [trading card games].” For most of his life, Marsh kept the two sides of himself separate. Then in 2016, when Marsh was still with Seattle, he made his interests widely public in a series of tweets after $20,000 worth of "Magic" cards were stolen from his Land Rover. The game’s creator, Wizards of the Coast, dropped off some cards at the Seahawks’ practice facility as a consolation gift. Teammates took notice. “Some guys [poked] fun,” Marsh said. “I didn’t care, because I’m a grown man, like, you can’t pick on me anymore, bro.” Marsh has always been a self-described advocate for the fantasy “nerd” world, one he believes is blooming with beauty. Parents have reached out to thank him for it. “If somebody’s like, ‘Why are you playing that dumb game? It’s so nerdy,’” Marsh said, “they can be like, ‘Well, Cassius Marsh plays that game. And he’s a badass football player.’ ” :: For years, thousands upon thousands of dollars sat in Nugwynne’s parents’ attic, accumulating both layers of dust and value. Not cash or rare coins. A childhood "Pokémon" card collection. Ben Bleiweiss, the general manager of sales for "Magic" retailer StarCityGames.com, has seen massive growth in the trading card market over the last five years. Chief among the reasons for the surge has been the rise in the value of cryptocurrency, Bleiweiss said. “The cryptocurrency allowed people to take what was essentially one alternate investment, being the Bitcoin, and turn it into another alternate investment,” Bleiweiss said. “Which, in this case, were primarily 'Magic' cards and 'Pokémon' cards.” As Nugwynne said, it’s a great time to be a nerd. Marsh always dreamed of opening his own card store but thought he’d wait until his playing days were over. As the market grew in value, he and Nugwynne felt the timeline accelerate. Thanks to their individual collections and sponsorship deals with card distributors, they had an inventory and opened Cash Cards Unlimited in late 2020. The shop itself is a kaleidoscope of colorful anime designs. After entering through a room with a massive "Yu-Gi-Oh" mural, customers walk into the tidy showroom, where shiny "Pokémon" cards abound. Marsh estimates 99% of them are from Nugwynne’s childhood collection. Armando Martinez, left, an employee at Cash Cards Unlimited, grades a rookie card of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert belonging to customer Jeff Cowan, who is visiting with daughter Gabriella. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Marsh would spend Fridays of his childhood in another world at A Hidden Fortress, but his immediate environment contained little more than cardboard and plastic tables. If he had so much fun in such a simple place, Marsh said he thought, what could an enhanced experience bring? “A lot of card shop owners, they’re just stoked to have a card shop,” Marsh said. “But I really wanted to do so much more. I wanted to influence the whole market.” Marsh hopes to turn Cash Cards Unlimited into a chain corporation starting in 2022. “When he wants something, he goes for it,” LeBlanc said. :: Marsh has continued to go for it while bouncing from team to team. The movement has made him uncomfortable at times, fiancé Devyn Adair said. But she thinks that’s given him an opportunity to grow, to become more patient. Understanding. Flexible. “To see him handle what he has handled with his family and with his business with the league and not breaking down — that’s my son,” LeBlanc said. “That’s the man that I raised to be the soldier that he is today.” Marsh is an “amazing father,” in the words of Adair, because he’s still a kid at heart. Two weeks ago, he went to Target and told her he got them a present: bags upon bags of Nerf guns. Later, at a friend's house with Cassius Jr., they divided into teams and waged war. Cassius Jr., of course, was the victor. He toppled Marsh, who crashed to the floor as if he were trying to draw a penalty on the football field. “I’ve never heard him laugh so hard,” Adair said of their son. Marsh says his favorite thing about life is being a father. It was a huge evolution for him, he believes. One could say, his version of turning from a Metapod into a Butterfree. Cash Cards Unlimited shop manager Chris Cyre stocks a shelf inside the store located in Westlake Village. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-12-06]
BTC Price: 50582.62, BTC RSI: 35.31
Gold Price: 1777.50, Gold RSI: 43.01
Oil Price: 69.49, Oil RSI: 38.56
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
THE NORTH AMERICAN BITCOIN CONFERENCE RETURNS TO MIAMI: The Event That Sparks Miamis Blockchain Week Returns For Its Eighth Year Miami, Florida, Nov. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keynote is bringing the highly-anticipated North American Bitcoin Conference back to Miami on Jan 16-19, 2022. This iconic event established Miami Blockchain Week and will return for its eighth year at the James L. Knight Center to kick off the new year with a bang. Riding the momentum and international success of the Fantom Developer Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE last month, TNABC will be a hybrid conference featuring presentations by hand-picked experts in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, roundtable discussions, satellite events, and curated networking opportunities with Keynotes long-established community of curated experts, industry pioneers, and global change-makers. We are ecstatic to return to our home in person after a nearly two-year hiatus and host another meeting of the most powerful and brilliant minds in bitcoin and blockchain. If youre excited for or even curious about the new global economy and digital revolution unfolding in real-time before your eyes, this event is absolutely unmissable, said Moe Levin, CEO of Keynote Limited. The past 12 months have seen a meteoric rise in DeFi value, enormous gains for both Bitcoin and Ethereum, and a dynamic global interest in NFTs. TNABC 2022 will track the highs and lows of digital assets, explore the future of regulation and compliance, and ask how we can collectively make the industry a more equitable, inclusive place. Thousands of crypto thought leaders, executives, change-makers, innovators, developers, and blockchain pioneers will convene in Miami to share strategies and experiences, look towards the future, and develop their networks. The content will be streamed on TNABCs virtual event platform, with live discussion and Q&A opportunities for attendees to probe the minds of our expert speakers. In-person and virtual attendees will celebrate the journey of Bitcoin and blockchain so far, with the return of TNABCs Bitcoin Museum installation, a renewed focus on the dramatic rise and bright future of NFTs, and perhaps even witness another momentous bull run. Story continues TNABC is the conference I look forward to every year, said Harry Yeh, managing director of Quantum Fintech Group. Returning live in person for the first time since 2019, it is THE conference in the blockchain space that sets the stage for all blockchain events for the rest of the year! Aside from Miami being one of my favorite cities to visit in the United States, the conference also brings together the best and the brightest of the blockchain ecosystem. Im excited to be working with the Keynote team to bring this world-class event back to Miami. First confirmed speakers include: Charlie Shrem , Bitcoin pioneer and host, Untold Stories Peter Smith , CEO and founder, Blockchain.com Nick Spanos , co-founder, Zap.org Jenna Pilgrim , CEO, Streambed Media Harry Yeh , managing director, Quantum Fintech Group Alex Tapscott , managing director, Ninepoint Partners Maja Vujinovic , CEO, OGroup Halsey Minor , founder and CEO, Live Planet, Inc Craig Sellars , co-founder, Tether The North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami is hosted for its eighth year by Keynote, which is responsible for the largest and longest-running conferences in the blockchain space, such as the World Blockchain Forum (WBF) and the Fantom Developer Conference. Keynote seeks to inspire and enable the blockchain and crypto community across all skill levels, continue to move the conversation forward, and help shape their ecosystems. First release tickets are now on sale at btcmiami.com with a scheduled price increase coming soon. A full confirmed speakers list can also be found at btcmiami.com/speakers Media Contacts: Lyndsey Robson lyndsey@keynote.ae www.btcmiami.com || Cryptocurrency Predictions for 2022: ozgurdonmaz / Getty Images Cryptocurrency has boomed in popularity over the past few years, to the point that the alternative investment class has essentially gone mainstream. While Bitcoin was the first and still remains the best-known cryptocurrency, literally thousands of other cryptos have entered the scene. Part of the reason for the hype surrounding the asset class is the tremendous returns that have been earned by some investors. Bitcoin, for example, was the best-performing asset from March 2011 to March 2021, with a staggering 230% annualized return. The next best-performing asset class over that time period was the Nasdaq-100 ETF, symbol QQQ, with “just” a 20% annualized return. But, what’s to come for the rapidly growing cryptocurrency market? Here’s a look at some of the most popular cryptocurrency predictions for 2022. Options: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Buy Consider: 8 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021 Ethereum May Overtake Bitcoin Ethereum is not as widely known as Bitcoin, but it should be. Currently, Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency, and its gains have been outpacing Bitcoin’s. If current trajectories continue, Ethereum may very well overtake Bitcoin as the most valuable cryptocurrency sometime in 2022. This might make Ethereum an interesting choice for investors looking to diversify their crypto portfolios away from simply owning Bitcoin. Economy Explained: Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment Cryptos Will Become More Accepted as a Payment Source One of the major bear cases against cryptocurrency is that it’s not accepted as a viable substitute for traditional currencies. If this scenario plays out, many cryptocurrencies may indeed become worthless. However, just the opposite has been happening in 2021, and the trend seems likely to continue into 2022. As more and more businesses begin accepting cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as legal tender, both the viability and the value of cryptos will likely increase. Story continues Consider: Dogecoin: Is It Still Worth an Investment? More Countries Will Adopt Crypto as Legal Currency In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Alexander Höptner, the CEO of the crypto exchange giant BitMEX, feels that five or more countries could follow suit in 2022 and adopt crypto as legal currency. If these adoptions prove to be successful, it’s likely that other countries may look into adopting crypto as well. Do You Know? Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From? Central Banks Will Issue Their Own Digital Currencies China has been leading the push among nations to adopt its own central bank-issued digital currency. In an effort to fend off threats from existing cryptocurrencies, many other countries are also looking into creating their own digital currencies. By managing and controlling their own digital currencies, countries can avoid the unregulated, decentralized nature of existing cryptocurrencies. Beyond Bitcoin: Looking at Some Crypto Financial Jargon Investors and Companies Alike May Raise Their Crypto Allocations As cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream, it’s being adopted with more regularity into the portfolios of both individual investors and companies. Some financial advisors now recommend cryptocurrency allocations of a few percentage points, and more companies are allocating cash to cryptos and digital assets. These types of allocation shifts tend to take on their own momentum, meaning more and more money is likely to be flowing into cryptocurrencies in 2022. Find Out: What Is Chainlink and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency? Some, and Perhaps Many, Cryptos Will Become Valueless While general trends toward the acceptance of cryptocurrency seem to be increasing, with thousands of cryptos out there all competing for a space in the industry, it’s inevitable that some, if not many, will lose all of their value. Industry leader Bitcoin still has plenty of major investors lined up against it, suggesting that ultimately the value of Bitcoin will be $0. If the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency topples, there likely won’t be much support for the thousands of lesser cryptos that are not nearly as useful or accepted. Take a Look: The 10 Wildest Things Selling as NFTs The Bottom Line Although cryptocurrencies have exploded in visibility and valuation, they’re still a long way from being used as mainstream currencies or sources of payment. Even if digital currencies do eventually supplant or at least co-exist with traditional paper currencies, it’s difficult for investors to predict exactly which cryptocurrencies will survive, let alone which one will be the dominant long-term player in the industry. Still, it seems quite likely that cryptocurrencies will continue to make gains in usage, visibility and even valuation in 2022. While not all of the predictions on this list will come to pass, it’s likely that at least a few of them will. If you want to participate in this emerging market, consult with your financial advisor to determine if cryptocurrency should play a role in your investment portfolio. More From GOBankingRates 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social Security Social Security Benefits Might Get Cut Early — What Does It Mean for You? Navy Federal cashRewards Review: With Great Benefits Come Great Rewards 15 Mortgage Questions To Ask Your Lender This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Cryptocurrency Predictions for 2022 || Crypto Community’s Latest Kryptonite: A Tungsten Cube: ozgurdonmaz / Getty Images The latest frenzy in the crypto world is not a meme stock , not a canine-related coin, not even rallying “to the moon” calls from various famous crypto enthusiasts. See: GameStop NFT Marketplace Rumors Swirl — What It Means for the Future of the Meme Stock Find: Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Whitepaper Turns 13 — How Rich Is the Anonymous Crypto-Creator Today? It’s a cube. Not any kind of cube, mind you, a tungsten cube. And while carrying a relatively expensive price tag, it’s cheaper than the lambos from the “crypto bros” days of yore. And now, the cube has attained so much fame that it’s getting its own NFT. And yes, you can go on a yearly pilgrimage to touch it. One company — Willowbrook, Illinois-based Midwest Tungsten Service — is the lucky beneficiary of the recent tungsten demand from the crypto community, as it saw its demand surge in the past month. Sean Murray, Director of Ecommerce at Midwest Tungsten Service, told GOBankingRates that the recent “off the charts” surge started on October 12, driven by people active on Twitter. Tungsten is known as one of the toughest things found in nature. It is super dense and almost impossible to melt, according to Live Science. “Nic Carter [partner at blockchain and cryptoasset venture firm Castle Island] has been a Tungsten enthusiast for a while now and he tweeted about it and then it spread wider with the Wall Street Journal article,” Murray says. “That bandwagonned into a half-joking, half-serious thing about the enthusiasm and propelled it forward.” Carter, (nic cubeter on Twitter) who describes himself in his Twitter bio as the “dispenser of tungsten” told the WSJ that the physical heft of the cubes contrasts with the intangible nature of cryptomarkets. “We’re just deprived of physical totems of our affection, and so tungsten fills that hole in our hearts,” he told the WSJ. The cubes come in different sizes, but Murray says that the best-selling one is the 1.5 inch one, which retails for $190. The 4-inch cube costs $3000. Story continues “I would say they’re dealing in digital virtual currencies and tokens and it feels (for them) a grounding in the physical world to have a tungsten cube and it’s the opposite in a way from other stuff,” Murray says when asked what he makes of the trend. And if you want one, fear not. Despite the demand, there is no risk of shortage, Murray says. “We’ve been fortunate and there’s no risk of supply chain shortage as it’s formed in machines for cube shapes, and we have a very good supply of inventory of all the shapes.” The company also had to hire more workers to help with the packaging because of the surge. And because things move fast in the crypto world, it was only a matter of days before the company was approached about creating an NFT. “But that’s not something we’ve had experience with, so at first we rejected it,” Murray says, adding, “I barely knew what an NFT was.” The company had to design a special room where the cube will be placed once the NFT is purchased, Murray says. The 14″ 1,784 lb Tungsten Cube NFT, which is described as “a real-world cube we store for you or you can burn to redeem,” will be placed in production when the NFT is purchased just as a typical custom part would be, Murray says. The auction for the cube is on NFT marketplace Opensea. The starting bid is at 47.74 ETH, which is approximately $205,700 as of today, and 10% of the proceeds above the auction starting price will go to a mutually agreed-upon charitable organization. “This NFT represents a real-world physical cube that will be stored at Midwest Tungsten Service headquarters and owned by the NFT owner. One visit to see/photograph/touch the cube per calendar year will be allowed and scheduled with a Midwest Tungsten Service representative,” according to a description on OpenSea. “Unlockable content required for scheduling and proof of ownership required for entry. The cube will be stored in a room of its own that will be locked and only accessible by the NFT owner.” Alex Salnikov, co-founder and head of product at one of the largest NFT marketplaces Rarible, tells GOBankingRates that “the tungsten cube trend originated in the crypto community, so it was only a matter of time before NFTs would accelerate it further.” “Owning a token that grants you exclusive access to a 14.545-inch, 2,000-pound metal cube stored at some warehouse might sound surreal now, but the metaverse will be full of NFT-powered experiences that blur the line between the digital and the physical,” he says. The company also lists on Opensea the numerous rules around the cube and the”cube visit.” “Subsequent owners of the NFT cannot visit the cube in a year in which the cube has already been visited. The cube will not be available to view until 12 weeks after the first sale. Burning the NFT will result in shipment to the most recent owner via freight truck, owner will be responsible for alerting Midwest Tungsten Service of the intention to burn and transport after freight drop-off. During each annual visit or once annually while the cube is stored with Midwest Tungsten Service, options for replacing the cube with a larger size (if available, based on improved manufacturing capabilities) will be presented to the current NFT holder.” See: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Buy Find: The Hype Around NFTs: What Are They? And How Pricey Do They Get? Alex DiNunzio, CEO and Co-Founder of Jambb, a digital-comedy-collectibles startup giving comedians the opportunity to create additional revenue streams from their content through NFTs, says that while this is certainly a bizarre story, crypto is changing the world in unexpected ways. “In the future, we’ll see similar examples of NFTs blurring the lines of what people deem as artistic and valuable in a way that gives physical objects meaning in a digital space,” he says. “The rise of tungsten cube orders highlights the immense power of the crypto community — like so many of these trends, it all started with a funny meme and a few jokes, then the community magnified interest through a collective conversation in places like Twitter and Discord. Is there something comforting in an oft-tumultuous crypto environment in having something physical to hold in your hands? Sure. But the main takeaway here is just how powerful our community is .” More From GOBankingRates 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social Security NEW POLL: How Much Will You Spend Over the Holidays Relative to Last Year? Navy Federal cashRewards Review: With Great Benefits Come Great Rewards How To Refinance a Mortgage This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Crypto Community’s Latest Kryptonite: A Tungsten Cube || GBP/USD Daily Forecast U.S. Dollar Is Moving Lower Against British Pound: British Pound Tries To Gain Ground Against U.S. Dollar GBP/USD is currently trying to settle back above 1.3780 while the U.S. dollar is losing some ground against a broad basket of currencies. The U.S. Dollar Index continues its attempts to settle below the support level at 93.50. In case the U.S. Dollar Index manages to settle below this level, it will move towards the next support level at the 50 EMA at 93.40 which will be bullish for GBP/USD. There are no important economic reports scheduled to be released in the U.S. and UK today so foreign exchange market traders will focus on general market sentiment and the developments in U.S. government bond markets. The yield of 10-year Treasuries is currently trying to settle back above 1.65% after the significant pullback. In case this attempt is successful, the yield of 10-year Treasuries will move towards the recent highs near 1.70% which will be bullish for the American currency. Technical Analysis GBP/USD failed to settle below the support level at 1.3745 and is trying to get back above the resistance level at 1.3780. RSI remains in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge. If GBP/USD manages to settle above the resistance at 1.3780, it will get to the test of the next resistance level at 1.3800. A successful test of the resistance at 1.3800 will open the way to the test of the next resistance at 1.3835. If GBP/USD settles above this level, it will move towards the resistance at 1.3875. On the support side, the nearest support level for GBP/USD is located at 1.3745. In case GBP/USD manages to settle below this level, it will gain additional downside momentum and move towards the next support level which is located at the 50 EMA at 1.3715. A successful test of the support at the 50 EMA will push GBP/USD towards the next support level at 1.3690. For a look at all of todays economic events, check out our economic calendar . Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis Reaction to 15378.75 Pivot Sets the Tone Oil Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast Bullish Sentiment Over Low US Supplies Driving Price Action Bitcoin and Ethereum Weekly Technical Analysis October 25th, 2021 U.S. Dollar Index (DX) Futures Technical Analysis Strengthens Over 93.825, Weakens Under 93.430 Crude Oil Price Update Sustained Move Over $85.25 Will Officially Put $90.00 on the Radar Meme Coin Campaigns On OKEx Helps Push OKBs Price Up By Over 60% || Market Sees Red as Bitcoin Drops to $42K, Liquidations Total $1.8B: BeInCrypto –
Saturday saw nearly $2 billion in liquidations as the market tumbled to a two-month low.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Extends Losses While Traders Remain Bullish on Ether: Cryptocurrencies were mostly lower on Friday aside from a few standouts such as Terra’s LUNA token, which wasup about 9%over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin was trading at the lower end of its weeklong trading range around $53,000 at the time of publication, which is below its $1 trillion market capitalization.
BTC, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is up about 2% over the past week compared to a 7% gain in ether and a 13% gain in Solana’s SOL token over the same period. The dispersion in weekly returns suggests that alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) are starting to outperform.
• Bitcoin (BTC): $53,528, -6.2%
• Ether (ETH): $4,218, -7.2%
• S&P 500: -0.9%
• Gold: $1,783, +0.8%
• 10-year Treasury yield closed at 1.36%
Some analysts are paying close attention to the slower pace of global monetary easing, which could reduce investors’ appetite for speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies and equities.
“In our view, the speed with which global liquidity contracts is the most important factor for cryptocurrency performance in the weeks ahead and possibly even into early 2022,”Coinbasewrote in a newsletter to institutional clients on Friday. The U.S. crypto exchange noted that overall market performance could be mixed heading into the U.S. Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Dec. 14-15.
“The steady unwinding of monetary accommodation in 2022 points to both lower returns for equities and losses for bonds, and greater volatility than over the past 20 months,”MRB Partners, a global investment research firm, wrote in a Friday report.
Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, continues to struggle below its all-time price high of $4,865. The current pullback in ETH could stabilize around the $4,000 support level, although the price rally since the July low around $1,740 is starting to fade.
On a relative basis, ether is poised to outperform bitcoin if a breakout above 0.08 in the ETH/BTC ratio is confirmed next week. Charts still show significant resistance, which preceded downturns in ETH/BTC during the 2018 crypto bear market.
“This [pending] breakout is essential because it represents a resistance line going back to the 2017 top when one ETH was 0.15 BTC. The monthly close of the ETH/BTC chart was the highest bullish close in 45 months,” Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, chief product officer atBitpanda, wrote in an email to CoinDesk.
For now, the options market remains bullish on ether. The chart below shows the largest number ofcallswith an exercise price of $5,000 ETH.
• Terra’s LUNA token surges to new all-time high after big week of gains:The token of the Ethereum competitor surged to an all-time high price of $69.91 Friday afternoon after starting the week at around $49. The token climbed to become the 11th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surpassing the token of another Ethereum competitor, Avalanche, and meme coin shiba inu,according to data from CoinGecko.
• Blockchain.comto introduce NFT marketplace:Crypto exchange and digital wallet providerBlockchain.comis developing a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFT) because of to increased interest in the sector,reported CoinDesk’s Jamie Crawley. The Luxembourg-headquartered company has opened a waiting list for the new platform, which will allow users to buy, sell and store NFTs. The existing process for buying an NFT is “complex and unintuitive,”Blockchain.comsaid. The company aims to make it more straightforward and user friendly by adding NFT functionality directly into its wallet.
• Crypto lender Celsius admits losses in$120 million BadgerDAO hack:Crypto lender Celsius Network confirmed the company has lost money from the latest decentralized finance (DeFi) hack on BadgerDAO,reported CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen. During an ask-me-anything (AMA) YouTube live stream on Friday, Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky said the company “lost money” in the BadgerDAO hack without specifying the value of the losses.
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Most digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day lower.
Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• Polygon (MATIC): +8.0%
Notable losers:
• Uniswap (UNI): -11.4%
• Cardano (ADA): -8.8% || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – October 22nd, 2021: Bitcoin, BTC to USD, slid by 5.76% on Thursday. Reversing a 2.73% gain from Wednesday, Bitcoin ended the day at $62,219.5.
A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to a late morning intraday high $66,643.0 before hitting reverse.
Falling short of the first major resistance level at $67.474, Bitcoin slid to a mid-afternoon intraday low $61,855.0.
The sell-off saw Bitcoin fall through the first major support level at $64,051 and the second major support level at $62,082.
Finding late support, however, Bitcoin broke back through the second major support level to end the day at $62,200 levels.
The near-term bullish trend remained intact, supported the latest return to $66,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need a sustained fall through the 62% FIB of $27,237 to form a near-term bearish trend.
Across the rest of the majors, it was a mixed day on Thursday.
Chainlink(+2.88%) and Polkadot (+2.35%) avoided the red on the day.
It was a bearish day for the rest of the majors, however.
Binance Coinslid by 6.06% to lead the way down, withLitecoin(-5.07%) andRipple’s XRP(-5.04%) also struggling.
Bitcoin Cash SV(-3.45%),Cardano’s ADA(-2.39%),Crypto.com Coin(-2.00%), andEthereum(-2.59%) saw relatively modest losses, however.
In the current week, the crypto total market fell to a Monday low $2,386bn before rising to a Thursday high $2,741bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $2,563bn.
Bitcoin’s dominance rose to a Wednesday high 47.72% before falling to a Thursday low 45.84%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 45.93%.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.33% to $62,426.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin fall to an early morning low $62,141.0 before rising to a high $62,426.0.
Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
Elsewhere, it was a bullish start to the day.
At the time of writing, Chainlink was up by 0.80% to lead the way.
Bitcoin would need to move through the $63,573 pivot to bring the first major resistance level at $65,290 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break back through to $65,000 levels.
Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level and Thursday’s high $66,643.0 would likely cap the upside.
In the event of another breakout, Bitcoin could test resistance at $70,000 levels before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $68,361.
Failure to move through the $63,573 would bring the first major support level at $60,502 into play.
Barring another extended sell-off on the day, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$60,000 levels, however. The second major support level sits at $58,785.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – October 22nd, 2021 || Why BlackBerry Shares Are Rising: BlackBerry Limited(NYSE:BB) shares are trading higher after the company announced announced the availability of a QNX Hypervisor and VIRTIO-based reference design to virtualize Android Automotive OS on the 3rd generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit platform.
The company is collaborating withAlphabet Inc.(NASDAQ:GOOG) andQUALCOMM Incorporated(NASDAQ:QCOM) to drive advancements on the next generation Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit platform.
The reference design demonstrates fast-boot and sharing of audio, graphics, video, touchscreen, vehicle HAL sharing, USB and streaming video between the digital instrument cluster and the infotainment system powered by Android Automotive OS enabling Tier 1s and OEMs to deliver the ultimate cockpit experience, said in the press release.
BlackBerry Limited provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including 195M vehicles.
BlackBerry's stock was trading about 8.2% higher at $10.10 per share on Wednesday at the time of publication The stock has a 52-week high of $28.77 and a 52-week low of $4.44.
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Metaverse Land Sales on Major Blockchains Surpass $100M in a Week: Ethereum-based projects are taking the lead in the metaverse space as the emerging sector continues to become popular. However, investors are also looking atSolana-based projects as their adoption grows.
A recentbought a virtual land on Decentraland for $2.5 millionhas revealed that interest in metaverse land has reached a new peak. Over the past week, the sale of virtual real estate on metaverse projects reached $100 million.
This is the highest amount investors have spent on virtual real estate since the emergence of the latest trend. Metaverse land is a virtual property in the form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which are unique digital tokens that can represent ownership in virtually anything online.
The report pointed out that most of the metaverse land activities currently take place on the Ethereum blockchain. This is not surprising considering that Ethereum remains the leading programmable blockchain in the world.
Solana is another blockchain that is gaining traction in the metaverse space. The report revealed that Solana’s metaverse projects are currently competing with that of Ethereum in terms of market activity.
This latest report comes just a week after a virtual land on the Axie Infinity platform wassold for 550 ETH(approximately $2.3 million at the time.) Tokens.com, a Canadian investment firm, alsobought a virtual land on Decentraland for $2.5 million, making it one of the most expensive metaverse land acquisitions.
Popular rapper Snoop Dogg is currently building a mansion inside The Sandbox metaverse.
The entry of such popular figures could help boost the adoption of the metaverse. DappRadar said,“The wave of attention towards virtual worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland started with Facebook’s rebranding toMeta.”
The crypto analytics platform said metaverse land is the next big hit in the NFT world. The site said they expect metaverse land sales to continue to grow as they become industry standard in the cryptocurrency space.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Shiba Inu Coin – Daily Tech Analysis – December 3rd, 2021 || Binance To Delist CNY Trading Zone, Halt Crypto Services To Users In Mainland China: The worlds largest crypto exchange plans to restrict all users in Mainland China from trading crypto on its platform by the end of the year. What Happened: On Wednesday, Binance announced it will delist the CNY trading zone on Dec. 31, 2021. At the same time, Binance will conduct an inventory of platform users. If the platform finds users in mainland China, their corresponding accounts will be switched to the withdrawal only mode, and users will only be able to withdraw, withdraw, redeem, and close positions, stated the crypto exchange. Binance said the new measures were in response to the regulatory requirements of the local government. Following the announcement, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC ) fell from around $56,300 to $55,200, shedding 2% of its value within 30 minutes. China has maintained a strict anti-crypto stance since 2017, reiterating that crypto trading and mining activities are prohibited within the nation, several times over the years. However, the countrys residents continued to trade cryptocurrency by taking advantage of the hard-to-trace nature of crypto transactions on OTC desks. To me, its giving back the profits I made in the past few months, he said. Im looking at the 10- to 20-year horizon, said Charles, a 35-year-old real estate consultant in Shanghai, to Bloomberg earlier this year. According to a report from a local crypto news publication 8BTCnews , investors in the region are already on the lookout for loopholes to Binances upcoming trading restrictions. Seems like if you search 'overseas kyc' on Chinese biggest shopping app Taobao, you can buy accounts with foreign identity kyc. #Crypto #China pic.twitter.com/2eJgEKmh9C 8BTCnews (@btcinchina) October 13, 2021 Overseas KYCs are reportedly available on the Chinese shopping app Tababao where users can buy foreign identity documents to register on crypto exchanges. Story continues Photo: Executium on Unsplash See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Soros Fund Management Confirms Trading Crypto, Says It's Interested In DeFi Mark Cuban Says People Prefer Dogecoin Over Bitcoin When Buying Dallas Mavericks Merch: Here's Why © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: down || Prices: 50700.09, 50504.80, 47672.12, 47243.30, 49362.51, 50098.34, 46737.48, 46612.63, 48896.72, 47665.43
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-06-01]
BTC Price: 7541.45, BTC RSI: 39.91
Gold Price: 1294.80, Gold RSI: 41.45
Oil Price: 65.81, Oil RSI: 37.02
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Every cryptocurrency’s nightmare scenario is happening to Bitcoin Gold: Gold ingots of 999 purity, used for the production of gold medals for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, are seen at the Adamas jewellery factory in Moscow Bitcoin Gold is a fork, or spin-off, of the original cryptocurrency, bitcoin. It shares much of the same code and works in a similar way to bitcoin, with Bitcoin Gold miners contributing computational power to process new transactions. That also means it faces the same vulnerabilities as bitcoin, but without the protections that come from the large, dispersed group of people and organizations whose computers are powering the bitcoin blockchain. In recent days the nightmare scenario for any cryptocurrency is playing out for Bitcoin Gold, as an attacker has taken control of its blockchain and proceeded to defraud cryptocurrency exchanges. All the Bitcoin Gold in circulation is valued at $786 million, according to data provider Coinmarketcap . Blockchains are designed to be decentralized but when an individual or group acting in concert controls the majority of a blockchain’s processing power, they can tamper with transactions and pave the way for fraud. This is known as a 51% attack. A NASA photographer caught the perfect SpaceX launch shot. Then his camera melted The possibility of a 51% attack has been one of the concerns institutions such as banks and tech companies have had over the years about using the blockchain for transactions; some have worried that the Chinese government could at some point endeavor to do that, ordering all of the Chinese bitcoin miners to act in concert. It’s unlikely for bitcoin, but for smaller cryptocurrencies, 51% attacks are a concern, one dramatized on a recent episode of HBO’s series Silicon Valley . Fawning Fox News pundits pushed Trump towards a North Korea failure Silicon Valley Season 5 Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/3cZFPRrRN_g #HBO #SiliconValley Subscribe to the HBO YouTube Channel: https://goo.gl/JQUfqt Don’t have HBO? Order Now: https://play.hbonow.com/ Get More Silicon Valley: Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SiliconHBO/ Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/siliconHBO Official Site: http://www.hbo.com/silicon-valley Get More HBO: Get HBO GO: https://play.hbogo.com/ Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HBO Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hbo Like on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hbo/ Subscribe on Tumblr: http://hbo.tumblr.com/ Official Site: http://www.hbo.com In the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success. Mike Judge (Office Space, Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill) brings his irreverent brand of humor, and his own experiences working in Silicon Valley, to the award-winning comedy now entering its third season." /> Story continues Cryptocurrency miners commit their computer processing power—or hash power—to adding new transactions to a coin’s blockchain. They are rewarded in units of the coin in return. The idea is that these incentives create competition among miners to add more hash power to the chain. The more hash power is added, the better the chances of winning a reward. So what’s a 51% attack? It’s when a single miner controls more than half of the hash power on a particular blockchain. When this happens, that miner can mess with transactions in a bunch of ways, including spending coins twice. This is the “ double-spending problem ,” a puzzle surrounding digital money that has vexed computer scientists for years—and which was solved by bitcoin. But the solution only holds if no single miner controls the majority of the hash power on a chain. Bitcoin Gold has been experiencing double-spending attacks for at least a week, according to forum posts by Bitcoin Gold director of communications Edward Iskra. Someone has taken control of more than half of Bitcoin Gold’s hash rate and is double-spending coins. Since an attacker must spend coins in his or her possession, and can’t conjure up new coins, the attack is somewhat limited. What’s happening now, according to Iskra, is that exchanges that automatically accept large deposits are being targeted. The fraudster deposits Bitcoin Gold into an account at an exchange, where coins are traded. Once the exchange credits the Bitcoin Gold to the attacker’s account, the attacker trades those coins for another cryptocurrency and withdraws it. The attacker can repeatedly make deposits of the same Bitcoin Gold it deposited in the first exchange and profit in this way. A bunch of other cryptocurrencies have been attacked in similar ways recently. Something called Verge has been hit twice in the last two months, leading to $2.7 million being stolen. The exotic-sounding coins Monacoin and Electroneum have also suffered from 51% attacks not too long ago. A 51% attack isn’t likely to hit bitcoin any time soon. Bitcoin Gold has a lot less hash rate securing it than bitcoin. Bitcoin miners are contributing about a million times more processing power than Bitcoin Gold miners at the moment. To give you an idea of how much money would be required to capture more than half of the bitcoin network, in 2013 the processing power on the bitcoin network was already greater than the 500 most powerful supercomputers combined— by eightfold (although it’s worth noting that the comparison isn’t entirely fair, since the specialized chips mining bitcoin can only perform one operation, instead of general computing). In the five years since, bitcoin’s hash rate has increased by about 1.4 million times. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: The five stages of grief, in GDPR email subject lines Read North Korea’s gentle response to Trump calling off his summit with Kim Jong Un View comments || Regulators Disclose Plan To Crack Down On Cryptocurrency Investment Schemes: Regulators in Canada and in the U.S. have disclosed that they will soon launch an expansive crackdown on a number of the cryptocurrency investment schemes. The same message was also echoed on Monday by the North American Securities Administrators Association.
SEE:China’s IFCERT Tracks Down 421 Fake Cryptocurrencies; 60% Run By Overseas Servers
The launch of investigations
Recent reports indicate about 40 state and provincial watchdogs are participating in the “Operation Crypto-Sweep,” which has so far managed to trigger about 70 investigations. The coordinated effort focuses on the initial coin offerings which happens to be a cryptocurrency fundraising process as well as on a wide range of other “investment schemes.”
The director of enforcement at the Texas State Securities Board, Joseph Rotunda, outlined that the market for cryptocurrency investments despite many efforts remained saturated with fraud.The international task force is still far from accomplishing its work.Accordingto Rotunda, “Promoters also know that anyone can be anyone and say anything about anything on the internet. Not surprisingly, they are also manipulating photographs, media, testimonials and other online information to deceive the public into believing their claims.”
Ways companies deviate and the warning sent out
Texas regulators in May sent out a warning letter to BTCrush, which is based in the U.K. According to them, it was a total violation of the securities laws and had also misled quite a significant number of investors through its marketing. The crackdown will also involve participation from the Massachusetts regulators. According to the state’s secretary of the commonwealth, William Francis Galvin around 30,000 crypto-related domain name registrations were tracked down by the task force of NASAA and most of them were created sometime in late 2017 at the time the Bitcoin (BTC) prices escalated to around $20,000.
Time and again the business guru has published videos, which show the interior and workings of what was believed to be the three fully operating mining farms. It was in a report unveiled by the regulators that it was disclosed that most of these videos had been sourced from publicly available stock footage.
The Texas regulator is also up against Wind Wide Coin, which is said to have used pictures of celebrities including Prince Charles and Jennifer Aniston in the advertisement of its cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is trading at $8330.28 down $89.37 (1.0614%) with about $471MM trading hands in the last 24 hours. Bitcoins current market cap is about $142 Billion USD.
Ethereum (ETH-USD) is trading at $687.39 down $9.34 or 1.3% and Ripple (XRP-USD) is trading at $.66 down almost 1%.
The postRegulators Disclose Plan To Crack Down On Cryptocurrency Investment Schemesappeared first onMarket Exclusive. || Gold: Here’s Why It’s the Original Bitcoin: I spent most of my professional life studying the nature of money, finally concluding that it’s not a thing at all. Money is an intermediary in the exchange of value. It’s not value itself. It’s a verb. Gold was once considered money because it was a good intermediary. It was rare and portable. It was attractive and easily understood by most people. But if Aladdin emerged from a nearby cave with tons of gold, the value of gold would plunge. Gold is, in the end, a commodity. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips 7 Cheap Stocks With Strong Technical Signals So far in 2018, the price of gold has held up better than the price of stocks but most analysts understand its value is tied to its use as a commodity , not a currency. Despite this, you may be reading that many investors are now buying Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) tied to gold, worried about the international situation. They’re also buying bitcoin. Gold Doesn’t Hold Up During the last five years the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEARCA: GLD ) is down about 5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 60%. GLD has not felt the market wobble that began in late January, and since January 26 is only down 3% against a Dow drop of 7%. Of course, you can plot out graphs across any distance in time to prove almost anything. Consider the value of GLD over the last three years, compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTCMKTS: GBTC ), a mutual fund tied to bitcoin. They’re all within 1% of each other, and within 1% of even as well, although GBTC is far more volatile. Gold does have advantages as a store of value. New supplies can be estimated accurately, as can demand for jewelry and electronics. It is fungible, and can be exchanged for any currency, or bartered directly for goods. Bitcoin has many of these advantages. The total number of answers to the bitcoin puzzle is limited. Given that it exists only in a computer, it is highly transportable, and can be exchanged for any currency. It can also be bartered for goods. Story continues But that doesn’t make bitcoin money. That makes bitcoin a commodity, one with a total market cap of $159 billion as of May 10. The world’s gold supply is worth over $7 trillion. What Makes Gold Useful What makes gold useful today is that $7 trillion market size, which is half the market cap of the NASDAQ. But gold is also like Roman Numerals, unwieldy and limited. The largest Roman Numeral was M for 1,000, so once numbers got serious they also got impossible. The same thing happens if you try to travel with, say, 50 pounds of gold in your pocket. Gold can stand in for small values, in a pinch. A few ounces will carry value in any country where you find yourself. But any more than that and you’re going to be weighted down. Land in any civilized country and you’re better off carrying a bitcoin wallet. The Bottom Line The price of gold peaked in late 2011, at slightly over $1,800 per ounce. It currently sits at about $1,354 , midway between that and its January 2016 low of under $1,100. That, however, is only its price against one currency. Measured against the ruble, gold looks better. Measured against a collapsed currency like that of Zimbabwe or Venezuela and it looks even better, if you can keep it safe. Warning: 5 Stocks to Ditch in May and Go Away (Including Tesla Inc) It’s safety, and life, that’s the real store of value. If the global economy collapses, that will be all that matters. Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of the historical mystery romance The Reluctant Detective Travels in Time , available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn . As of this writing he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this story. More From InvestorPlace 7 High-Growth, High-Risk Stocks to Invest In Right Now 5 Beaten-Down Stocks to Scoop Up Now 3 Marijuana ETFs With Potential to Harvest 10 High-Tech Gifts Mom Would Love for Mother’s Day Compare Brokers The post Gold: Here’s Why It’s the Original Bitcoin appeared first on InvestorPlace . || The Ethereum Classic Investment Trust (ETCG) Is Trading at a 300% Premium over Its NAV: The Ethereum Classic Investment Trust (OTC: ETCG) is currently trading at a premium of more than 300 percent over the value of the fund’s underlying assets.
The fund, a product of Grayscale Investments, provides investors with exposure toethereum classic(ETC) by holding the cryptocurrency on their behalf. Each share of ETCG is equivalent to just under 0.97 ETC, though this figure declines over time as the fund sells assets to cover Grayscale’s three percent annual management fee.
According to data supplied by Grayscale, each ETCG share had a net asset value (NAV) of $14.21 when the markets closed on Tuesday, giving the fund a total valuation of $54.3 million. However, shares of ETCG are currently priced at $57.30 on the open market, representing a premium of 303 percent over NAV.
As CCNreported, ETCG is the second Grayscale fund to be publicly quoted on OTC Markets, enabling retail investors to trade shares through conventional brokerage accounts. Previously, ETCG was only available to accredited investors, who could purchase shares directly from Grayscale through a private placement.
Since Grayscale shares cannot be redeemed for “physical” cryptocurrency, their prices frequently diverge from their NAV due to market forces. TheBitcoin Investment Trust(OTC: GBTC), the firm’s other publicly-quoted fund, is currently priced at a 61 percent premium, though it has traded at more than double its NAV in the past.
ETCG’s steep premium likely stems from the fund’s low liquidity. Although the fund can now be traded on brokerage platforms, investors have been keeping a tight fist on their shares. Data from OTC Markets indicates that fund has had an average daily volume of 8,739 shares over the past month, which equates to approximately $500,000 at the current share price.
However, there is also speculation that some investors may be mistaking the fund for the similarly-namedEthereum Investment Trust, which is currently only available through a private placement. That fund’s NAV, incidentally, is $53.41.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postThe Ethereum Classic Investment Trust (ETCG) Is Trading at a 300% Premium over Its NAVappeared first onCCN. || Apple, Inc.'s 16% Dividend Increase -- What You Need to Know: Along with itssecond-quarter results,Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL)announced an increase to its quarterly dividend, which extends Apple's growing dividend history and fortifies the stock's attractiveness as a dividend investment. Further, Apple's business looks poised to easily support ongoing increases for years to come.
Here's a look at Apple's most recent move -- and the strong company behind it.
Image source: Getty Images.
On May 1, Apple announced that it's raising its quarterly dividend by 16%, from $0.63 to $0.73. On an annual basis, this translates to an increase from $2.52 to $2.92, giving Apple stock a forward dividend yield of 1.6%.
What's particularly interesting about this is that it's Apple's steepest boost since reinstating its quarterly dividend in 2012.
[["16%", "11%", "10%", "11%", "8%", "15%"]]
Data source: Apple's dividend history. Table by author.
Between 2012 and 2017, Apple's dividend increased at an average rate of about 10%, making Apple's 16% raise in 2018 out of the ordinary. In fact, the last time Apple upped its dividend by more than 11% was in 2013. But even Apple's 2013 increase of 15% was below its just-announced 16% hike.
Of course, there's a good reason for Apple's bigger-than-usual dividend increase. A recent corporate tax reform enabled Apple to repatriate overseas cash, helping the tech giant spend more on share repurchases and dividends. But Apple's recent rapidly growing earnings likely helped, as well. The company's trailing-12-month earnings per share increased 27% year over year.
Of course, dividend investors want more than a meaningful dividend and a history of recent increases -- they want a strong likelihood of meaningful dividend growth in the future. Fortunately, this is where Apple really stands out.
Apple's payout ratio, or the percentage of its earnings it's paying out in dividends, is just 23%. This compares to a 45% payout ratio forMicrosoftand a 50% payout ratio forIBM.
Here's a similar metric from Apple's cash flow statement to consider: Of Apple's $54 billion in trailing-12-month free cash flow, the company paid out just $13 billion in dividends, or 25% of free cash flow. Comparatively, Microsoft and IBM spent 37% and 41% of their trailing-12-month free cash flow on dividends, respectively.
Between Apple's net cash position of $145 billion, annual free cash flow of about $54 billion, recent double-digit earnings growth, and low payout ratio, income investors can expect meaningful annual dividend increases from Apple for years to come. Indeed, CFO Luca Maestri specifically said in the company'ssecond-quarter earnings callthat management knows its dividend "is very important to our investors who value income," and he noted that the company continues to "plan for annual dividend increases going forward."
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Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft.Daniel Sparksowns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool is short shares of IBM and has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Could Facebook Survive as a Paid Service?: Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) COO Sheryl Sandberg recently addressed the Cambridge Analytica scandal in an NBC News interview, admitting that the company was deceived by the data firm's "assurances" and should have come clean sooner. Sandberg also noted that Facebook relied on targeted ads to remain a free service, and that it "would be a paid product" if it let users opt out of its targeted ads. Facebook stated that it had no plans to launch a paid service, and that Sandberg was only speaking in hypothetical terms. However, the Washington Post subsequently polled its readers asking if they would pay to use Facebook. Forty-two percent of the respondents, at the time of this writing, stated that they would pay $1 to $7 per month to use an ad-free version of the social network. On the opposite side, 42% of respondents said that Facebook should pay them for their personal data instead. So, would turning Facebook into a paid service ever work? COO Sheryl Sandberg (L) and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (R) during Facebook's first trading day in 2012. COO Sheryl Sandberg (L) and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (R) during Facebook's first trading day in 2012. Source: Facebook. The consumer or the product? Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook often criticizes "free" internet services like Facebook and Alphabet 's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google for mining users' data for targeted ads. Back in 2014, Cook slammed such services by stating: "You're not the customer. You're the product." Facebook and Google don't bear all the blame, however, as internet users are so accustomed to using free platforms that they're only willing to pay subscription fees for a handful of services. As a result, many websites, app developers, and internet companies use ad-supported business models. Unless those habits change, companies like Facebook and Google will keep crafting targeted ads to make money. Facebook doesn't sell personally identifiable data to marketers. Instead, it lets advertisers target groups of users based on their gender, age, location, likes, followed pages, and other information. The Cambridge Analytica breach occurred because Facebook allowed third-party app developers to access users' personal profiles -- a loophole that the company eliminated in 2014. Story continues Would a 'freemium' model work? Facebook is actually better positioned to launch a so-called freemium business model than Google. Facebook has 2.1 billion monthly active users (MAUs), many of whom are locked into its ecosystem by their own social connections and shared content. COO Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook's Friends Day Event in 2016. COO Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook's Friends Day Event in 2016. Image source: Facebook. There's no real alternative to Facebook. However, Microsoft 's Bing is a viable alternative to Google's search engine, and there are a number of options for e-mail and cloud-based file storage systems that could take users out of Google's ecosystem. Therefore, launching paid tiers for Facebook doesn't seem as far-fetched as turning Google into a paid service. Plenty of ad-supported internet companies use the freemium model. Alphabet's YouTube is a free service, but YouTube Red subscribers get ad-free videos and streaming songs. Pandora and Spotify both offer free, ad-supported music streams and paid, ad-free options. Each of these platforms has more free users than paid subscribers. Users are slowly -- but surely -- signing up for more ad-free services. Facebook could theoretically remove ads, increase options for customizing news feeds, and introduce exclusive videos on Facebook Watch for paying users. That type of paid bundle could even set the foundation for its long-rumored push into streaming music. But how much would you pay for Facebook? Facebook collected $82 in advertising revenues from each North American member last year, which equals $6.83 per user per month. Across the world, it generated about $20 in ad revenues per member for the year, which equals $1.67 per user each month. In theory, Facebook users could opt out of targeted ads by paying just a few dollars per month. It's important to note, however, that the company's ad revenues rose a whopping 49% last year, which means Facebook could require higher subscription fees to replace any loss of ad revenues per user that might occur. A shift toward a freemium model could also throttle the number of available ads on Facebook, which would boost its overall ad prices. Such a change would likely require Facebook to alter its business model in order to successfully balance free and paid services. It seems unlikely Facebook will launch a paid, ad-free version anytime soon. But it makes strategic sense if it wants to clarify how it makes money and win back the trust of mainstream users. For now, investors should note that internet users are more willing to pay for quality services -- but it's unclear if Facebook will take that leap. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. Leo Sun owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Facebook, and Pandora Media. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Who are the Biggest Gold Investors?: There aremany reasons people buy gold. Some invest in the precious metal to protect against inflation, even though one of the commonmyths about investing in goldis that it can outpace inflation. Others buy it because of a cultural tradition or because they thinkgold is a safe investment. Meanwhile, some buy it on the speculation that its price will continue to rise. No matter the reason, the core thought driving this buying is that gold is valuable and will become even more so in the future due to the manyfactors that influence the price of gold.
We'll explore the many motivations behind investing in gold by looking at some of the worlds biggest gold investors.
Image source: Getty Images.
According to an estimate by the Word Gold Congress, humans have pulled 187,200 tons of gold from the earth. To put that into perspective, if we melted the gold down and formed it into a cube, it would fit comfortably in the middle of a baseball diamond, which is 90 feet from base to base on each side. While relatively small in size, that cube would be worth a whopping $8 trillion at gold's recent price of around $1,340 an ounce.
To further illustrate how rare and valuable gold is, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are about 57,000 tons still in the ground to mine. Dig it up and melt it together, and the cube of additionally available gold would only stand as tall as an adult giraffe.
Each year the mining industry digs out a little less than 3,500 tons of gold, or roughly 112 million ounces, with the largest supply coming fromBarrick Goldat 5.53 million ounces. Meanwhile, another 1,300 tons get recycled each year. That puts the gold market at roughly $170 billion per year, which, for perspective, pales in comparison to the more than $1.7 trillion oil market.
While there is some minor industrial demand for this gold, the bulk of it goes toward jewelry and investment in the form of coins and bars, with the latter often held bygold ETFsas well as the official sector like governments.
The largest single owner of gold on the planet is the U.S. government. At last count, Uncle Sam had 8,133.5 tons of gold (260 million ounces) stashed in vaults around the country like Fort Knox, which holds 147.3 million ounces. With gold currently around $1,340 an ounce, the country's holdings are worth $350 billion. While that sounds like a lot of money, it would barely put a dent in the $21 trillion national debt, let alone help with the $3.8 trillion annual budget. In fact, liquidating the country's gold stash would barely pay more than a year's worth of interest on the national debt, which was about $230 billion in 2015.
Overall, the U.S. holds about 5% of the world's gold. That stockpile is more than those of the next three largest gold-holding countries (Germany, Italy, and France) combined.
While the U.S. has the biggest government-controlled gold stash, the largest nongovernment holder of gold is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is a group of 189 countries that work together to foster monetary cooperation. The IMF currently holds 2,184 ounces of gold, which puts it between Germany and Italy on the world scale. The IMF has acquired its gold stockpile in several ways. Upon its founding in 1944, the IMF received 25% of its initial quota substitutions in the form of gold and required members to pay a quarter of all subsequent quota increases in gold. In addition to that, member countries can pay interest charges and credit owed to the IMF in gold as well as sell their gold to the organization to acquire the currency of another member.
While central banks and other government-related agencies are the largest investors in gold, the majority of the of the precious metal gets transformed into jewelry each year. That industry uses an average of more than 2,000 tons of gold each year, or about $85 billion worth. While Americans have an affinity for gold, their demand pales in comparison to the gold-buying habits of the nation of India. According to several estimates, Indian people collectively hold the greatest amount of gold in the world, calculated at 26,500 tons, or about 850 million ounces, worth roughly $1.1 trillion.
Two factors may drive all that gold buying: Diwali and weddings. Diwali is the most important of the Hindu holidays. (According to the most recent census, almost 80% of the Indian population are Hindus.) The five-day Diwali festival often features buying gold, which many Indians see as a status symbol for wealth. Because Indians highly value gold, it is also often a key feature in weddings. Because of these two factors, Indians typically invest more than 8% of their annual income to buy gold each year.
Image source: Getty Images.
While Indians collectively own the most gold in the world, Germans investors have emerged as the biggest buyers of gold in recent years. Gold demand in the country surged from an average of around 17 tons per year from 1995 to 2007 to more than 100 tons in 2016. Germans started ramping up their gold buying in the aftermath of the financial crisis but have stepped up their gold-buying habits since then due to concerns over the devaluation of the Euro. Because of that, more German retail investors own gold (22%) than bonds (13% corporate and 5% government).
While Indians tend to buy gold in the form of jewelry and Germans in the way of coins and bars, a growing number of other investors have chosen to invest the precious metal via an ETF, the largest of which is theSPDR Gold Trust(NYSEMKT: GLD).
This ETF provides a cost-effective, liquid, transparent, secure, and flexible way for investors to hold gold as opposed to buying, storing, and insuring the physical metal. That's why big-name investors like George Soros and John Paulson have used this vehicle in the past to make bullish gold bets. Paulson's hedge fund once owned more than $1.5 billion of gold via this ETF and mining stocks.
One thing investors should know about the SPDR Gold Trust is that it does own physical gold bullion, stored primarily in the London vault ofHSBC Bank. As of April 18, 2018, it held 69,300 total gold bars weighing roughly 27.8 million ounces (953 tons), worth about $37 billion.
The SPDR Gold Trust is one of several ETFs that hold physical gold in vaults for investors to provide them with an easy, low-cost way to invest in the precious metal. The next largest isiShares Gold Trust(NYSEMKT: IAU)which held roughly $11.6 billion in gold, spread in vaults around the world. What's different about this ETF other than size and the location of its gold are the fees it charges investors, which are 0.25% per year versus 0.40% for the SPDR Gold Trust. Because of those lower fees, the iShares Gold Trust ETF's price has more closely mirrored that of gold over the years:
Gold Price in US Dollarsdata byYCharts
So, while it might not be the biggest investor in the gold market, it appears to be the better option for longer-term investors to consider.
We can broadly group gold investors into two camps: Those holding it to store value and those speculating on its price movement. Gold buyers in India and counties with immense gold reserves fall into the first group. They hold gold because it holds value. Indians invest a significant portion of their income into buying it each year to boost their wealth. Most counties, as well as German investors, hold gold as a security blanket to help protect against currency and stock market fluctuations.
The other group of gold buyers wants to profit off the movement in its price. This type includes hedge funds like Paulson's that typically buy ETFs like the SPDR Gold Trust since they can quickly get in and out of that vehicle. That ease of use is why at one point it was the most valuable ETF in the world because speculators poured into the fund as the price of gold rose in hopes of profiting from that momentum. Now, it's not even in the top 10 because gold's shine has diminished as its price has come off the peak.
The decision to buy gold is often a deeply personal one. Many do so because of the belief that it will hold its value better than a government-backed currency in the coming years due to inflationary fears or other concerns. Others will invest in gold because they believe that it's a sign of wealth. Then there are those who want to speculate that the price of the precious metal will move higher due to any number of catalysts.
Because people invest in gold for different reasons, it's important first to know why you want to buy it. If buying gold will help you sleep more soundly at night or fulfill a deep cultural or personal desire, then, by all means, feel free to buy it. Meanwhile, if you see catalysts on the horizon that should send its price higher, then a gold ETF is worth considering. However, if you're looking for an investment that will grow your wealth over the long term, gold probably isn't thebest option.
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Matthew DiLallohas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Google Wants to Be a Part of Your Kid's School Day: If there was still any doubt that artificial intelligence will be part of the future, here's more evidence why it will be. Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently revamped its two AI do-it-yourself kits (marketed under the AIY Projects offshoot) for kids and other tinkerers. This isn't a way for Google to make money in the classroom. Rather, AIY kits help solve a future labor need and help establish the brand as a go-to resource for tomorrow's technologists. A small cardboard box with holes on the front that houses the Google Voice AIY kit. The AIY Projects voice kit. Image source: Google. What the AIY kits do AIY Projects has two options: a voice kit and a video kit. The former is essentially a build-it-yourself Google Home assistant , able to recognize vocal commands and reply with pertinent information. The latter is a smart camera that can recognize and categorize various objects using AI and machine learning . Both come with a Raspberry PI Zero computer to power the device, cardboard housing, an accompanying app, and all the other hardware and instructions needed to make a fully functioning device. With enough know-how, the kits can be used to design other custom projects. Google has also provided a suite of machine learning models for the vision kits to perform tasks like recognizing faces in an image and classifying foods. The idea here is to educate, not just how to build hardware, but also how to program them using AI concepts. It's a pretty cheap education, too, with the voice kit priced at $49.99 and vision kit at $89.99. Why Google wants to be in the classroom At those price points, it's obvious that Google isn't looking to profit from AIY Projects. The company wants the kits to become part of school curriculums, specifically the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) curriculum in K-12 schools. STEM has been given extra emphasis in the last decade by the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies. A small cardboard rectangle with a lens on the front that houses the vision kit. The AIY Projects vision kit. Image source: Google. Story continues There is a great shortage of STEM professionals in the U.S., a problem that plagues the technology industry as it tries to source talent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a shortfall of 1 million people in the industry over the next decade. Google thus is helping solve the future problem by trying to inspire kids to take up the trade. And if there is to be a new wave of technology professionals, why not raise them in the Google ecosystem? The more AIY kits Google can get into kids hands, the better. Apple used a similar strategy by putting its computers in grade schools in the 1980s and early 1990s. The thinking is if a company can get kids using a product early, those kids will continue to do so in adulthood. But Google is an internet search company, and the lion's share of revenue and profit is derived from advertising on its internet business. Google-parent Alphabet has nevertheless been trying to better integrate its internet and software business with hardware, bringing several businesses into the fold and homebrewing others. Names include the new Pixel phones , Google Home smart speakers, Nest smart home devices, and other miscellaneous items lumped into "other bets" on Alphabets revenue breakdown. Google's "other revenues" and "other bets" brought in $3.2 billion and $132 million last quarter, respectively. That pales in comparison to $21.4 billion in advertising revenues. AIY Projects thus achieves two goals: Google creates some goodwill by helping train a new generation of tech professionals, and it's a great marketing function. That combination could pay rich dividends years down the road as the company tries to extend its reach with hardware and artificial intelligence. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Nicholas Rossolillo and his clients own shares of Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Loses Out to Bitcoin Cash – Is it the Beginning of the End?: The Bitcoin bulls didn’t get the memo on Wednesday, with Bitcoin only managing a 3.56% rise on day, partially reversing Monday and Tuesday’s losses, to end the day at $8,169.5.
A morning rally saw Bitcoin break out from the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,996.57 to hit a morning $8,168.8 high, breaking through the first major support level of $8,098.87 before seeing a pullback to an early afternoon $7,907.4 to call on buyer support at the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,996.57. A late afternoon rally saw Bitcoin hit an intraday high $8,237.2, testing the day’s 1stmajor resistance level for a 2ndtime and this time managing to hold on through to the day’s end.
Bitcoin’s $7,870.5 intraday low hit in the early morning, managed to hold above the first major support level of $7,736.87, though the day’s gains paled in comparison to its peers, with Bitcoin Cash steeling the Bitcoin limelight on the day, surging 18.3%.
Wednesday’s moves provided some evidence that the U.S tax season may have had some influence on the cryptomarkets, though investors have also been relatively free from negative news from governments and regulators on planned roll out of new regs in the summer, which would have been another positive in recent weeks.
For the Bitcoin bulls, Wednesday’s moves suggest that Bitcoin Cash may be finding more favour in the market, the Bitcoin Cash fork providing much needed improvements that gives Bitcoin Cash a fighting chance in the real world. Bitcoin’s transaction speeds and fees an unrealistic alternative to the fiat currency world.
It may be too early to call a changing of the guard, but Wednesday certainly signals a shift and, while Bitcoin will likely continue to be the broader market’s barometer near-term, Bitcoin’s influence could begin to wane, Bitcoin’s dominance having eased to 40.1% from 45% levels back in late March. While dominance levels have tended to reflect cryptomarket conditions in the past, how Bitcoin’s dominance levels move in the coming weeks will be particularly interesting.
For now, Bitcoin’s miners have stayed put, with Bitcoin’s hash rate rising to 30.5385E, well above Bitcoin Cash’s 2.8637E, a cross-over having only taken place on 2 occasions back in 2017, the first on 23rdAugust and the second on 12thNovember, from which point the pair have seen a continued divergence in favour of Bitcoin.
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At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up just 0.22% to $8,188.9, with the Bitcoin bulls looking to make up some ground on Bitcoin Cash through the morning.
It’s been a choppy start to the day, with Bitcoin falling to a morning low $8,032.2 in the first hour, before a bounce to an 8,284.9 morning high, the moves leaving the day’s major support and resistance levels untested early on.
Following Wednesday’s price action and Bitcoin’s failure to catch up with its peers through the day, investors may begin to turn fickle and look elsewhere for more sizeable rallies that could continue to pin back any more substantial gains in Bitcoin, though for now Bitcoin will likely catch up, investors yet to fully differentiate the cryptocurrencies by product offering and performance.
For the day ahead, a move through to $8,250 levels would support the start of a rally, any failure to move through to $8,250 levels and a run at the day’s first major resistance level of $8,314.3 likely to lead to a pullback later in the day, bringing sub-$8,000 support levels into play.
Bitcoin’s near-term bullish trend, formed at 6thApril’s swing lo $6,500.2 remains intact, but a move back through to Sunday’s swing hi 8,458.8 is going to be needed to continue drawing investors back in.
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Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook – April 19, 2018
• AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – April 19, 2018 Forecast
• Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 19/04/18 || Cryptocurrencies Bullish Technical View: Key Points BTCUSD Fresh Bullish Kumo Breakout ETH/USD Fresh Bullish Kumo Breakout XRPUSD may start a new uptrend Bitcoin (BTCUSD) Technical Analysis Based on the Ichimoku system, the price is out of the cloud and the tekan sen and kijun sean seem to be in a bullish formation. The chikou span is above the price meaning that the small uptrend was formed may continue. But before we start looking for any potential bearish signals we need to have a bounce on the tekan sen or kijun sen. BTCUSD 1H Chart Bitcoin 1H Chart Ethereum (ETH/USD) Technical Analysis Based on Ichimoku system it can be noticed that the price is also above the cloud. The kijun sen and the tekan sen seem to be in a bullish formation. The chikou span appears above the price. Now the picture here seems to be bullish for the moment and we would be more confident if the stochastic was below the 20 level. Other clues here that may state a potential bearish momentum are the blue color of the cloud and the slope of tekan sen. Now based on the Ichimoku system we would like to see here the possibility of the price to bounce on the tekan sen start looking for any potential signals. ETH/USD 1H Chart Ethereum 1h Chart Ripple (XRP/USD) Technical Analysis On XRPUSD it can be observed that the price has formed a confirmed bullish Kumo break out yet based on the Ichimoku system. The tekan sen and kijun sen seem to be in bullish formation, the chikou span is above the price and the cloud seems to be on the bullish mode. What we would like to see here before start looking for any potential signals is the bounce of the price on the tekan sen line. XRP/USD 1H Chart Ripple 1H Chart This article was written by Marios Athinodorou, TeleTrade ’s market analyst, and commentator. Among others, Marios is delivering weekly trading webinars. Sign up for upcoming webinars here . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Coincheck To Relaunch In Japan And Expand To The United States Equity Markets and USD Rise as US Could Tolerate NAFTA Deadline in 2019 for the Right Deal EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for May 21, 2018 E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – May 21, 2018 Forecast Grains Break Higher Following Reduction in Trade War Rhetoric Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Rally May Be Stalling Due to Concerns Over US Production
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$BTC 2.50% move in last 60 minutes. Last price: $8166.00. $BTCUSD #BTCUSD #BTC #Bitcoin #coinbase #gdax || Top 5 by Mrkt Cap
Name Price 24Hr % 7d %
BTC 6880.29 +3.89 -2.47
ETH 382.597 +3.56 -4.88
XRP 0.48624 +3.47 -5.61
BCH 631.314 +3.37 -10.02
LTC 117.803 +3.03 -1.97 || Bitcoin - BTC
Price: $7,576.01
Change in 1h: -0.33%
Market cap: $128,591,026,934.00
Ranking: 1
#Bitcoin #BTC || Bitcoin Crash Market Down 6500$ Japan Exchange Closed Twitter Banned Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Ads News http://plazamarket.com/bitcoin-crash-market-down-6500-japan-exchange-closed-twitter-banned-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-ads-news/ …pic.twitter.com/8ikw6Qg9Kh || Over 60 indispensable Python recipes to ensure you always have the http://bit.ly/1LN0uEu #Cybersecurity #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/dly49LpIJx || Product Model: V4. Product Name: Forensic UltraDock v4. Product Ty http://bit.ly/1G4fZpg #Cybersecurity #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/rMWZ1G0AZc || Bitcoin&NEM相場情報(Zaif)
btc/jpy ( https://zaif.jp/trade_btc_jpy )
時間 04:41 午後
価格 788670
xem/btc ( https://zaif.jp/trade_xem_btc )
時間 04:27 午後
価格 0.00003366
xem/jpy ( https://zaif.jp/trade_xem_jpy )
時間 04:40 午後
価格 26.6454 || #FreiExchange #XCN / #BTC : 0.00000014 | Volume : XCN 0.00000000 | http://bit.ly/2mJO3PJ #freiexchange #XCN #bitcoin #trade #rt || FREE signal 2047 for #NXS/BTC at #BITTREX
Posted at 0.00022501 on 13-Apr 16:58 UTC
Reached 0.00023907 on 13-Apr 20:00 UTC
Achieved target 1 with 6.25% profit in 3 hours || It’s a reasonable debate, but I think the sooner everybody understands crap coins are crap the sooner they will invest in bitcoin. That pushes up the price and attracts more investors. And once everybody is invested it will become money and end a lot of death and violence.
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Trend: down || Prices: 7643.45, 7720.25, 7514.47, 7633.76, 7653.98, 7678.24, 7624.92, 7531.98, 6786.02, 6906.92
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2017-02-22]
BTC Price: 1117.44, BTC RSI: 72.55
Gold Price: 1232.00, Gold RSI: 59.91
Oil Price: 53.59, Oil RSI: 54.11
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin plummets over 23 percent after nearing all-time high as 'volatile little bubble' bursts: Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)tanked as much as 23 percent Thursday afternoon after nearing an all-time high earlier in the trading day.
The world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap traded as low as $887.47, down from the day's high of $1,153.02, according to CoinDesk data. The high for the day was just shy of $1,165.89 set on November 30, 2013. The price has recovered somewhat from the day's low to about $973.89 at the time of publication.
However, bitcoin beat its high on some other cryptocurrency exchanges. Whereas CoinDesk's price index takes into account many different bitcoin exchanges – individual exchanges, where users can trade bitcoin, noted their own highest prices were exceeded. Among these were one of China's biggest and most liquid exchanges, BTC China.
Industry experts said the rapid rally in bitcoin created a little bubble which is now bursting but the long-term prospects are still positive.
"Once we broke through the nominal all-time high, liquidity dried up – no shorts, no sellers, which means a volatile little bubble formed quickly," Peter Smith, chief executive of bitcoin wallet Blockchain, told CNBC by email.
"We are seeing the effects of that now. It's still fairly thin trading volume though. I expect the market will find a floor and stabilize somewhere in the $850 to $1,000 range, but we'll see."
Wild swings in bitcoin's price are not unusual and volatility is a characteristic of the virtual currency.
CNBC recently outlinedthe reason behind the latest rally in bitcoin. One key reason has been the recent devaluation of the yuan as well as the threat of capital controls across many countries. The majority of bitcoin trade comes out of China so it has a big influence.
But on Thursday, theyuan rose against the dollar. The reason behind this was a sell-off in the dollar due to uncertainty around the future of U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes, as well asstate intervention by Chinain its currency. The rise in the yuan led to a fall in bitcoin.
"It is absolutely tied to China. If the yuan goes up, bitcoin goes down," Dan Collins, CEO of technology consultancy firm CCO Global, told CNBC in an interview on Thursday.
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• Personal Finance || PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Jan 10: Jan 10 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Yahoo Inc said on Monday when its $4.8 billion deal to sell internet business to Verizon Communications Inc closes, it would rename itself "Altaba." And that more than half the company's board members - including Chief Executive Marissa Mayer - would step down. http://nyti.ms/2iyGo40 - Goldman Sachs Group Inc announced on Monday that Elisha Wiesel would become the chief information officer, taking over from Martin Chavez, a prominent executive who pushed to make Goldman more of a forward-looking technology firm. http://nyti.ms/2iyEhx2 - UnitedHealth Group Inc, one of the largest and most diversified health insurance companies in the United States, said on Monday that it planned to buy Surgical Care Affiliates Inc, a chain of outpatient surgery centers, for about $2.3 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2017. http://nyti.ms/2iyHVHi - McDonald's Corp said on Monday it would sell its businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong for $2.08 billion to Citic Ltd, a state-owned conglomerate, and the Carlyle Group Lp, a private equity firm. http://nyti.ms/2jnN3hu - The company that serves as the back end for much Wall Street trading - the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, or DTCC - said on Monday it would replace one of its central databases, used by the largest banks in the world, with new software inspired by Bitcoin. The organization, based in New York, plays a role in recording and reporting nearly every stock and bond trade in the United States, as well as most valuable derivatives trades. http://nyti.ms/2jxvMqh (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru) || Giuliani as Trump's cybersecurity adviser is an unfunny joke: I had just finishedhacking the Gibsonwhen I heard the news: Rudy Giuliani, the guy who said he was gonnasolve cybersecurity, had just beennamed Trump's cyber adviser. I hopped onto our hacker mafia's government-proof encrypted chat app to make sure everyone knew that we were in real trouble. When I got no response from Mr. Robot or Anonymous, I got my rollerblades on and got out of my mom's basement as fast as possible.
I dialed our ringleader with a secret, anti-authority encrypted phone app while hacking all the traffic lights between here and his mom's basement as I raced over. When he picked up I blurted, "Stop hacking baby monitors and trying to crash the stock market!"
He yelled, "What?!" I realized I'd forgotten to take my balaclava off! I shouted that Big Rudy was the new hacker sheriff in town, and all us hackers were gonna have to go underground. Tears spilled down the front of my ninja costume as I wobbled on my 'blades, telling him our days of taking out the internet for lulz and raking in piles of Bitcoin from ransomed AOL accounts was over.
In reality, we have plenty of reasons to worry. Before Rudy Giuliani was named Donald Trump's official presidential cybersecurity adviser, the former New York City mayor had made a number of things crystal clear about his intentions toward hackers and the cybersecurity industry. For one, he'd been pretty up front about the fact that he got into cybersecurity dealmakingfor the money. Giuliani was emphatic over many years and at every opportunity that he was going to be the guy to "solve cybersecurity."
Hacking, he said on several occasions, waslike cancer. It was the worst word he could think of to call information security research. And finally, he never wavered from his belief that hackers were not onlylike the mafia, but that they could never, ever be trusted -- especially "reformed" hackers. Giuliani always made sure that people knew he couldn't be fooled by that principle of the justice system.
All his talk of hackers as permanent criminals spreading cancer has no doubt bolstered the beliefs of conservatives in Trump's extreme right pocket, who didn't need help imagining pedophiles and lawless balaclava-wearing basement dwellers (or Asians in faraway hives). Like most things we've seen come out of Trump's surreal fright show, Giuliani's working hard to encourage that people and press wallow in these manipulative, lurid fantasies.
That's why most hackers and infosec professionals found it all kinds of disturbing that Trump will be using Giuliani as his go-to for advice on all things cyber. It's not just that hecounts one of his qualifications as the fact that he's given over 300 speecheson how everyone's ignoring the scourge of hacking. Giuliani's not great at following advice when it comes to security. When he was advised against moving New York City's emergency services into the World Trade Center because it wasn't a good call, he did it anyway. Right before 9/11.
It didn't make anyone in the infosec sectors feel better when Giuliani announced he would be forming a cybersecurity team for the president-elect. Rudy isn't exactly a team player when it comes to computer-security matters. When the NYPD commissioner built a "computer statistics" system for crime, Giuliani did the equivalent of having him banished -- forcing him out -- toprevent credit going to anyone but Giuliani.
According to the Trump transition team'sofficial announcement, Rudy's team will advise the leader of the free world on issues "concerning private sector cybersecurity problems and emerging solutions developing in the private sector."
Things only got worse when, the minute the announcement was made, infosec denizens didimpromptu security assessmentsof Gulianisecurity.com and Gulianipartners.com. Both servers were described as having sat for years with theequivalent of a "hack me" sign on them-- meaning that both were likely hacked long ago. Thelaundry listof years-old unpatched vulnerabilities, nearly two dozen active exploits, andoverall security failureswas astonishing.
Team Giuliani didn't respond to all the public attention around the nearly-comic website security failings of both sites. By January 14th, both Gulianisecurity.com and Gulianipartners.com suddenly failed to resolve in DNS, making both sites unavailable to the public. But, as of this writing, the server addresses remained (just visit http://209.238.99.227/), showing that whoever attempted to pull the sites only removed the DNS entry -- but left Giuliani's vulnerable servers online.
Whether or not Giuliani manages those servers himself is beside the point: This is the worst possible resume anyone in this position could have. It's embarrassing and avoidable and displays a blatant disregard for even the most basic cybersecurity practices. It is the behavior of someone who carelessly believes he is an exception to the rules everyone else must live by. It sends a terrible message to an industry struggling for both legitimacy and a voice with regard to US policy, and in every way possible.
Giuliani has been interested in cybersecurity sincehe read an FBI report in 2003predicting a hacking crimewave, and instantly decided he needed to build a business around it. That business was Giuliani Partners, a security consulting company. His naming to Trump's post comes one week after Giuliani Partners announced itsnew partnership with Blackberry. The recently released Blackberry Secure platform will provide the underlying software for Giuliani Partners' cybersecurity-consulting product, whatever that will be.
Under these auspices, the future of cybersecurity policy looks dark. Given how much Giuliani hates hackers and believes he's the king of cops, we can probably expect to see the cyber version of "stop and frisk" coming out of Trump's inevitably opportunistic Giuliani-led Cybersecurity Working Group.
It's clear the new powers-that-be don't think very highly of hackers and hacking. Nor do they understand the subtleties of how hackers are actually the entire underpinning of infosec, let alone how important it is to this sector that someone like Giuliani models even the most basic website security. By Giuliani saying stupid things about infosec while pretending entire hacking communities didn't just call out his own cybersecurity as literally the worst possible ever, he's a complete hypocrite for even stepping into the ring. And if there's anything that gets exposed faster and louder than an anti-gay senator on Grindr, it's hypocrisy in security.
This is a business and culture that believes the teeny-tiniest details really matter and has witnessed firsthand that one careless step can topple businesses and ruin lives. Unlike Rudy Giuliani, the people in cybersecurity have dedicated everything to giving a shit about getting things right.
So if Giuliani and his sideshow of opportunists want to think of hackers as some kind of criminal cancer, they're doomed from the start. Thought pieces by armchair infosec pundits cantry to tell usGiuliani should be taken seriously in this role all they want. But I can't think of doing anything worse for the future of cybersecurity right now.
Images: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images (Lead image); United Artists/Getty Images (Hackers movie still); REUTERS/Mike Segar (Giuliani and Trump). || Bitcoin firm gets approval to operate in Switzerland: By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi ZURICH, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Bitcoin wallet provider Xapo said it has received conditional approval from Switzerland's financial market watchdog to operate in the country in a regulatory breakthrough for companies that provide safekeeping for the virtual currency. "After almost two years of substantial effort and investment, Xapo has received conditional approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to operate in Switzerland," Xapo CEO Wences Casares said in a blog on the company's website. The approval depended on several factors, including membership of a "self-regulatory organisation", Casares said, but added that the company was optimistic of meeting the conditions and being able to serve non-U.S. customers from Switzerland. FINMA declined to comment on an individual company's status. Olga Feldmeier, a former managing partner of Xapo who coordinated the Swiss licensing process for the company, told Reuters that Xapo had been designated a financial intermediary, meaning it will not require a costly banking licence. Wallet providers like Xapo, which was founded in Silicon Valley, store the private keys that allow clients to access their digital currency funds. While other crypto-currency firms already operate in Switzerland, Xapo's operation as a bitcoin wallet provider had raised questions over whether it required a banking licence. A burgeoning industry surrounding bitcoin - a web-based "crypto-currency" that has no central authority, relying instead on a global network of computers that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - has posed questions for lawmakers and regulators. Xapo argued it did not accept deposits. Swiss authorities are eager to secure a leading role for Switzerland while playing catch-up in a rapidly changing financial technology (fintech) landscape. Bitcoin Suisse operates a network of bitcoin ATMs across the country, as well as an online and in-person brokerage for buying and selling bitcoins. But it does not itself store the private access keys that led to questions about whether Xapo was taking deposits. Story continues Switzerland's cabinet in November proposed new light-touch regulations for fintech companies aimed at bolstering business and competitiveness. The proposals include a fintech licence, granted by FINMA, for institutions which are restricted to taking deposits of up to 100 million Swiss francs ($99.9 million) and do not lend. Xapo is now in the process of joining a self-regulatory organisation required under Swiss anti-money laundering regulations to begin operations, Feldmeier said. ($1 = 1.0009 Swiss francs) (Editing by Adrian Croft) || Bitcoin breaks $1,000 level, highest in more than 3 years: The price of bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)has breached the $1,000 mark, hitting a more than three-year high on Monday.
The cryptocurrency was trading at $1,021 at the time of publication, according to CoinDesk data, at level not seen since November 2013, with its market capitalization exceeding $16 billion.
Bitcoin has been on asteady march higherfor the past few months, driven by a number of factors such as the devaluation of the yuan, geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in professional investors taking an interest in the asset class.
"We are seeing the aftermath of zero interest rates run amok. So bitcoin is a healthy reminder that we don't have to hold on to dollars or renminbi, which is subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power. Rather it's a new asset class," Bobby Lee, chief executive of BTC China, one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, told CNBC by phone.
China is the source of the majority of trade in bitcoin and the devaluation of the yuan and fears over capital controls have contributed to the recent spike in the digital currency.
But several other factors have also had a notable impact. For example, bitcoin's price has appreciated around 137 percent in the past 12 months but got a big boost after Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November.
Another big event this year was in June when a change in bitcoin's underlying rules meant those who were "mining" the cryptocurrency – a process whereby users are awarded with bitcoin if they solve complex mathematical puzzles in order for a bitcoin transaction to go through – received less rewards. This was due to theprocess known as "halving,"which essentially reduces the supply of bitcoin.
But overall, bitcoin experts said that the market is growing in terms of volumes and those participating, creating a "network effect" that will see the price rise further.
"The value of Uber in any city is directly dependent on the number of drivers and number of users, it's not linear it's exponential. The same is true of the value of bitcoin," Lee said. || 6 ETF Trends Likely to Take Centre Stage in 2017: Donald Trump’s win as the U.S. President and the most sought-after OPEC output deal has actually set the tone of 2017 investing. Many are bullish on the prospect of oil price this year though rising U.S. supplies can anytime thwart the winning momentum in the oil patch. However, Trump-backed hopes are still in fine fettle.
Added to these, there are plenty of other events – across asset class and regions – that could prove to be game-changers this year. In view of this, we intend to highlight a few ETF trends that are likely to be prevalent in 2017:
Stocks to Be Bullish Overall
The year can be attributed to stocks. The first and foremost reason for it is an end to earnings recession. Earnings growth entered into the positive territory in Q3 of 2016 following five consecutive quarters of decline. For the upcoming Q4 earnings season, the S&P 500 is expected to score 3.3% earnings growth on 4.1% revenue growth.
Earnings for Q1 of 2017 are expected to surge 10.3% for the S&P 500 on 7.5% higher revenues, as per the Earnings Trends issued on January 4, 2017. The earnings growth trend is expected to stay firm even for Q2, Q3 and Q4 of this year with an expectation of 9.8%, 8.2% and 12.5% on revenue growth of 5.7%, 5.5% and 4.8% (read: Ten Predictions for the ETF Industry in 2017).
Along with earnings recovery, stabilization in the oil patch after a prolonged rout and a Trump-induced fiscal boost along with lower taxes should augur well for stocks this year. Still, withmarkets appearing overvalued by some measure and the President-elect Trump yet to roll out promised measures, cautious investors with a long-term notion can opt for value ETFs over growth. Investors should also note that a stronger U.S. dollar is likely to take some shine off the S&P 500 index as the components are heavily exposed to foreign currencies.
Investors should note thatSPDR S&P 500 Value ETFSPYV has a positive weighted alpha of 23.00 whileSPDR S&P 500 Growth ETFSPYG has it at positive 13.90. This indicates a higher growth potential in SPYV.
Currency-Hedged Foreign ETFs to Rule
The U.S. dollar is presently at a multi-year high on bets over faster Fed policy tightening and an improving U.S. economy. On the other hand, foreign economies are also gaining momentum. Business and consumer sentiments in the European Union are at about six-year highs. Business conditions in the Japanese economy are also improving.
An upside is more likely for European and Japanese stocks given the ultra-easy monetary policy over there, which will keep their currencies low against a soaring greenback and boost those economies.
As a result, currency-hedged ETFs likeWisdomTree Japan Hedged SmallCap Equity ETFDXJS,WisdomTree Japan Hedged Quality Dividend Growth ETFJHDG andO'Shares FTSE Europe Quality Dividend Hedged ETFOEUH will likely rule the year ahead.
More Factor-Based ETFs to Come On Line
Factor-based products have been quite a trend in 2016 as the fashion for plain vanilla ETFs is gone. Issuers are coming up with a more striking investment objective which can create a winning combination in the present investing environment. All in all, smart beta and multifactor ETFs will likely carry forward the legacy of the ETF world. An example of recently launched factor-based ETFs isALPS Dorsey Wright Sector Momentum ETFSWIN (read: 6 ETF Ideas Most Favored by Issuers in 2016).
More Players to Enter ETF Industry
Be it big banking giants or hedge fund managers, players are increasingly entering the ETF industry. We have already have seen J.P. Morgan and Goldman venturing into the ETF world and now Wells Fargo is also eyeing the space with its first-ever multi-factor ETF. Saba Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund manager, is also planning to foray into the ETF space with an ETF related to closed-end funds.
Expense Ratio Cut
With rising competition among issuers for market share, expense ratios are increasingly being slashed. So long, Charles Schwab and Vanguard ruled the world of low-cost ETFs. But last year, BlackRock and Fidelity enacted steep fee cuts for several of their products. A new set of rules under the Department of Labor’s “fiduciary standard,” which asked advisors to give precedence to their client’s interest over their own also played a role in this burgeoning trend.
For example, BlackRock lowered fees for its S&P 500 tracking ETF,iShares Core S&P 500IVV, from 0.07% to 0.04%. The fee cut made IVV less expensive than other popular ETFs in its domain. Even a relatively new-comer like Hartford Funds, which launched Lattice Strategies and its ETF operations earlier in 2016, announced that it will lower the expense ratio on four of its smart-beta funds effective January 1 (read: Buy These ETFs as BlackRock Cuts Fees).
Bitcoin ETF to Hit the Market?
Even if we are yet to have a bitcoin ETF, one is expected to hit the market in 2017. Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust has filed for one to make it easy for investors to bet on this soaring digital currency. As per CNBC, “bitcoin is a very volatile asset” but doesn’t have a strong correlation with other classes. Bitcoin’s value beat the $900 mark in late December for the first time since February 2014 (Also read: Explaining Bitcoin and Crypto Currency).
India's demonetization also gave a boost to bitcoin trading volumes. Moreover, trading volumes in China have been solid with the government taking proactive measures against illegal money transfer. With this, investors expect to see an approval of the first bitcoin ETF in 2017.
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportSPDR-SP5 VL (SPYV): ETF Research ReportsISHARS-SP500 (IVV): ETF Research ReportsWISDMTR-JP HSCF (DXJS): ETF Research ReportsOS-FT EUR QDH (OEUH): ETF Research ReportsWISTR-JP HQD (JHDG): ETF Research ReportsSPDR-SP5 GR (SPYG): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || Bitcoin trading shrivels under Chinese government's glare: By Brenda Goh SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Trading volumes at China's three largest bitcoin exchanges have plummeted after the central bank put the virtual currency market under sharper scrutiny a month ago in a move that coincided with official efforts to stem capital outflows. China had been the world's leading venue for bitcoin trading, with analytics site Bitcoinity estimating that the OkCoin, Huobi and BTCC exchanges had accounted for more than 90 percent of the global bitcoin market on Jan. 11. But data compiled by analytics platform Sosobtc showed the number of bitcoins traded on the three exchanges slumped from 13.6 million on Jan. 6 to just over 120,000 on Feb. 9. The People's Bank of China launched checks into the three exchanges last month and they have responded by saying that they would improve their systems to prevent money laundering and the use of bitcoin to trade against the yuan. On Thursday, the People's Bank of China said it had also warned smaller bitcoin exchanges that it would shut them down if they violated regulations. While the yuan weakened 6.6 percent against the dollar last year, its worst performance since 1994, the bitcoin price has soared to near-record highs. That, and the relative anonymity the digital currency offers, has prompted some market operators to believe bitcoin had become an attractive, if niche, option for tech-savvy Chinese to hedge against the yuan and skirt rules limiting how much foreign exchange individuals can buy each year. The three main exchanges have introduced trading fees, stopped allowing margin lending and increased scrutiny of user identities, making it far less attractive for automated, high speed trades which had previously accounted for the lion's share of their business. The absence of trading fees had provided an advantage over overseas rivals earlier, but that advantage has now gone, traders said. Business has virtually dried up on Beijing-based high-speed bitcoin trading platform BotVS, according to chief executive Chen Zhenguo. "With the transaction fees the profits you can get from hedging (Bitcoin) are too low...You might as well put your money in Yu'e Bao," he said, referring to a money market fund run by an Alibaba Group affiliate. Other traders voiced similar sentiments. Cai Wenhao, business manager at Sosobtc, said trading volume levels in China would likely normalize to around those seen on exchanges elsewhere, like the Hong Kong-based Bitifinex and U.S.-based Coinbase. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Additional Reporting by SHANGHAI Newsroom and John Ruwitch; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) || Bitcoin is fighting back: Bitcoin has recouped a good portion of its early losses. The cryptocurrency trades down 2.8%, or almost $26, at $880 a coin as of 11:05 a.m. ET. That's a notable recovery from the drop less than $853 that occurred early in US trade. Bitcoin raced above $915 late Tuesday night but struggle to take out resistance in the $880/$920 area.
The cryptocurrency has had avolatilestart to the year after gaining 120% in 2016, making it theworld's top performing currencyfor a second straight year. It raced to a gain of more than 20% in the opening days of 2017 before rumblings that China was going tocrackdownon trading began to surface.
Then, nearly a week later, China announcedit had beguninvestigating bitcoin exchangesin Beijing and Shanghai on suspicion of market manipulation, money laundering, unauthorized financing, and other issues. When the dust settled bitcoin had lost35% of its value in a handful of days. The price bottomed out after finding support in the $750/$800 area and has managed to fight its way back to the current resistance level.
(Investing.com)
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• Bitcoin is making a comeback
• Bitcoin is charging higher
• Bitcoin is getting demolished || STOCKS HIT ALL-TIME HIGHS: Here's what you need to know: opera singer (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Stocks touched all-time highs on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said he would release his plan to reform the tax system in the next few weeks. Although they back-tracked on some of their gains near the end of the trading day, all three major indices still finished in the green. First up, the scoreboard: Dow: 20,172.40, +118.06, (+0.59%) S&P 500: 2,307.87, +13.20, (+0.58%) Nasdaq: 5,715.18, +32.73, (0.58%) US 10-year yield: 2.397%, +0.057 WTI Crude: $53.09 per barrel, +0.75, +1.34% 1. US President Donald Trump said that in the new few weeks he will release his plan to reform the US tax system . "We're going to be announcing something over the next, I would say, two or three weeks that will be phenomenal in terms of tax," Trump said at a meeting with airline executives on Thursday. He added that he is "lowering the overall tax burden on American businesses, big league." 2. The Bank of Mexico hiked rates by 50 basis points to 6.25% in its latest interest-rate decision . In the accompanying statement, the bank noted that emerging markets were facing greater uncertainty regarding fiscal, commercial, and migration policies under consideration by the new US administration. 3. Airline stocks rallied after Trump promised to fix the "out of whack" air traffic control system . American Airlines was up by over 3%, Southwest was up by 2.7%, JetBlue was up by 3.6%, United Continental was up by 1.7%, and Delta was up by 2.9%. 4. Twitter's stock tanked after the company warned its revenue growth would continue to "lag" its recent spike in users . Its stock was down by 10.6% in premarket trading on Thursday. 5. Bitcoin tanked after Chinese exchanges announced they were blocking customers from withdrawing their bitcoins . The cryptocurrency was down by 9.6% around 9:30 a.m. ET. Thursday's announcements are notable because nearly 100% of all bitcoin transactions take place on Chinese exchanges. 6. New York City landlords have never been this aggressive about filling up vacant apartments . In January, concessions like a month of free rent and brand-new appliances rose to a record high in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to the real-estate appraiser Douglas Elliman . Concessions hit new highs for a fourth straight month, and the share of new leases with such giveaways was above 30% for the first time. Story continues 7. Yum Brands whiffed on sales as fewer people eat at Pizza Hut . Yum Brands Inc, the owner of KFC and Taco Bell, reported a lower-than-expected rise in quarterly sales at established restaurants worldwide as fewer diners ate at its Pizza Hut chain. 8. Initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell . Claims, which provide a weekly count of the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance for the first time, fell to 234,000. Moreover, the four-week moving average came in at 244,250, which is the lowest level since November 3, 1973 when it was 244,000. Additionally: One chart shows just how devastating healthcare costs are for American families . Here's one name Trump will hear when he looks to replace Janet Yellen as Fed chair . Trump's plan to make Wall Street unregulated again won't go unchallenged . This is how you know something desperate is going on in China's economy . Top Bridgewater exec explains how its intense, unique culture helped the world's largest hedge fund make $50 billion . Be very afraid of the stock market, argues Business Insider's Linette Lopez . Here's how many people in every state don't have health insurance . NOW WATCH: Here's how to use one of the many apps to buy and trade bitcoin More From Business Insider 20 must-have tech accessories under $20 Kellyanne Conway encourages Americans to 'go buy Ivanka's stuff,' potentially violating ethics rules These 13 online classes will help you learn something new in 2017 — and they’re all $10 || VW Is on a Roll As $4.3 Billion DoJ Dieselgate Deal Nears: Volkswagen is on the up.
The German company looks likely to have pipped Toyota to the title of the world’s biggest-selling automaker in 2016, despite a never-ending stream of dispiriting about its “Dieselgate” scandal.
The reason is simple: in 2015, the German group hadtwoseparate crises. In addition to the diesel woes, it had a shockingly bad year in China, its most important market outside Europe, where it initially missed a shift in consumer preferences towards sport utility vehicles and crossovers.
In 2016, as Dieselgate dominated the news flow in the U.S., VW was quietly putting its problems in China behind it: sales there rose over 12% to 3.98 million - almost 40% of a global sales total of 10.312 million,according to figures released by the company Tuesday.
To judge by the stock market’s reaction, that operational turnaround is much more important than the final acts of the Dieselgate scandal. The company’s preferred stock in Frankfurt hit its highest level since the diesel scandal broke on Tuesday in reaction to the sales news.
Dieselgate, when it broke, had initially wiped over 60 billion euros ($64 billion) off VW’s market value. But analysts’ forecasts of the likely actual damage soon coalesced around 30 billion euros. So far this year, the company has paid some $17.5 billion to settlecivil claims from the Justice Department and environmental regulators, and smooth the ruffled feathers of its U.S. dealers andcustomers. It’s also paid smaller fines in countries such asSouth Korea, which also last week becamethe first country to jail a VW executive in connection with the scandal.
Read More:Inside Volkswagen's Emissions Scandal
But the general market view is that the bulk of the financial damage from Dieselgate is now accounted for, and that outstanding lawsuits against it will still leave the total bill well short of that 30 billion euro benchmark.
How far short is another question. The company cleared up one of the biggest remaining variables on Tuesday,announcing that it is in advanced talks to settle the Department of Justice’s criminal investigationwith a guilty plea and fines of around $4.3 billion (bringing the total in U.S. settlements to $21.8 billion). That will ensure that Dieselgate hits this year’s earnings too, but the company doesn’t yet know how much by.
Resolving the U.S. criminal investigation still leaves it facing another one in Germany, as well as civil actions in both countries from investors about its failure to warn them in a timely manner of the extent of the scandal. A GermanMusterklage,a lawsuit representing an individual shareholder that could be used as a template for thousands more, was filed by law firm MyRight and accepted by a court in Braunschweig last week.
Tuesday’s announcement of an imminent settlement appears to have been precipitated by a growing body of evidence from former employees who had agreed to turn state’s evidence.
On Monday, VW’s former head of compliance in the U.S., Oliver Schmidt, was arraigned and charged with conspiring to defraud U.S. regulatorson the basis of new FBI evidence. The charges unsealed in a Florida court included a direct assertion that top management had chosen to continue lying to regulators even after Schmidt and others had briefed them on the issue of ‘defeat devices’ (designed to trick emissions testers) in July 2015.
James Liang had become the first VW employee to turn state’s evidence in Septemberas part of a plea bargain. But on Tuesday, the German newspaperSueddeutsche Zeitungreported that at least five VW employees have now turned state’s evidence, and that two of them have alleged that both VW brand head Herbert Diess and former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn knew about the issue no later than July 2015.
Winterkorn had resigned within days of the scandal breaking in September 2015. He has always insisted that he knew nothing of the defeat devices, and that line has been central to VW’s strategy of damage limitation ever since, a strategy that has deflected blame on to a small group of supposedly rogue engineering executives below the C-suite.
A spokeswoman for VW said in an e-mailed statement that “Volkswagen continues to cooperate with the Department of Justice as we work to resolve remaining matters in the United States. It would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations or to discuss personnel matters."
VW’s statement Tuesday confirmed that it would be agreeing to a “statement of facts” about its deception. That will be closely parsed by the investors suing VW for details of who knew how much, when. That will have a big bearing on efforts to prove management complicity in keeping bad news from the stock market.
It’s still too early to say how much more such an admission could cost it. Germany has no tradition of handing down punitive fines to companies that are important employers and taxpayers. However, U.S. investors were told last week by federal judge Charles Breyer that their complaint against VW could be heard in a U.S. court too, with a nod to the German’s group’s New York-listed depositary receipts.
As such, those hoping that VW could walk away from Dieselgate with substantial change out of 30 billion euros might still end up disappointed.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include the news of Volkswagen’s statement about talks to settle the DoJ’s criminal case.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Here's Why Bitcoin Prices Fell Sharply Last Week
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Investment Analyst Pegs Bitcoin Price to Hit $3,678 If SEC Approves ETF
https://atlanticgam.es/partner=P09201477117296 … || Vinnytsia será sede del Blockchain Ideas Fest 2017: http://ift.tt/2kyMPnR #bitcoin #btc || Retailers need to embrace the rise of bitcoin - http://ift.tt/2llcmWd || New #btce bitcoin 24 hour high of $1016.500 || 10:01
Bitstamp: 985.00 USD [bajista]
BTC: 16,705.60 ARS [-11.24% 24hs]
Dolar: 16.96 ARS [blue ambito Venta]
http://coinmonitor.info || The Many Ways You Can Book Your Travels Using Bitcoin https://oal.lu/WBJo5 ##bitcoin ##networkmarketingpic.twitter.com/09vgKw3rlX || Current price of $BTC is $1008.00 via Chain #bitcoin #btc || How to Use, Trade, Store and Invest in Bitcoin Digital Assets – Step by Step, Part 1 http://ift.tt/2lso7u2 || $892.72 at 08:30 UTC [24h Range: $883.00 - $910.00 Volume: 10548 BTC] || BitKong - Jogo de Bitcoin comprovadamente justo, Divertido e Viciante. https://bitkong.com/pt?r=XYlFnHgN #bitcoin via @bitkongme
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Trend: up || Prices: 1166.72, 1173.68, 1143.84, 1165.20, 1179.97, 1179.97, 1222.50, 1251.01, 1274.99, 1255.15
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-10-05]
BTC Price: 6622.48, BTC RSI: 51.50
Gold Price: 1201.20, Gold RSI: 51.94
Oil Price: 74.34, Oil RSI: 62.54
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Google-Backed Fintech Startup Uses Bitcoin for Cross-Border Settlement: Veem, a cross-border payments platform that usesbitcointo move funds among businesses without the need of banks, has raised $25 million in a round led by Goldman Sachs, according toForbes.
The service, which does not require either counterparty to hold bitcoin directly, has quadrupled its revenue in the past year. Also participating in the funding round were GV (previously known as Google Ventures), Kleiner Perkins, Pantera Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, and Trend Forward Capital.
Founded by Marwan Forzely, who previously developed and sold a service to Western Union to allow the transfer provider to connect to customer bank accounts directly, Veem uses an algorithm to route transactions automatically among the most efficient payment rails.
The onboarding process will deploy increasing levels of automation that will include built-in KYC/AML compliance.
The San Francisco-based service has proven effective at turning Veem payment recipients into Veem users, a feature that has piqued investor interest. The service has expanded from 90 customers from its founding in May 2015 to more than 80,000.
Forzely said the new funding round acknowledges the size of the opportunity and the extent of the pain point the service is addressing.
The new investment follows a $24 million Series B round in March 2017, making a total of $69.3 million. Goldman Sachs, the lead investor, participated in the new round through its Principal Strategic Investment Group, which has been active in the blockchain industry.
Rana Yareed, a Goldman Sachs managing director, will become a nonvoting observer on the Veem board.
Veem’s revenue has quadrupled in the last year, Forzely said, although he declined to specify the valuation. He also said a big portion of the revenue has been from integration with online accounting services such as Netsuite, QuickBooks, and Xero.
Principal Strategic Investment Group is looking to invest in blockchain companies that can boost service for its clients. It has invested in Digital Asset Holdings, Circle, and Axoni.
GV, which has invested in Storj, LedgerX, and Basis, believes Veem could become the first bitcoin startup to go public, according to Karim Faris, a GV general partner who also sits on Veem’s board of directors. Faris said GV is not a strategic investor but sees Veem as a way to build an independent company and deliver a financial return or an eventual IPO.
Also read:Blockchain startup Veem integrates with QuickBooks for international payments
Forzely previously founded an online payments startup called eBillme, which Western Union purchased in Oct. 2011 for an undisclosed sum. Forzely joined Western Union as general manager for strategic partnerships.
There were 470,000 correspondents that used theSWIFTbank messaging platform according to a 2017 report from the Financial Stability Board. The number has fallen by 8% since 2011, possibly on account of correspondent mergers, SWIFT competitors, or lost licenses.
SWIFT has nonetheless experienced a growth in total transactions, the report noted. Startups like Veem and Nairobi-basedBitPesahave replaced those middlemen using cryptocurrency and other alternatives.
Images from Shutterstock
The postGoogle-Backed Fintech Startup Uses Bitcoin for Cross-Border Settlementappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin on brink of collapse after 'very scary bug' discovered in code: The bitcoin network was at risk of completely collapsing, after a major flaw was spotted with its underlying software. Developers issued a fix before hackers could exploit the bug, which was only revealed publicly after a solution had been found. According to the bitcoin developers, anyone mining the cryptocurrency would have been able to carry out the attack on the network, though it would have cost 12.5 bitcoins roughly $80,000 (£60,000) to perform successfully. The attack would have meant exploiting the way bitcoin transactions are confirmed through mining the process of generating new units of the cryptocurrency by verifying transactions through complex mathematical puzzles. "A denial-of-service vulnerability (CVE-2018-17144) exploitable by miners has been discovered in Bitcoin Core versions 0.14.0 up to 0.16.2," an anonymous developer wrote when disclosing the bug on Github . "It is recommended to upgrade any of the vulnerable versions to 0.16.3 as soon as possible." The bug has been around since March 2017, however either nobody noticed it or nobody was willing to incur the expense of exploiting it. If miners fail to upgrade to the new software, there may still be a risk of the bitcoin network falling victim to an attack, which could result in a significant portion of the network crashing. Developers have pleaded with bitcoin miners to take the appropriate action in order to protect the network from potential attacks, with the anonymous co-owner of bitcoin.org describing it as a "very scary bug" on Twitter. "A very scary bug in Bitcoin Core has just been fixed which could have crashed a huge chunk of the Bitcoin network if exploited by any rogue miners," Cobra Bitcoin tweeted . Such issues were more common in the early years of bitcoin, which was launched in 2009 following the publication of a whitepaper by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. || Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) Considers Providing Crypto Storage Services: Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS)is said to be holding discussions while it considers getting into the crypto storage services space. It is planning on providing the custodial services that will allow cryptocurrency funds invested in coins like Bitcoin (BTC-USD) to store digital coins safely.
One of the biggest hindrances that stand in the way of institutional investors from investing in digital currencies is storage of the coins. The said investors are wary of the risk of storing the virtual currency in some server in an unknown location. Reports of several exchanges being hacked and cryptos being stolen do not help the situation.
Attracting institutional investors
However, with the interest of Goldman to provide custodial services will go a long way in attracting institutional investors into the crypto sector. The investment bank is said to be planning on offering dependable and secure storage services for the crypto funds.
Goldman’s clients will benefit from an institutional channel whereby they will be in a position to efficiently administer their digital assets. In addition to providing security, the investment bank will also provide its clients with insurance services for their held coins.
An unnamed spokesperson for the investment bank touched on the subject by stating that, “In response to client interest in various digital products we are exploring how best to serve them in this space. At this point, we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering.”
Lead the way
If Goldman Sachs succeeds with the project, it would heighten the confidence surrounding the crypto funds. Furthermore, it will lead the way for other investors to jump into the digital assets sector.
According to Bloomberg, the project would help create other business opportunities such as prime brokerage services. Such a move would mean that Goldman would accept the digital currency as collateral. At the same time, hedge funds would have the potential to bypass the USD as an exchange currency.
In the meantime, Bloomberg revealed that other wall street giants, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon Corp, and Northern Trust are all exploring on the idea of a digital currency custodial service.
The postGoldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) Considers Providing Crypto Storage Servicesappeared first onMarket Exclusive. || Ethereum Classic Is Down 30% Since Its Listing on Coinbase: The price of ethereum classic (ETC) has depreciated more than 30 percent against the U.S. dollar since its listing on Coinbase.
Prior to the August 7th listing date, ETC's price surged on two recent occasions, the first of which began on June 11th when Coinbaseannouncedits intention to add ethereum classic to its platform. ETC's price went from $12.19 to $16.40 over the next 48 hours, printing a 34 percent gain. Â
The next and most dramatic boost began on August 3rd, following another announcement from Coinbase which stated that ETC trading would finally go live on August 7th.
Bitcoin Price Looks to Defend $6K as Sell-Off Slows
From August 3rd to the 7th, the price rose more than 50 percent in U.S. dollar terms, hitting a peak of $21.25, according to data from Bitfinex.Â
It's not exactly a surprise when prices rise significantly after news of this nature is released, as investors would regard an asset as undervalued when taking into account the potential for a large cash flow increase that may accompany an exchange listing.Â
That said, this period of volatility often causes prices to rise to an amount where the asset is no longer considered undervalued, setting the stage for a market sell-off.Â
$30 Billion Lost: 4 Stats That Show a Crypto Market in Decline
Ethereum classic was no exception to this reality. After the recent price high of $21.25, the price has fallen more than 30 percent versus the US dollar and is currently trading at $15.
That said, it's worth noting that the entire cryptocurrency market has been in a major slump as of late, sheddingbillions of dollars worth of market capitalization value during Wednesday's trading session.Â
Ethereum classic emerged in 2016 following the divisive collapse of The DAO, the ethereum-based funding vehicle that failed following a debilitating code exploit. An eventual "fork" of the ethereum blockchain to unwind losses tied to the DAO resulted in two distinct blockchains.
Disclosure:Â The author holds BTC, AST, REQ, OMG, FUEL, 1st and AMP at the time of writing.
Image via Shutterstock; Graph via TradingViewÂ
This article has been updated for clarity.Â
• The Crypto Market Just Hit a Low for 2018
• Bitcoin Outlook Sours As Price Sheds 70% of Recent Rally || EightCap adds MetaTrader 5 to its Trading Platform Suite: Australian Forex & CFD Broker EightCap has recently launched the MetaTrader 5 trading platform to existing and new clients. The improved mobile and desktop applications will enable EightCap’s clients to leverage 38 technical indicators and 21 timeframes, whilst also gaining access to new markets. “We are committed to providing our clients with a market leading trading experience. Our clients need access to the very best tools and technology in the industry and we’ll continue to invest in these needs. Our recent introduction of MetaTrader 5 is an exciting step forward for us in this space.” Cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, BTG, Ripple, and Bitcoin have all been added to EightCap’s MetaTrader 5 platform extending their total trading instrument list to over 200+ products. About EightCap Under ASIC regulation, EightCap provides market access to a wide range of Forex & CFD products. Global market indices, metals, oil and both major and minor currency pairs can be traded on MT4 & MT5. Since entering the market in 2009, EightCap now boasts offices around the globe providing a wide range of client support services. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: GBP in a critical condition Precious Metals Move Down as USD Firm on Trade War Woes EUR/JPY Descending Trend Lines Suggest Further Bearish Pressure Pound Sags ahead of BoE Inflation Report Hearing, Gold Sinks Commodities Daily Forecast – September 4, 2018 Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Drop as Hurricane Treat Passes || Cryptos Higher; Bank of America Applies for Blockchain Patent: The price of cryptos rose on Monday Investing.com - Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were higher on Monday as news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will review the applications of Bitcoin exchange traded funds continued to bolster digital coins. Bitcoin rose 0.20% to $6,725.10 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:17 AM ET (12:17 GMT). Cryptocurrencies overall were higher, with the coin market cap of total market capitalization at $217 billion at the time of writing, compared to $212 billion on Friday. Ethereum, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, rose 0.50% to $276.25 while XRP, the third-largest virtual currency, increased 1.41% to $0.32780 and Litecoin was at $57.509, up 0.62%. Virtual coins were bolstered on Friday after the SEC said it would review a decision to reject the applications of Bitcoin ETFs. Last week the SEC rejected the applications from nine companies to list their Bitcoin ETFs, citing concerns about fraud and manipulation of bitcoin markets. Meanwhile, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) applied for a blockchain patent to secure the storage of cryptocurrency. The financial giant has filed 50 patents in relation to blockchain and digital currency. The Aug. 23 patent is described as an application that implements encryption and links data to certain blocks of blockchain as a form of data security. Bank of America is just one of a number of financial institutions that have filed patents related to cryptocurrency. While many bank executives have spoken out against Bitcoin and other coins, the companies have shown increasing interest in blockchain, the technology behind virtual currencies. Related Articles Baidu Joins China’s Crypto Blockade Traxion Offers Blockchain Solution to Philippine Farmers IOTA (MIOTA) Price Recovers as Trinity Desktop Beta Wallet Brought to Users || EOG Resources Inc. Continues to Sharpen Its Focus on the U.S.: According to a report by Reuters, EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) has agreed to sell its oil and gas operations in the U.K. While the buyer didn't disclose the price, the company had hoped to fetch more than $300 million for these assets. However, that cash infusion wasn't the driving factor of this sale considering that EOG Resources ended last quarter with $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet and was on pace to produce more than $1 billion in free cash flow in the second half of this year. Instead, what drove this sale is EOG Resources' desire to further reduce its exposure to international markets. That will enable the company to focus even more of its attention on the U.S., where it continues uncovering vast supplies of low-cost oil. An oil pump under a blue sky. Image source: Getting images. Slowly heading for the exit EOG Resources reportedly sold its U.K. offshore assets to Tailwind Energy. The deal includes 100% of the Conway oilfield, a 25% interest in the Columbus gas development project, and some other smaller assets in the North Sea. Conway produces about 11,000 barrels of oil per day and has been generating free cash flow for EOG. Further, the field held approximately 10.9 million barrels of reserves. Columbus, on the other hand, is on track to start producing in early 2019, providing near-term growth for the new owner. Unlike many rivals that are unloading assets to reduce debt or buy back stock, EOG Resources is selling this business as part of its continued effort to shift its focus to its U.S. onshore shale assets. The company has done this by steadily parting ways with its international operations over the years. In 2016, for example, EOG sold its assets in Argentina to that country's national oil company. Meanwhile, the company has been slowly exiting Canada in recent years . In 2014, the company sold the bulk of its Canadian assets for $410 million, which led it to close its office in the country. Two years before that, EOG sold its interest in the Kitimat LNG project as well as some associated natural gas acreage and assets in the country to Chevron . Story continues With those sales, EOG's remaining international assets are in China, Canada, and Trinidad and Tobago. Of that group, Trinidad and Tobago is the only region where the company is focusing much attention these days. The company currently produces natural gas from several fields that it sells under a supply contract in Trinidad, which enables it to continue drilling more wells. Drilling rigs in the mountains. Image source: Getty Images. Uncovering a motherload of oil at home The reason EOG Resources and many of its U.S. peers initially set their sights abroad was due to the lack of growth prospects at home. However, that has changed in more recent years, after the industry discovered how to tap into the country's vast shale resources. That has opened a treasure trove of oil and gas resources that now has many oil companies abandoning their global growth efforts to focus on expanding output at home. EOG Resources has been at the forefront of exploring the country's shale plays. It was a first mover in drilling shale gas wells in the Barnett, Marcellus, and Haynesville more than a decade ago. That success led it to be an early developer of oilier plays such as Bakken, Eagle Ford, and DJ Basin in the last 10 years. These exploration efforts have paid big dividends for the company, which now sits on an estimated 13.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources across six different regions that will provide it with decades of high-return growth at its current drilling pace. EOG continues to find new sources of oil, most recently unveiling a jaw-dropping 2.1 billion barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) resource in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming . Meanwhile, the company continues exploring its acreage around the country, which could lead to additional discoveries in the coming years. The fuel to continue outperforming EOG Resources has been an early mover in drilling horizontal oil and gas wells in shale plays across the U.S. over the past decade and a half. That decision has enabled the company to generate market-smashing returns over the last 10 years, with its stock surging 166% versus a 98% gain for the S&P 500 ,even though oil has fallen 28%. That outperformance should continue given the company's large supply of low-cost oil resources and shareholder-focused expansion plan , which is why it remains one of the top stocks to buy in the oil patch . More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Matthew DiLallo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Price Intraday Analysis: BTC/USD Stability Continues: bitcoin price Bitcoin on Friday surged a minor 0.21 percent against the US Dollar, intensifying the bias conflict it has been in since yesterday. The BTC/USD opened the day while valued at 6590-fiat and is currently fluctuating around 6593-fiat. Between then and now, the pair, however, witnessed a robust intrarange action, in which the value retested 6500-fiat as its psychological support, and found its uptrend capped by an equally strong resistance level near 6627-fiat. The sideways consolidation action offers adequate opportunities to traders to enter and exit markets on decent profits. BTC/USD Technical Analysis The medium-term triangle pattern continues to trap the Bitcoin price action. We still havent been able to establish a breakout action, despite BTC/USD moving in an upward parallel channel. On smaller timeframes, the pair is trending above its 100 and 200H SMAs, while the RSI and Stochastic both are also inside a buying region, with their heads towards the north. A near-term bullish sentiment can be established if BTC/USD closes above the upper trendline of the prevailing triangle formation. Similarly, a sell-off towards the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the last swing from 6447-low and 6627-high could switch the bias towards bears. If the long-term trend is taken into consideration, BTC/USD is clearly going down to retest its bottom range below 6000-fiat. BTC/USD Intraday Analysis No wondering too much about where the price would go, we will rather focus on what we can make out of the current sideways action. That said, lets see what levels are we watching out for today. As of now, the upper trendline of the triangle formation serves as our interim resistance. A breakout scenario will be confirmed if we break above 6627-fiat. Even if we dont, a false breakout signal on a close above the interim resistance would have us put a long position towards 6627-fiat. Also, a stop loss 3-pips below the entry level will define our risk. Story continues If we do break above 6627-fiat, well confirm a near-term bullish bias, and open a long position towards 6660-fiat, the higher high from September 30. Conversely, a pullback from the interim resistance level would have us enter a short position towards 6558-fiat. At the same time, well open a stop loss order 3-pips above the entry level to protect our trade from additional losses, if price reverses towards the north. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Bitcoin Price Intraday Analysis: BTC/USD Stability Continues appeared first on CCN . || Bitcoin – Bulls Look to Shake Off 2-Months in the Red: Bitcoin rose by just 0.37% on Sunday, partially reversing a 0.65% decline on Saturday, to end the week down 1.31% to $6,621.9, the week’s loss contributing to September’s 5.61% fall, while Bitcoin managed to gain 3.6% for the September quarter.
A relatively choppy end to the quarter saw Bitcoin recover from pullback to an early morning low $6,556.8, a broad based cryptomarket rally leading Bitcoin to a late morning intraday high $6,662.8, falling short of the first major resistance level at $6,666.87 before being hit by a cryptomarket sell-off.
Tracking the broader market, Bitcoin slid back through to sub-$6,600 levels and an intraday low $6,529.6 before finding support, the first major support level at $6,485.97 left untested on the day. A late in the day recovery saw Bitcoin move back through to $6,600 levels and into positive territory by the day’s end to support a positive start to the 4thquarter.
With Bitcoin seeing red for a 2ndconsecutive month, pinning back the gain for the quarter, the extended bearish trend, formed at early May’s swing hi $9,999, remained intact, Bitcoin having continued to struggle to break out from the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $6,757 since the late July rally that saw Bitcoin all too briefly break through the 62% FIB Retracement Level of $8,378 to a 3rdquarter high $8,506.7.
For the Bitcoin bulls, there will be a few hurdles to get over before hopes of another 4thquarter rally can materialize, the G20’s delayed rollout of unified rules and regulations for the cryptomarket anticipated this month, with the SEC continuing its review of Bitcoin ETF applications, a decision on the latest VanEk application pending.
Get Into Cryptocurrency Trading Today
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up 0.33% to $6,644.3, with Bitcoin moving from a start of a day morning low $6,621.8 to a morning high $6,666 before easing back. The moves through the early part of the morning left the day’s major support and resistance levels left untested and, more importantly, Bitcoin managed to hold on to $6,600 levels.
For the day ahead, a move back through the morning high $6,666 would likely see Bitcoin break through the day’s first major resistance level at $6,679.93 to bring $6,700 levels into play, while we would expect Bitcoin to fall short of the second major resistance level at $6,737.97 and the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $6,757 barring particularly positive news hitting the crypto wires.
Failure to take a run at the day’s first major resistance level at $6,679.93 could see Bitcoin hit reverse later in the day, with a pullback through the morning low $6,621.8 bringing sub-$6,600 levels and the day’s first major support level at $6,546.73 into play.
For the Bitcoin bulls, holding above $6,605 through to the early afternoon may ultimately be key to avoiding a more material reversal later in the day, while a material news driven sell-off would likely see Bitcoin return to sub-$6,500 levels before any recovery.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Bitcoin – Bulls Look to Shake Off 2-Months in the Red || Turkey ETF Still Has a Lot of Work to Do: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The iShares MSCI Turkey ETF ( TUR ) is up more than 4% this month, but that barely dents the exchange traded fund's year-to-date loss of more than 48%. Clearly, the only US-listed ETF focusing on controversial Turkish stocks has a lot of work ahead of it. The same is true of Turkey's economy, which is grappling with the effects of a slumping currency and rampant inflation. Earlier this month, the central bank there boosted interest rates by 625 basis points to 24% . “This rate increase was a welcome and necessary first step towards exiting the ongoing Turkish lira crisis,” said Markit in a recent note . “The immediate market reaction was one of relief, with bond spreads narrowing and the lira rallying against the US dollar and the euro. The degree to which the TCMB increased the repo rate was a positive surprise, a more aggressive action to get in front of annual inflation than IHS Markit and many observers had anticipated.” Turkey faced heavy pressure to raise rates as the lira has spiraled downward by more than 40% against the U.S. dollar. However, the latest efforts by the central bank appear to be steadying its value for the time being. Lingering Concerns Although Turkey's recent interest rate hike is substantial, more steps are needed to get the economy there on firmer footing and regain investors' confidence. “It is important to note that this interest rate increase is only a bare minimum, first step to exit the current crisis. There is a high probability that the lira will once again begin to depreciate rapidly after only a temporary rally, potentially forcing the Bank to raise interest rates even further at later policy meetings,” according to Markit. At the very least, Turkey's central bank must keep rates high over the near-term and perhaps unveil additional rate hikes to further stabilize the lira. “To rebuild financial-market stability, the Bank must, at a minimum, maintain these high interest rates for more than a month or two, while also taking other actions to maintain defensive monetary policy,” according to Markit. “Although President Erdoğan will continue to decry high interest rates, it will be important that he limits his opposition to rhetoric. Should these actions, or the resulting negative impact on domestic demand growth, trigger a more tangible push to find a scape goat by Erdoğan - perhaps an attempt to push out TCMB Governor Murat Çetinkaya or members of the Monetary Policy Committee or to impose penalties on the governor or the committee members - another currency crisis could develop as confidence in institutional integrity is once again undermined.” Story continues For more information on the developing economies, visit our emerging markets category . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM Latest Round of Tariffs Impacting Homebuilder ETFs Leveraged ETF Hinging on Positive U.S.-Japan Trade Talks ETFs with General Electric Down as Company Struggles with Turbine Issues Dow Stumbles as U.S.-China Trade Talks Stall Bitcoin Will Lose 50% of Its Market Share to Ethereum in Five Years READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM >
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#CryptoMarkets top 10 price update 1h
$BTC $6493.66 -0.32%
$ETH $216.15 -1.53%
$XRP $0.28 -0.78%
$BCH $437.83 -0.99%
$EOS $5.34 -0.59%
$XLM $0.21 -0.22%
$LTC $56.22 -1.33%
$USDT $1.00 0.14%
$XMR $115.15 -2.47%
$ADA $0.07 -1.14% || Total Market Cap: $214,578,020,038
1 BTC: $6,343.77
BTC Dominance: 51.03%
Update Time: 13-08-2018 - 08:00:14 (GMT+3) || 24H
2018/09/06 15:00 (2018/08/31 15:00)
LONG : 25370.39 BTC (-2421.61 BTC)
SHORT : 38256.47 BTC (+13460.07 BTC)
LS比 : 39% vs 60% (52% vs 47%) || $BTC The New Gold? CFTC Defines Bitcoin as a Commodity http://twib.in/l/gErpXoLXezya pic.twitter.com/5pn9enSRdW || 2018/09/15 05:00
#Binance 格安コイン
1位 #HOT 0.00000018 BTC(0.13円)
2位 #NPXS 0.00000023 BTC(0.17円)
3位 #BCN 0.00000030 BTC(0.22円)
4位 #DENT 0.00000034 BTC(0.25円)
5位 #NCASH 0.00000083 BTC(0.61円)
#仮想通貨 #アルトコイン #草コイン || $400.00 AntMiner S9 13.5T Bitcoin Miner ASIC BTC Bitmain Mining Machine W Power Supply #cryptocurrency #miner http://corneey.com/wLU3bY pic.twitter.com/xk5YBrQSha || 08/23 17:00 のStrongHands価格（日本円）をお知らせします。
1剛力 = 0.0000222488 円 (前日比 : -8.1 パーセント)
1億剛力 = 2224 円
10億剛力 = 22248 円
プロテインはこちらへ↓
【SPV4eLwzqt8arMP1QxzfJbEQndYYwyAgAq】
#StrongHands #SHND #仮想通貨 #bitcoin || Average Bitcoin market price is: USD 6,409.00, EUR 5,506.60 || #xrp #Xrpcommunity #crypto #cnbc #btc #bitcoin #xlm #cryptocurrencynewshttps://twitter.com/XRPL_Monitor/status/1046888441827483648 … || 2018-08-13 06:00:02 UTC
BTC: $6340.25
BCH: $572.08
ETH: $314.67
ZEC: $158.56
LTC: $59.04
ETC: $13.18
XRP: $0.2987
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 6588.31, 6602.95, 6652.23, 6642.64, 6585.53, 6256.24, 6274.58, 6285.99, 6290.93, 6596.54
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Canadian regulator clears launch of world's first bitcoin ETF - investment manager: By Fergal Smith and David Randall TORONTO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Canada's main securitiesregulator has cleared the launch of the world's first bitcoinexchange traded fund, an investment manager said on Friday,providing investors greater access to the cryptocurrency thathas sparked an explosion in trading interest. The Ontario Securities Commission has approved the launch ofPurpose Bitcoin ETF, Toronto-based asset management companyPurpose Investments Inc. said in a statement. The OSC confirmedthe approval of the ETF in a separate statement to Reuters. "The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directlyin physically settled Bitcoin, not derivatives, allowinginvestors easy and efficient access to the emerging asset classof cryptocurrency," Purpose Investments said. Investors have been able to trade bitcoin using futurescontracts on the CME derivatives exchange. They can also buyclosed-end investment funds, such as the Bitcoin Fundon the Toronto Stock Exchange. An ETF could offer some advantages to investors, such aslower fees. Bitcoin notched a record high of $48,975 on Friday. It hasgained about 63% so far this year and soared roughly 1,130%since mid-March 2020. Elon Musk's Tesla revealed on Monday it had bought$1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency and would soon acceptit as a form of payment for its cars, while the cryptocurrencyhas been gaining acceptance among mainstream financial firms. In the United States, eight firms have tried without successsince 2013 to create a bitcoin ETF, according to ToddRosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research at New Yorkbased CFRA. Among issues the Securities and Exchange Commission appearsto be focused on are the potential for market manipulation andthe process of custody audits that verify that a fund holds itspurported assets. "While some expect that a Canadian ETF approval sets thestage for a near-term U.S. one, we expect the SEC under newleadership to take their time to review some of the new filingsfrom VanEck and others," Rosenbluth said. VanEck is a New York-based investment management firm. Gary Gensler, former chair of the Commodity Futures TradingCommission, was named chair of the SEC last month by U.S.President Joe Biden.(Reporting by Fergal Smith and David Randall; Editing by DennyThomas and Dan Grebler) || A Memorable March: Bitcoin and Ethereum Adoption Skyrockets: One year later, and March 2021 already seems somewhat better from all standpoints. But, when it comes to the crypto industry, this last month has been one of the most prosperous in the sector’s entire history, especially when it comes to adoption and the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum. March 2021 boosts crypto adoption The past 31 days have brought a lot of progress to the cryptocurrency industry, but it could be said that the adoption has seen the most progress. Institutional investors have been overcoming their fear of cryptocurrency for over a year now, and with each passing month, they have been more and more encouraged to join the crypto sector and help it grow. Companies like Grayscale and MicroStrategy have invested millions into crypto on behalf of their clients, and despite recent dips, institutions continue to invest. Grayscale even launched new crypto products only a few weeks ago. Major financial institutions like JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have started offering crypto products, and even the Deutsche Bank openly stated that cryptocurrencies can no longer be ignored. This last month revealed that Tesla has bought over $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. This month, however, its CEO, Elon Musk, announced that the electric car company will now start accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment. Another report revealed that Bitcoin miners managed to earn over $1.5 billion in March of this year alone, making mining one of the most profitable ways of earning Bitcoin at the moment. And, of course, no one will soon forget that this was a month of Bitcoin ETFs, with as many as three of them emerging in Canada, one of which was launched by Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz. These are the first BTC ETFs in North America, and their very existence has given US companies a new encouragement to continue to bombard the SEC with new ETF applications. This has also been a major month for Ethereum, as its DeFi sector reached an all-time high at $46.1 billion in total value locked (TVL) in mid-March. Meanwhile, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) became one of the main topics of news and discussions, as tokenization started taking off. There were countless examples of celebrities , groups , and organizations launching NFTs, selling tokenized versions of songs , tweets , watches , and anything else that has any kind of value. Not to mention that Visa embraced crypto settlement, and chose Ethereum blockchain to conduct them on. Lastly, Ethereum continues to slowly implement changes that will eventually result in its transformation into Ethereum 2.0 — a better, faster, more scalable blockchain, with much cheaper transactions and greater functionalities. Story continues Bitcoin and Ethereum hit all-time highs in March 2021 The situation regarding crypto prices was equally as good, at least for a time. Bitcoin managed to hit a new ATH earlier this month, which was followed by a major price correction. The coin reached an ATH of $61,683 on March 13th, only to correct to $54k three days later. It then attempted to reach $60k once again after that, and it succeeded, but the approaching expiration date of $6 million worth of Bitcoin options caused fears of major sell-off, resulting in an even deeper price drop that brought the coin to $51k by March 25th. Now, only one week later, the coin is nearly back at $60k, surging rapidly over the past week, and currently sitting at $59,781. Ethereum saw a similar price performance, however it was held back by extremely strong resistance at $1,850 for the majority of the month, and this barrier caused it to trade sideways for weeks. The coin managed to breach it only once in the past month, around the time of Bitcoin’s ATH. However, ETH did not manage to beat its February record. Instead, it only climbed to $1920 before dropping back down. When Bitcoin options expiration date approached, ETH price was affected too due to BTC dominance, dropping to $1560 as a result. However, just like BTC, Ethereum also recovered over the past six days, and it currently pushes strongly against the resistance at $1850, which is also the coin’s price at the time of writing. At the moment, both coins are trading in the green, with their prices surging as the new rally took over, and it would not be surprising for new ATHs to be reached in the next day. Historically speaking, crypto industry often performs very well in April and May, so the next two months have an excellent chance of bringing great price performance. Greg Waisman, the co-founder and COO of the global payment network Mercuryo This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for April 5, 2021 AUD/USD Price Forecast – Australian Dollar Continues to Base GBP/JPY Price Forecast – British Pound Continuing to Extend EUR/USD Price Forecast – Euro Bounces Strong Non Farm Payrolls Report Boosts Markets USD/JPY Price Forecast – US Dollar Pulls Back Slightly View comments || Global equities rise as U.S. bond yield fears ease: By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gauge of global equity markets rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rates will remain low, calming market jitters sparked by a jump in U.S. Treasury yields on fears that a robust recovery would drive inflation higher. Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased more than expected in January as the median sale price rose 5.3% on a year-over-year basis, the latest data to show certain consumer prices are rising faster than expected. Crude oil rose more than 2% to fresh 13-month highs while gold prices struggled for traction as elevated Treasury yields eroded the allure of bullion as an inflation hedge. The dollar slid to multi-year lows against the pound and commodity-linked currencies including the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars, as they are expected to benefit from a pick-up in global trade as world growth rebounds. MSCI's all-country world index, a gauge of equity markets in 49 countries, added 0.30%, as rising stocks on Wall Street pushed the global benchmark to reverse early losses. Progress in the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, which was boosted by news that Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine appeared safe and effective, has increased economic optimism but also inflation concerns, said Patrick Leary, chief market strategist and senior trader at Incapital in Minneapolis. "If you look at commodity prices, you look at real estate prices and you look at energy prices, they're up significantly higher than even pre-pandemic levels," Leary said. In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, Powell reiterated the Fed's promise to get the American economy back to full employment and to not worry about inflation unless prices rise in a persistent and troubling way. While rising yields give stock investors pause, the Fed is "pretty comfortable" with them as they take some of the froth out of the financial system, Leary said. Story continues The 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose almost 1 basis point to yield 1.3722% after hitting 1.435% earlier. The benchmark Treasury yield traded at 0.912% at the end of 2020. The sliding of 10-year Treasury yields below the 1.4% mark helped equity markets rebound from early losses, but the rotation out of technology stocks continued, with Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc leading Wall Street lower. In Europe, the tech sector has lost nearly 4% this week. The Dow Jones industrial average set a record high, rising 1.35%. The S&P 500 gained 1.14% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.99%. GameStop Corp stock, at the center of volatile moves in late January as its shares were talked about on a Reddit forum, more than doubled in price in late trading, and continued to soar in post-market trade in heavy trade. Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index closed up 0.4% at 1,590.09 after earlier trading lower on inflation fears. The benchmark 10-year German Bund was steady after yields jumped on Tuesday. A sharp rise in real bond yields in line with those seen during previous "bond tantrum episodes" would reduce the upside potential for European equities, BofA Global Research said. Sectors set to benefit from a stronger economy were supported by German GDP data, as exports and solid construction activity helped Europe's biggest economy to grow by a better-than-expected 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Germany's DAX rose 0.8%. Falling tech stocks, which are sensitive to rising yields, pulled Asian markets lower overnight. Bitcoin traded little changed, down 0.3% at $48,720.00. The dollar index fell 0.063%, with the euro up 0.12% to $1.2164. The Japanese yen weakened 0.59% versus the greenback to 105.86 per dollar. Oil prices rose after U.S. government data showed a drop in crude output after a deep freeze disrupted production last week. Brent crude futures settled up $1.67 at $67.04 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures rose $1.55 to settle at $63.22 a barrel. Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures have both risen by about 28% so far in 2021. U.S. gold futures settled down 0.4% at $1,797.90 an ounce. (Reporting by Herbert Lash, additional reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in London; Editing by Will Dunham, Chizu Nomiyama, Kirsten Donovan and Paul Simao) || Coinbase Settles With CFTC for $6.5M Over Old Trading Practices: Crypto exchange Coinbase will pay $6.5 million in a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over allegations the exchange “self-traded” digital assets.
According toa consent orderpublished by the commodities regulator Friday, Coinbase self-traded a small amount of cryptocurrency between 2015 and 2018 through two of its automated trading programs. A now-former employee of the exchange also allegedly “wash traded”litecoinduring that time period, as well.
One of these programs was designed to project how much of any given cryptocurrency Coinbase was expected to sell on its retail brokerage app. The system would then purchase the suggested amount of cryptocurrency through its professional trading division (GDAX, now known as Coinbase Pro) and hold it in the exchange’s treasury.
Related:Bad Sandwich: DeFi Trader 'Poisons' Front-Running Miners for $250K Profit
Self-trading is when “the same entity takes both sides of the trade,”a reportby the U.S. Treasury Department and several financial regulators said in 2014. This type of market activity could be likened to wash trading, where an entity might artificially pump up the trading volume of an asset.
Importantly, the CFTC is not alleging that any Coinbase customers were harmed or that any wrongdoing occurred. Rather, it’s describing the activity as reckless but not intentional. This activity is no longer occurring, the CFTC said Friday.
Coinbase disclosed the investigation’s existencein its Form S-1, which the company filed ahead of its planned listing on Nasdaq.
The CFTC began investigating “trades made in 2017 by one of the company’s then-current employees,” according tothe S-1. The investigation also included “the design and operation of certain algorithmic functions related to liquidity management on the company’s platform.”
Related:Will Bitcoin Hit $200k by September?
While the CFTC has conducted other investigations into Coinbase, according to the S-1, including into an Ethereum “market event” and thebitcoin cashlisting, this is the only investigation the exchange anticipated would have a “material adverse effect” on its operations.
Ina concurrent statementpublished with the settlement, CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump wrote that while she agreed with the regulator’s findings, she wanted to ensure the public is aware that the CFTC doesn’t regulate spot exchanges.
Coinbase doesn’t offer any derivatives products and is therefore not registered with the agency, she wrote. The activity at the heart of Friday’s enforcement action also doesn’t affect any derivatives covered by the agency.
“The settled charges are based largely on conduct that is several years old, has not been repeated, and in the case of the charge of secondary liability, is based on conduct by an employee who left Coinbase years ago and who is not being charged,” she added.
In a statement shared with CoinDesk, a Coinbase spokesperson said the company neither admits nor denies the findings, but said the order does not find any Coinbase customers were harmed.
“We believe clear, common-sense regulations are needed to provide a stable trading environment for all market participants. Because of this, we proactively engaged with the CFTC throughout their investigation, and we believe that our conversations were constructive and contributed to an outcome that is satisfactory for both parties,” the spokesperson said.
UPDATE (March 19, 2021, 22:00 UTC):Added statements from Coinbase and CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump.
• Coinbase Settles With CFTC for $6.5M Over Old Trading Practices
• Coinbase Settles With CFTC for $6.5M Over Old Trading Practices || Swipe (SXP) Briefly Taps New All-Time High: TheSwipe (SXP)price has been increasing since March 25 and managed to inch over the previous all-time high.
SXP is expected to gradually continue increasing towards $8.
SXPhas been moving upwards since March 25, when it was trading at a low of $2.62. Since then, it has increased by a full 95%, reaching a high of $5.14.
This is only slightly below the previous all-time high price of $4.99, which was reached on Aug. 13.
Technical indicators in the daily time-frame are bullish. TheMACDis positive and increasing, as is theRSI.While theStochastic oscillatorhas yet to make a bullish cross, it’s very close to doing so.
Cryptocurrency trader@Thebull_Cryptooutlined an SXP chart, stating that the price is likely to surge further.
While this has already occurred, we need to take a look at the wave count to determine the next potential resistance areas.
The wave count indicates that SXP is likely in an extended wave three (white).
It’s also in sub-wave three (orange) of this wave, with sub-wave two being arunning flatcorrection. This is considered a bullish sign that often leads to a significant increase in the other direction.
A potential target for the top of this sub-wave is found near $8. This would give sub-waves one and three a 1:1.61 ratio — common in bullish impulses.
The SXP/BTC pair has broken out from the 6,200 satoshi resistance area. This resistance has been in place since November 2019.
Similar to the USD counterpart, technical indicators in the daily time-frame look bullish.
Therefore, the token is expected to increase towards the next resistance area at 10,500 satoshis.
SXP/USD is expected to continue increasing to new all-time highs. A target of $8 has potential.
The SXP/BTC pair is expected to gradually increase towards the 10,500 resistance area.
For BeInCrypto’s latestbitcoin(BTC) analysis,click here. || What Is BitClout? The Social Media Experiment Sparking Controversy on Twitter: Prominent users of Crypto Twitter have suddenly discovered they have another profile on a new social network called BitClout, except over there some people are buying and selling tokens representing their identities. It does not matter whether the people behind those profiles have ever touched the social network. The core insight behind BitClout is that if you can mix speculation and content together, you can not only get a 10x product that creates innovative ways for creators to monetize, but you also get a new business model thats not ad-driven anymore, BitClouts lead creator, who goes by Diamondhands , told CoinDesk in a phone call. BitClout is not a company. It is a proof-of-work blockchain designed for running social media. It was created by an anonymous group of developers. Backers only hold its token, BTCLT. Nevertheless, a set of prominent investors and crypto businesses have bought in. Related: Crypto Wallet Metamask Reports Record-Breaking Adoption This has been unpersuasive to many prominent members of the industry, who by and large seem to particularly object to their images and Twitter profiles being scraped and copied onto a whole other website. BitClout is social media on a blockchain (like Hive, Steem or Cent ). It also generates social tokens (like Roll or Rally ), which represent actual people. Those social tokens supplies are controlled by automated market makers (like Uniswap or Curve ), though one governed by a bonding curve that explicitly ratchets up the value as more tokens get minted. In order to do anything on the site, users need to get their hands on BTCLT. To really trade, that means putting in BTC to get BTCLT, but theres no way to trade it back. Users can send BTC to BitClout for BTCLT but they cant trade it back to BTC on the site. James Prestwich, the founder of Summa ( acquired by the operators of Celo last summer ), has been highly critical of BitClout and thats one of his key reasons. Story continues Related: Tether Will Evolve and Become More Transparent or It Will Be Supplanted: Tether Co-Founder William Quigley Theres no venue to sell BitClout, Prestwich told CoinDesk in a phone call. You can put money in but you cant get money out. Diamondhands said the platform welcomes exchange listings and bridges to other blockchains. It includes exchanges among its investors, and hopes listings should come soon. To me, its just a matter of time before everybody sees where the right side of history is, Diamondhands said. The tokens According to Diamondhands, there was a pre-mine of 2 million BTCLT tokens for founders and investors. Theres technically no supply cap on BTCLT, he explained, but the cost of new emissions will become so high at some point they dont expect any more will be purchased after the supply hits something like 19 million. Miners securing the network will also earn BTCLT, but thats only about 500,000 over the next few years. In order to convince creators that this was not a project that would cut and run with BTC put into the system, BitClout sought the backing of major investors in crypto. Diamondhands sent CoinDesk a list of investors via email, which included: Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Social Capital, TQ Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Arrington Capital, Polychain, Pantera, Digital Currency Group (CoinDesks parent company), Huobi, Variant and others. Diamondhands said that he and his co-creators felt like they needed those well-known names to make creators feel confident the project was real. BitClout runs on a proof-of-work blockchain much like Bitcoins, but one designed to hold the text of social media posts. The BTCLT token is used as gas and will likely eventually be used in a governance process that manages the projects BTC treasury. The code will be open-sourced on the BitClout site soon and when that happens others will be able to join permissionlessly as nodes or as miners, Diamondhands said. CoinDesk agreed to respect pseudonymity at the start of our discussions. Diamondhands said the creators are hiding their identities in order to keep the project decentralized in spirit as well as fact. Social media Crypto social networks are not new, but Diamondhands argues the key innovation with BitClout is that it emphasizes the value of the creator, not their content. The platforms that have existed up to today, really focus on speculating on the post as the atomic unit, rather than on the creator. And theres a very big difference, because posts are short term, Diamondhands said. That makes it not really very exciting as an asset class. Whereas if you have a creator that you can speculate on, thats a very long-term thing that you can really invest in for a long time. The notion of being creative and boosting ones value is powerful, but others see a darker side. Lumi is a blockchain researcher who has been digging deep into BitClout since it started driving conversation last week, shortly after launch. People are incentivized to cancel people, Lumi told CoinDesk in a phone call. All you have to do is open a short position and then try to mangle someones reputation. He further objected to the qualitative experience of BitClout. Sending money to a crypto address in order to get tokens back is the same spirit and feel of the early initial coin offering rush of 2017. He doesnt like seeing those kinds of optics return to the space, only with marquee names. But the lure of a pre-existing pool that appears to have already accrued value could be alluring. For creators with reserved accounts, a certain number of their tokens have been set aside for them already for whenever they choose to activate. That said, users dont need to wait for an account to be activated in order to speculate on such tokens, which could be part of why many Crypto Twitter denizens are so uneasy about this new project. A former CoinDesk employee who has not yet activated the BitClout account already has two dozen accounts that hold their coin. This reporters profile (which has not been activated and has not sold any tokens) is shown as having a $12,000 market cap. Thats based on the idea that 32 tokens have been minted in the set aside for the profile of @BradyDale. If anyone wanted to buy one more, it would cost around $400, so the market cap assumes all 33 would fetch that price. (Each token that gets sold slightly increases the price of the next token to sell. The website then lists a market cap as if the whole supply would sell at that price.) But, as the white paper explains: Buying creates coins while pushing the price up and locking money into the profile, while selling destroys coins while pushing the price down and unlocking money from the profile. So it seems fair to say that the market caps of the tokens are overstated, at a minimum. This is engineered to show people paper gains very quickly so they will put in more money and buy more BitClout, Prestwich said. I dont think its a scam though. People use that term way too loosely, Castle Island Ventures Nic Carter, who had not activated his account nor invested, told CoinDesk. I think its certainly got some Ponzi-like features, but so does everything now. Every consumer app is gamified. Frequent flier miles are basically a Ponzi. Getting in A user doesnt need to be on Twitter to create an account, but to activate a reserved account, a user needs to tweet out their BitClout address. This verifies legitimate owners, Diamondhands said, but no doubt the publicity also helps. Once an account has been activated, its owner can set a sort of tax on new token emissions if they so choose. So each time someone makes a purchase of their token that increases total supply, some portion of that would go to the person the token represents. Celebrity accounts and various crypto denizens with preloaded accounts already will find that they also have a certain amount of their tokens set aside for them now. The amount was set proportional to their followers, according to Diamondhands. There were about 15,000 pre-loaded accounts, all based on Twitter. If a BitClout page doesnt have a blue check next to it, the person it represents has not actually activated on the blockchain, but the rest of their basic content from Twitter is already there. Up to now, it has required an invitation from a user to access the website, but Diamondhands said that will change shortly. Also, a user doesnt have to pair an account with a Twitter account. In fact, if someone wants to stay anonymous and just buy peoples tokens from a wallet, they can do that, too. The awesome thing about BitClout is it lets you be totally anonymous, which most platforms in general dont even allow, Diamondhands said. Driving demand What got me excited about the project is what I call fundamental demand, which is where the creator monetizing on the platform is actually what drives the value, Diamondhands said. The users and their posts on BitClout are an underlying data structure that any web application can access. Sites that publish BitClout content and allow people to interact with it are nodes. With this open data structure, sites can invent new ways for creators to monetize or give people incentives to hold their tokens. Diamondhands contends that larger objections will be worked out in time, as exchange listings come to enable people to exit positions and new nodes spin up new experiences for users. Its also open to bridges to other chains. Any platform that wants to implement an atomic swap from BitClout onto their chain, that would just be such an amazing thing, he said. UPDATE (Marc 23, 16:12 UTC) This post has been revised to remove an erroneous mention of BitClout using an atomic swap with the bitcoin blockchain. Related Stories What Is BitClout? The Social Media Experiment Sparking Controversy on Twitter What Is BitClout? The Social Media Experiment Sparking Controversy on Twitter || Bitcoin plummets as doubts grow over sky-high valuation: By Tom Wilson and Tom Westbrook LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Bitcoin plummeted as much as 17% on Tuesday as investors grew nervous at sky-high valuations, triggering the liquidation of leveraged bets and sparking a sell-off across cryptocurrency markets. The world's biggest cryptocurrency was facing its biggest daily drop in a month, falling to as low as $45,000. In choppy trading, it was last down 15.6%. The drop took its losses to over a fifth from a record high of $58,354 hit on Sunday and underscored the volatility of the emerging asset - though it is still up around 60% this year. "The kinds of rallies we've been seeing aren't sustainable and just invite pullbacks like this," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA. "It was an extremely overbought market." Ether, the world's second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation that often moves in tandem with bitcoin, also dropped more than 20% to $1,410, down over 30% from last week's record peak. Cryptocurrency markets have been running hot this year as big money managers and companies begin to take the emerging asset class seriously, piling money into the sector and driving confidence among small-time speculators. A $1.5 billion investment by electric carmaker Tesla this month has helped vault bitcoin above $50,000 but may now lead to pressure on the company's stock price as it has become sensitive to movements in bitcoin. LEVERAGED LOSSES Rising government bond yields over recent days have hit riskier assets in traditional markets, with the caution spilling over into highly leveraged bitcoin markets, said Richard Galvin of crypto fund Digital Asset Capital Management. Exchanges popular with cryptocurrency investors in Asia, including Binance and Huobi, accounted for about 70% of liquidations of leveraged bets over the last 24 hours, according to crypto data site Bybt. Bitcoin's losses were "compounded by the amount of liquidation that has happened in the last 24 hours", said Lan Gu of Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm. Story continues The cryptocurrency's rapid gains in recent months have led to calls from governments and financial regulators for tighter regulation. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that bitcoin was extremely inefficient at conducting transactions and was a highly speculative asset. Bitcoin's high volatility, critics say, is among reasons that it has so far failed to gain widespread traction as a means of payment - an expectation that has in part fuelled its rally. Analysts said that, with few fundamental factors by which to judge bitcoin's value, key price levels would play a large part in determining the direction of crypto markets. "It's the big figures that have proved to be support and resistance points," said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at brokerage CMC Markets in Sydney. "$50,000, $40,000 and $30,000 are the key chart levels at the moment." (Reporting by Tom Wilson in London and Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Nick Macfie) || Kia Motors America Victim of Ransomware Attack Demanding $20M in Bitcoin, Report Claims: Kia Motors America has reportedly fallen victim to a ransomware attack demanding more than $20 million worth of bitcoin. The ransomware group DoppelPaymer is demanding 404.5833 BTC (currently valued at $20,844,336) to pay for a decryption tool or stolen data will be shared to the public, BleepingComputer reported Wednesday. This amount demanded would rise to 600 bitcoins (over $30 million) if not paid within 10 days. Kia Motors America is suffering a severe IT outage taking its website, phone services and web systems offline. BleepingComputer said it had obtained a ransom note that we were told was created during an alleged Kia Motors America cyberattack by the DoppelPaymer gang. The auto firm later told BleepingComputer that it has no evidence it suffered a ransomware attack. It isnt clear what data the group might have stolen, per the report. See also: US Government Takes Aim at NetWalker Ransomware Attacks Related Stories Kia Motors America Victim of Ransomware Attack Demanding $20M in Bitcoin, Report Claims Kia Motors America Victim of Ransomware Attack Demanding $20M in Bitcoin, Report Claims Kia Motors America Victim of Ransomware Attack Demanding $20M in Bitcoin, Report Claims Kia Motors America Victim of Ransomware Attack Demanding $20M in Bitcoin, Report Claims || Kraken’s First Brink Grant Goes to Bitcoin Rust Developer: The first grant from Kraken’s $150,000 donation to the Bitcoin development non-profit organizationBrinkwill fund a developer who is coding tools to build Bitcoin software in the Rust programming language.
Alekos Filini will receive an undisclosed amount for the next year to continue his work on Bitcoin software built using the Rust language, specifically for working on theBitcoin Developer Kit. This programming language is the building block for one implementation of the popular Bitcoin open-source wallet Electrum, as well as a Rust Lightning Network integration.
This grant andothers like ithave grown in popularity over the last year and have become an integral piece to funding Bitcoin’s open-source protocol and softwares, whose developers have historically relied on donations or done work for free.
Related:How a 'Dual Double-Entry' Blockchain Could Unite Digital and Physical Assets
“I’m incredibly grateful to Brink and Kraken for what they are doing,” Alekos Filini told CoinDesk. “I know there are a lot of really smart people out there that deserve funding for their open-source projects, so the fact that they’ve seen what we’ve built with BDK over the past year and ultimately decided to award me this grant feels awesome for me personally and for the whole team as well.”
“We’re absolutely delighted to be partnering with Kraken to support Alekos’s work,” said John Newbery, founder and director of Brink, said in a press release. “Kraken is one of the most recognized and respected brands in the Bitcoin ecosystem, so we’re very excited that they’re supporting the open-source developer community.”
Filini will use the Bitcoin developer grant to work on theBitcoin Dev Kit, which includes tools and libraries for developers building applications in Rust. Among a few other Rust projects, like a simple command-line wallet for teams to test new projects, Filini is also working on a Tor daemon that developers can be plug into mobile and desktop wallets to bolster privacy.
Kraken said in its post that it intends to pair the Bitcoin Dev Kit with aLightning Dev Kitto offer “a complete suite of tools to build robust on-chain and Lightning wallets in Rust.”
Related:CipherTrace Wants to Introduce DEXs to Sanctions Compliance
Kraken told CoinDesk in December thatit plans to integratetheLightning Network– a tech stack atop Bitcoin which facilitates faster, cheaper transactions – this year.
• Kraken’s First Brink Grant Goes to Bitcoin Rust Developer
• Kraken’s First Brink Grant Goes to Bitcoin Rust Developer || Market Wrap: Ether Jumps to All-Time High as Bitcoin Stalls Despite JPMorgan’s $130K Call: Bitcoin ( BTC ) trading around $58,930 as of 20:15 UTC (4:15 p.m. ET). Up 0.3% since 0:00 UTC. Flat over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $58,491-$60,102 (CoinDesk pricing) Bitcoin was little changed after briefly pushing above $60,000 earlier Friday, but quickly found selling pressure that brought the largest cryptocurrency’s price back down to about $58,900 as of press time. “This could be an interesting weekend for bitcoin as much of the institutional money is expected to be dormant,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst for the foreign-exchange broker Oanda. “Weekend volatility has been somewhat of a story this year, so many crypto watchers will look to see if any whales try to take advantage of illiquid conditions.” Though bitcoin has roughly doubled in price this year, the gains have stalled around $60,000 despite continuing signs of growing mainstream adoption, including lofty price predictions from Wall Street firms including JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, and the brokerage firm BTIG. Related: Bitcoin, Fiat Currencies Unnerved Even as Goldman Ditches Short USD Trade JPMorgan issued a note Thursday arguing bitcoin could fetch a long-term price of $130,000 if its volatility continues to decline. According to the bank, bitcoin is becoming more appealing to institutions seeking low-correlation assets that diversify portfolios, Business Insider reported Thursday. BTIG issued a “buy” rating on shares of Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, the business intelligence firm and bitcoin storehouse. The firm’s analysts said their valuation was partly based on an assumption that BTC could rise to $95,000 by the end of 2022. Bitcoin has been increasingly embraced by big investors as a potential hedge against inflation in the face of trillions of dollars of stimulus from governments and central banks around the world attempting to jolt their coronavirus-racked economies. Story continues Greg Cipolaro, head of research for the digital-asset manager NYDIG, wrote Friday in a weekly newsletter that he sees bitcoin “as an alternative to existing economic systems, which is why we think it has elicited so much interest, especially in the current easy money era.” Related: 'Satoshi's Birthday': April 5 Is a Day to Be Thankful for Bitcoin Read More: Bitcoin’s Drop in Volatility May Boost Appeal, Make $130K Possible, JPMorgan Says: Report Ether Jumps to New All-Time High Ether ( ETH ) trading around $2,100. Climbing 6.5% since 0:00 UTC, 5.9% over the previous 24 hours. Ether’s 24-hour range: $1,950-$2,097 (CoinDesk pricing) Ether jumped Friday to a new all-time high as the second-biggest cryptocurrency extended its winning streak to five days. The native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, ether traded as high as $2,097 around 20:41 UTC, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The price has rallied 24% this week in the wake of Visa’s decision to facilitate crypto-based settlements on the Ethereum network. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban, a member of the CNBC show “Shark Tank” and owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team, said on a recent podcast episode he’s bullish on cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, but that ether is “ the closest we have to a true currency .” According to data tweeted by options analytics platform Genesis Volatility, traders are aggressively buying the $25,000 call option expiring on Dec. 31, 2021, listed on Deribit, the world’s largest crypto options exchange by trading volumes and open interest. Read More: Ether Price Jumps to All-Time High Related Stories Market Wrap: Ether Jumps to All-Time High as Bitcoin Stalls Despite JPMorgan’s $130K Call Market Wrap: Ether Jumps to All-Time High as Bitcoin Stalls Despite JPMorgan’s $130K Call
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 60204.96, 59893.45, 63503.46, 63109.70, 63314.01, 61572.79, 60683.82, 56216.18, 55724.27, 56473.03
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2020-03-25]
BTC Price: 6681.06, BTC RSI: 46.65
Gold Price: 1632.30, Gold RSI: 56.17
Oil Price: 24.49, Oil RSI: 29.65
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Mitigating Online Privacy Risks with Crypto Mixing: ST. ALBANS, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 29, 2020 / The concept of blockchain and thus, Bitcoin, came riding on the advantage of the anonymity of transactions, defiance to authority, lack of centralization and overseer authority among other advantages. Cryptocurrencies became popular because their programmers touted them as anonymous. It has, however, emerged that they are not and that transactions undertaken using altcoins can be traced. Over time with the increased government scrutiny and unwanted invasion by phishers, users now realize that the cryptocurrency world is not as anonymous as most of them were led to believe. A tech startup called, SmartMixer is changing all this and giving back cryptocurrency enthusiasts their security and privacy. The start-up provides a cryptocurrency mixing platform that obscures your cryptocurrency transactions, making it hard for anyone to trace your dealings. SmartMixer reintroduces anonymity by allowing online shoppers that pay using cryptocurrency through addresses that remain anonymous when the user is completing transactions. The shoppers, as such, cannot be associated with the various addresses they use. How Does Coin Mixing Work? Coin mixers work by essentially collecting cryptocurrency from the people using cryptocurrency, mixing it with a giant pile of other cryptocurrencies, and then sending them smaller units of cryptocurrency to an address of their preference, with total the amount that you put in minus 1-3%. The 1-3 % is generally taken as a profit by the coin mixing company. This is how they make money. A cryptocurrency mixer (also known as a blender) allows you to spend, store and share cryptocurrencies, without your transactional data becoming public. In short, it makes your financial transactions anonymous in the true sense. It is done by mixing your transactional data with a pool of Bitcoin data. This ensures your data is secure, you have control over your privacy, and no data can be traced back to you, as the link between the sender and the receiver is broken. Story continues Smart Mixer: The crypto mixing solution SmartMixer is a unique cryptocurrency mixer/blender that ensures your cryptocurrency becomes untraceable, and no link exists between the stakeholders. They have designed different pools of cryptocurrencies based on their sources, with variable fee percentages. This segmentation and differentiation ensure the clean mixing of the currency. The three pools include Standard Pool, Smart Pool, and Stealth Pool. It uses a 'smart code' to avoid the same currencies from reaching a user on multiple occasions. Features of Smart Mixer Platform Zero Post-Transaction Logs - SmartMixer platform keeps transaction logs for only as long as it needs them. The longest period that these logs can remain is 24 hours, otherwise, the platform keeps them only for as long as is necessary to complete a transaction. Full Anonymity - The need for complete anonymity is greater in the online space, and it is only second to the information online prowlers seek. Users that mix cryptocurrency on the platform does not even need to input their information. Instead, only the recipient altcoin address is necessary. Customizable Process - Users can set various parameters as they so choose. You, for instance, can choose the amount of cryptocurrency to mix, the commission to pay for the mixing, and the delay period you prefer. The importance of privacy and security while transacting online cannot be stressed enough. It probably is the reason why platforms like SmartMixer are timely. The advantages it offers hold the possibility of making crypto mainstream. More details about cryptocurrency mixing and the SmartMixer platform can be gathered through their official website . Company Website : SmartMixer.io Address : St. Albans, United Kingdom, AL1 5DW Company Email : info@smartmixer.io Contact Person : Noah Baker Phone No : +44 7924441877 Youtube Telegram SOURCE: SmartMixer View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/574469/Mitigating-Online-Privacy-Risks-with-Crypto-Mixing || The Morning After: A cheaper Google Pixel and a flagship Motorola phone leaked: Hey, good morning! When the world's biggest phone show never happened, companies like LG and Huawei resorted to showing their new devices at dedicated events from New York to London and Hong Kong. But now? Well, we're already scanning the horizon for what's next. Namely, budget spin-offs of existing phones, like a cheaper Pixel 4, and a new flagship phone from Motorola -- a company that's avoided high-spec battles in recent years. If you're reading this, you're more interested in the high-spec, high-cost phone, but for a lot of people, cheaper phones usually suffice. The Pixel 3a amazed me last year -- and I wasn't alone . Can Google repeat the magic? And will more people pick up a Pixel, based on past success? Maybe. I'm less interested in Motorola's flagship phone hopes. Again, times are tough if you're not making iPhones or Galaxy phones. -- Mat Google might stick to the basics for its next Android handset. Pixel 4a photo leaks hint at a no-frills budget phone Waiting on a cheaper Pixel phone? Multiple leaks appearing on Twitter and Reddit appear to show Google's upcoming low-cost Pixel 4a phone in the wild -- to be honest, looking a bit worse for wear. Judging by the pictures, the prototype ditches the face recognition and dual cameras of the regular Pixel 4 in favor of a more conventional fingerprint reader and single rear cam, though it still has that huge squarish camera module. It seems Google will keep the headphone jack around for those who can't justify Bluetooth earbuds -- a stealthy way of keeping shoppers' additional costs down, perhaps? The Edge+ might also be headed to the US. Motorola's first high-end phone in years may have a 'bezel-free' display Motorola hasn't attempted a flagship phone for a while -- perhaps because Apple and Samsung seem to have that market sewn up. Flip-phone experiments aside, Motorola's Edge+ is another attempt at phone glory. Leaks suggest a 6.7-inch phone with a "bezel-free" (on the sides, at least) curved screen and, according to renders, a relatively tiny hole-punch camera. Your real-life soccer skills could improve a virtual team. Google and Adidas prep smart insoles that tie into 'FIFA Mobile' The latest Google wearable appears to be an embeddable sensor for your soccer / football boots. Not only will it do the obligatory movement tracking you'd expect but also translate that presumably middling performance to FIFA Mobile . Your skills, including in real-life challenges, promise to improve the Ultimate Team in your game. Adidas and Google have teased an announcement on March 10th. Story continues People love a super-expensive EV. Lotus has already sold out its $2.6 million electric hypercar The Lotus Evija : an electric hypercar costing over $2.6 million. Who would buy it? Some people. Apparently. Lotus has reportedly already sold out of the Evija production run for 2020, which is due to start in the summer. It didn't provide specific numbers, but there were expectations the automaker would make 130 Evijas in total. Perhaps now, it might make more. But wait, there's more... Apple Watch might detect your blood oxygen levels Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra is surprisingly sturdy New York power plant mines Bitcoin using excess energy The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't Subscribe . Craving even more? Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter . Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? Send us a note . View comments || A New York Power Plant Is Mining $50K Worth of Bitcoin a Day: An upstate New York power plant has been using some of its own electricity to mine bitcoin on an industrial scale.
Greenidge Generation, a natural gas power plant near the town of Dresden in the Finger Lakes region, announced it had successfully installed a mining farm in its facility. Comprised of nearly 7,000 mining rigs and powered by electricity generated on-site, the facility can mine an average of 5.5 bitcoins (BTC) every day, roughly $50,000, according to CoinDesk’sBitcoin Price Index.
Greenidge uses its own “behind the meter” power, the generated electricity it uses itself at the basic cost of production. Kevin Zhang, director of Greenidge’s blockchain strategies, said in a statement the initiative would provide potential investors with unique exposure to both the cryptocurrency and energy markets.
Related:Ethereum’s ProgPoW Debate Is About Much More Than Mining
The server farm comes as part of an extensive $65 million renovation of the power plant, which includes transforming the plant from coal to natural gas as well as investing in the electrical infrastructure needed to power the mining rigs.
Following the plant’s conversion to natural gas, with both state and federal approval, in 2017, Greenidge Chief Executive Dale Irwin said the mining operation would complement the “power plant’s unique commitment to environmental stewardship.”
Because costs are already low and predictable, plant owners say they are in a “favorable market position” and believe they will remain profitable even after thehalving eventtakes bitcoin’s block reward down to 6.25 BTC in May.
“Due to our unique position as a co-generation facility, we are able to make money in down markets so that we’re available to catch the upside of volatile price swings,” said Tim Rainey, Greenidge’s chief financial officer, toBloomberg.
Related:Ukraine Justice System Employee Caught Mining Crypto at Work
First established in 1937, Greenidge is now owned by Connecticut-based Atlas Holdings, which helped install the mining rigs in the facility in the space of four months. The plant used to only open at peak times in the summer and winter months; the new mining initiative means it now operates all year round.
The server farm currently consumes 14 megawatts of the 106 megawatts of Greenidge’s capacity. That’s enough electricity to power well over 11,000 average U.S. homes.
UPDATE (Mar. 5, 14:15 UTC):A previous version of this article said the mining farm was worth $65 million. This has since been updated to clarify the mining farm came as part of a $65 million renovation of the power plant as a whole.
• No, Concentration Among Miners Isn’t Going to Break Bitcoin
• North Korea Is Expanding Its Monero Mining Operations, Says Report || Bitcoin Trader Becomes #1 Trusted Crypto Trading Platform: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM / ACCESSWIRE / February 18, 2020/ A recent survey, which included over 15,000 traders globally, has revealed that the automated cryptocurrency trading platformBitcoin Trader, was voted as the most trusted platform online, allowing investors to benefit from AI-optimized decisions without lifting a finger.
There are many platforms online that claim to allow investors to trade cryptocurrency; however, a recent survey showed that sophisticated global investors use only a few of the tools. 87% of investors that have exposure to cryptocurrencies use the platformBitcoin Traderfor its simplicity and auto-trading functionality. It uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make decisions in nano-seconds allowing investors to utilize the set-and-forget functionality.
The software was developed using machine learning, and it scans hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrency price movements daily. Based on this information and an extensive database of historical data, it can make predictions more accurately than a single individual. As a result, the tool knows the direction of the price movement before it happens in the market. Over 97% of the surveyed individuals named the automated advanced analysis function as the most impressive feature allowing them to gain profits daily.
In an interview with one of the investors, a new online trader from London, Paul Camden stated, "I have never traded online before, but I have read so many stories about everyday people making so much money trading Bitcoin. I wasn't one of those lucky ones who invested in Bitcoin when it first came out, but thanks to Bitcoin Trader, I am now able to make money trading this digital currency and other assets." Paul went on to explain, "When I first heard about Bitcoin Trader, I was a little hesitant. After I started using it, I quickly saw that it analyses the markets and even opens and closes my trades profitably. I started to understand just how effective it is. It also gave me a good insight into how the trading world works. I highly recommendBitcoin Traderto anyone who wants to make profits trading Bitcoin."
We contacted one of the developers at Bitcoin Trader, Steven Lupen, and he explained the technology further, "We understand that market analysis is the core component of successful trading. You need to know what to trade and when. Based on this, we ensured that the algorithm of Bitcoin Trader was able to consider huge amounts of historical data and to apply it to the existing market conditions. We have also ensured that the market analysis happens quickly and accurately. Once the market conditions match the set trading parameters of the software, a trading signal will be released." Steven went on to say, "We were excited to hear that we had been recognized as the most trusted app in the crypto space. It makes all our hard work worthwhile, and now we are even more driven to make Bitcoin Trader even better."
About Bitcoin Trader
Bitcoin Traderis an automated trading software solution, designed specifically for the cryptocurrency markets. Its powerful and intuitive algorithm can quickly and accurately scan the financial markets and to find trading opportunities. With the automated functionality of this software, trades can then be opened and closed without any human intervention. The ease of use of the Bitcoin Trader platform makes it an ideal software system for both new and advanced traders.If you would like more information about Bitcoin Trader,please visit here.
Media Contact:
Company Name- Bitcoin Trader SystemCompany Email-info@bitcoin-trader-system.comWebsite-https://bitcoin-trader-system.com/
SOURCE:Bitcoin Trader Systems
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/576903/Bitcoin-Trader-Becomes-1-Trusted-Crypto-Trading-Platform || USD/JPY Retraces but Sellers are Waiting: Dear Traders,
TheUSD/JPYis moving towards 106.30 the POC confluence zone. At this point we might see a retracement but watch out for fresh sellers.
106.30-40 is the zone where we might see fresh selling. If the price moves within 106.30-70, fresh sellers could join and turn the price lower. Targets will be 104.35 followed by 103.36 and 103.30. We can see a counter trend move now, but watch for above mentioned scenario in case price starts to turn.
The Analysis has been done with theCAMMACD.Core and Sit Systems
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Oil Confirmed Crucial Support. S&P500 Still Trying To Find One || Billionaire Tim Draper admits to moving stock portfolio to Bitcoin: Renowned billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper has revealed how he came out of the stock market six months ago to switch his holdings to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. After describing the stock markets as lofty, Draper stated that Bitcoin had become a safe haven amidst global market turmoil from the coronavirus outbreak. Im still holding to my prediction. I think Bitcoin in 2022 or the beginning of 2023 will hit $250,000. I think the reason is that Bitcoin will be the currency of choice. He told CNBC . When asked how much of his net worth was in Bitcoin, Draper replied: I dont disclose that kind of information, but a lot of it. I don't normally give investment advice, but this is worth watching today. https://t.co/BRLO03Dndk Tim Draper (@TimDraper) February 24, 2020 Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett recently detailed how he would never invest in cryptocurrencies as they arent based on anything, an opinion that Draper describes as hilarious. Thats hilarious, he added. Fifty percent of his holdings are banks and insurance companies. They are not going to do well in this new decentralised economy. Of course hes not going to like it, he sees a huge threat to his holdings. I wouldnt hold a bank or insurance company now even if you paid me. They are not in good shape. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Billionaire Tim Draper admits to moving stock portfolio to Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin falls below 8,000 ahead of what is expected to be a rough day for U.S. stocks: The global markets rout continued into Monday morning following a historic weekend for stocks and commodity trading over the weekend.
Trading of S&P 500 futures were halted Sunday following a5% decline,indicating U.S. stocks will plunge at market open. The panic selling followed the largest one-day decline in oil prices in 30 years, which was set-off bya breakdown in conversations between OPECand Russia to cut crude output.
The outlook for the oil market is bleak, according to Goldman Sachs. In a note to clients, the investment bank cut its second quarter and third quarter estimate for oil prices to $20 a barrel.
The jitters in oil are underpinned by broader market concerns about the economic ramifications of the ever-spreading corona-virus, which surpassed more than 100,000 confirmed cases over the weekend. Italy, a country reeling from its inability to control the virus outbreak, is limiting travel to the most impacted regions.
Indeed, investors have been seeking safety over the course of the last month, fleeing risk assets from bitcoin to stocks. As such, the yield for30-year U.S. Teasury fell below 1%for the first time in history, while the 10-year hit a record low of less than 0.4%. Experts expect the Federal Reserve will once again slash interest rates to curb corona's fall-out.
Investment banks such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have been sounding the alarm bells, noting in research to clients that market turmoil might continue until the end of the year.
"The US economy could slip into a recession if the coronavirus contagion lasts for an extended period of time," Goldman Sachs said in a note reviewed by The Block.
"In that situation, we estimate S&P 500 EPS would fall by 13% to $143 in 2020 and the index would decline to 2450 by year-end."
The index ended Friday's trade at around 2,972, a more than 12% decline since February 19.
As for bitcoin, the price of the digital currency—which has been lauded as both a safe haven and uncorrelated asset by some market pontificators—has largely been in lock-step with the broader market. It has dipped below $8,000 Monday morning, trading down more than 12% since Saturday.
Meanwhile, CME Group Bitcoin futures — arguably the easiest product for traditional traders, hedge funds, and large asset managers to get exposure to bitcoin — had seen volumes fall off a cliff since breaching $1 billion in traded volume the day before the S&P500 peaked. The 7-day rolling average trading volume of CME bitcoin futures is down more than 75% since then. || Lightning Solves Bitcoin’s Speed Problem, but Watch Out for Fraudsters: J.P. Koning, a CoinDesk columnist, worked as an equity researcher at a Canadian brokerage firm and a financial writer at a large Canadian bank. He runs the popular Moneyness blog. I don’t know about you, but the thing that got me interested in bitcoin (BTC) was its potential to become a popular way to make payments and remittances. Over the years we’ve been constantly disappointed on this front. Bitcoin payments just never caught on with the masses. Meanwhile, usage of fiat-based person-to-person payment tools like Venmo, Square Cash, Zelle and the U.K.’s Faster Payments has exploded. Bitcoin’s new lightning layer has rekindled the dream of bitcoin-as-generally-accepted medium of exchange. But lightning is prickly to use. Which is why Zap’s recent announcement of Strike, a new lightning application, caught my interest. Strike aims to popularize bitcoin payments by making lightning more user-friendly. Related: Securities Law Helped Build Modern Capitalism. Crypto Should Embrace It The idea behind Strike is to create a fiat-based payments app, say like Venmo, except under the hood the payment is conducted in bitcoin. A hybrid fiat-bitcoin payments app is a neat idea. But marrying fiat with bitcoin will involve challenges, too. A bitcoin payment is special. The bitcoin network is open to everyone, or censorship resistant. It allows for pseudonymous usage. And it provides what Satoshi Nakamoto described as non-reversible digital transfers; like cash, once the stuff is spent, the economic relationship between payer and payee is severed. Without even knowing it, you’ve paid your neighbor with bitcoin. Pseudonymity, non-reversibility and openness will cause hassles that regular payments platforms like Square Cash or Venmo needn’t worry about. It remains to be seen whether hybrid fiat-bitcoin platforms like Strike will be able to marry the two systems in a form that still attracts a mainstream user base. Related: Crypto Exchanges Need Common Messaging to Comply With Travel Rule Let’s back up a bit. How does lightning resuscitate the dream of mainstream bitcoin payments? Writing a transaction to bitcoin’s core blockchain takes time. It has to be broadcast to the network and confirmed by miners. On top of that, a processing fee must be paid. This fee can get particularly costly when everyone wants to use the bitcoin network at the same time. These delays and fees put off mainstream users. By routing around the blockchain, lightning can help regular people be more comfortable making bitcoin payments. Roller-coaster problem Unfortunately, lightning doesn’t solve bitcoin’s roller-coaster problem. After experiencing bitcoin’s crazy price rises and dips, a new user will never want to hold bitcoin again. Or they will be so excited by the ride that they treat it as a betting game . Either way, they won’t use it for payments. Story continues Strike, founded by a smart and affable Jack Mallers , tries to solve the roller-coaster problem by letting people load funds onto an app, much like they do with Venmo. But when they make a payment, unbeknown to them, Strike (which is still in beta) will route the payment to the recipient via lightning. Say you’d like to buy an antique vase for $100 at your neighbor’s garage sale. You don’t have any cash on hand. But you do have your credit card. Needless to say, your neighbor doesn’t have a card terminal set up. But she does have a lightning channel open. Strike allows the two of you to connect. The $100 flows from your bank account to Strike’s bank account, upon which Strike sends 0.01 bitcoins to your neighbor via lightning. That’s it. Without even knowing it, you’ve paid your neighbor with bitcoin. No volatility. And no need to learn how to use a strange new payments network. The entire experience simply piggybacks off of your existing knowledge of how to use a debit card. As for your neighbor, with just a lightning address, she can immediately accept non-reversible payments from debit card holders all over the world. That’s neat. But unless your neighbor has the technical chops, setting up lightning won’t be easy, certainly not as easy as accepting fiat-based payments via Zelle or Venmo. Which means that hybrid fiat-bitcoin payments systems will probably have to reach nooks and crannies that are as-yet unserved by the Zelles and Venmos of the world. While marijuana is legal in many U.S. states, it is illegal on the federal level. And so banks often disconnect companies that process marijuana payments for fear of losing access to Federal Deposit Insurance, or the Federal Reserve’s settlement system. As a result, many marijuana businesses are forced to turn card-paying customers away. In a recent blog post, Mallers described how his family’s marijuana store set up a lightning channel, then encouraged debit card-carrying customers to download Strike. Now the store could reconnect to its clients with cards. That’s pretty useful. Many parts of the world, including Nigeria, are locked out of the U.S. person-to-person payments economy. Venmo and Zelle don’t allow non-U.S. citizens to sign up. As a matter of policy, PayPal doesn’t allow Nigerians to receive money (although they can open an account). If a Nigerian were to advertise a lightning payments channel, however, a hybrid fiat-to-bitcoin system like Strike could connect that person to Americans who want to do fiat-based person-to-person payments. The sender needn’t know anything about bitcoin or lightning. Now for some of the complications of marrying fiat to bitcoin. Operators of hybrid systems will have to fund buyer identity fraud out of their own pocket. One of the problems that person-to-person payments apps like Venmo must deal with is buyer identity fraud. Scammers will often hack Venmo accounts or fund them with stolen credit cards. Then they use the funds to buy expensive goods. Sellers never realize they’ve accepted stolen money until Venmo reverses the payment. Since a hybrid system like Strike connects to lightning addresses, recouping stolen funds from recipients won’t be possible. Once a lightning payment is made, it’s irreversible. Which means operators of hybrid systems will have to fund buyer identity fraud out of their own pocket. That could get quite expensive. Another type of fraud is authorized push fraud. This sort of fraud occurs when a scammer tricks victims into sending money for, say, concert tickets, but never actually provides the tickets and makes off with the money. Payments options like the U.K.’s Faster Payments, Venmo and Square Cash are rife with push fraud. But they do have tools for combating it, including quickly canceling offending accounts and tightening up the rules for opening accounts. Faster Payments is introducing a new account name checking service to cut down on fraud. But a hybrid fiat-to-bitcoin system that connects to pseudonymous lightning addresses can’t use tools like identity checking or account cancellation to combat authorized push fraud. The whole idea behind bitcoin is to prevent this very sort of censorship. And so hybrid systems could become popular with fraudsters. A popular scam these days is to ask Granny to get out of her rocking chair, go to Walmart and buy four $500 Google Play cards. With a hybrid fiat-bitcoin system, scammers can extort her by having her send $5,000 via her debit card, all from the comfort of her chair. The lightning side of the transaction allows the bad guys to stay anonymous and untouchable. The problem with fraud is that if it gets out of control, it stigmatizes a payments system. This, in turn, harms the brand, impedes broader usage and may even attract political pushback. Douglas Jackson, the founder of the pseudonymous e-Gold payment system , serves as a good example. According to Jackson , e-gold’s failure to ever become more than a marginal player can be blamed on “self-reinforcing negative reputation” created by criminal abuse. (Indeed, it eventually led to e-gold being shut down.) To cut down on buyer identity fraud and authorized push fraud, a hybrid fiat-to-bitcoin system might decide to throw in the towel and do what Venmo and the others do: vet all users. But then it would no longer be doing censorship-resistant money. Gone would be non-reversible transactions. After all, the operator of the payment system could pressure lightning address owners to reverse payments on pain of being taken off of it the operator’s white list. Strike highlights many of the contradictions involved in developing bitcoin solutions. Lightning is complicated. This prevents regular folks from using it. But simplifying a lightning payment by marrying it to the fiat system introduces a new set of complications. Bringing censorship resistance and non-reversibility to a mainstream audience may be impossible. Or maybe not. There’s a lot of creativity being brought to bear on this problem. Maybe folks like Mallers will find the sweet spot. Related Stories China Has Many Strategic Reasons to Invest in Blockchain In Defense of Justin Sun View comments || Bitcoin Startup Casa Names New CEO as Node Service Goes Open-Source: Bitcoin startup Casa is charging into 2020 with a new look – by winding down its hardware product and shuffling its front office.
CEO Jeremy Welch is stepping down from the role with current head of product Nick Neuman taking the helm. CTO Jameson Lopp will remain in his current position but will join the board along with Neuman.
Welch’s decision to step away from his position was linked to personal matters and not the firm’s product decisions, Welch and Neuman said.
Related:Few Banks Will Touch Crypto Firms, but Silvergate Wants to Touch Bitcoin Itself
Meanwhile, Casa is getting rid of its node; well, at least its physical implementation.
Neuman told CoinDesk in an interview the firm will ditch itspurple-and-white hardware productin favor of bolstering its subscription service. Welch told CoinDesk in October the company had shipped more than 2,000 devices to buyers in over 65 countries.
Casa Node will now be run on open-source software available on most any computer which can be paired with a $10 monthly subscription to its key service. As Neuman said, it’s equivalent to bitcoin key management for the cost of a Netflix subscription.
When asked about possible revenue concerns – given that the lowest Casa Node package currently runs for just under $400 – Neuman said the firm is looking to capitalize on a strong 2019. For Casa, that means learning from its customers.
Related:Coinbase Custody Goes International With New Entity in Ireland
“A lot of people weren’t coming to us for the cost. They were coming to us for the security, the peace of mind,” Neuman said. “We don’t expect this to materially affect our revenue as a company.”
As for other Casa Node features, Neuman said the firm is close to integrating withColdcard, a bitcoin-only wallet. Generational bitcoin payment plans via inheritance services and different service accounts similar to a checking and savings account are also in the lineup, he said.
“Our main focus is around the success that we’ve seen so far and the growth that we expect to continue to see through this year,” Neuman said.
• Crypto Custody Provider Ledger Extends Reach in Asia With New Institutional Client
• Swiss Banks Enter the Age of Bitcoin || Coronavirus: European stock markets stage 'mild' rebound: A paramilitary officer wearing a face masks stands guard at the Tiananmen Gate, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, Beijing, China, 27 January 2020. Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters European stocks rebounded on Tuesday morning, despite continued fears about the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China. The death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 106, China’s National Health Commission has said. Authorities reported 25 new deaths on Tuesday, including one in the capital of Beijing. In China, 50 million people remain under lockdown in a bid to contain the virus’s spread. “As a minimum, Chinese data is going to take a notable hit for many weeks and getting a true read of underlying momentum is going to be hard,” Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid wrote. Despite this, European stock markets opened in the green on Tuesday morning. The FTSE 100 ( ^FTSE ) opened up 0.5% in London, France’s CAC 40 ( ^FCHI ) opened 0.4% higher, and the German DAX ( ^GDAXI ) rose 0.3%. The small rises across major indexes came after sharp falls across equities on Monday . Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, attributed the “very mild rebound” to investors buying discounted shares after yesterday’s steep falls. “We are not convinced this will hold,” Wilson said. “One feels equities face headwinds still, as the peak of this health crisis is some way off still.” The VIX volatility index ( ^VIX ) — a measure of future volatility expectations colloquially known as the “fear index” in the market — spiked 16.7% to reach its highest level since October. US stock markets suffered some of their steepest falls in months on Monday. Oil also sold off sharply and remain subdued below $60 per barrel by Tuesday morning ( CL=F , BZ=F ). Gold ( GC=F ) spiked last week as the virus spread and remained at elevated levels, trading close to $1,577.10 per ounce. Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) and Japanese yen ( JPY=X ) have also seen recent gains amid investor appetite for ‘safe haven’ assets. Bitcoin was holding steady, up 0.7% against the dollar to $8,981.56, and the yen was flat against the dollar. Chinese stock markets remain closed for Lunar New Year celebrations, which have been extended by authorities in Beijing in a bid to try and contain the virus by limiting travel. Japan’s Nikkei ( ^N225 ) closed down 0.5% and the Kospi ( ^KOSPI ) in Korea closed down 3%.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 6716.44, 6469.80, 6242.19, 5922.04, 6429.84, 6438.64, 6606.78, 6793.62, 6733.39, 6867.53
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2015-11-25]
BTC Price: 328.21, BTC RSI: 50.57
Gold Price: 1070.50, Gold RSI: 32.09
Oil Price: 43.04, Oil RSI: 48.42
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
MarilynJean Interactive (OTCQB: MJMI) Sets Its Sights on $24B Philippines Remittance Market: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2015 / MarilynJean Interactive ( MJMI ) today announced it has entered into advanced discussions with a provider of Bitcoin-based remittance services. The potential remittance partner is a fully licensed money services business on the cutting edge of the remittance space, using Bitcoin to effect low cost transfers, primarily to the Philippines. With a well-established brand, multiple Bitcoin ATMs, solid financial partnerships in the Philippines, MJMI's management is excited about the potential synergies that could result from this relationship. In 2014, according to Focus Economics, remittances to the Philippines hit a record high, exceeding USD 24 Billion, accounting for roughly 8.5% of that country's GDP. Those funds came primarily from overseas workers sending funds home to their families. Traditional remittance companies charge upwards of 8% fees on the total funds being sent, in addition to less than favorable exchange rates and taking up to 3 days to clear for pick up. Using Bitcoin, transfers can be effected in virtually real time at a fraction of the cost to the user. Funds can be sent directly to the recipient's bank account or made available for pick up at a partner location or even via a card-less ATM withdrawal. In a Bitcoin based remittance transaction, an overseas worker would deliver funds to a remittance provider. This service provider would buy Bitcoin on behalf of the customer and then transfer the coins, paying less than 1% to do so, to the selling partner in the recipient country. The selling partner would then sell the Bitcoins and then transfer the funds to the final recipient. Because there is a price difference between the buying and selling of the Bitcoins, it is possible for the two transfer partners to profit sufficiently from the Bitcoin trade to offer the transfer service for a significantly lower fee than any traditional currency (known as FIAT) based remittance service. Story continues Bitcoin therefore offers the potential to completely alter the landscape of worldwide money transfers. The two companies share a vision on the massive opportunities in this space as well as on the future direction of expansion, namely servicing the remittance markets in Mexico and India. In addition, both companies agree that acquiring and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow the partners to offer a seamless, end to end solution to customers. More sophisticated clients could eventually use their own Bitcoin wallets to move money through a jointly designed system, allowing them to effect transactions from their mobile phone through a licensed and trustworthy remittance system. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are very excited to be in advanced discussions with this potential remittance partner. They are at the forefront what we expect will be a massive shift in the way global remittances are effected. Their team shares our view that remittance fees are exorbitantly high and that current providers profit excessively by offering poor, often hidden, exchange rates. We believe that, in this area, Bitcoin has tremendous promise to disrupt a system that unfairly charges high rates to hard working people who have left their families to work overseas in hopes of providing them with a better life. We believe the growth potential in this sector is massive and that we are on the right track in terms of identifying the right partners who share our vision." MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships with several existing Bitcoin and crypto-currency exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of Bitcoin ATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution for trading in various crypto-currencies and potentially capture a share of the lucrative markets of Bitcoin trading and remittance services, just as these markets appear poised to undergo massive growth. About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies: Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting." Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is ( MJMI ). Website: http://www.marilynjean.com/ Press Contact: bonnie@marilynjean.com SOURCE: MarilynJean Interactive || As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge: California's severe drought is dragging through its fourth year, leaving the state to continue finding ways to cut back on water usage.
Many of California's biggest businesses have been hard hit by the shortage, but other firms are using the crisis as an opportunity.
Agriculture
Water usage in agriculture is essential, so regulations cutting back on the amount farmers can use each day have been detrimental to the industry. This is especially true for poultry processors who use gallons of water to sanitize and clean each chicken. California's poultry farms process about 3 percent of the U.S. total, adding up to a great deal of water use.
Related Link:California Drought Stocks To Look At
Organics Suffer
Farms throughout California have been required toreduce their water useby 25 percent and cut back on outdoor watering – something that has taken a toll on the state's crops, especially those that are organic.
As organic crops are typically more difficult to grow and require more resources, prices have risen to cope with smaller yields in the wake of the shortage.
However, for companies likeMonsanto Company(NYSE:MON),E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co(NYSE:DD) andSyngenta AG (ADR)(NYSE:SYT), the drought has had the opposite effect. The shortage of water has created a demand for seeds that have been genetically modified to increase crop yields and reduce costs for farmers.
Cutting Back Is A Big Business
California residents have also been subjected to strict water usage limits, making everyday tasks like watering their lawns or even showering more complicated.
However, businesses who help track and cut down on water consumption have seen a boost in sales, as meters are installed and efficient usage gadgets are put to use.Mueller Water Products, Inc.(NYSE:MWA), a company that makes water meters, andRexnord Corp(NYSE:RXN), which focuses on efficient plumbing systems, are both expecting the drought to boost sales and increase their bottom lines.
Image Credit:Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Is Europe Recovering Or Not?
• In An Effort To Shore Up Cyberdefense, The FBI Looks To Teens
• Europol Highlights Bitcoin Use Among Criminals
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Best Gift Cards for the Geeks on Your List: (Photo: Thinkstock.com) Gift cards might be the last refuge of scoundrels who cant be bothered to put any thought into the whole buying-and-wrapping process. But they can also be handy ways to get something for people whose interests you just dont understand. So if your gift list includes someone whos obsessed with technology of one sort or another, and you have no idea what shes talking about half the time, a gift card could be the perfect solution. But not just any card: You want one thats just right for your geeky giftee. Here are some suggestions. The generalists Of course, pretty much every big-name tech brand that sells anything online including Apple , Google , Microsoft sells gift cards of its own these days. Note that Apple cards occasionally go on sale at other retailers, allowing you to buy a $100 card for, say, $80. Its worth keeping an eye out for such bargains, as they come and go quickly. (Photo: Apple.com) If your recipient isnt so brand-specific, most of the major online retailers who sell electronics offer gift cards, too: Amazon ; Best Buy ; Walmart . Tech stores Then there are the technology specialists, retailers such as Crutchfield , Newegg , TigerDirect , who sell technology products and almost nothing else. One personal favorite in this bunch: B&H Photo , which began life as (yes) a camera store in Manhattan but has morphed into a smorgasbord of digital goodies of almost every kind, from computers and their accessories to tablets, smartphones, TVs, media players, and wearables, as well as a truly remarkable range of photo and video hardware. (Photo: B&H Photo) True specialists Then there are the true specialists: sites that focus on one particular type of technology or another. The Dynamism store, for example, specializes in 3D technology (in addition to notebooks and some other general tech stuff). Thinkgeek specializes in geek culture: Shopping for someone obsessed with Star Wars , Star Trek , Doctor Who , Minecraft, Marvel Comics, Game of Thrones , or pretty much any other nerdy franchise? This is your store. Story continues (Image: Thinkgeek.com) For gamers, consider a XBox Gift Card or a Playstation Store Cash Card . Have someone on your list who you dont want to see for a while? Get a Minecraft gift card : You buy a physical card at a retailer (including Target, Best Buy, even 7-11), then redeem it online for a downloadable copy of the Minecraft game. Your recipient wont resurface for months . Finally, two honorable mentions: Skype has gift cards , which you can give to loved ones who cant seem to stay in touch. And Gyft offers perhaps the geekiest offer of all: The mobile gift-card app works with Bitcoin . Dan Miller is an editor at Yahoo. He hardly ever gives anyone a gift card. || XBT Provider AB: Bitcoin Tracker EUR to start trading on Nasdaq Nordic today: Stockholm, SWEDEN (October 5th, 2015) -XBT Provider AB is proud to announce the launch of Bitcoin tracker Euro.
Starting today anyone with a brokerage account connected to Nasdaq Nordic can trade the ETN "Bitcoin Tracker EUR" The ticker code is Bitcoin XBTE. ISIN: SE0007525332
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is designed to mirror the return of the underlying asset, U.S. dollar (USD) per Bitcoin. The product is an exchange traded note designed to track the movement of the underlying asset after fees.
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is our second Bitcoin-based security available on Nasdaq Nordic. XBT Provider launched this financial instrument to meet the needs of investors` growing appetite for exposure to Bitcoin prices.
"Bitcoin tracker EUR" (BTE) is listed on Nasdaq Nordic in Stockholm and traded in the same manner as any share or instrument listed on the Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm. BTE is also available via Bloomberg terminals through the ticker code COINXBE.
The full prospectus is available onxbtprovider.com
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is issued under the same prospectus as Bitcoin Tracker One which isapproved by Sweden`s financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen.
ABOUT XBT PROVIDERXBT Provider AB (publ) is a public limited liability company formed in Sweden with statutory seat in Stockholm. The issuer is incorporated under Swedish law and registered with the Swedish companies` registration office under registration number 559001-3313.
ABOUT THE MARKET MAKER: MANGOLD FONDKOMMISSIONMangold Fondkommission is a Stockholm based Brokerage and Investment bank. As a member of Nasdaq Nordic the company assists XBT Provider with clearing services and acts as a liquidity provider for Bitcoin Tracker One and Bitcoin Tracker EUR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Alexander MarshE-mail:alexander.marsh@xbtprovider.com
Johan WattenströmE-mail:johan.wattenstrom@xbtprovider.com
Press release (PDF)
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.Source: XBT Provider AB via GlobeNewswireHUG#1956529 || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Today Announced It Has Entered Into Discussions to Acquire a Share of an Operating Bitcoin Exchange: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2015 / Owning and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow MarilynJean to seamlessly integrate the currency conversion functions of both its planned remittance and gaming businesses as well as integrate directly with any Bitcoin ATM's the company installs. A Bitcoin exchange is the central component to a fully integrated transaction with an end user that involves both FIAT (traditional currency) and crypto-currency. A Bitcoin exchange works similarly to a stock exchange. A client deposits funds into an account and effects trades pursuant to buy (bid) or sell (ask) orders which the exchange software matches with orders from other users. Because both the buyer and seller must have the funds or Bitcoins in their accounts prior to the transaction being executed, both sides are protected. Users trade directly, as opposed to through brokers, communicating with the exchange through a standard web browser on a computer or mobile device via a secure connection. The exchange operator often takes a small transaction fee on each trade. While MarilynJean intends to trade through multiple exchanges, including major exchanges Bitstamp and Bitfinex, the reduced settlement times that are available as an exchange owner-operator provide significant advantages in international currency conversion and transfer transactions. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "Being able to integrate the key verticals we are targeting, including remittance, gaming and ATMs with our own Bitcoin exchange has the potential to offer tremendous advantages to our company. We intend to trade through multiple exchanges simultaneously to ensure we offer our customers the best rates at the lowest prices. At the same time time, being able to route transactions through a completely integrated system that we monitor and control will allow us to offer even faster transaction processing and better customer service. We are very excited to be in discussions with a potential partner in the exchange space who shares our focus on security and scalability." Story continues About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is OCTQB: MJMI. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: bonnie@mari lynjean.com SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive || In taking economic war to Islamic State, U.S. developing new tools: By Yeganeh Torbati and Brett Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since last month, U.S. warplanes have struck Islamic State's oil infrastructure in Syria in a stepped-up campaign of economic warfare that the United States estimates has cut the group's black-market earnings from oil by about a third. In finding their targets, U.S. military planners have relied in part on an unconventional source of intelligence: access to banking records that provide insight into which refineries and oil pumps are generating cash for the extremist group, current and former officials say. The intent is to choke off the Islamic State's funding by tracking its remaining ties to the global financial system. By identifying money flowing to and from the group, U.S. officials have been able to get a glimpse into how its black-market economy operates, people with knowledge of the effort have said. That in turn has influenced decisions about targeting for air strikes in an effort that began before Islamic State's Nov. 13 attacks on Paris and has intensified since, they said. While Islamic State's access to formal banking has been restricted, it retains some ties that U.S. military and financial officials can use against it, the current and former officials said. "We have done a really good job of largely keeping the Islamic State out of the formal financial system," said Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the U.S. Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. "But we haven't been entirely successful, and that may not be a bad thing." Reuters was unable to verify key aspects of the campaign, including when it started or exactly which facilities have been destroyed as a result. Two current officials who confirmed the operations in outline declined to comment on their details. It was unclear how U.S. intelligence, Treasury, and military officials working on what the government calls "counter threat finance" operations have used banking records to identify lucrative Islamic State oil-related targets in Syria and whether that involved local banks. A report this year by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force found there were more than 20 Syrian financial institutions with operations in Islamic State territory. In Iraq, Treasury has worked with government officials to cut off bank branches in the group's territory from the Iraqi and international financial systems. Gerald Roberts, section chief of the FBI's terrorist financing operations section, said that Islamic State's recruits from outside Syria often come with financial trails that officials tracking them can "exploit." "We are seeing them using traditional banking systems," he said at a banking conference last week in Washington, adding that young, tech-savvy Islamic State members are also familiar with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, is sometimes forced to use commercial banks because the amounts involved are too large to move using other means, said Levitt. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) uses a set of "business rules" to screen the roughly 55,000 reports it receives daily from financial institutions for signs of activity involving Islamic State, a spokesman said. He declined to describe the rules, but law enforcement sources say names, IP addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers are among the data that intelligence authorities try to match. The matches allow FinCEN "to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated individuals and entities," the FinCEN spokesman said. At present, FinCEN finds about 1,200 matches suggesting possible Islamic State-linked financial activity each month, up from 800 in April, the spokesman said. Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo declined to comment on whether they provided financial reports to the U.S. government. Such reports are supplied confidentially. Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "TIDAL WAVE II" The use of financial records linked to Islamic State is only one part of the intelligence-gathering exercise for air strikes in Syria that also includes methods such as aerial surveillance by drones, officials said. One former military official familiar with the process said that any financial intelligence collected by FinCEN would require "significant vetting" before the military acted on it. Earlier this month, U.S.-led coalition planes struck 116 fuel trucks used to smuggle Islamic State oil 45 minutes after dropping leaflets warning drivers to flee, a Pentagon spokesman said. Coalition strikes destroyed another 283 Islamic State fuel trucks on Saturday, the Pentagon said. On Nov. 8, a coalition air strike destroyed three oil refineries in Syria near the border with Turkey. U.S. defense officials estimate that Islamic State, an adversary the United States calls the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind in history, was earning about $47 million per month from oil sales prior to October. That month, the U.S. military launched an intensified effort to go after oil infrastructure, dubbed "Tidal Wave II," named after the bombing campaign targeting Romanian oil fields in World War Two. The Pentagon estimates the strikes have reduced the Islamic State's income from oil sales by about 30 percent, one U.S. defense official with knowledge of the previously unreported estimate said. Reuters was unable to confirm this. The use of financial records in helping to pick U.S. targets was first disclosed last week at the banking conference in Washington. At the conference, Kurt Gredzinski, the Counter Threat Finance Team Chief at U.S. Special Operations Command, cited the importance of information provided by banks in the war against Islamic State. "That to me is the first time in my recollection that we strategically targeted based on threat finance information," he said at the conference. He declined to comment further on which strike he had been referring to. "RESILIENT FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO" U.S. officials believe that diminished funding could gradually undermine Islamic State's grip on the area it controls in Iraq and Syria, because it needs revenue to pay salaries and keep public infrastructure operating, said two former officials with knowledge of the Obama administration's thinking. Experts caution that Islamic State, which rules an area the size of Austria, has surprisingly deep pockets due to the various revenue streams it controls. It has built up what amounts to a "durable and resilient financial portfolio," funded by oil sales, extortion, and sales of antiquities, said Thomas Sanderson, an expert on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Money can be strapped to the backs of mules," Sanderson said. "It's easy to move things across a border during a time of deprivation and chaos." Despite some initial success, cutting off its funding will require deeper cooperation from governments from Turkey to Russia, experts say. The group has shown the ability to bounce back from previous U.S. strikes on its oil facilities. Counter-terrorism experts say that Islamic State appears to have learned from U.S. successes in cracking down on funding for al-Qaeda, which relied heavily on support from wealthy donors in the Gulf region. "IS has learned that you don't want to be reliant on too many outside sources," said Sanderson. "Donors are fickle and subject to pressure and (IS) wants to be in control." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Brett Wolf of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. Additional reporting by Joel Schectman, Warren Strobel, and Jonathan Landay in Washington.; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Stuart Grudgings) || Consumer growth lagging as mobile payments battle rages on: The battle over the future of consumer payments raged on at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas this week, just without consumers, most of whom seem quite content to keep swiping their credit cards or handing over cash instead of adopting the latest in mobile payment technology. JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) announced that it would offer its own smartphone-based payments service to compete head on with Apple ( AAPL ), Google ( GOOGL ), Samsung and others. Scheduled to arrive in the middle of next year, Chase Pay will be available for all 94 million of the bank's credit and debit card customers. And Chase has signed on a huge array of retailers -- from Walmart ( WMT ) to CVS Health ( CVS ) and Target ( TGT ) — that haven't supported other programs. Samsung said 14 more banks had joined its payments service including Chase, SunTrust Banks ( STI ) and PNC Financial Services ( PNC ). It didn't disclose how many U.S. customers had signed up for the service in its first month but said participating consumers made an average of eight transactions. The company said three out of four transactions used Samsung's unique magnetic secure transmission, or MST, technology, which works at almost any checkout terminal by mimicking an ordinary credit card swipe. "We are seeing early signs of customer adoption and we are very, very encouraged by that," Thomas Ko, general manager of Samsung Pay, told the conference on Wednesday. Apple didn't speak at the conference. Meanwhile, Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice president at Google overseeing Android Pay, offered few details on the early performance of that service, revealing only that "millions" of users have signed up for Android Pay since the program launched Sept. 10. When it comes to convenince, cash and credit rule Despite all the talk of mobile payments, consumers are still sticking with their more traditional forms of payment. Two thirds of consumers used cash on a daily basis, 59% used a debit card and 50% used a credit card, according to a survey by Accenture. Only 8% said they used Apple Pay or Google Pay, the prior name of Android Pay, "regularly," while 16% said they used PayPal. Story continues Less than 1% of transactions used Apple Pay at American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ), an early Apple supporter, Joe Megibow, American Eagle's chief digital officer, revealed on Monday. The reasons are fairly obvious — cash and credit cards are quick and convenient ways to pay that are accepted almost everywhere. Some mobile payments systems work only at a small fraction of all stores, others work with only certain credit cards and none are as convenient as a traditional credit card yet. "We're still plagued by how is this really different in the end from plastic," Greg Weed, director of research at Phoenix Marketing, said. Asked what they'd like to see added to mobile payments services, 64% of consumers said they want to be able to redeem loyalty or rewards program points at the time of purchase, Weed said. And 52% said they wanted the ability to view discounts and deals while at a specific store. All of the announced services have pledged to include loyalty and rewards programs but very few have been offered so far. Consumers are "looking for something beyond the digitization of the swipe," Brian Mooney, CEO of the Merchant Customer Exchange, said. The three year old group, formed by leading retailers, is piloting its own payments app, called CurrentC, which intends to integrate loyalty and rewards programs. Mooney didn't say when the long-delayed service would be generally available but the group is also partnering with Chase's new service. The evolution of Bitcoin Amid all the excitement around digital payments, there was still plenty of talk about the financial world's favorite cryptocurrency, bitcoin. But unlike past years, entrepreneurs are now focused less on bitcoin as a replacement for buying and selling goods and more on the digital currency's infrastructure for securely recording all kinds of dealings. Every bitcoin transaction is recorded in a public ledger known as the blockchain. Nasdaq ( NDAQ ) announced that its pilot using the blockchain to record private stock transactions was a success . The exchange said it had signed up six clients, including messaging service Tango and data security specialist Vera, to use the transaction system as the basis for actual private trades in their shares. Some entrepreneurs are looking to add considerably more transactions onto the block chain, particularly the trillions of dollars per day of trades in public stocks and bonds. The current system makes traders wait three days for transactions to formally settle, but some at the Money conference said a blockchain-based solution could complete deals in a fraction of the time and with improved security and transparency. Three day settlement is "silly, it's downright dumb," famed venture capitalist Vinod Kholsa, who has backed numerous financial technology and bitcoin related start ups, said. || Why the price of bitcoin is skyrocketing again: The price of Bitcoin, the world's most popular virtual, digital currency, is on the rise again. After trading in a range of $200 to $250 for most of the year, the price of one Bitcoin shot up to $500 this week, although it hassince fallen back to $392on Thursday.
A great surge to $1,000 at the end of 2013ended in disaster for investorsas the currency lost three-quarters of its value in ensuing months. But what's behind the latest rally and will it stick? Here are three possible explanations:Perhaps questionable Chinese interest
As often happens with bitcoin price surges, a lot of the trading is coming out of China. And there is a social financial network called MMM Global growing massively in China that requires users to buy bitcoin and share it around with other members. The Financial Timeshas said MMM has elements typical of pyramid schemes. The site was founded by a former Russian legislator who was jailed for fraud over a pyramid scheme he operated in the 1990s.
China has alsotightened capital controls recently, making it harder for its citizens to send money abroad. Some bitcoin buying may be related to efforts to get around the crackdown.Growing legitimate business interest
At the Money 20/20 conference last week,many companies announced new bitcoin-based services. The Nasdaq (NDAQ), for example, will be recording transactions in private stocks using bitcoin's public ledger, known as the blockchain. And Mastercard (MA) joined the long list of establishment institutions investing in bitcoin startups. And, two weeks ago, the European Union's top court agreed that virtual currencies like bitcoincan be traded like established currencieswithout triggering taxes applied to sales of goods and services. Past rallies have been linked with speculative bets that these kinds of deals and rulings would popularize the cryptocurrency and lead to greater demand which would push up the price.Jamie Dimon
The always opinionated CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) says bitcoin has no future -- governments will shut it down,he said at Fortune's Global Forumon Wednesday. “Virtual currency, where it’s called a bitcoin vs. a U.S. dollar, that’s going to be stopped,” Dimon said.
Coming from the the guy who boughtBear StearnsandWaMuand missed those billions of dollars of crazy trades by the London Whale, Dimon's remarks may be attracting contrarians to bet against the big bank CEO. Probably not many, but with bitcoin, you never know. || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Welcomes Top Bitcoin Remittance and ATM Expert to Board of Advisors: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / November 9, 2015 / MarilynJean Interactive ( MJMI ) today announced it has retained Christopher Concepcion to serve on its board of advisors. Mr. Concepcion has an MBA from Stanford University, over 30 years of international corporate expertise at the executive level, wide ranging business relationships in the Philippines and extensive experience in Bitcoin remittance and ATM operations. Mr. Concepcion was born and raised in the Philippines where he earned his undergraduate degree in business at The University of The Philippines in Manila. He then completed an MBA at Stanford University in California. While in the Philippines, Mr. Concepcion held executive positions in companies involved in supply chain management, real estate financing, insurance and communications. He has worked with Filipino remittances for the last 12 years. Mr. Concepcion was also a member of the Capital Markets Development Council that provided public / private business policy advice to the Philippine government. Mr. Concepcion and his family relocated to Canada in 2014. In late 2014, Mr. Concepcion formed Bitcoiniacs Holdings Inc., to acquire the world's first Bitcoin ATM operator. Mr. Concepcion then pivoted the business toward remittances, with a focus on using Bitcoins to allow foreign workers to quickly and inexpensively remit funds to the Philippines. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We couldn't be more excited to have Mr. Concepcion join our growing team. His expertise and the business direction of his firm match perfectly with 's plans in the remittance space. Mr. Concepcion's firm owns the world's first Bitcoin ATM and the first standalone Bitcoin remittance storefront, both in Vancouver Canada. With his Bitcoin expertise and top level Philippine contacts, we firmly believe Mr. Concepcion will provide invaluable advice and important introductions as we target the multi-billion dollar Philippine remittance market. We look forward to updating our shareholders as we grow this relationship." Story continues About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: bonnie@marilynjean.com SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive || Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin: EU officials are set to gather in Brussels in order to discuss the Paris attacks and ways to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. One of the topics on the table for discussion is expected to be bitcoin and its potential to be used as a finance tool for terrorists. The recent crisis in Paris has shined a spotlight on some of the issues that bitcoin has been facing as it becomes a more and more popular tool to conduct financial transactions on the web. While bitcoin enthusiasts say the cryptocurrency's ability to send payments anonymously without a third party intermediary is an important part of its appeal, others believe that bitcoin could be contributing to terror plots and should be more tightly regulated. Related Link: Lasting Market Impacts From The Paris Attacks Trust Issues Bitcoin has long suffered from trust issues as the cryptocurrency has been portrayed as a tool for criminals after an underground marketplace dealing in illegal and illicit bitcoin transactions was exposed last year. The marketplace, called Silk Road, is what some say is only the beginning of the damage that bitcoin can do. Because making transactions with bitcoin can protect the buyer and seller's identities, criminals are better able to solicit and pay for illegal goods and services online. The same, many believe, is true for terrorists. Bitcoin gives them an avenue to send and receive funds undetected as there is no third party intermediary monitoring and verifying those payments. Regulation Could Break Bitcoin However, on the other side of the coin, bitcoin supporters say that too much regulation would eliminate bitcoin's purpose all together. The electronic currency was meant to operate outside of traditional finance in order to make sending money across boarders faster and easier. They argue that placing strict regulations on bitcoin would disrupt the currency's decentralized nature and undo all of the progress that bitcoin technology has made. Story continues Related Link: Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin What To Do It is unclear how regulators plan to monitor bitcoin transactions and whether or not their efforts would be successful in thwarting terror plots. Bitcoin isn't the only payment scheme that is believed to be involved in terrorist planning operations either; pre-paid debit cards purchased from stores may also be a threat as they similarly don't require any kind of verification to be used for online payments. See more from Benzinga 9 IPOs That Fell Flat On Wall Street 9 Ways To Make Your Retirement Savings Stretch Further 9 Investment Options For Traders Looking To Add Europe To Their Portfolio © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
One Bitcoin now worth $333.65@bitstamp. High $341.98. Low $325.00. Market Cap $ 4.951 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/wuTmGwHCUC || Current price: 218.92£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-14 17:00:05 GMT || Ⓡ Average price of Bitcoin now is $238.00 http://cur.lv/o99ed #bitcoin #fintech #blockchain #cryptocurrency #… https://twitter.com/HELPS_COIN/status/648951192526131200/photo/1pic.twitter.com/8WmMDLcMls || One Bitcoin now worth $353.00@bitstamp. High $382.00. Low $351.38. Market Cap $5.233 Billion #bitcoin || $325.00 at 14:30 UTC [24h Range: $294.00 - $344.78 Volume: 44368 BTC] || Current price: 316.69$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-11 21:00:08 EST || Current price: 468$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-04 13:00:04 EST || Current price: 204.04£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-11 22:00:05 GMT || $379.94 #bitfinex;
$379.00 #coinbase;
$376.66 #bitstamp;
$345.74 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc || Current price: 254.4£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-08 12:00:10 GMT
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Trend: up || Prices: 352.68, 358.04, 357.38, 371.29, 377.32, 362.49, 359.19, 361.05, 363.18, 388.95
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
History Says Riot Blockchain Stock Could Bounce Back: The shares ofRiot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT)are surging today, up 20.2% at $21.54 at last check, though a reason for the positive price action was not immediately clear. The last time we checked in on the security, shares were pulling back from fresh highs asBitcoin plummeted, before surging right back to a Jan. 14, three-year high of $29.98. The stock now sports an impressive 1,533.8% year-over-year lead, and a recent dip has RIOT close to a historically bullish trendline, which could send shares even higher.
Specifically, Riot Blockchain stock just came within one standard deviation of its 40-day moving average, after spending the last few months above this trendline. According to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, three similar signals have occurred in the past three years. In 67% of those instances, the equity enjoyed a positive return a month later, averaging a 22% gain. From its current perch, a move of similar magnitude would put RIOT just over the $26 mark -- closer this month's peak.
Digging deeper, a short squeeze could create additional tailwinds for the security, pushing shares higher still. Short interest rose 21.7% in the last two reporting periods, and the 13.07 million shares sod short make up a whopping 81.9% of RIOT's available float.
The options pits, on the other hand, already lean firmly bullish. This is per the equity's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.16 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than 91% of readings from the past year. In other words, calls are being picked up at a quicker-than-usual clip. || Bitcoin’s Bulls Should Fear Its Other Scarcity Problem: (Bloomberg Opinion) -- In the eyes of many Bitcoin advocates, scarcity is a key advantage over more conventional assets.
Unlike fiat money, which can be created from nothing on a bank’s balance sheet, or gold, which can be mined from the ground in quantities still far from being exhausted, the supply of Bitcoins was set from the start at 21 million. That means, in the words of its pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto, it should ultimately be “completely inflation free” — making it a far better store of wealth than assets whose real value declines over time.
That’s the theory, at least. With the price of Bitcoin climbing as high as $34,792 Sunday and putting the value of all coins in circulation at around $647 billion, though, there’s a different scarcity problem looming larger.
It’s easiest to think about this in terms of asset allocation. When the value of all Bitcoin outstanding was measured in the tens or hundreds of millions, a minuscule shift of money away from the $217 trillion world equity and bond markets into digital currency would be sufficient to make its price go wild. If investors in aggregate decide to put just 0.1% of their stock and bond portfolios into Bitcoin right now, that represents an additional $200 billion or so chasing the same pile of 18.6 million coins that have been mined to date — enough to push the price well over $40,000.
In that sense, the roller-coaster ride that Bitcoin has ridden in recent years looks almost sedate. At current prices, all the digital coins in circulation are equivalent to about 0.6% of the $103 trillion market capitalization of the world’s equity markets. That’s higher than the 0.4% allocation when the crypto price last peaked on Dec. 18, 2017 and much higher than levels shy of 0.1% that have prevailed at times since then — but it looks a whole lot less dramatic than the 79% run-up in coin prices from their last peak.
The problem for digital bulls is that the success of cryptocurrencies tends to eat itself. As the value of the asset class rises, the shifts away from more conventional investments needed to provoke price spikes get larger and larger.
Right now, Bitcoin on its own is worth about six times the 56 million ounces of metal represented by all the contracts outstanding on the Comex 100-ounce gold contract. The world’s biggest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares, holds about $72 billion of the yellow metal. Add in other forms of private investment gold and you’ve got about $2.87 trillion worth of metal — but much of that is in the form of bars and coins that aren’t easily liquidated when investors want to tweak their portfolios.
That should be enough to concentrate the minds of circumspect investors. Cryptocurrencies are no longer a new arrival on the scene that can attract many more investors on their novelty alone. Turnover of digital coin derivatives in the September quarter came to $2.7 trillion, according to TokenInsight, a research company. That’s not all that far behind the run rate of the world’s biggest equity markets. The value of all shares traded in Japan in 2019 came to just $5.09 trillion, according to the World Federation of Exchanges, enough to make it the third-largest equity market on that basis.(1)
Looked at that way, the core problem for crypto is thrown into stark relief. Why would you choose to allocate a slice of your stock and bond holdings into a digital currency, instead of more conventional assets? Once momentum stops driving the price higher, as it inevitably will, the best argument is still the hope that it might balance out the swings in your broader portfolio. As we’ve argued in the past, the prospect of Bitcoin becoming that sort of negative beta asset is the most promising way for it to become something more useful than a dice game for investors.
Unfortunately, there’s still little sign of that happening. As my colleague Lionel Laurent has argued, these days it looks not so much like a hedge against the gyrations of the equity market as a leveraged bet on the same movements. The correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 index was 0.767 over the past year — somewhat closer than the link between the S&P and the FTSE 100 index, and substantially tighter than that between U.S. and Hong Kong stocks. Gold’s correlation with the S&P 500 was a far lower 0.299, while the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Index of total sovereign bond returns posted a prized negative beta of minus 0.036.
Crypto will only grow up if and when it finds a different driving force to the animal spirits that govern equity markets. If it really wants to be an alternative asset to stocks and bonds, it needs to start behaving like one.
(1) To be sure, the notional value traded on derivatives markets is often larger than that of the underlying assets because it represents a range of prices at different points in time. Still, it's a sign of the sums that are now invested in crypto.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies. He has been a reporter for Bloomberg News, Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and the Guardian.
For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com/opinion
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©2021 Bloomberg L.P. || Argo Blockchain Plans New Bitcoin Mining Facility in Texas: Publicly traded bitcoin mining company Argo Blockchain (ARB) is planning to acquire land in West Texas for a new mining facility.
• London Stock Exchange-listed ArgosaidWednesday it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with New York-based DPN LLC to acquire 320 acres of land to build a 200-megawatt data center over the next 12 months.
• The cost of the acquisition would be $17.5 million, funded via the issuance and allotment to DPN of ordinary shares in Argo.
• Once the agreement is in place, $5 million-worth of new ordinary shares will be issued to DPN, followed by a further $12.5 million of shares in installments as contractual milestones are met.
• “We are incredibly excited about this proposed acquisition,” said Peter Wall, CEO of Argo Blockchain, “It gives Argo tremendous control over its mining operations, as well as significant capacity for expansion.”
• The company will use a $100 million credit facility to construct the center and kit it out with miners.
• In choosing the Texas location, Argo has been able to secure access to some of the ”cheapest renewable energy worldwide,” Wall said.
Read more:Bitcoin Miner Argo Blockchain Bought 172.5 BTC in January
• Argo Blockchain Plans New Bitcoin Mining Facility in Texas
• Argo Blockchain Plans New Bitcoin Mining Facility in Texas
• Argo Blockchain Plans New Bitcoin Mining Facility in Texas
• Argo Blockchain Plans New Bitcoin Mining Facility in Texas || Tesla’s Buying of Bitcoin Briefly Made Bitcoin More Valuable Than Tesla: The market valuation of bitcoin briefly exceeded that of Tesla after the electric automakerannouncedMonday it had purchased $1.5 billion of the largest cryptocurrency for its treasury.
• After Tesla filed its annual report with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission disclosing the purchase, shares ofbitcointook off, setting a new all-time high of $44,801.87.
• Bitcoin’s market value naturally rose as well, increasing to $834.2 billion and making the cryptocurrencymore valuablethan all but seven of the world’s publicly traded companies, just ahead of Tesla with its market cap of $820.7 billion.
• The price of bitcoin has since given back some of its gains, trading hands at press time at $42,964.05, up 11.78% in the last 24 hours.
• That retreat has allowed Tesla to reclaim the seventh spot, leaving bitcoin in eighth place, still ahead of Facebook ($756.4 billion), which the cryptocurrency also passed on Monday.
• Tesla’s Buying of Bitcoin Briefly Made Bitcoin More Valuable Than Tesla
• Tesla’s Buying of Bitcoin Briefly Made Bitcoin More Valuable Than Tesla
• Tesla’s Buying of Bitcoin Briefly Made Bitcoin More Valuable Than Tesla
• Tesla’s Buying of Bitcoin Briefly Made Bitcoin More Valuable Than Tesla || Stocks surge on stimulus hopes; dollar depressed: By Matt Scuffham NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks hit record highs on Thursday, fueled by growing optimism that deals will be reached over a fresh U.S. stimulus package and a post-Brexit trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union. From stocks to safe-haven gold and volatile bitcoin, financial assets were in festive mood. Bitcoin hit another all-time high after first shattering the $20,000 level on Wednesday. Oil also climbed, touching a nine-month high, with strong Asian demand adding to positive sentiment. The U.S. dollar was the day's standout loser, as the general risk-on mood sent the safe haven currency to 2-1/2-year lows against major peers. U.S. congressional negotiators were "closing in on" a $900 billion COVID-19 aid bill expected to include $600-$700 stimulus checks to individuals, lawmakers said on Wednesday. Progress on a stimulus package overshadowed continued concerns over the economic impact of the pandemic, highlighted by U.S. weekly jobless claims hitting a three-month high on Thursday and weak U.S. retail sales data on Wednesday. All the major U.S. indices closed at record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49% to end at 30,301.79 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.57% to 3,722.43. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.84% to 12,764. "Wall Street is completely focused on stimulus talks and ignored deteriorating U.S. economic data," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, fell 0.599 points or 0.66%, to 89.851. "The dollar is reflecting the amount of debt that the U.S. is assuming and that's probably going to increase as we continue to battle the pandemic," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell vowed on Wednesday to keep pouring cash into markets until the U.S. economic recovery is secure. Story continues Bond traders, however, were disappointed he did not extend the Fed's purchase program deeper down the yield curve, and U.S. Treasuries sold off at longer tenors, but others took it as a signal the bank will have their back. [US/] The MSCI world stock index reached a new high, rising 4.74 points or 0.74%, to 641.84. European stocks and the euro rallied for the fourth straight session as investors built up positions in riskier assets, anticipating a sharp economic recovery in 2021 backed by wider vaccine rollouts and ultra-easy monetary policy. Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index added 0.23%, at 1,533. The British pound hit May 2018 highs on hopes of a post-Brexit trade deal. Sterling maintained gains despite senior British minister Michael Gove putting the chances of securing a trade deal with the EU at less than 50%. The euro was last up 0.54% at $1.2263. Brent crude futures settled up 42 cents at $51.50 a barrel, and touched a session high of $51.90. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose by 54 cents to $48.36 a barrel, with a session high of $48.59. Both benchmarks hit their highest since early March. Gold prices rose to a one-month peak. Spot gold prices rose $20.1179 or 1.08 percent, to $1,884.26 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled up 1.7% at $1,890.40. Better-than-expected labor data in Australia pushed the Aussie as high as $0.7624, its strongest since mid-2018. [AUD/] The Aussie is also riding high on surging prices for iron ore and a mood that has pushed currencies in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Sweden and Norway to milestone peaks. [EMRG/FRX] The kiwi rose to its strongest since early 2018 after New Zealand's economic growth beat expectations. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 4.29 points or 0.66 percent,%. The yen was last down 0.36 percent, at $103.1100. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham, Editing by Nick Zieminski) || Uphold to Launch Crypto Card in Europe After Optimus Acquisition: Digital finance platform Uphold says it has acquired card-issuer Optimus Cards UK, opening the door for the firm to roll out its own “crypto-enabled” debit card in Europe.
Upholdannouncedthe news Tuesday, saying its new acquisition comes with a full Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The firm plans to start rolling out its multi-asset debit card on the Optimus platform in Europe “shortly.”
Related:PayPal 2020 Results: ‘Outstanding Finish to a Record Year’
CEO JP Thieriot said Uphold had to pass the FCA’s rigorous “Change In Control” process for approval of firms seeking to acquire or increase control of another company.
“We’re very excited to get to work and help scale Optimus’s thriving EMD agency business, which already supports several major crypto and fintech ecosystems,” he said.
Read more:Uphold Teams With TaxBit to More Accurately Report Users’ Crypto Trades
European Uphold customers will soon be able to receive part or all of their salary inbitcoinor other asset “and spend it using Uphold Cards issued through Optimus,” Thieriot added.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Cracks $37.2K as Ether Breaks Through to Record-High $1.6K
Uphold was founded by CNET founder Halsey Minor asBitreservein 2014. He left the firm in 2018, according to hisLinkedIn profile.
• Uphold to Launch Crypto Card in Europe After Optimus Acquisition
• Uphold to Launch Crypto Card in Europe After Optimus Acquisition || Democrats plan to use Senate win to pass $2,000 stimulus checks: The U.S. Senate wins in Georgia by Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff not only give Democrats control of the Senate, but they also mean that when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, his party will fully control Capitol Hill, even though it’s a very narrow majority. It will mark the first time since 2010 that Democrats will simultaneously control the House, the Senate, and the White House.
Simply put: Democrats will soon have real power to legislate. And the first item on their docket? It looks like $2,000 stimulus checks.
“One of the first things that I want to do when our new senators are seated is deliver the $2,000 checks to the American families,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is expected to become the Senate majority leader,told reporters on Wednesday.
Schumer’s decision to make passage of the $2,000 checks a top priority isn’t that surprising. Warnock and Ossoff successfully used $2,000 stimulus checks as a battle cry for their candidacies after Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the Democratic controlled House’s bill to raise the $600 stimulus checks to $2,000. Ultimately, the two parties passed a $900 billion package which included a $600 direct payment to most Americans.
We already know Biden is on board. Earlier in the weekhe tweeted: “The debate over $2,000 isn’t some abstract debate in Washington. It’s about real lives. Hardworking Americans need help, and they need it now. Georgia—you have the power to make it happen. Vote.”
If Democrats do proceed with $2,000 checks, they might need to pass the package througha Senate procedure called budget reconciliation. Doing so would bypass Republicans’ ability to block the package through a filibuster. Since Senate Democrats would be limited on how many times they could use budget reconciliation, they might decide to add other items to the bill. That could include extending pandemic unemployment benefits beyond their looming March 2021 expiration.
Democrats will control the 50-50 split Senate with Vice President–elect Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote. In order to pass legislation in the face of united Republican opposition, they would need every single Democratic vote, including that of moderates such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
“[The Democrats would] really have to thread the needle if they’re going to try to get anything through,” Michael Reynolds, investment strategy officer at Glenmede Trust, toldFortunein November of a slim Democratic majority.
The good news for Democrats? No one in their party has publicly denounced the $2,000 checks, and some Republicans, such as Sen. Josh Hawley, even say they support it.
To whom would Democrats send the checks? All signs point to those Americans who received the first two rounds. Both rounds were based on an individual’s or a couple’s 2019 adjusted gross income, also known as federally taxable income. Stimulus checks were sent to individuals earning less than $99,000 and couples without children earning less than $198,000.
Either way, Democrats holding sway over Congress likely doesn’t just mean bigger stimulus. Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets, recently toldFortune: “I think the question then becomes not just how big is this bill, it’s how many additional big bills do we get?”
• When to expect$600 checks and $300 enhanced unemployment payments
• A brief history ofBitcoin bubbles
• From Bitcoin to Asian tech stocks, these arethe biggest winners and losers of the 2020 global markets
• The biggestbusiness scandalsof 2020
• Under Biden, expectmore scrutiny of Big Tech and mergers
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || Where Peer-to-Peer Finance Grabbed Hold This Year: This past year will forever be marked, as the global pandemic took hold of everything, from our health and safety to financial security. It was a year of mass economic devastation, of ineptitude at the highest level and agitation for change growing from the bottom up. It was also a year that crypto came into its own – perhaps because it is the people’s money, unfettered by dysfunction at the top. Despite a minor scare in mid-March – when Bitcoin collapsed 55% in one day, bottoming at $3,782 – it quickly bounced back, and even (perhaps ironically) gained recognition as a safe haven asset. Hedge funds, billionaires and publicly-traded corporations have allocated treasuries to Bitcoin, to say nothing of the little guys. This post is part of CoinDesk’s 2020 Year in Review – a collection of op-eds, essays and interviews about the year in crypto and beyond. Ray Youssef is CEO and co-founder of Paxful. Related: You Say You Want a Bitcoin Revolution This year, the on-ramps got bigger and easier to use, and more people than ever have begun holding and trading cryptocurrencies. And, as online wallets and apps continue to improve, we will likely see more people enter the fold in the coming years. Bitcoin shines Nearing the end of 2020, several headlines rocked the cryptocurrency world. The biggest, perhaps, was news that PayPal partnered with Paxos to bring crypto functionality to its 300 million plus users. While the service was limited to a few large-cap coins – bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash – it drove a new bitcoin rally and reignited a conversation over the mass adoption of digital assets. This renewed confidence will only continue to gain momentum as we cross the threshold into 2021. Then there were the institutional high fliers who changed their outlook on bitcoin. Legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones committed to storing a percentage of his net worth in bitcoin, while a leaked internal document from Citibank revealed that a senior analyst predicts Bitcoin could reach $318,000 by December 2021. Story continues See also: Byrne Hobart – PTJ on BTC: Bitcoin Is Now the Macro Big Bet Related: COVID and Big Tech Burnout Are Pushing Social Tokens Mainstream As participation from the largest names in traditional finance continues to expand, 2021 will see limitless possibilities and further news of high-net worth individuals betting on bitcoin. And, while bitcoin trading has not reached a volume where it is stable enough to be considered a true safe asset like gold, it has and will continue to show more and more inflation-resistant characteristics. It’s likely that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will start decoupling from traditional assets, which may drive more institutions to add BTC to their treasuries. While additional fiscal stimulus was paused by a divided U.S. government, this only resulted in pressure on the Federal Reserve to expand its balance sheet and pump trillions of dollars into the global economy. Bitcoin is the undisputed king of cryptocurrencies It’s for all these reasons and more, Bitcoin has a chance to continue to take market share from gold. With a current market cap of $300 billion, and gold’s at $10 trillion , it will only require a fraction of these assets to shift in order to change the dynamic of “inflation hedges.” Stablecoins find a stable home Though bitcoin is the undisputed king of cryptocurrencies and has proven its ability to empower people through its decentralized, uncensorable monetary system, stablecoins have emerged as a necessary tool to further these economic and social aims. In the emerging world, stablecoins have proved to be a hedge against volatility and inflation. This was seen by growing use in Nigeria, South Africa and Turkey, as the naira, rand and lira faltered. Stablecoins pegged against stronger currencies like the U.S. dollar or euro will continue to help preserve the wealth of everyday people who do not want to expose themselves to the volatility of purer cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether. It’s a trend I expect to continue to unfold. See also: Bitcoin Dissidents: Those Who Need It Most The explosive growth of stablecoin volumes will remain an agitator for central banks across the world to continue the research and development of creating central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Location, location, location Nigeria, China, India, the U.S. and Vietnam have become the main markets for peer-to-peer finance and have the potential to be leaders across the ecosystem. These countries have managed to implement their own use cases for remittances, a major market in which Bitcoin is unrivaled. For instance, Paxful’s global volume increased by nearly 31% this year. As more and more people adopt digital remittances, traditional remittance methods will be forced to take a backseat to bitcoin’s ease of use, lower fees and global availability. The rise of price across cryptocurrencies is the result of growing societal and governmental dysfunction. The mainstream is awakening to a future of digital assets. And even if the bull market peters out, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and conjoined economic meltdown has already brought crypto into the well-deserved spotlight. Related Stories Where Peer-to-Peer Finance Grabbed Hold This Year Where Peer-to-Peer Finance Grabbed Hold This Year || 4 Crypto Mining Stocks Worth Investing In: Bitcoin (CCC: BTC ) rallied in 2020 as it nearly quadrupled in price from $8,000 in January 2020 to above $31,000 in late December. It reached a new all-time high above $34,000 in 2021. An indirect way to gain from this price appreciation is to consider crypto mining stocks to buy. Here is simple explanation of the mining process from Sectigostore.com: “The term crypto mining means gaining cryptocurrencies by solving cryptographic equations through the use of computers. This process involves validating data blocks and adding transaction records to a public record (ledger) known as a blockchain.” InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Crypto mining is a complicated process. It requires a lot of capital expenditures in technology equipment. And, it has significant expenses in terms of electricity and even cooling equipment for a large number of computers used. The crypto mining business is risky but can be promising and profitable if bitcoin appreciates in the future. Research on global cryptocurrency mining market by Industry Research is optimistic about the growth of this market in the next five to six years. “The global Cryptocurrency Mining market size is projected to reach US$ 2584.6 million by 2026, from US$ 1015.9 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 16.8% during 2021-2026.” Meanwhile, a report by Technavio projects growth of $2.8 billion in the mining hardware market from 2020 through 2024. 10 of 2020’s Most Fascinating SPAC Stocks With growth expected both for the cryptocurrency mining and its hardware, cryptocurrency mining stocks are worth considering. For investors interested in positions related to bitcoin, here are four crypto mining stocks to buy: Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ :RIOT ) Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ: MARA ) Canaan (NASDAQ: CAN ) HIVE Blockchain Technologies (OTC: HVBTF ) Crypto Mining Stocks to Buy: RIOT Smartphone with Bitcoin chart on-screen among piles of Bitcoins Source: Shutterstock Leading the way of the crypto mining stocks to buy is Riot Blockchain, which is based in Castle Rock, Colorado, and was founded in 2000. Its stock has a market capitalization of more than $1 billion. Its stock price surged from $1.49 in January 2020 to top $16 per share in late December 2020. Story continues The company is investing in its bitcoin mining business expansion heavily as it announced “an expected 65% increase in bitcoin mining hash rate capacity resulting from the purchase and future deployment of 15,000 S19 Pro and S19j Pro Antminers from Bitmain Technologies Limited.” Riot Blockchain and its stock could benefit from future expansion and upgrading mining operations. The company is unprofitable for the past three years and an increase in bitcoin price could be a key catalyst for profitability. Marathon Patent Group (MARA) Gold vs. Bitcoin: Old-school and New-school Alternatives to Fiat Money Small-cap stocks such as MARA in general are higher risk compared to large-caps. With a market capitalization of less than $600 million, this stock has great risk, but also the potential for high returns. And in 2020 this crypto mining stock delivered an exceptional return soaring from just over $1 per share to about $14 per share in December 2020. It is based in Las Vegas and its fundamentals are not inspiring. What is worth mentioning is a recent by the company that, “According to publicly available Bitcoin profit calculators, if all the miners we have purchased were deployed today, and Bitcoin’s price was $28,000/BTC, we would produce approximately $618 million in revenue annually and approximately $523 million in gross profit annually.” 10 of 2020’s Most Fascinating SPAC Stocks Marathon patent group also is investing heavily in expanding its crypto mining business. If the above statement is true, then the price-sales ratio of the stock would be now below 1. The good news is that bitcoin surpassed $28,000. The further price increase could also boost the profitability of the company and support a higher stock price. Canaan (CAN) image of bitcoin to represent cryptocurrency stocks Source: Shutterstock Canaan is based in China and manufactures hardware that can be used for bitcoin mining. It will benefit if companies invest more in equipment for an efficient and cost-effective crypto mining business. Expectations of selling more hardware are realistic and that’s why it is on this list of crypto mining stocks to buy. Also in this case, the story about the fundamentals is true. The company is not yet profitable and third-quarter 2020 results were not good for revenue. Still, there is some good news. The company announced in September 2020 a $10 million share repurchase program over the next 12 months. However, that anmount may seem trivial for a company with a market capitalization of more than $1 billion. The repurchase reflects the optimism of the company’s management for future business conditions. Hive Blockchain Technologies (HVBTF) a group of red maple leaves representing canadian stocks Source: Shutterstock The last entry on the list of crypto mining stocks to buy is Hive Blockchain Technologies, which has a price-earnings ratio of 43.33. Not something to call it a bargain stock, but still it is profitable. The company is based in Canada with operations in Canada, Sweden and Iceland. The key to success for this small-cap stock is to increase revenues and control costs. For the revenue part, it has already shown a successful positive trend increase for the past three consecutive years. And its operating income for the 12 trailing months is positive. A recent acquisition allows the company to doubles its bitcoin production capacity , as reported by AccessWire , is positive. 10 of 2020’s Most Fascinating SPAC Stocks The novel coronavirus pandemic posed severe problems for crypto mining companies in logistics and the supply of miners. A return to normal business conditions will be a positive factor for these crypto mining stocks. On the date of publication, Stavros Georgiadis, CFA, did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article . More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets The post 4 Crypto Mining Stocks Worth Investing In appeared first on InvestorPlace . || MicroStrategy CEO sees an 'avalanche' of companies buying bitcoin: Michael Saylor, the CEO of business intelligence software company MicroStrategy ( MSTR ), the first publicly traded company to add bitcoin to its balance sheet, sees an "avalanche" of corporations that will embrace the cryptocurrency. "The pitch is bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) is digital gold, and it's sitting on the world's first digital monetary network," Saylor told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday, two days after electric car maker Tesla ( TSLA ) made headlines for buying $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin . He also pointed to the digital currency's performance versus the U.S. dollar, making a case that "bitcoin has emerged as an institutional safe-haven asset." ‘Cash is going to be a depreciating asset’ In Saylor's view, bitcoin can convert a balance sheet "from a liability into an asset," something the enterprise software company has done itself. As of this publication, MicroStrategy owns 71,079 bitcoins, acquired for $1.145 billion, a position worth more than $3.1 billion at current prices. Last week, MicroStrategy hosted a virtual conference where Saylor shared his bitcoin corporate playbook and strategy with executives from more than 1,000 companies. According to Saylor, against a macroeconomic backdrop of low-interest rates and central banks printing money, companies are "beginning to realize that their cash is going to be a depreciating asset and the need to turn the balance sheet into an appreciating asset." BRAZIL - 2020/05/10: In this photo illustration the MicroStrategy Incorporated logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Bitcoin reached record highs this week after Tesla revealed it bought $1.5 billion worth of the digital currency, and that it plans to start accepting bitcoin as payment in the “near future.” The joke-based currency dogecoin also surged after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted about it last week. "Elon Musk is very progressive, and Tesla is very progressive. I think this is part of a trend toward the digital transformation of balance sheets as people move from analog traditional treasury assets, like cash and bonds, into bitcoin," Saylor added. To be sure, Saylor doesn't think bitcoin is going to take on the U.S. dollar. He thinks the euro and the dollar "are going to do just fine." "I think that cryptocurrency is a misnomer. Bitcoin is digital gold. What bitcoin is doing is rapidly replacing gold as a non-sovereign store of value," the executive added. He estimates that 150 million people are already using bitcoin as "digital gold." He predicts "a billion people will want to hold digital gold on a mobile device in the next five years." "I think that the people that ought to be really concerned are gold bugs. Anybody that's storing their money in gold has got a big bull's eye on their forehead, and that's at risk," he added. Story continues Shares of MicroStrategy fell $298.46, or a decline of 23.45%, to close Wednesday’s trading session at $974.48, as bitcoin also fell off of its recent highs to close down nearly 5%. Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter . Paul Tudor Jones makes bull case for bitcoin: 'The path forward from here is north' Ray Dalio calls bitcoin ‘one hell of an invention’ View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 47945.06, 49199.87, 52149.01, 51679.80, 55888.13, 56099.52, 57539.95, 54207.32, 48824.43, 49705.33
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-08-18]
BTC Price: 44801.19, BTC RSI: 58.77
Gold Price: 1781.60, Gold RSI: 48.08
Oil Price: 65.46, Oil RSI: 35.97
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Former Member of the European Parliament Antanas Guoga joins Jax.Network as an advisor and participates in its private JXN token pre-sale: Jax.Network is anchored to the BTC blockchain that follows the JaxNet protocol and issues scalable, stable, and decentralized JAX coins. Kyiv, Ukraine, July 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire ) Jax.Network , a blockchain company extending the Bitcoin protocol and issuing decentralized and stable JAX coins, adds a recognized blockchain enthusiast on board. Antanas Guoga, commonly known as Tony G, becomes an advisor for Jax.Network and participates in its private pre-sale. “Having analyzed the technology and mission of Jax.Network thoroughly, I came up to the conclusion that their stablecoin can revolutionize the global payments market and bring an affordable and convenient day-to-day stable cryptocurrency for people. Therefore, I decided to support the project financially and join the team as an advisor”, Mr. Guoga noted. Antanas Guoga is a well-known Lithuanian businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was a Member of the European Parliament for the Liberal movement and the European People’s Party. His main areas of engagement were legislation and parliamentary scrutiny. The partnership with Tony G can bring a lot of value to the company, as his vast experience in business and politics, as well as advisory, are very valuable. On top of that, he runs Cypherpunk Holdings, the company focused on investments in privacy tech, mainly blockchain, and Cryptonews.com, a popular online news media outlet. With Mr. Guoga in the team, the commercial development of Jax.Network may take a quite interesting angle and bring fruitful results. “We are happy to have Tony G on board. He has a true interest in blockchain-based projects. Also, in the upcoming age of technology and AI, a universal basic income is critical for the common man. Tony has been vocal about these issues throughout his political career. I am certain that Tony will advise us on integrating the necessary welfare principles into our ecosystem through different forms including tax and regulatory compliance.”, Vinod Manoharan, the founder of Jax.Network, commented. Story continues About Jax.Network Jax.Network is anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain that follows the JaxNet protocol and issues scalable, stable, and decentralized JAX coins. The Jax.Network team aims at making these coins a universal standard for the quantification of economic value. Established in 2018, the company united professionals from all over the world to build a blockchain network based on the Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism and pure state sharding as a scaling solution. Jax.Network uses a specific merge-mining technique. It allows miners to mine multiple shards simultaneously without splitting their hashrate and get rewards proportional to their effort. Being an open-source project, the JaxNet protocol can be used by anyone to build new projects on top of it and contribute to the development of the ecosystem. Viktoriya Nechyporuk Jax.Network viktoriya@jax.net https://jax.network || Bitcoin Showing Signs of Short-Term Fatigue Near $50K Ahead of Possible Continuation: Bitcoin failed to break $50,000 during weekend trading and is beginning to flag signs of profit-taking in the short term. The worlds largest crypto by market cap is down 2.5% over a 24-hour period and is currently changing hands for around $45,892, CoinDesk data shows. Still, bitcoin is up 56% in year-to-date returns courtesy of a strong showing by bullish traders throughout the first half of August, when prices rose from $38,000 on Aug. 4 to around $48,190 on Saturday. Related: Bitcoin Rangebound Near $50K Resistance; Support at $40K The price has rebounded strongly now, but this upward move is showing some signs of short-term fatigue, said Simon Peters, market analyst at trading platform eToro. We could see a small retracement down to lower prices before the prevailing trend reasserts itself. Low levels of daily trading volume persist as bitcoin struggles to edge higher while short positions are building, according to Datamish data, pointing toward a return to lower supports near $44,000. Even though the trend has flipped bullish, a pullback is to be expected before continuation, said Marcus Sotiriou, sales trader at U.K.-based digital asset brokerage firm GlobalBlock. This is because there has been declining volume with an increase in price, as well as a bearish divergence in the RSI indicator on the daily time frame. Other notable cryptos in the top 20 by market capitalization over a 24-hour period are mixed with polkadot , solana and terra posting the highest gains while ether , XRP and stellar have shed the most over the same period. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rally Expected to Pause Crypto Funds Suffer 6th Week of Outflows Despite Bitcoin Rally Bitcoin Holds Support; Approaching $50K Resistance || More Bitcoin Miners Setting up Shop in Texas: Texas has been labeled the new home of Bitcoin mining, and operations have already begun popping up in areas like Rockdale and Pyote. The largest crypto mining operation currently in the United States, Whinstone Inc , calls Texas home and will soon be joined by numerous other mines as the state has become the hot spot for the industry stateside. In fact, after China’s continued fight against crypto mining operations, Certain areas in Texas might become the go-to spot across the globe for miners to break ground in. Rockdale becoming global hub of crypto mining BIT Mining, formerly a Schenzen base operation, became one of the first big mines affected by China’s bans. Back in May, the company announced they would be investing upwards of $25 million into a new data center in Texas. Despite becoming a destination considered recently popular, Texas has actually housed a number of significant mining operations for years. Bitmain is the best example of this with the mining company operating a massive 33,0000-acre Bitcoin mine in Texas. The facility in Rockdale was unveiled back in 2019 and, at the time, the company claimed it was the biggest farm in North America . Coincidentally, Bitmain is currently updating an old aluminum plant a stone’s throw from Whinstone’s Rockdale facility. The Rockdale area has been especially popular with miners due in large part to the crypto-friendly officials who hold office. The mayor of Rockdale, John King, is not only a proponent of digital currency, he is also a bitcoin miner himself . According to the mayor himself, King’s home has a rack of computers dedicated to mining bitcoin. The Mayor has predictably backed many pro-crypto laws and stated he’s personally met with every mining firm interested in the area. King does admit that his mining venture has yet to bear much fruit. “I’m not very successful at it, and I can’t afford to keep buying hard drives.” Other areas in West Texas such as Pyote have also popped onto the radar of many crypto miners. Pyote reported a population of 138 in 2020 and has seen interest from Layer 1 Technologies and Argo Blockchain. The latter announced it will be buying nearly 350 acres of land in the area by the end of the year. Story continues China is ridding itself of crypto miners For those unaware, China has been ejecting bitcoin miners from their borders left and right due to concerns over energy usage and carbon emissions. The driving force behind these moves is that China made a promise to the world that it would become carbon-neutral by 2060. The vow was made by China’s very own President Xi Jinping, and it would be a tremendous feat if they can pull it off. In order to have a shot at accomplishing this, the government in Beijing has made a number of drastic moves in order to get rid of crypto miners. By some estimates, before these bans on mining started coming down, China was responsible for mining nearly 80% of the world’s cryptocurrency. No, with factories full of equipment and no power to use them, Chinese miners are scrambling for a new home. || By Taxing Crypto, the US Government Has Accepted It’s Here to Stay: Related: DBS Bank Gets Greenlight From Singapore Regulator to Provide Crypto Services If the U.S. government thinks it is going to raise $28 billion in taxes from the crypto industry in the next 10 years – this means crypto is here to stay. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rallies Despite Cooler Inflation Data Inversores institucionales regresan a bitcoin a pesar de posibles impuestos para las criptomonedas en Estados Unidos || S&P Dow Jones Indices Adds Five New Cryptocurrency Indexes: S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Tuesday the debut of five new cryptocurrencies indeed to bring its total to eight. One of the world’s leading index providers, the S&P Dow Jones, has announced the launch of five new cryptocurrency indexes designed to track the performance of the digital asset market more effectively. The main addition, the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index (BDM), is able to keep track of nearly 250 digital assets from day one of launch. The BDM represents the next step in the S&P Dow Jones’ previously launched crypto benchmarks. While the Broad Digital Market Index is the party piece of this most recent launch, a quartet of other crypto-focused indexes were launched on Tuesday as well. Each of these is meant to keep track of different components of the broad digital market benchmark. The four additional indexes are: S&P Cryptocurrency BDM-Ex-LargeCap Index, S&P Cryptocurrency BDM Ex-MegaCap Index, S&P Cryptocurrency LargeCap Index, and S&P Cryptocurrency LargeCap Ex-MegaCap Index. Each of the new additions relies on crypto-data provider Lukka to determine the composition of each benchmark. Peter Roffman, the Global Head of Innovation and Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices stated, that “For more than a century, our indices have offered insight into how the markets are performing. Now, with the introduction of the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index, we’re providing that answer to cryptocurrency investors.” Roffman goes on to say that the most recent expansion “gives one of the broadest snapshots yet of this rapidly growing asset class, with the ability to slice and dice by market cap.” S&P Dow Jones’ new Indexes Diving in a bit deeper to the new indexes announced today, they are each part of the expansion of the company’s digital asset benchmarks, the S&P Digital Market Indices. According to the press release , each index serves a different yet important function. The LargeCap Index functions as a subset of the BDM that measures the performance of users with the largest market cap. The BDM Ex-MegaCap Index is also a subset of the BDM, but it excludes the constituents of the MegaCap index (BTC and ETH). The Ex-LargeCap Index excludes constituents of the LargeCap Index whole the Ex-MegaCap Index measures the performance of the constituents of the LargeCap index but excludes the constituents of the MegaCap index. Each of the new indices joins the exiting benchmarks that currently make up the Digital Market Indices that are the S&P Bitcoin Index, S&P Ethereum Index, and the S&P Cryptocurrency MegaCap Index. || Cardano (ADA) Investment Products Lead Weekly Crypto Inflows With $1.3M As Bitcoin, Ethereum Lose $23M: What Happened: Institutions appear to have favored Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) this week as the altcoin recorded $1.3 million in inflows, even as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) focused funds saw major outflows. According to data from CoinShares , digital asset investment products saw a sixth consecutive week of outflows which cumulatively amounted to $115 million. Bitcoin recorded $22 million in weekly outflows, while Ethereum lost $1.1 million over the week. Meanwhile, institutions increased their exposure to Cardano. The Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain’s native token boasted the highest inflows over the past week, recording $1.3 million in weekly flows. Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT) and Stellar (CRYPTO: XLM) also recorded minor inflows of $400,000 each. Why It Matters: ADA rallied as much as 35% over the past seven days, briefly reaching a high of $2.25 on Monday. This week’s rally was the first time the altcoin broke the $2 mark since May when it hit an all-time high of $2.46. The positive price action comes in anticipation of Cardano’s new series of upgrades which will bring smart contract functionality to the network. #Cardano #smartcontracts are coming... We're on track to meet the projected HF dates for both testnet & mainnet #Alonzo upgrade, as Nigel outlined in last week update👇 A new era is set to begin on Sunday 12th September 2021 🌅 $ADA pic.twitter.com/HrdrqYizhP — Input Output (@InputOutputHK) August 17, 2021 The Alonzo Hard Fork is set to be completed on Sept. 12 and will go live on the testnet as early as Sept. 1. “Started to fill bids from 2.05 - 1.93 on $ADA,” commented popular crypto trader Pentoshi. “Alonzo HF confirmed in 3 weeks, smart contracts going live, allegedly a lot of projects launching. FA is there.” Read also: What is Cardano? Based on his technical analysis, Pentoshi claims that ADA has been one of the strongest projects to date and new all-time highs are around the corner. Something like 72% of the total supply of $ADA is staked as well so easy to see a demand > supply dynamic in the weeks to come — Pentoshi 🐧 Wont DM You (@Pentosh1) August 17, 2021 See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Cardano (ADA) Reclaims For The First Time Since May Crash As Crypto Market Cap Nears Trillion © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Addresses Holding Over 100K BTC Hits 27-Month High: Bitcoin addresses that hold over 100,000 BTC have hit a 27-month high
Bitcoin whales appear to be accumulating the crypto at current prices. The total number of holders with over 100,000 BTC remains at a 27-month-high. The accumulation appears to be happening during bitcoin’s recent price correction from its all-time high of $64,000.
On-chain analysis and market insights firmSantiment statesthat bitcoin addresses with over 100,000 BTC account for 3.64% of the supply.
However, Santiment also noted that addresses holding between 10,000 to 100,000 BTC had seen a new all-time low, with 10.91% of the supply held.
While it appears large holders of bitcoin are continuing to accumulate, Santiment alsostatedthat “The current Bitcoin sentiment remains at extreme negative levels that our algorithm hasn’t seen since October, 2020. If BTC ranges for much longer, the negative commentary will likely surpass this mark, making it the most bearish since June, 2018.”
Santiment acknowledges that bitcoin whales are accumulating during a time when the market outlook remains bearish. On-chain analyst Willy Woo stated that the user count of the bitcoin blockchain is growing faster than ever. Woo stated, “The estimated user count seen on Bitcoin’s blockchain is growing faster now than any other time in its 12-year history. Even during this dip? Yes, especially during this dip.”
Bitcoin’s mining hash rate appears to finally be rebounding following theChinese mining bans. Miners had halted operations in China and had begun moving overseas to set up operations elsewhere. One such destination appears to be Texas.The Lone Star Stateis set to be an attractive location for mining operations due to its cheap electricity, and crypto-friendly government officials.
Mining operations appear to be picking up slowly as the total hash rate climbed from last week’s low of 84.79 TH/s, up to 93.24 TH/s on Sunday. || Cryptocurrencies Are on FinCEN’s First ‘National Priorities’ List: The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency of the Treasury Department tasked with preventing and punishing money laundering and other financial crimes, has turned its attention to crypto. In the agency’s first list of government-wide priorities published Wednesday, FinCEN identified eight priorities: corruption, cybercrime and relevant virtual currency considerations, terrorist financing, fraud, transnational criminal organization activity, drug trafficking, human trafficking and proliferation financing. So far, the agency’s list of priorities is not connected to any policies. According to FinCEN’s statement, the agency “will issue regulations at a later date that will specify how financial institutions should incorporate these Priorities into their risk-based AML [anti-money laundering] programs.” Related: Binance-Owned Indian Exchange Taps TRM Labs for Anti-Fraud Management FinCEN has been wrestling with its approach to cryptocurrencies since late 2020, when a hotly debated rule was floated by the Treasury Department that would require crypto exchanges to identify personal wallets making large transactions. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), another agency of the Treasury Department, has also made headlines – first in 2016 and again earlier this year – for issuing controversial “John Doe” summons to crypto exchanges for names associated with large transactions. FinCEN’s inclusion of virtual currencies and cybercrime in its list of priorities also comes in the wake of several high-profile ransomware attacks, like the Colonial Pipeline hack , in which the criminals were paid out in bitcoin (and later reclaimed ). “Treasury is particularly concerned about cyber-enabled financial crime, ransomware attacks, and the misuse of virtual assets that exploits and undermines their innovative potential, including through laundering of illicit proceeds,” FinCEN said in a statement. Story continues Related: BTC-e Operator Vinnik’s Five-Year Prison Sentence Upheld by Court: Report FinCEN sees virtual currencies as “a substantial financial innovation,” but says they’re the “preferred form of payment” for a variety of illicit activities including ransomware, illicit drugs, and even “used by some of the highest priority threat actors to advance their illegal activities and nuclear weapons ambitions.” Read the full document: Related Stories US Crypto Giants Build First Version of FATF-Compliant ‘Travel Rule’ Tool FATF Says Majority of Countries Still Haven’t Implemented Watchdog’s Crypto Guidance || BlockFi Receives Cease and Desist Order From New Jersey Attorney General: Crypto lending platform BlockFi has received an order from New Jersey’s acting attorney general (AG) to halt its Interest Account (BIA) operations in the U.S. state. BlockFi CEO Zac Prince confirmed his company had received the order late Monday. Prince said BlockFi remains “fully operational” for its existing clients in New Jersey and that all aspects of the platform continue to be accessible for its clients in the state. CoinDesk contacted Prince, who declined to comment further. The acting AG’s order requests BlockFi to stop accepting new BIA clients residing in New Jersey beginning July 22, 2021, Prince confirmed in a tweet . “We will continue to engage with all relevant authorities to protect our clients’ interests and ensure that our products remain available,” said Prince . Having just started the job on Monday, Acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck appears to be setting the tone of his new role. The order is the latest headache for the embattled lender that, in May, incorrectly deposited and then tried to reverse excessive amounts of bitcoin to users’ accounts. BlockFi was also hit by an attacker spamming its platform with fake sign-ups and abusive language in March. Related Stories Visa Crypto Cards Have Racked Up $1B in Spending in 2021 BlockFi Rate Cut on Bitcoin Deposits Leaves Rivals Scratching Heads SEC Charges 3 More in $30M ICO Fraud Case BlockFi Retail Account Balance Increased Fivefold in Past Year, CEO Says View comments || BTC On-Chain Analysis: SOPR Suggests Bounce Could Be a Relief Rally: BeInCrypto – A look at on-chain indicators for Bitcoin (BTC), more specifically Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) and Coin days destroyed (CDD), in order to gain a more accurate insight about the current market movements. SOPR is showing readings similar to those on Feb. 2018, when the market was mired in a long-term correction. SOPR in 2017 SOPR measures the aggregate state of profit or loss in the market. Simply put, it is created by the ratio of the selling price over the buying price for every single output. If it shows a value above one, it means that the market is in profit and vice versa. The adjusted SOPR (aSOPR) removes transactions that have a lifespan smaller than one hour. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 46717.58, 49339.18, 48905.49, 49321.65, 49546.15, 47706.12, 48960.79, 46942.22, 49058.67, 48902.40
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2021-04-01]
BTC Price: 59095.81, BTC RSI: 61.11
Gold Price: 1726.50, Gold RSI: 47.33
Oil Price: 61.45, Oil RSI: 51.03
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Federal Reserve Sends a Clear Message to Bitcoin Investors: - By Panos Mourdoukoutas Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sent a loud and clear message to bitcoin investors recently: the digital currency doesn't have what it takes to be a regular currency. It isn't a suitable medium of exchange, and it isn't a store of value either. It isn't a suitable medium of exchange because its value isn't stable. And it isn't a good store of value because it isn't back by anything, as is the case with all cryptocurrencies. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Sign with TSLA. Click here to check it out. TSLA 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of TSLA Peter Lynch Chart of TSLA "They're highly volatile and, therefore, not useful stores of value, and they're not backed by anything," Powell said during a virtual panel discussion on digital banking hosted by the Bank for International Settlements. What is bitcoin, then? "It's more a speculative asset that's essentially a substitute for gold rather than for the dollar," he said. Powell's comments echo the comments made by European Central Bank governing council member Gabriel Makhlouf last January when he warned bitcoin investors that they might end up losing all their money. "Our role is to make sure that consumers are protected," Makhlouf told Bloomberg TV. U.S. congressional leaders have also raised their concerns about investors losing money in cryptocurrencies and their determination to limit their use. Meanwhile, Indian lawmakers are drafting a law banning cryptocurrencies and fining cryptocurrency traders and investors. Still, U.S. investors do not seem to take the warnings from central bankers and lawmakers seriously. Last month, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) founder Elon Musk announced the electric vehicle company is investing $1.50 billion in bitcoin and accepting it as a means of payment for its products. That's a significant endorsement of the cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange, according to Chris McAlary, CEO of Coin Cloud. Story continues "Tesla putting its stamp of approval on Bitcoin as a medium of exchange isn't exactly a trailblazing move, but it does shine the spotlight on digital currency," he said. "This will likely help accelerate the journey towards digital currency (and not just Bitcoin) being used daily by the majority." Meanwhile, McAlary thinks bitcoin is a better store of value than the dollar because it is decentralized, in limited supply and instantly transferrable around the globe. While it is still unclear how central banks and regulators will stop the rise of cryptocurrencies, one thing is clear: fighting the Fed runs against Wall Street wisdom. Disclosure: I don't own any bitcoin. Read more here: Ollie's Bargain Outlet Shares Are Not a Bargain Nike's Digital Strategy Pays Off What Creates Value, Part I: Steady-State Value Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here . This article first appeared on GuruFocus . || Switzerland’s ‘Crypto Valley’ Has Started Accepting Bitcoin, Ether for Tax Payments: The Swiss canton of Zug has started accepting tax payments in cryptocurrency.
In a previousannouncementin 2020, the Swiss authorities said that, from February, citizens and companies based in Zug will be able to pay up to 100,000 CHF (around $111,300) of their taxes in eitherbitcoinorether. No partial payments in cryptocurrency will be accepted.
Zug has been dubbed “Crypto Valley” over the many industry companies drawn to the jurisdiction over its friendly blockchain and crypto regulation.
Related:How 2,000 Years of Monetary History Led Us to Bitcoin, Feat. Nik Bhatia
“As the home of the Crypto Valley, it is important to us to further promote and simplify the use of cryptocurrencies in everyday life,” said Zug’s finance director, Heinz Tannler, when the tax initiative was announced.
Zug-based crypto broker and custodian Bitcoin Suissehas partneredwith the canton, converting cryptocurrency payments into Swiss francs for the tax office.
Read more:Russia’s Crypto Tax Bill Passes First Reading at State Duma
According to theZug Canton website, residents can request to pay taxes in cryptocurrency and will be emailed a link taking them to the crypto payment option.
Related:Money Reimagined - Feb 20, 2021
Aa CoinDeskreportedat the time, the city of Zug started accepting bitcoin payments for tax in 2017.
• Switzerland’s ‘Crypto Valley’ Has Started Accepting Bitcoin, Ether for Tax Payments
• Switzerland’s ‘Crypto Valley’ Has Started Accepting Bitcoin, Ether for Tax Payments || As Covid-19 destroyed real economies, Second Life’s economy boomed: For three years now, Jonathan Martin and his wife have been selling home furnishings and decorations. “Tchotchkes, really,” he said, “stuff you put in your home.” Their shop, Sunny Bungalow, not only stayed open every day of the pandemic last year but also saw its sales double. “We’re trying to figure this out ourselves,” Martin said. It helps, of course, that Sunny Bungalow is a virtual store, found in Second Life, the online world where people have lived parallel existences through their avatars since 2003. And it helps that the tchotchkes are digital antiques, truffled out in other Second Life stores and markets. Bitcoin is worth whatever Elon Musk and Cathie Wood say it is The spike in sales was part of a larger economic boom in Second Life, even as the real-world economy floundered through 2020. “We are seeing a 30-40% increase in overall in-game GDP,” said Ebbe Altberg, the CEO of Linden Labs, the company that runs Second Life. Once avatars earn Linden Dollars in the game, through the goods and services they offer, their players can cash them out into US dollars. Last year, players earned and cashed out $73 million—nearly a fifth more than the 2019 figure of $65 million. The rest of the virtual economy grew too, but far more explosively, in ways that sometimes made Second Life seem like a tranquil backwater for grown-ups. The exuberance, in large part, is driving non-fungible tokens (NFTs)—virtual assets like plots of land in Somnium Space, another online world, or artwork of animated cats, or digital basketball card collectibles. Each NFT is a singular product, either one of its kind or part of a limited set; some NFT creators use blockchain technology to certify their products’ uniqueness. The market for NFTs tripled in size last year to more than $250 million, according to figures from NonFungible.com , which tracks NFT sales data. There were several reasons for this, said John Egan, the CEO of L’Atelier, an independent subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which helped compile the data. It has become increasingly easy and frictionless to spend money online, and in lockdown, people were online far more last year. Story continues California’s net neutrality law is broadband companies’ worst nightmare Escaping the pandemic into Second Life Second Life didn’t have quite as feverish a year. It has its own versions of NFTs: plots of virtual land or designer clothes for avatars or unique Sunny Bungalow tchotchkes, each different from the other. But these aren’t tagged by blockchain technology, and they didn’t go on the wild, speculative rides that other tokens experienced. The game’s economy grew more steadily, over longer periods—rather more like a real economy than a collection of speculative assets. Partly, this is because Second Life is designed to be an anti-speculative market. Linden Labs has always acted as a sort of central banker to the game, tightly regulating its economy and trying to keep inflation in check. The exchange rate of Linden Dollars to US dollars doesn’t fluctuate; it has stayed at 320 to $1 for months. For a while, Linden Labs permitted casinos to operate in the game, but it quickly shut them down after the effects of gambling created a central banking crisis, Egan said. A few years ago, Linden Labs instituted some stimulus measures, dropping the price of land and making it easier for players to become first-time “homeowners.” That gave the economy a fillip, Altberg said. Second Life never sees the sort of frenzy that is, for example, witnessed frequently during land grabs in Final Fantasy XIV, another game in a virtual world. The reason for this strict regulation of the game’s economy is cultural more than anything else: a recognition that Second Life is for living, not profiteering. Of the 900,000-odd monthly active users in the game last year, only 14,000 or so draw any kind of income from it. The rest come for the community, or to be different versions of themselves, or to find escape. During the lockdown, Second Life saw a surge in new registrations. Something similar had happened during the 2008 recession, Altberg said: a spike in players, higher engagement, the game offering “a reprieve from social and economic stressors.” But last year, many players who hadn’t logged on in years also returned, unable to pursue their full lives offline and spending increasing amounts of time online in any case. And they happened to spend some money while they were back. Among them was Asia Ristow—which is her avatar’s name, the name she wishes to go by. Ristow joined Second Life 14 years ago, dropped away around 2017, and returned midway through last year. She’s always worked online, as a consultant, but when she found she couldn’t socialize in real life, she logged on—until she was spending 10 or 12 hours a day in Second Life. “It felt much less lonely,” she said. Others were there for the same reason. One woman she met had, in the real world, purchased plane tickets to a bunch of countries, until the pandemic canceled all travel. “So she went to different worlds in Second Life instead,” Ristow said. Her own year in the game, Ristow said, involved joining a free co-working space: “It’s cheesy, it’s cute. A little coffee machine, little donuts, little desks, and a Stargate to teleport there.” She parks her avatar there even as she’s working on her offline job, just for the feeling of being around people. The pandemic made its presence felt in other ways as well. Covid-19 support communities emerged, as well as a coronavirus resource center, created by a healthcare professional. People argued, while socializing within the game, about whether their avatars should wear little virtual masks. “We’ve also seen political turmoil and activism translated into the virtual space,” Altberg said. Going shopping on Second Life Not everyone in the game turned out to be a big spender last year. Ristow knew that some of the avatars around her were of players who’d lost their jobs in real life. “Some people were just starting out, or they were financially insecure. So they were looking for budget-friendly things to do.” Others tried to substitute the experience of shopping online for the absence of shopping offline. “Buying on Amazon is not the same as going into a shop and looking at clothing, and you could do that on Second Life,” said Susanna, a copywriter from Graz, Austria, who asked to be quoted just by her first name. She bought herself “a sort of new skeleton” for her avatar—a better frame on which the graphics hung. In Second life terms, it was expensive—nearly 5,000 Linden Dollars, or around $15. Musicians set up virtual concerts, and players attended those, buying tickets or tipping the artists. One player, who runs a shop that supplies avatars with virtual pets and babies, and who asked not to be named, said that her business jumped 30%. “Unfortunately we live in a world where we’re shown these beautiful, expensive things,” she said. “That kind of lifestyle is very inexpensive in virtual life. Maybe it’s just about getting a necklace you can’t otherwise afford—it’s just as gratifying to wear one on your avatar.” The gulf in prices between a Second Life kitten (about $3.25) and a Nyan Cat NFT (around $600,000) raises the question of which kind of temperament in the NFT market will outlive the other. It’s difficult to say if the crazier valuations will persist into the near future—just as it’s difficult to say, for instance, what the value of bitcoin will be a year from now. The action feels too new and too superheated to extrapolate. Second Life, on the other hand, has grown steadily for the better part of two decades now. Its economy is unlikely to plummet, just as it refuses to grow at nuclear rates. But the coming end of the pandemic, and the return of everyone’s first lives, won’t leave Second Life unaffected. “Last year, things opened up here for a while in Austria, and I disappeared from the game,” Susanna said. “I got a lot of messages from my friends online, who were worried about me.” She shrugged. “But you know. It was summertime. It was possible to have a normal life.” Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Tanzania announces new Covid-19 measures under mounting pressure Psychology suggests that when someone calls you the wrong name, it’s because they love you || DigiMax Announces Closing of CAD$13.2 Million Private Placement with Institutional Investors to Fund Future Expansion: NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 19, 2021 /DigiCrypts Blockchain Solutions Inc. o/a DIGIMAX GLOBAL SOLUTIONS (the "Company" or "DigiMax") (CSE:DIGI) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement of equity securities (the "Offering"). The Offering was for gross proceeds of approximately CAD$13.2 million and consisted of the sale of 37,793,715 common shares, along with warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 37,793,715 common shares, at a purchase price of CAD$0.35 per common share and associated warrant. The warrants have an exercise price of CAD$0.365 per common share and exercise period of three and one-half years (on or before September 17, 2024).
The net proceeds of the private placement will be used by the Company for working capital and general corporate purposes and may be used to fund strategic partnerships that may include an acquisition of all or part of existing companies operating in similar artificial intelligence, or blockchain/crypto spaces. However, no agreements have been signed, nor any terms agreed on, in respect of any such transactions.
H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the private placement.
H.C. Wainwright & Co. received (i) a cash commission equal to 8.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and (ii) 3,023,497 non-transferable broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants"). Each Broker Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at an exercise price of CAD$0.4375 at any time on or before September 17, 2024.
No securities were offered for sale or sold to Canadian residents. The securities issued under the Offering are subject to customary resale restrictions in the United States with no resale restrictions in Canada.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This press release shall not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been, nor will they be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements.
About DigiMax
DigiMax is a company formed to utilize advanced financial technologies, together with predictive analytics derived from artificial intelligence-based machine learning, to provide customers with high value products and services in multiple market sectors.
The recent acquisitions of 100% of the DataNavee shares, and Darwin Ecosystem assets have given DigiMax a globally competitive artificial intelligence platform from which to offer these products and services.
DigiMax currently has two such products available at present: its Projected Personality Interpreter (PPI) offered to large organizations to assist with assessing personality traits of existing and potential employees, and CryptoDivine. Ai that is a subscription-based information tool that assists investors in determining when price trend changes are likely to occur for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
DigiMax expects to increase the number of valuable product offerings made available to small businesses and individuals in the coming months.
Contacts DigiMax:
Martti KangasInvestor Communications647-521-9261mkangas@digimax-global.com
Chris CarlPresident & CEO416-312-9698ccarl@digimax-global.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements or information". Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: anticipate, intend, plan, goal, seek, believe, project, estimate, expect, strategy, future, likely, may, should, will and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements we make regarding the use of proceeds from the private placement, and information about future plans, expectations and objectives of the Company.
Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements.The Company may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations.The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including expectations and assumptions concerning the use of net proceeds of the private placement. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:the adequacy of our cash flow and earnings, the availability of future financing and/or credit, and other conditions which may affect our ability to expand the App Platform described herein, the level of demand and financial performance of the cryptocurrency industry, developments and changes in laws and regulations, including increased regulation of the cryptocurrency industry through legislative action and revised rules and standards applied by the Canadian Securities Administrators, Ontario Securities Commission, and/or other similar regulatory bodies in other jurisdictions, disruptions to our technology network including computer systems, software and cloud data, or other disruptions of our operating systems, structures or equipment, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate,consumer sentiment towards the Company's products and services,failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, competition, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions,the impact of technology changes on the products and industry,as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in disclosure documents filed by the Company with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com.Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
SOURCE:DigiMax Global Solutions
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/636457/DigiMax-Announces-Closing-of-CAD132-Million-Private-Placement-with-Institutional-Investors-to-Fund-Future-Expansion || Barclays Investment Chief Compares Bitcoin To 'Flightless Bird': What Happened: Bitcoin (BTC) price corrected sharply from $57,000 to just under $50,000 earlier today, before recovering to $54,178 at the time of writing. Over the course of its rally, the market-leading cryptocurrency has come under scrutiny from those skeptical of its success – most recently from Barclays (NYSE: BCS ) investment chief Will Hobbs. Hobbs, who is the Chief Investment Officer at Barclays’ Wealth and Investments, went on to compare Bitcoin to a “flightless bird.” Why It Matters: Most analysts have suggested a key driver of Bitcoin’s successful rally has been the popular “store of value” narrative that surrounds the asset. Many investors, including Tesla Inc 's (NASDAQ: TSLA ) Elon Musk, have cited Bitcoin’s inflation hedging properties during periods of excessive money printing as its most appealing quality. Hobbs suggests that a change in government policies might lead to the cryptocurrency losing some value. "My hunch is that if real interest rates turned positive, then bitcoin [will] suddenly look like quite a flightless bird. Because if I can get a positive yield from lending to the US or UK government, why am I going to own bitcoin?" he said to Business Insider . What Else: Hobbs also stated that Barclays is not interested in Bitcoin at the moment, calling the zeal Bitcoin inspires ‘cultish.’ According to him, Bitcoin’s price movement is an example of the “narrative power of markets...similar to the Reddit story”, he said, referring to the GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME ) incident. Image: Matt Brown via Wikipedia See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Why Another March Crash Is Not Likely For Bitcoin Anthony Scaramucci Believes Bitcoin Price Will Reach 0K 'Before The End 2021' © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || You Can Now Buy a Tesla With Bitcoin, According to a 3am Tweet From Elon Musk: There he goes again.
Twitter-happyElon Muskhas taken to his favorite social media platform to offer his followers a whole new way to buy aTesla.
The 49-year-old tech tycoon, who founded the EV automaker back in 2003, published a series of tweets in the wee hours of Wednesday morning explaining that the marque would now accept bitcoin as a form of payment in the US. This comes not long after Tesla invested $1.5 billion into thecryptocurrencylast February.
Musk even went so far as to detail the marque’s infrastructure for accepting bitcoin payments. Tesla is bringing all of the tech in-house “using only internal & open-source software.” The CEO also stated that the bitcoins won’t be converted to fiat currency—regular American dollars, for example—but will instead stay as bitcoins and presumably supplement Tesla’s growing stockpile.
As for how you actually pay, Tesla has outlined the process in aFAQ. Customers must first initiate the payment from their bitcoin wallet by scanning a QR code or pasting the bitcoin address and the exact bitcoin amount into the wallet. The amount for a vehicle deposit is based on current market rates, with the value of Tesla’s cars still set in USD. Tesla will send a confirmation once the payment is received, and, presto, you’ve got yourself a brand new EV.
This process will allow customers to purchase any one of Tesla’s electric four-wheelers, including the Model S, 3, X (above) and Y, plus theCybertruckand the second-generation Roadster, both of which are slated to arrive this year. For now, the new payment method is only available in the US, but Musk did add that he plans to offer it to other markets later this year.
The Twittersphere was quick to point out the environmental cost of “mining” bitcoin seems a little incongruous with Tesla’s eco-friendly ethos. To be sure, the cryptocurrency is an energy suck, consuming more electricity than the entire annual energy consumption of the Netherlands,according to Cambridge University researchers. That, however, doesn’t appear to be deterring Musk—or the market for that matter. Earlier this year, the price of a singleBitcoin topped $40,000for the first time in its relatively short history. Now, even some of the most begrudging financial analysts believe it’s here to stay. Best get your e-wallet sorted now.
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• The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Near $58K on Fed Pledge to Keep Loose Policy: • Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $57,745.58 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Climbing 3.68% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $54,201.70-$58,078.51 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC trades above its 10-hour and 50-hour averages on the hourly chart, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin’s price flipped to green after Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday reaffirmed their expectations to keepinterest rates close to zero at least through 2023, potentially bolstering the cryptocurrency’s appeal as a hedge against faster inflation.
As of press time, bitcoin was changing hands around $58,000, up from about $55,500 just before the Fed announced its decision around 18:00 coordinated universal time (2 p.m. ET).
The price has doubled this year, partly because of demand from institutional investors who are looking for an asset that might hold its worth if the dollar’s purchasing power declines. Central banks around the world have pumped trillions of dollars of freshly created money into global financial markets to stimulate their coronavirus-wrecked economies.
Related:Kentucky Approves Bills Providing Incentives for Crypto Miners
Wall Street firmMorgan Stanley’s wealth management unit on Wednesday published a research report arguing the “threshold is being reached” for cryptocurrency to become an investable asset class. On the same day, Morgan Stanleysaid it will offerits clients exposure to three bitcoin funds, while Hong Kong-listed software firm Meitu made additionalinvestmentsin bitcoin and ether.
“This is a bullish step to further awareness and acceptance of bitcoin, and shows the organic underlying demand as investors look to seek alternatives to existing investment classes,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer at San Francisco-based crypto exchange OKCoin.
Read More:Morgan Stanley Sees Cryptocurrencies on Path to Investable Asset Class
Ether(ETH) was up on Wednesday, trading around $1,824.79 and climbing 2.24% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Related:Crypto Lender Hodlnaut Teams With Insurance Alternative Nexus Mutual
“Ether and bitcoin are still moving tightly together,” OKCoin’s Lau said.
At the same time, the number of BTC locked in the Ethereum blockchain saw a sharp rise on Wednesday after dropping for more than a month, according to data from DeFi Pulse.
“The hypergrowth that markets exhibited earlier in the year, especially with ether, appears on the surface to have subsided, but the reality could not be any different,” Denis Vinokourov, head of research at trading sentiment data provider Trade the Chain, said. “Specifically, the number of bitcoin locked on Ethereum continues to rise and much of this capital eventually lands across the DeFi ecosystem.”
A handful of lesser digital assets rose sharply Wednesday after Grayscale announcedplans for new trustslinked to Chainlink’sLINK, Decentraland’s MANA and a handful of others. (Digital Currency Group is the parent of Grayscale and CoinDesk and an investor in Decentraland.)
Bitcoin’s temporary failure to move higher since Saturday’s all-time high may have also pushed some investors and traders to alternative cryptocurrencies.
“While this might be unexciting for bitcoin traders, it has ether traders licking their lips at the prospect of the leading altcoin regaining some market share,” Adam James, senior editor at OKEx Insights, said. “Likewise, traders will also be looking for altcoins and DeFi governance tokens to capitalize on a bitcoin consolidation.”
Read More:LINK, MANA Token Prices Spike as Grayscale Unveils New Trusts
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly in green Wednesday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• kyber network(KNC) + 27.23%
• chainlink(LINK) + 12.43%
• tezos(XTZ) + 10.67%
• omg network(OMG) + 8.56%
• orchid(OXT) + 4.23%
Notable losers:
• cosmos(ATOM) – 3.1%
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed lower by 0.023%.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the red 0.60%.
• The S&P 500 in the United States went up by 0.29%.
Commodities:
• Oil was down 0.26%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $64.63.
• Gold was in the green 0.79% and at $1745.03 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Wednesday in the green 1.64%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Near $58K on Fed Pledge to Keep Loose Policy
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Near $58K on Fed Pledge to Keep Loose Policy || NY AGs $850M Probe of Bitfinex, Tether Ends in an $18.5M Settlement: A closely watched legal case involving Bitfinex and Tether, with major implications for the cryptocurrency industry, has been resolved. The New York Attorney Generals office (NYAG) has settled with Bitfinex over a 22-month inquiry into whether the cryptocurrency exchange sought to cover up the loss of $850 million in customer and corporate funds held by a payment processor. The NYAGs office announced the settlement Tuesday, formally ending the inquiry that kicked off in April 2019. Under the terms of the settlement, Bitfinex and Tether will admit no wrongdoing but will pay $18.5 million and provide quarterly reports describing the composition of Tethers reserves for the next two years. More significantly, these reports will match information Tether already provided the NYAG about its reserves. The NYAG will bring no charges as part of the settlement. Related: Paxos Plans to File for a Clearing Firm License In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said, Bitfinex and Tether recklessly and unlawfully covered up massive financial losses to keep their scheme going and protect their bottom lines. Tethers claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie. The settlement may help resolve, one way or another, a question that has long bedeviled the entire $1.6 trillion global cryptocurrency market . By requiring Tether to provide a greater level of transparency than ever about the backing of its USDT stablecoin a foundational piece of cryptos plumbing the arrangement could replace whispers and conjecture with regular data. Depending on the level of detail provided, investors could have better tools to evaluate the claim that the company has been printing unbacked tokens to artificially drive up the price of bitcoin, the markets bellwether. According to the settlement, the NYAG claims Bitfinex and Tether held a portion of Tethers reserves in trust for several months in 2017 and failed to disclose its troubles with Crypto Capital Corp. in a timely manner in its findings of fact. The NYAG also found fault with a blog post Bitfinex published after the inquiry was first announced, where the exchange said the funds held by Crypto Capital have been seized and safeguarded . Resolves allegations Charles Michael, a partner at law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLC who represented the companies in the inquiry, said the settlement resolves allegations about public disclosures around Tethers loan to Bitfinex. Story continues Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Settles Around $47K After Biggest 2-Day Rout in 11 Months To the Attorney Generals offices credit, after two and a half years of investigation, [its] findings are limited only to the nature and timing of certain disclosures, Michael said. And contrary to online speculation, there was no finding that Tether ever issued tethers without backing or to manipulate crypto prices. However, the settlement said , As of Nov. 2, 2018, tethers were again no longer backed 1-to-1 by U.S. dollars in a Tether bank account, because a substantial portion of the backing in the Deltec account had been transferred to Bitfinex to make up for the funds taken by Crypto Capital, while the corresponding funds transferred from Bitfinexs Crypto Capital account to Tethers Crypto Capital account were impaired by Crypto Capitals actions. The $18.5 million that the companies are paying as part of the settlement should be viewed as a measure of our desire to put this matter behind us and focus on our business, Bitfinex and Tether General Counsel Stuart Hoegner said in a statement. He said Tether voluntarily provided the NYAG with information about Tethers reserves, and will continue to do so for two years. We proposed that as part of the settlement agreement, we would disclose both to the Attorney Generals Office and to the public additional information about Tethers reserves on a quarterly basis, Hoegner said. The disclosures will include the breakdown of cash and cash equivalents that are in the reserves. Its unclear whether this will take the form of attestations or some other type of update, or whether a third-party auditor or law firm will write the reports. The settlement only said the disclosures will substantially match what the companies provided the NYAG during its investigation. Bitfinex and Tether must also disclose any information about fund transfers between themselves. Putting aside the Attorney Generals characterization of these disclosure issues as misrepresentations or violations of any legal obligation, the Attorney Generals Office concluded, in essence, that Bitfinex and Tether could have done better in publicly disclosing these events, Michael said. 22 months New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the legal inquiry in the spring of 2019, revealing that Bitfinex had lost access to nearly $1 billion and covered up the losses using funds from its sister firm Tether. Tether, which shares ownership and key executives with the exchange, loaned Bitfinex $550 million and extended a line of credit. The NYAG inquiry secured an injunction to freeze this line of credit, prevent any further fund transfers and force the companies to turn over any documentation about the deal, which both firms objected to in court. A judge ruled in favor of the NYAG, which subsequently won an appeal as well. Ultimately, the companies turned over more than 2.5 million documents , Hoegner said. The loan was made to ensure continuity for Bitfinexs customers. It has since been repaid early and in full, including interest. At no point did the loan impact customers, or Tethers ability to process redemptions, Michael said. The NYAG inquiry did not lessen demand for USDT , the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether. Since the case began the value of the dollar-pegged tokens in circulation has grown from $2 billion to over $34 billion, according to Tethers transparency page . The price of bitcoin has more recently gone on a tear, rising to a new all-time high over $58,000. We are pleased that our customers have shown loyalty and commitment to our businesses over the past two years, while this investigation was ongoing.
We look forward to both companies continuing to lead the industry and serve our customers, Hoegner said. Missing millions Since the case entered the public sphere, Bitfinex has tried to recover the funds held by Crypto Capital held by law enforcement officials in Portugal, Poland and the U.S. Its unclear how long it might take for these cases to resolve, given the different jurisdictions and the ongoing cases against Crypto Capitals operators. Last year, Bitfinex filed for subpoenas in three different states, seeking to depose banks that may have held funds for the payment processor. At the time, Hoegner told CoinDesk through a spokesperson that the efforts were aimed squarely at obtaining further information about Crypto Capital and its funds. Bitfinex is the victim of a fraud and is asserting its rights to funds taken by Crypto Capital through legal measures initiated in various countries. The exchange has been granted some of these subpoenas . The Bitfinex settlement is among the largest in crypto history. EOS builder Block.one settled with the SEC for $24 million in 2019 on allegations its $4 billion token sale was an unregistered securities offering. Telegram, at the time an aspiring digital currency issuer, also settled with the SEC for $18.5 million after raising $1.2 billion for the TON network, which was ultimately scrapped. UPDATE (Feb. 23, 2021, 13:15 UTC): Updated with additional context. Related Stories NY AGs $850M Probe of Bitfinex, Tether Ends in an $18.5M Settlement NY AGs $850M Probe of Bitfinex, Tether Ends in an $18.5M Settlement View comments || Every Dog Has Its Day, but Dogecoin’s May Have Already Passed: I last wrote aboutDogecoin(CCC:DOGE) when it waslumped in with last month’s meme trades. Around that time, the altcoin was trading as high as 7 cents per share. It remains volatile today. The price dropped to 3 cents, but is now back up to 5 cents.
Source: Shutterstock
That is five cents more than some believe the coin is truly worth. Personally, I would say the facts support that sentiment. But Dogecoin isn’t trading on facts. Just like the Shiba Inu image that is part of the Dogecoin brand, buying Dogecoin makes people happy. It’s cachet. When Snoop Dogg rebranded himself Snoop Doge, the hype train reached full speed.
But as cynical as I am about Dogecoin, the fact is some people are making a profit from the altcoin. The mob has spoken, and they want themselves some Doge. It’s a fascinating study in human behavior. And who am I to dismiss the people’s whims?
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I like to give credit where credit is due. I recently read a great article by Emily Parker,CoinDesk’sGlobal Macro Editor. In Parker’s article (which you can readhere), she writes about how the collective belief investors have regarding Dogecoin, as with any number of things, can cloud our view of underlying facts.
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Parsons writes:
“It may be tempting to write this off as a speculative frenzy or just a fluke, but that would be missing the larger picture. We should take note of dogecoin’s rise, if only because it reflects some of the key tensions of this moment in time.”
For years, we’ve heard experts predicting the end of fiat currency as we know it. We no longer expect either political party to even exercise fiscal restraint.
Some investors have decided (incorrectly) that the stock market is a casino. They believe that if there’s money to be made, they’ll find a way to make it, fundamentals be hanged.
But, as many investors may find out rather unpleasantly, those thousands of Dogecoin purchased represent real money. It may not absolutely break the bank, but the coin could become worthless.
People are peculiar. When we hear clear facts that don’t comport with our feelings, we frequently choose to ignore them. The heart wants what it wants, and whatnot. And so it is that Dogecoin gives investors little to suggest that it will be the “people’s crypto.” Yet in spite of, or maybe because of that, Dogecoin continues to hover around the 50-cent level.
When feelings are supported by facts, exciting things can happen. When feelings get in the way of facts, investments don’t typically turn out so well. With that in mind, here are three facts to consider about Dogecoin.
First, speculators are buying Dogecoin like it’s a security (e.g. stock or bond), based strictly on momentum. They aren’t considering its utility nor its value. And that conflicts with my second fact; securities have value because they are backed by something tangible. For example, bonds are backed by the wealth of the issuer. Stocks have an enterprise value. But, according to the Securities & Exchange Commission, Dogecoin isn’t a security.
And that leads to the third fact. UnlikeBitcoin(CCC:BTC), which has an element of scarcity to provide value, there is an infinite supply of Dogecoin by design.
I can’t argue that having a high profile supporter like Mark Cuban in your corner is nothing to sneeze at. But it seems to me that Dogecoin is just enjoying its fifteen minutes of fame.
And so, I’ll conclude this article the same way I ended the last one. Buy Dogecoin if you must. If you keep your position small, you’ll sleep well no matter what Elon Musk decides to tweet. Just remember the facts aren’t on your side, and that typically doesn’t bode well.
On the date of publication Chris Markoch did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Chris Markoch is a freelance financial copywriter who has been covering the market for seven years. He has been writing for InvestorPlace since 2019.
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The postEvery Dog Has Its Day, but Dogecoinâs May Have Already Passedappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Fintech Focus For March 12, 2021: Quote To Start The Day:Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.
Source:John Lennon
One Big Thing In Fintech:Financial technologies “cause turmoil when loosed” yet “perish once regulated”, a deputy governor of China’s central bank observed last year.
This is an apt description of the dilemma facing the country’s regulators. Innovation has swept its financial markets over the past decade. It has produced some of the world’s most valuable technology companies, such as Ant Group, and in some cases, such as peer-to-peer (p2p) lending, led to fraud and losses.
Regulators have fintech in their sights.
Source:Economist
Other Key Fintech Developments:
• Pathsfintechs take to be mainstream.
• Autobooksannounces$25M Series B.
• Walmart US CEO on fintechstrength.
• AcreTradersecuresa $12M Series A.
• Klarna upagainstbanks, credit cards.
• Deutsche Börsepilotingquant algos.
• OrionbuyingHiddenLevers platform.
• Plug and Play and Pimocpartnerup.
• Atom Bank’s valuation likely tohalve.
• Citiimprovescross-border payments.
• BakktacquiredNew York BitLicense.
• JPMorgan’s crypto bond is full ofrisk.
• Heydayraisingseed funds for growth.
• Fidelity, Moonfareaddedpartnership.
• Celsiusconfirmsover $10B in assets.
• NexograntsBrink for BTC innovation.
• Triterras plans tobuyInvoice Bazaar.
• bitFlyerlaunchescrypto service in CT.
• WisdomTreesubmitsBTC ETF filings.
• Syntropy toscaleglobal tech adoption.
• dxFeed tolaunchown Chainlink node.
• Kukun, Jerry.aiannouncepartnership.
• Illuviumraisesfor an NFT battle game.
• Boson Protocoladds$10M in funding.
Watch Out For This:A handful of professional athletes and other high-profile figures have joined the SPAC boom, prompting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to caution investors about investing in special purpose acquisition companies associated with celebrities.
Source:Crunchbase
Interesting Reads:
• Lit markets provide priceimprovement.
• Daylight saving time cannot bestopped.
• Florida one of the best states tolivein.
• US infrastructure bill couldpassin May.
• Robloxgainsafter ARK Invest buys in.
• $69M NFT sale atransformativeevent.
• Seth Rogen, Evan Goldbergdealweed.
• ixLayerraises$75M for telehealth tech.
• Bidensigns$1.9T coronavirus relief bill.
• Ford Bronco Sportoverheatoff-roading.
Market Moving Headline:The U.S. economy will grow faster than previously thought and reach pre-COVID-19 levels within six months, according to a majority of economists polled by Reuters who however said unemployment would take well over a year to recover.
Optimism was largely driven by the House of Representatives passing President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief aid in response to the pandemic, which has killed around 530,000 people in the U.S. and left millions out of work.
Source:Reuters
See more from Benzinga
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• Detroit's Autobooks Announces M Series B To Scale, Accelerate Innovation
• Fintech Focus For March 11, 2021
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 59384.31, 57603.89, 58758.55, 59057.88, 58192.36, 56048.94, 58323.95, 58245.00, 59793.23, 60204.96
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2022-09-01]
BTC Price: 20127.14, BTC RSI: 37.40
Gold Price: 1696.60, Gold RSI: 31.36
Oil Price: 86.61, Oil RSI: 39.48
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks eye sixth day of gains but euro hit as activity sours: * MSCI World index just in the black
* U.S. stock futures pare losses ahead of Wall Street open
* Euro down vs dollar, but eyes best week in 2 months
By Simon Jessop
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - Global stocks edged up on Friday, eyeing a sixth day of gains, while weak euro zone business activity data hit the euro and weighed on the bloc's debt.
The MSCI World index, its broadest gauge of equity markets, was last up 0.1% in early European trade, with the Euro STOXX 50 index up 0.2%.
Overnight, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1%, on course for its biggest weekly gain in about two months.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open after weak overnight earnings from tech company Snap Inc sounded the alarm among investors ahead of earnings from Twitter Inc later on Friday.
S&P 500 futures were last down about 0.3%, with Nasdaq futures down 0.5%.
Despite Russian gas flowing back to Europe, for now, and some strong earning reports in the region, political tension in Italy tempered sentiment as did the outlook for further central bank action on both sides of the Atlantic amid rising inflation.
The European Central Bank raised interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points to zero percent on Thursday, its first hike in 11 years, and ended a policy of negative interest rates that had been in place since 2014.
Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said he remained cautious about the outlook for stocks.
"The larger-than expected 50-basis-point hike was positively received by markets, but we retain a cautious view on European stocks as the ECB treads a fine line between fighting inflation and avoiding recession."
After initially gaining, the euro pulled back against the dollar and fell further on Friday as traders weighed the likely rates trajectory. It extended losses after weak business activity data hit traders' screens.
Euro zone business activity unexpectedly contracted this month, with companies continuing to report rising costs as inflation bites, hitting consumer demand and weighing on the outlook, a survey showed.
The euro was last down 0.7% against the dollar at $1.0158 but remains up about 0.6% on the week, on course for its biggest gain in two months.
German 10-year debt yields also took a hit on the weak Purchasing Managers Index data, and were last at 1.06%.
"July's flash PMIs suggest that the euro-zone is teetering on the brink of recession due to slumping demand and rising costs. At the same time, inflationary pressures remain intense," said Andrew Kenningham, Chief Europe Economist at Capital Economics.
Elsewhere in foreign exchange markets, the dollar was up 0.5% against a basket of major peers, buoyed by the euro weakness, but remained on course for its biggest weekly fall since late May as recent weak economic data tempered bets for the size of an expected Federal Reserve interest rate rise.
The U.S. Federal Reserve meets to set interest rates next week and expectations of a 100 basis point (bps) hike have faded in favour of pricing for a 75 bps move.
Leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin was last up 1.5% to $23,457 and was on course for its best week since last October.
Across commodities, oil prices extended early losses, with Brent crude futures down 0.7% and U.S. WTI crude futures down around 1%. Gold edged higher to trade up 0.4% at $1724.3 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Sam Byford in Tokyo and Yoruk Bahceli and Samuel Indyk in London; Editing by Sonali Desai, Lincoln Feast, Edmund Klamann and Kim Coghill) || US stocks trade mixed as traders weigh strong mega-cap tech earnings against worrisome new inflation data: • US stocks on Friday were mixed as Apple and Amazon reported their respective quarterly results.
• Stocks were on track to rise in July, with the Nasdaq Composite on course to jump about 10%.
• PCE inflation in June rose 0.6%, higher than a consensus estimate of 0.5%.
Stocks opened mixed on Friday, with investors rounding off the last trading session of July with solid quarterly results from tech behemoths Apple and Amazon, but inflation remained on the radar as the Fed's preferred gauge was near a four-decade high.
The tech-concentrated Nasdaq Composite rose, bolstered by stock advances forAmazonandApple. The online retailer issued anupbeat outlook for third-quarter salesafter second-quarter sales of $121.2 billion beat expectations, while the iPhone maker said it fought through a challenging operating environment tokeep quarterly sales on track.
"A better-than-feared earnings picture is providing a lift and thus far justifying the July rally in stocks," Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, told Insider in emailed comments.
The Nasdaq Composite was headed for a July advance of more than 10% and the S&P 500 was looking at a near 8% gain for the month.
Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Friday:
• S&P 500:4,084.33, up 0.29%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average:32,506.84, down 0.07% (22.79 points)
• Nasdaq Composite:12,219.07, up 0.46%
The Dow was also on course for a win in July but trailed in its daily performance on Friday after the PCE inflation reading for June came in at 0.6% month over month, hotter than the Econoday estimate of 0.5%. The annual rate of 4.8% was the highest since 1983.
"While the economy will likely need to slow further for Fed to reach its inflation goals, market is already pricing a 2023 pivot at Fed," said Mayfield. "In the end, inflation needs to comply, and market could see a re-test of lows if it doesn't, but strong earnings and corporate resilience likely puts somewhat of a floor under equity markets in the near-term."
Around the markets, theJapanese yenis on track for itslargest monthly gain against the US dollar since 2020, with analysts pointing to investors' fears about weakness in the US economy.
Oil prices advanced.West Texas Intermediate cruderose 2.2% to $98.55 per barrel.Brent crude,the international benchmark, claimed a 2% rise to $109.33.
Goldgained 0.4% at $1,758 per ounce. The10-year Treasury yieldrose 3 basis points to 2.70%.
Bitcoinfell 0.5% to $23,889.12..
Read the original article onBusiness Insider || Trumps FBI Foes Dismissed From Conspiracy Suit Against Clinton: (Bloomberg) -- A federal judge dismissed Donald Trumps legal claims against former Federal Bureau of Investigation officials he accused in a lawsuit of conspiring with Hillary Clinton and others to undermine his presidency with the Russia investigation. Most Read from Bloomberg VW Billionaire Clan Plotted CEO Ouster as He Was on US Trip Sergey Brin Ordered Sale of Musk Investments After Affair: WSJ Fed to Inflict More Pain on Economy as It Readies Big Rate Hike Worlds Key Workers Threaten to Hit Economy Where It Will Hurt Teslas Bitcoin Dump Leaves Accounting Mystery in Its Wake Former FBI directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe, as well as onetime agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, all of whom were involved in the government probe of Trumps suspected ties to Russia, were removed from the case in a ruling signed Thursday by US District Judge Donald Middlebrooks in Florida. The judge agreed with the Justice Departments argument that the former FBI workers are protected by a 1988 federal statute, known as the Westfall Act, that bars civil claims against government workers acting in their official duties. The US will be substituted as a defendant in the case, though it has also asked to be dismissed. Trumps lawyer, Alina Habba, declined to comment on the ruling. Middlebrooks, who was appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton, is still weighing a motion to dismiss the Trump lawsuit by Hillary Clinton, her 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta and former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others. They brushed of the complaint as a swollen political manifesto devoid of facts. Read More: Clinton Says Trumps New Conspiracy Suit Worse Than Original Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek The $260 Swatch-Omega MoonSwatch Is Reviving the Budget Brand Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers The US Has Lost Its Way on Computer Chips Ghosts of 2012 Haunt Europe as Rate Hikes Begin Sam Bankman-Fried Turns $2 Trillion Crypto Rout Into Buying Opportunity ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || From Maverick to Mogul, Madonna’s Manager Guy Oseary Transcends the Music World to Take on NFTs: Guy Oseary has proven himself in every field he’s taken on: as a music manager, as an early digital investor and most recently as an entrepreneur in the emerging world of NFTs and Web3 entertainment. But for all that, he had privately catered to one bit of insecurity that he finally let go during the downtime imposed by COVID shutdowns. More from Variety Talk Web3 to Me: A Glossary of Terms How Amazon's 'League of Their Own' Ball Players Compare to the 1992 Movie Lineup Ashton Kutcher 'Lucky to Be Alive' After 'Super Rare' Disease Left Him Unable to See or Hear: 'It Took a Year' to Recover “A silver lining of the pandemic is that Guy Oseary became a silver fox,” says Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers , a longtime friend and now client of Oseary. The two hadn’t seen each other for a year when “I went to an island he was hanging out on, and he was 100% radiant,” the singer continues. “He looked like a friggin’ movie star from the 1930s. Not everybody can pull that off.” . - Credit: Marco Grob for Variety Marco Grob for Variety Of Oseary’s confidants, Kiedis is not alone. Says Amy Schumer: “It’s annoying that men can, like, rock the salt-and-pepper and it makes them look sophisticated and gorgeous.” That Oseary let his hair go gray is not insignificant, as the 49-year-old had been dyeing it for the better part of two decades. The decision to see what was underneath, driven mainly by the pandemic (during which Oseary, his wife, Michelle, and their four children relocated from Los Angeles to Hawaii), was revealing in its own way. “I didn’t know I had this much gray because I would never know,” says Oseary. “When I was 30 I got, like, a gray hair or two, and I didn’t wait to find out how many more there were.” It’s understandable that Oseary would want to maintain the appearance of youth. The industry veteran who is Variety ’s 2022 Music Mogul of the Year made his reputation as a savvy wunderkind with a magic touch and a relentless drive. Today, Oseary’s management roster still includes the megastar who put him on the map, Madonna , as well as U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His digital investments with longtime partner Ashton Kutcher include early bets on Spotify, Airbnb and Nest, among others. Of late, Oseary has been at the center of the action on the Web3 venture Bored Ape Yacht Club, signing BAYC creator Yuga Labs as a management client and, in short order, becoming a partner — and corralling celebrity pals to bring their star power to the marketplace for acquiring Ape characters (Madonna is still mad she didn’t get the one she wanted). In typical Oseary fashion, as cryptocurrencies and Web3 entertainment possibilities began to swirl around his rarefied circles of friends and business partners, he put his mind to learning all about it. He spent several months of his Hawaii lockdown engrossed in all things NFT — with guidance from pal Nick Adler, Snoop Dogg’s Web3 advisor. At the end of the exercise, Oseary recalls, “I stood back and thought, ‘OK, I now understand.’ But I didn’t understand. So I said, ‘I’m going to learn on the job and focus on the talent.’” Story continues Oseary’s work to connect the dots for talent in the latest emerging market is in keeping with his roots as an ambitious teenager who hustled his way into the business — first, by wowing legendary manager Bernie Brillstein, and then by latching on to Ice-T’s DJ Evil-E as his first major signing. Oseary recalls using the rapper’s credentials to sneak into industry confabs like the New Music Seminar. Kiedis remembers Oseary borrowing his pass to take in New York’s CMJ: “I saw the love in his eyes for the life of music; that is the world he wanted to live in.” Oseary was barely out of his teens in 1992 when he started as an A&R executive at Maverick, Madonna’s Warner Bros. Records-based label. He got the gig by offering to work for no pay, “just an office and a phone,” for Madonna’s then-manager Freddy DeMann — whom he had met through schoolmates at Beverly Hills High, enrolling in the district by using a family friend’s address. Maverick would soon become home to hitmakers Alanis Morissette, Candlebox and Prodigy. Madonna vividly recalls first meeting a barely legal Oseary. “I thought, ‘Who the hell is this young punk with all the opinions and stuff?’ He was super naive, but I also thought he had a lot of chutzpah,” she tells Variety . For his part, Oseary credits Madonna with pretty much everything. “She mentored me and, by working so hard, pushed me to work so hard,” he says. “I didn’t know shit until she grabbed me by the hand and said, ‘Let me show it to you.’ We had a really good brother-sister relationship, then as the years went on, I became the dad you want to rebel against, and now I’m like grandpa. She’s like, ‘You are so fucking boring. I don’t even know why I have you around.’” In his three decades at the top of the music business, during which his acts broke touring records and ushered in the first-ever 360 deals with Live Nation, Oseary has traipsed with wide eyes through a world of stadiums, movie sets, red carpets, museums and, yes, yachts. He has hobnobbed with presidents (Clinton, Obama), movie stars (Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller), business titans (Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs) and moguls turned philanthropists (David Geffen). He’s become a matchmaker of minds and talent with a very deep Rolodex. Oseary’s next act as mogul, however, places him firmly in a playground of adults — specifically high-net-worth ones. Thanks to his prescient and profitable investment strategy, he’s steered Sound Ventures, his eight-year-old tech fund with Kutcher, to invest approximately $600 million in platforms across a wide spectrum of sectors, including social networks, fintech, alternative energy, health care, mobile gaming, sustainability, virtual fashion and SaaS (Software as a Service). More recently, Oseary has gone all in on NFTs through Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club, one of the most successful and well-known original NFT brand launches to date. Last spring, BAYC and its offshoot Mutant Apes helped Yuga Labs raise $450 million in a seed-funding round that put its valuation north of $4 billion. Oseary’s investments in the space also include the World of Women collection and the artist Beeple, whose project “Everydays,” a collage of 5,000 art pieces created daily over 13 years, made history, fetching $69 million at auction, Christie’s highest-ever bid for a digital art piece. Oseary’s hot hand in the volatile digital area doesn’t surprise his friends and colleagues. “I’ve always said to Guy, ‘You’re much more than a music manager,’” says Michael Rapino, the CEO of Live Nation and a longtime business partner of Oseary, as well as a friend. “‘Your real strength is investing and building businesses, being early on them and connecting the dots.’ I was very supportive of him getting into new verticals.” * * * Age is on Oseary’s mind these days as he counts down to his 50th birthday in October. With all that he has on his plate, he makes frequent trips to Israel to visit his mother as often as his globe-trotting schedule allows. In fact, it was in Tel Aviv in May that Oseary first sat for a series of interviews with Variety , fresh off a plane from L.A. and just before heading to New York for ApeFest (more on that later), then London and Paris for the Red Hot Chili Peppers June stadium gigs. In July, he’ll spend much of the month sailing the Adriatic Sea before moving on to the south of France. “ Eize yoffi, ” says Oseary in Hebrew — translation: “how nice” — as he gazes out from the penthouse suite of Tel Aviv’s Dan Hotel to the beach below on a cloudless May morning. “It’s one of the most beautiful places people don’t know about in the world,” he says with a sigh. “So much good to give, and yet so complicated.” It was about a year prior when a controversial ground-to-air war in the Gaza strip divided the music industry. As tension escalated and Israeli military action pummeled the tiny area of land — including cratering a building housing the Al-Jazeera news network — label executives, artists and influencers sympathizing with the Palestinian cause got louder, and those who identify as Jewish supporters of the state of Israel were forced underground, especially on social media. Oseary did not subscribe to the duck, cover and wait it out approach, and on May 11, 2021, wrote to his more than 200,000 Instagram followers: “PEACE!!!! PLEASE!!!! Can someone rise up and help stop all the suffering of our Arab brothers and sisters and our Jewish brothers and sisters. I’m watching with a broken heart. We are one!” Oseary has a distinct vantage point on Israel and the many issues that have roiled the region for centuries. He was born to parents of Moroccan and Yemenite descent and spent his childhood in Jerusalem raised with what he calls “Jewish Arabic culture.” He has wittingly inserted, and asserted, himself as an unofficial ambassador of Israel to the entertainment world at large. His efforts include not only bringing Madonna to perform there — twice on tour, in 2009 and 2012, and in 2019 for “Eurovision”— but meeting politicians (the late Shimon Peres “was a beautiful man,” says Oseary); talking with business leaders (like Bashar Masri, the Palestinian entrepreneur behind Rawabi, the first Palestinian planned high-tech city ); and encouraging musical collaborations. While not observantly religious, his Jewish identity has also put him at the center of verbal volleys related to antisemitism. In 2017, Oseary defended Jay-Z publicly when the rapper’s track, “The Rise of O.J.,” was criticized for the lyric, “You wanna know what’s more important than throwin’ away money at a strip club? Credit / You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This how they did it.” “If you listen … in its entirety you will hear that the song is based on exaggerated stereotypes to make a point,” Oseary wrote at the time. “I’m not offended by these lyrics. I hear them the way he intended them to be heard. … Giving ‘credit’ to a community that supposedly understands what it means to have ‘credit.’ I’m good with that.” (The Anti-Defamation League agreed, publicly stating, “We do not believe it was Jay-Z’s intent to promote anti-Semitism. On the contrary, we know that Jay-Z is someone who has used his celebrity in the past to speak out responsibly and forcefully against the evils of racism and anti-Semitism.”) Three years later, Oseary found himself counseling Nick Cannon on the heels of antisemitic rhetoric the “Masked Singer” host voiced on his podcast. Again, the offending stereotype involved Jews and money. “I saw Puffy, who is one of my best friends, say something supporting Nick,” recounts Oseary, who’d never met Cannon before. “Puffy was, like, ‘He’s a brother and a good guy.’ So he put us together and I’ve never seen anyone so genuine about wanting to learn. There are some landmines that Nick didn’t understand — words that were hurtful, easy-target stuff. And he really put the time in. He could stay on the phone all night and just talk about it. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy’s getting killed out there, and yet he’s calm.’ I was really impressed by how much he cared. He was coming from the right place.” Guy Oseary Variety Cover Story Oseary grew up in a home where Arabic and Hebrew were spoken, unaware of the dividing lines between religion, politics and class. Not that he was sheltered in his youth. To the contrary, “in Jerusalem we were all just together,” he says. “We listened to the same music, ate the same food. We all hung out at the shuk [flea market]. I didn’t really understand until later of the inherent problems.” He vowed to be part of the solution. “You always hear, ‘Nothing will change; it’s always going to be like this,’ and I refuse to believe that,” he says. “To figure out how to solve these issues just takes communication. How do you work together if you can’t even meet to talk? There’s got to be a start somewhere.” Described by friends endearingly as “socially awkward,” Oseary is a natural conversationalist once you get him going. (Want to grab his attention? Fawn over Depeche Mode.) But make mention of his “Arab brothers and sisters” and there’s a pronounced difference in his tone as frustration meets conviction. “You don’t hear the stories about when people do get along,” he says. “There are two million Arab citizens of Israel. There are Arabs and Jews working side by side. There’s a whole lot of goodness to go along with the insanity. And there are people in the middle trying to solve it that are just not the loudest. … I see people come at me because I’m Israeli, saying, ‘you support this’ or ‘you support that.’ It’s like, you don’t know me. I don’t want to have where I was born be a deciding factor on whether you like the people I work with or want to support them. But talk to me. We don’t have to agree. I am happy to learn. And happy to help.” Oseary put some of these thoughts to words in June, 2011 on the heels of the Arab Spring when he authored an op-ed for Al Jazeera , the rare Israeli to do so. It didn’t prove to be a home run as Oseary was taunted for being a hopeless optimist. “There are so many other people at play who gain from the negativity and from making sure things don’t work out,” he says. “The ‘don’t work’ contingent is way more well-financed than the ‘make it work.’” But criticism hasn’t deterred Oseary, who has sprung to action more than once in the wake of tragedies that have taken the lives of the innocent. In 2018, he helped raise money for Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue following the mass shooting that killed 11 congregants — to drive the point home, he accompanied his public plea with a photo of his himself visiting Auschwitz tearfully holding an Israeli flag outside a former prisoner housing unit. A year later, Oseary launched a GoFundMe for victims of the 2019 terror attack on a ChristChurch New Zealand mosque, where 51 died. Between Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Madonna and others, $150,000 was donated. “I believe some young kid out there who sees the bigger picture will figure out how to solve some of these problems, which are solvable — they’ve been solved in many places and can be solved here,” he adds. “And it’s not just on Israel, on all sides: where are the leaders we can all look up to? It’s been the same leadership for 30 years. … I’m turning 50 and I’m building a lot of my work off of new ideas, not 30-year-old ones. In order to move it forward, you’ve got to search out innovative minds.” * * * Oseary has always been drawn to innovators, entrepreneurs and the cutting edge — that mix of chutzpah, good taste and savvy that first impressed artists like Madonna and Kutcher. “We’ve been working together for 15 years now and I know very little about his music business,” offers Kutcher. “But speaking on Guy as an investor, he is able to synthesize a lot of information and determine what it is that people want. He’s kind of like a heat-seeking missile in that perspective. He doesn’t always get into the weeds of the economics of a deal so much as understanding the extent that people are going to want that service.” Kutcher’s motto: “founders first,” Oseary explains of their approach to potential investments. “He thinks: ‘Do I want to work with this person? Would I want to leave my job and work for this guy?’ I’m more on the ideas side. Like, do I love this idea enough to want to do it myself? That’s how much I love it. The other thing we look at is: can we help it? Can we really do something here? That’s the foundation. To me, it’s very similar to walking in a room and recognizing an amazing artist.” Sound Ventures continues to identify platforms poised to break. But Kutcher and Oseary were initially greeted with skepticism by Silicon Valley. “When we first started, it would be absolutely understandable for anyone to underestimate both of us,” Oseary says. “You know, music guy, actor guy — these guys are going to be tech investors? But he has an engineering background and I have an identify-talent background, so watch out.” Today, one fellow music industry player describes Oseary’s investment prowess as “second to none — I’m in awe, and a little jealous.” When it came to NFTs — non-fungible tokens, which were all the rage during the pandemic — wrapping his head around the tech was in itself a dizzying exercise. Still, Oseary was determined to understand how it all works: specifically the crypto-supported market for collective digital art, the blockchain technology that powers transactions and ownership and the smart contract that allows any artist, when they resell their work, to earn forever. “Every time it trades hands, you still get paid,” says Oseary. “And it doesn’t matter if you’re Madonna or Shmadonna — you’re probably getting paid the same deal.” Indeed, Madonna is still fuming over getting beat out for Bored Ape No. 3756 . “I was hellbent on getting an Ape and really specific about what I wanted: the Ape with a leather motorcycle cap on and multicolored teeth,” she says. “I was told that it was inspired by me, and modeled after me, and it was bought by a woman who’s a fan of mine. She was gonna sell it to me, but it was way too expensive.” (That Ape is currently priced at 800 ETH, around $1.2 million; instead, Madonna eventually purchased Ape No. 4988 , for which she paid the equivalent of $466,000.) Such is the nature of NFT marketplaces like OpenSea , and it was there that Oseary first looked at planting a financial stake. That is, until he refocused on what he knows best, namely talent. Talent, in the NFT ecosystem, are artists like Beeple (real name: Mike Winkelmann), with whom Oseary very quickly linked, connecting the dots to his client world (a Madonna-Beeple collaboration called “Mother of Creation” came to fruition in May as a work of digital surrealism depicting “Mother of Nature,” “Mother of Evolution” and “Mother of Technology”) and industry peers. The two are currently partnered in WENEW, parent company to 10KTF (for “10,000 True Fans”), a beloved weekly serial disguised as an NFT wearables project. Oseary gravitated toward Bored Ape Yacht Club, a digital series that started with 10,000 unique Apes available for purchase and trading, which drew a frenzied response out the virtual gate on its way to racking up $2.3 billion in sales to date, according to CryptoSlam.io. The series serves as a kind of fan club on steroids that encourages owners of the NFTs to move through an ever-growing and exclusive list of events and opportunities. The BAYC and its offshoots have drawn the attention of celebrities (Tom Brady, Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, Jimmy Fallon, Post Malone) whose involvement has added momentum to the community-building effort. To date, BAYC is the highest-profile tangible example of what NFTs and Web3 platforms might mean for traditional Hollywood players. “In this space, there’s a lot of people who are full of shit, or if they’re not full of shit, they’re trying to sell you a bunch of bullshit,” says Beeple, who first facilitated an introduction between Oseary and Yuga Labs. “I think Guy is trying to build something that’s real.” Considering the volume at which the Apes have been trading (the 10,000 minted NFTs, held by some 6,458 unique owners, had a total market cap of $1.4 billion, per CoinGecko, as of July 24), even the Yuga Labs founders — Zeshan (aka No Sass), Greg Solano (Gargamel), Kerem (Emperor Tomato Ketchup) and Wylie Aronow (Gordon Goner) — are astounded at its success. “We didn’t really know why he was so interested in us — it was a little perplexing,” remembers Goner of Oseary. “But he’s become integral to the process of basically everything that we do. Guy is wired for this like no one I’ve ever met.” Oseary hard at work in his Los Angeles office in the mid ’90s. - Credit: Courtesy Image Courtesy Image “They reminded me of a band,” says Oseary of Yuga. “You had the singer, the guitar player, the drummer, the bass player… and I have some experiences working with bands. Gordon and I connected a lot. Music is in his in his blood and his favorite band in the world is the Bad Brains, who I signed and reunited, so we had a nice rapport.” Goner’s reaction to that factoid was of demonstrably greater astonishment. “He asked me who my favorite bands were, and I said Bad Brains and KRS-One. He gets out his phone and shows me a photo after, like, two minutes of scrolling, of him at 16 years old with KRS-One in Brooklyn, and I’m, like, ‘What the fuck is going on?’ Then he shows me a picture of him and H.R. from Bad Brains. These are two very different bands — one is old school hip-hop and the other DC hardcore. I was, like, this is incredible. And I quickly kind of fell in love with the guy, pun intended.” Since Oseary came aboard Yuga, which also owns the popular series Cryptopunks, the Ape universe has grown at breakneck speed, rolling out multiple drops of limited-edition digital avatars along with NFT wearables, its own metaverse (the Otherside) and a four-night event in New York City called ApeFest that coincided with June’s NFT.NYC conference and featured appearances by Eminem and Snoop Dogg (the two debuted their “The D 2 The LBC” collaboration ) and performances by Haim, Lil Baby, LCD Soundsystem, Lil Wayne and Future. The festival, which was accessible only to Ape owners, arrived with a starry party at the South Street Seaport blocks from Wall Street, just as the digital currency began its free-fall that has seen the crypto market lose more than half its value since the start of 2022. Oseary says he is completely unfazed. “Welcome to crypto,” he deadpans. “It’s volatile. It has its bumps and it will have its run. But I believe in it.” Snoop, whom Oseary contends is the only artist who really understands the NFT world, agrees. “We’re weeding out the true players from the crowd,” says the multi-hyphenate of the so-called Crypto Winter. “This market is down, but the real ones are staying up. We don’t do this to get in and out; we do this to stay for the long run. You just have to let it run its course and make things happen in the meantime.” ”You can’t step into this world and expect the community to hand you the keys. You got to be in the streets before you step into the suites. It’s just like the real world. Hustle first then play.” — Snoop Dogg Oseary’s portfolio also includes a partnership with World of Women, a series of NFT collectibles founded by Yam Karkai. The art industry, Oseary challenges, has not historically been inclusive of women. “Rattle off your top 20 artists, let me know when you get to a woman,” Oseary snaps. “All of this [NFT] money that’s coming in, less than 2% goes to women.” To that end, WoW has partnered with Reese Witherspoon, who serves as partner on TV and film projects. “All of this is early days,” he says of the project in development. “Where, in the music world, artists are given a few years to put together the next album or tour, in the crypto world, things move so fast. Everyone expects you figure it all out in three months.” * * * Oseary was never one to play the stock market. He winces remembering the recent nosedive his Peloton shares took, and that he cashed out his Bitcoin at $250. He’s learned through experience that overextending can flatten you in an instant. When he was 27 and just starting to put away some money, he lost his entire savings to the dot-com crash. The venture that sunk Oseary was, ironically enough, brightly titled Idealab, an early digital business incubator run by famed investor Bill Gross. Oseary spent a year with the founder, who’d proven his Silicon Valley savvy by launching three billion-dollar companies in quick succession. Oseary would forgo stakes in Vitaminwater and Research in Motion, the maker of BlackBerry, to go all in. “I lost everything on that one deal — all the money I ever made and saved,” he says. “It also stopped me from being entrepreneurial and innovative and taking risks. I had to, like, survive for a while. It happened so quick, like I’d just been punched in the gut. I was a walking zombie. I only thought about it, like, 100 times a day.” The result: “A little humility,” says Oseary. “It’s not all there. You’re not all that. You’ve got to feel a little pain to start. You’re going to make some mistakes. And that was a painful mistake. They say that 27 is the year … you don’t make it out of it. And a death of sorts definitely happened.” A little more than a decade later would come another fumble, albeit without the hit on his wallet: The 2014 rollout plan for U2’s “Songs of Innocence” included the unprecedented step of a partnership with Apple to drop the album simultaneously on every iPhone in the world. Oseary still insists it was a good concept — the band had tasked him with getting the music to as many people as possible. The problem was the tech. “Sorry to anyone who will be disappointed by what I’m about to say, but I look at it as, it was awesome that their music went to everybody. But maybe not so awesome that a small group of people were upset for receiving a gift that they didn’t ask for. But I don’t regret it,” he says. “And I’m not representing the band when I say that. … The technical side of things, I didn’t foresee that part. We probably should have explained more or had an ‘opt-in.’ But I’m a student of trying new things. Think about Prince or Radiohead — people thought they were crazy. Taking chances doesn’t come without risk, and I don’t want to be fearful. If given the opportunity, I would do something like it again.” “Think about Prince or Radiohead — people thought they were crazy. Taking chances doesn’t come without risk, and I don’t want to be fearful.” — Guy Oseary Ultimately, the stunt did have the desired effect. “I saw firsthand that, when we did the ‘Innocence + Experience’ tour, a majority of the audience knew all the new songs,” says Oseary. “And we did indeed share the music with as many people as possible — a half billion Apple consumers. Goal accomplished.” Nonetheless, the incident certainly was a test of the band’s relationship with its new manager. Oseary says he was handed a “great responsibility” in 2013 when U2’s longtime manager Paul McGuinness retired and encouraged the band to go with Oseary. “Trustworthiness is an old-school term, and whilst the manager-client relationship does not require a Hippocratic oath, Guy O. takes this very seriously,” U2’s Bono tells Variety . “That’s one of the reasons we work so well together. He is a most trustworthy person. In the early days, the temperature could get raised as we would debate different aspects of how we go about our business. But in recent times, not so much. He feels like family.” The family construct comes up a lot in conversation with Oseary. “He’s like my brother” is a refrain one hears attributed to the likes of Kiedis, Kutcher, Rock, McConaughey and Owen Wilson. Sister is used to describe Madonna and Penelope Cruz. And when, in 2015, Oseary re-launched Maverick as a collective of managers — including Sal Slaiby (The Weeknd), Scott Rodger (Paul McCartney), Clarence Spalding (Jason Aldean), Cortez Bryant (Lil Wayne) and Gee Roberson and Adam Leber (Lil Nas X), among others — the concept centered around an extended family of artist representatives with shared goals. Guy Oseary Variety Cover Story The new entity, brought together under Live Nation, Oseary asserted at the time, “is not a rollup.” Explaining the concept in a 2015 Billboard cover story, he said: “I consider it a collective under one brand, with the goal of helping clients reach their potential.” The Maverick 2.0 experiment lasted five years, after which Oseary “stepped down” from his role at its helm and partner managers unbuckled. Did it fail? That’s hard to say considering all remain under the Artist Nation umbrella and continue to bring in profit to the parent company, Live Nation. In fact, some of those managers — like Ron Lafitte, whose Patriot Management represents Ryan Tedder, Maneskin, Pharrell Williams — are having a tremendous few years. That the 17 managers never fully integrated the economics of their businesses might speak more to competing egos than financial sense, according to key players, whom of whom saw it as a branding exercise than a scalable business. The way Rapino views it, “I think ultimately Guy’s entrepreneurship was more important and a bigger opportunity for him than trying to manage managers. I would remind him, ‘You manage U2 and Madonna — you don’t need more horsepower than that.” * * * Clout-chasing is not an uncommon practice in music, but nowadays, the stars come to Oseary. For proof, look no further than his annual Oscar afterparty. The ultra-exclusive soiree has been held at Oseary’s home since 2008 with a strict no-pictures-allowed policy. The guest list has included not just top actors but the likes of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Benioff. In his answer to the Vanity Fair Oscar party, Oseary saw the need for a celebration that is “designed for talent to feel free” — from media of all kinds. “This is their last party before they go home and fly off to their next movie, and the only chance to take off their shoes and dance or just sit and have a dinner and not have a camera in their face,” he says. “I have been a couple of times, and invited many more,” says Kiedis, describing the room as “friggin’ overwhelming.” Schumer, a former client who took on Oseary as a manager shortly after she opened for Madonna on her 2015 “Rebel Heart” tour, attended for the first time this year, a few hours after she co-hosted the Academy Awards ceremony where Will Smith shocked millions of people around the world by slapping Chris Rock onstage. Rock also wound up at Oseary’s, not surprisingly given their close relationship. Schumer says the intimacy of Oseary’s home after the jolt from the slap lent the gathering an air of “incredible generosity.” “I don’t want to get too into it because it’s so fucking volatile and so heavy,” says Oseary when asked to reflect on that night. “I’m just happy that I saw [Rock] as close to that happening as possible because that’s my brother and the godfather to my daughter. He was a class act. I never would have reacted the way he did. I couldn’t have. So I’m glad that we were all there to greet him with the love he deserves.” Guy Oseary’s wedding - Credit: Courtesy Photo Courtesy Photo Oseary is known for his grand expressions of love. He and Brazilian model Michelle Alves married in 2017 with a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro at the site of the Christ the Redeemer statue. At 2,300 feet, the pair stood under a chuppah, a ceremonial canopy used in Jewish weddings, that was carried by Rock, Kutcher, Kiedis and actor Owen Wilson. “I thought that was pretty ballsy for a Jewish dude!” cracks Bono of the chosen location, which saw dozens of A-list friends make the trip to Brazil. “It was a very Guy O. situation: spectacular — on an emotional level too. Even the clouds conspired to keep the paparazzo away.” Madonna delivered remarks at the reception that were so sassy one fellow guest remarked, “You wondered, ‘Does she actually like this guy?’” (For the record, says Oseary: “ If anyone has the absolute right to poke fun at me, it’s her!”) “For a long time, “I had him all to myself,” Madonna says. “And then he got married and I had to share him with his wife, which really pissed me off. Because before, it was a lot of pretty girls that just came in and out, but then he settled down with a really nice girl. And I was like, ‘Goddamnit, now I got competition.’” Styling: Luis Campuzano; Grooming: Thomas Dunkin/Statement Artists/R+Co and Mario Badescu VIP+ Survey: Consumers Think NFTs Are Getting Riskier Best of Variety From 'The Sandman' to 'Blonde': Books Made Into Movies and TV Series That You Should Read Jennette McCurdy's Provocative Book 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' Is Already a No. 1 Bestseller What's Coming to Disney+ in August 2022 Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . Click here to read the full article. View comments || CME to Roll Out Euro-Denominated Bitcoin and Ether Futures on Aug. 29: Bitcoin traders will soon have an option to trade euro-dominated bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) futures contracts on a regulated exchange. Derivatives giant Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced on Thursday that it would roll out bitcoin euro and ether euro futures contracts on Aug. 29, pending regulatory approval. The contract size for bitcoin futures will be 5 BTC while the ether contract will be sized at 50 ETH. Both contracts will be cash settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin-Euro Reference Rate and CME CF Ether-Euro Reference Rate. The launch of euro-denominated bitcoin and ether futures contracts could accelerate the ongoing institutionalization of the crypto market because the euro, the common currency of 19 out of the 27 member states of the European Union, is the second-most-desired currency in global currency reserves, according to the World Economic Forum. Further, daily turnover in the euro-dollar pair is the highest in the global currency market, which has an average daily volume of $6.6 trillion. "Our bitcoin-euro and ether-euro futures contracts will provide clients with more precise tools to trade and hedge exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap," Tim McCourt, global head of equity and FX products, CME Group, said in a press release . "Euro-denominated cryptocurrencies are the second-highest-traded fiat behind the U.S. dollar. Year-to-date, the EMEA region represents 28% of total bitcoin and ether futures contracts traded up more than 5% versus 2021," McCourt added. The euro has been quite volatile this year and fell to parity with the dollar last month, the lowest in nearly 20 years. The CME listed a dollar-denominated bitcoin futures contract in December 2017 and dollar-denominated ether futures contract in Feb. 2021 . The exchange, considered a proxy for institutional activity, has also rolled out micro bitcoin and ether futures contracts sized at one-tenth of the standard contracts. At press time, the derivatives giant was the fourth-largest bitcoin futures exchange, accounting for 1.5% ($1.6 billion) of the global open interest of $11.8 billion, according to data tracked by analytics firm Skew. The CME futures heavily affected bitcoin's price discovery, as detailed in Bitwise's lead-lag analysis of the bitcoin market . || US Senate Bill Will Give CFTC Crypto Market Oversight – but Doesn't Say How Much: The latest U.S. legislative effort to steer most crypto oversight to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has bipartisan support but does little to answer the crypto industry's top question: What makes a token a security or a commodity?
The legislation from the leaders of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee would require crypto firms involved in the trading of digital commodities – including bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) – to register with the CFTC as their primary regulator, something industry leaders such as FTX co-founder and CEOSam Bankman-Friedare cheering from the sidelines.
But while the bill would grant expanded authority to the CFTC to oversee crypto spot markets, it relies on the courts and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to set the boundaries for which tokens may be considered a commodity.
“Right now, there's really a patchwork of state regulations and no federal agency to conduct oversight over the cryptocurrencies, and we know that needs to change,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the committee’s chairwoman, who unveiled the bill Wednesday with the panel’s ranking Republican, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.). “The money of American consumers is at risk.”
Their committee has jurisdiction over commodities, so its oversight authority extends only to the CFTC. That’s as far as the lawmakers wanted to stretch their effort, unlike more sweeping bills such as the crypto push from Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
“We're staying in our lane, but it's a really important lane for consumers,” Stabenow told reporters during a web call Wednesday. She explained the decision not to define crypto as securities was about staying inside the Senate panel’s jurisdiction. As for crypto commodities, the legislation defines them as a digital form of property that can be directly transferred between people without any institution acting as middleman.
The bill doesn’t go into great detail on that definition, however, apart from giving the examples of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), which the SECpreviously definedascommodities. Apart from that, the legislation says the CFTC can affix its commodities stamp on whatever crypto assets aren't considered by the SEC to be securities.
However, CFTC Chair Rostin Behnman has also beenvyingfor new authority to regulate digital commodity spot markets, where the assets directly change hands. The new bill would grant that authority. The CFTC would be given “exclusive jurisdiction over any account, agreement, contract or transaction involving a digital commodity trade,” according to the text of the bill.
Behnam commended the lawmakers for their “targeted” effort. He didn’t directly address the significant new CFTC role over cash markets, which would represent an unprecedented reach for the agency into a specific sector.
“We are at a critical inflection point where new legislative authority is needed to clarify ambiguities and provide a regulatory framework,” Behnam said in a statement.
The two senators, backed by colleagues Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), say they may pursue a September markup, which is an open session inviting debate over the details of the legislation.
They insisted this bill isn't just meant to start a discussion. While the Lummis-Gillibrand bill is meant to frame a debate that’s largely expected to take place next year, Stabenow and Boozman said they intend to get their bipartisan legislation passed this year.
Stabenow said it’s “very realistic” they could reach a committee markup in September, and she noted that only needing to get the bill through a single committee streamlines the process.
A similar bill has been previouslyintroducedin the House of Representatives, but it hasn’t yet reached a committee vote.
If the bills become law, the CFTC would oversee the vast majority of the crypto market by value, because bitcoin and ether are the biggest tokens by far. Dealers, brokers, custodians and trading facilities would each have new registration requirements with the agency, and fees on those businesses would fund the staff growth the agency would need.
Boozman said the legislation assumes the commodities and securities agencies will work closely with each other, though he said “the CFTC is the place” where authority over the crypto industry belongs.
“We are going to need cooperation between the SEC and the CFTC as we move forward to really hash this out,” he said.
Denelle Dixon, Stellar Development Foundation’s CEO, had met last week with the senators to push for more regulatory clarity. She tweeted that this bill marks “a big step in that direction.”
Bankman-Fried took to Twitter on Wednesday to praise the legislation, saying it would “provide clear federal oversight to digital asset commodity markets” and that his firm would be happy to register under this proposed regime.
The most recent bills are part of a trend in Congress. There are bipartisan proposals forregulatingU.S.-pegged stablecoins and legislation that would address some of the crypto industry’s chief tax worries. However, all face delays due to the coming congressional summer recess and the approaching midterm elections.
Lawmakers who once dismissed crypto as a momentary financial trend have changed their minds.
"Everyone thought this was going to go away, that it was nothing,” Stabenow acknowledged. “Well, it's not nothing. We need to treat this seriously and take our responsibilities seriously." || Ramaphosa Submits Responses on South African Game-Farm Robbery: (Bloomberg) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa submitted responses to questions by the nation’s graft ombudsman about a robbery at a game farm he owns, days after the institution threatened to subpoena him for details about the incident Most Read from Bloomberg VW Billionaire Clan Plotted CEO Ouster as He Was on US Trip Sergey Brin Ordered Sale of Musk Investments After Affair: WSJ Fed to Inflict More Pain on Economy as It Readies Big Rate Hike World’s Key Workers Threaten to Hit Economy Where It Will Hurt Tesla’s Bitcoin Dump Leaves Accounting Mystery in Its Wake The responses were submitted on Friday morning, Ramaphosa’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said by phone from the capital, Pretoria. The Public Protector’s office this week invoked subpoena powers after Ramaphosa failed to submit responses to its 31 questions about the robbery by a July 18 deadline. Read: Graft Body to Subpoena Ramaphosa in Probe Into Game-Farm Heist “The threat of the subpoena from the Public Protector’s office was grossly unnecessary because there had been an open conversation between the president’s legal team and the Public Protector’s office,” Magwenya said. “This gave the impression that the president did not respect the public protector or any other constitutionally mandated institution, which is totally untrue.” The robbery at Ramaphosa’s farm in the northern Limpopo province in February 2020 was revealed last month by the former head of the State Security Agency, Arthur Fraser, who filed charges against the president for allegedly concealing the crime. Fraser claimed that $4 million dollars had been stolen and the suspects tortured. The scandal has weakened Ramaphosa, who had been in pole position to return as president of the governing African National Congress when it holds an elective conference in December. He has refused to answer any questions about the game-farm incident, including those posed to him by lawmakers. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek The $260 Swatch-Omega MoonSwatch Is Reviving the Budget Brand Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers The US Has Lost Its Way on Computer Chips Ghosts of 2012 Haunt Europe as Rate Hikes Begin Sam Bankman-Fried Turns $2 Trillion Crypto Rout Into Buying Opportunity ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. View comments || Bitcoin Mining Rig Maker Canaan Sees 'Prolonged Headwinds' After Challenging Quarter: Canaan (CAN), which makes bitcoin mining machines and designs chips used for mining, said tougher market conditions will hurt its financial performance in the coming months after a difficult second quarter.
On Thursday, Beijing-based Canaanreportedthat its revenue in the second quarter rose 53% from the year-earlier period to 1,653 million yuan ($247 million) and that earnings were 53 cents per American depositary share. That was 3.53 yuan per ADS, up from 1.46 yuan per ADS a year ago.
In the earnings press release, CEO Nangeng Zhang described the quarter as a "challenging period" because bitcoin's price tumbled below $20,000 in June and China locked down some cities due to COVID-19. The lower bitcoin price "will bring prolonged headwinds to our performance in the coming quarters," Zhang added.
Bitcoin miners' margins were slashed followinga market crash that pulled the world's largest cryptocurrencybelow $20,000 in early June. Miners have also been faced withsoaring energy prices in recent months, brought to a head by the war in Ukraine.
Computing power sold fell to 5.5 million terahashes per second from 5.9 million TH/s. Canaan responded by dropping prices on spot sales, which it said will lead to a dramatic decrease in gross margin during the second half of the year.
"Looking forward to the coming quarters, we see a tougher market environment from the lower bitcoin price level, overall increased energy price and various pandemic and geopolitical uncertainties globally, which may all jeopardize the demand and price for our products," Chief Financial Officer James Jin Cheng said in the press release.
Canaan's Nasdaq-listed shares rose 4.6% to $4.09 in premarket trading on Thursday.
Read more:Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Delays Earnings Report to Sort Out How Much Crypto Rout Devalued Its Assets
UPDATE (Aug. 18, 11:17 UTC ):Adds additional paragraph with context around bitcoin miners' margins. || Texas Bitcoin Mine Whinstone Countersues Japan's GMO Internet, Seeks $15M Damages in Four-Year Dispute: Riot Blockchain (RIOT)'s Whinstone bitcoin (BTC) mine is seeking at least $15 million in damages from Japanese tech firm GMO Internet as a dispute over usage of facilities extends into a fourth year, according to a Monday filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit follows GMO Internet's June 10 claim , filed in New York Supreme Court, for $50 million of losses resulting from Whinstone's alleged failures in hosting GMO machines at sites in Louisiana and Texas and overcharging for power. The dispute refers to events that started in 2018, but appears to have been exacerbated by more recent developments. The higher power costs of recent months have seen hosting companies charge more for electricity to run the machines. It's a wrangle that has already in part prompted a lawsuit between Compass Mining and Dynamics Mining . According to GMO's complaint, the Louisiana site started running three months late and had capacity for 385 machines rather than the almost 66,700 agreed upon. The site was shut down in July 2019 because it couldn't secure enough power to operate, according to GMO. The two agreed to build a new data center in Texas and host GMO's machines there. The Japanese firm agreed to continue giving Whinstone its business under terms that included a lower hosting fee and repayment of its original deposit along with "loss of profits from by power suspension," according to the contract provided by GMO. Whinstone, which operates the mine in Rockdale, Texas, disputed the facts of events related to the Louisiana site and denied the allegations. The site of the facility, slated to be one of the world's largest bitcoin mines, was purchased by Riot Blockchain in 2021. Talks to resolve a dispute over losses GMO suffered due to a "power shortage" were paused when Riot acquired the facility, according to GMO. Given the decrease in hosting fees, it looked like the Japanese company was asking for $3 million for the power shortage losses, until April this year, when it asked for $35 million, Whinstone said. Whinstone claims it is owed damages for failure to agree on a new contract, and for power purchased for use by GMO that hasn't been used. Read more: Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Delays Earnings Report to Sort Out How Much Crypto Rout Devalued Its Assets || Bitcoin Core Developer Pieter Wuille Scales Back His Maintenance Role: Belgian-born Bitcoin Core developer Peter Wuille is scaling back his contributions to Bitcoin Core. Nevertheless, he said he will continue contributing code to the project and remains a key player in the Bitcoin ecosystem, given both his influence in the Bitcoin community and his role at Chaincode Labs.
• Bitcoin Core is the primary implementation of the Bitcoin software that connects to the blockchain. Open-source developers provide vital research, peer review, testing and documentation. A small group with commit access can directly access Bitcoin Core’s code in order to merge new code changes.
• Up until now, Wuille was part of this smaller group. With his departure, only four developers remain with commit access: Wladimir J. van der Laan, Marco Falke, Michael Ford and Hennadii Stepanov.
• He made the request to remove his key from the set of trusted keys through theBitcoin GitHubon Thursday.
• Wuille has made thousands of contributions to Bitcoin Core since 2011, most notably Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 32, which introduced seed phrases for storing and recovering private keys more easily; Segregated Witness (SegWit) which provided a new, efficient way of storing data in blocks; and, more recently, Taproot (BIPs 340, 341 and 342), which provided developers with a valuable set of tools to integrate new features that will improve privacy, scalability and security.
• Over the past year and a half, several Bitcoin developers and maintainers have chosen to leave their various roles, includingJohn Newbery, Samuel DobsonandJonas Schnelli.
Read more:Most Influential 2021: The Developers Who Wrote Bitcoin’s Taproot Upgrade
Update: Thursday, July 7, 2022 23:05 UTC:Adds information about Wuille's Bitcoin contributions.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 19969.77, 19832.09, 19986.71, 19812.37, 18837.67, 19290.32, 19329.83, 21381.15, 21680.54, 21769.26
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Why the Bitcoin Price Could Take a Very Long Time to Reach All-Time High Again: Throughout the past eleven months, theBitcoin pricehas dropped from $19,500 to $3,000, by nearly 85 percent.
The dominant cryptocurrency fell by 85 percent on average in its four past major corrections, so a similar drop from its all-time high was expected by many investors.
But, according to Bitcoin and technology researcher Boris Hristov, this bear market could potentially last significantly longer than previous corrections.
The vast majority of investors in the cryptocurrency market are likely to have heard of the narrative that institutional investors will come in to bring more value to major digital assets likeBitcoinbecause the narrative has been inaccurately pushed since early 2017.
Retail investors or individual traders who lost out massively in the cryptocurrency market crash earlier this year are not expected to come back in the foreseeable future. Not only have they lost out financially, but psychologically, it came across as a big shock, especially for newcomers.
If institutional investors are the group of investors that could potentially lead the next mid-term rally of Bitcoin, Hristov stated that only a limited range of institutional investors have the means to invest in a market like crypto.
The researcherexplained:
“Potential candidates are macro funds, CTAs, alternative strategies and multi strategy funds which have a combined $600bn AuM. Separately, commodity assets held by all HFs in 2017 were $300bn — ca. 10% of AuM. BTC could initially fall in this bucket.”
Institutional investors, under normal circumstances, would invest in a high-risk asset class through a strictly regulated custodian or an over-the-counter (OTC) market.Coinbase Custody,BitGo Custody, andFidelity Digital Assetsare among the few that are strengthening the infrastructure around Bitcoin.
The involvement of major financial institutions in the likes of Fidelity and Goldman Sachs have led to some improvements in the institutional sector of Bitcoin. However, considering that over $50 billion could be needed to fuel a rally for BTC from a low price range to the $20,000 region and the fact that BTC recovers at a slower rate every time a major correction occurs, a longer recovery period than many investors expect may take place.
“True, BTC has endured multiple 80%+ corrections and recovered massively after that, which is impressive. There is a good chance it will do the same this time as well. But. It gets harder and harder with every new correction,” Hristov said, adding that institutional investors could fuel a large rally, but it is not sufficient.
“Could these investors put $50bn in the market. Maybe. But it may not be enough though to go to a new high.”
The problem is that despite the involvement of Fidelity, these custodians and OTC markets are relatively new and they do not have a long track record. One variable is that institutions may see a long-term opportunity given the plunge in value that Bitcoin recorded over the past year.
Institutions, as retail investors did in 2017, could suddenly initiate a FOMO (fear of missing out)-like trend in the months to come. But, the asset class has already matured to a certain extent, and as time passes, the probability of an unforeseen massive surge in price could gradually decline.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postWhy the Bitcoin Price Could Take a Very Long Time to Reach All-Time High Againappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin gains 6 percent as it heads for best day since July: LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin bounced more than 6 percent on Wednesday, climbing above $4,000 and heading for its biggest daily jump since July as it clawed back ground after recent heavy selling.
The world's biggest cryptocurrency was last as $3,970.04 on the Bitstamp platform, after being mauled in a broad sell-off in cryptocurrencies over the last two weeks. It has lost more than 70 percent of its value this year.
(Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee) || Bitcoin Prices Soar; Nasdaq to Launch Bitcoin Futures in Q1 2019: Investing.com - Bitcoin and other major digital coins’ prices all traded higher on Thursday in Asia on news that Nasdaq is set to introduce Bitcoin futures in the first quarter of next year.
Bitcoin jumped 6.55% to $4,187.5 by 09:31 PM ET (02:31 GMT) on the Investing.com index. Ethereum added 4.49% to $118.77 and XRP gained 2.48% to $0.37633 on the Poloniex exchange.
1337/LTC also advanced 8.68% to $33.550 on the Bitifinex exchange.
Bitcoin regained a bit of momentum following a second low this week. The most traded digital coin dropped below $3,800 in mid-week before bouncing to this week’s peak at $4,395 on early Thursday morning.
However, Bitcoin remains trading 30% less of its value since mid-November, when the digital coin dropped from above $6,500.
On Thursday, media reported that Nasdaq is set to launch bitcoin futures in the first quarter of 2019 despite the current bearish sentiment for cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin futures will provide investors with a centralized marketplace where participants can speculate on the future price movements of Bitcoin.
Nasdaq has reportedly been working closely with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to secure regulatory approval for its proposed Bitcoin futures launch together with investment management firm VanEck.
Gabor Gurbacs, VanEck's director of digital asset strategy, said the firm "ran a few extra miles working with the CFTC to bring about new standards for custody and surveillance."
Nasdaq is not the first one to enter the digital currency space. The CFTC has so far approved two crypto futures products. One is from the Chicago Board Options Exchange and another from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Nasdaq showed interest in tapping into the crpyto space earlier. In April, its CEO Adena Friedman told media that “certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a crypto exchange over time.”
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The 6 Big Takeaways From SEC Chair Clayton’s Crypto Remarks || Asian Chief of FX Trading Firm Predicts Bitcoin Price Fall to $2500: The Asia-Pacific Head of Trading at foreign exchange brokerage Oanda has predicted that bitcoin price will fall as low as $2,500, claiming the behavior of the asset over the past few months has not demonstrated to investors that a bottom is in.
Speaking onBloomberg Markets: Asia, Stephen Innes stated that despite the pronouncements of “soothsayers”, the current situation remains a decidedly negative one for investors, who will consequently continue to sell or avoid buying bitcoin.
Responding to a question about how low bitcoin will fall before bottoming, Innes remarked that for a variety of reasons, cryptocurrency remains an unattractive buy in the near term. The key factor behind this according to him is the atmosphere of uncertainty about where the market is headed as bitcoin continues to its protracted bear run.
In his words:
“What I’m really looking at here is the way coins have been trading over the last few months. It’s indicated that the bottom is not in so therefore I don’t think any mature investor is willing to catch this falling knife. And that tells me there is more room to go and as soon as we hit some of these key round figure inflection points like $3500 and $2500, the psychological impact will weigh on more inexperienced traders.”
Going further, he remarked that while he remains optimistic on blockchain as a long-term concern, the current atmosphere of uncertainty makes cryptocurrency unappealing in the near term to both experienced and inexperienced traders, which will have a knock-on effect on the bitcoin price.
This he said, is amplified by the continued reluctance of Wall Street to get fully involved in cryptocurrency investment, a tightening regulatory landscape and the recent Bitcoin Cash hash war, which collectively add up to produce the current situation.
Summing up his thoughts on the current state of the market, he said:
“Given the momentum we’ve had over the past year, this price action is not positive, and despite what soothsayers say, it’s not a good time to go in because we can’t quantify what we’re really buying at these levels so this is the issue I have with trying to understand coins at specific inflection points.”
While bitcoin continues its slide, falling a furtherseven percenton Tuesday morning, not all market participants are pessimistic. CCN alsoreportedon Tuesday that NASDAQ, the world’s second largest crypto exchange has announced plans to launch a bitcoin futures market in Q1 2019.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postAsian Chief of FX Trading Firm Predicts Bitcoin Price Fall to $2500appeared first onCCN. || Debunked: Bitcoin Dev. Jimmy Song Exposes Fradulent ‘Satoshi’ Tweet: There was some recent buzz from both sides of the Bitcoin Cash chain split regarding an allegedly authentic tweet from pseudonymousBitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto.The tweet, and indeed the entire account, is no longer available from Twitter proper.
The text of the original tweet reads:
“I do not want to be public, but, there is an issue with SegWit. If it is not fixed, there will be nothing and I would have failed. There is only one way that Bitcoin survives and it is important to me that it works. Important enough, that I may be known openly. He then provides a signature which, on the surface, appears legitimate.”
However, according to people much more educated on the subject, the signature was definitely falsified. Jimmy Song is a veteran blockchain developer who has previously worked on Armory Wallet and Paxos, as well as in the financial space as a partner at Blockchain Capital. He frequently blogs on Bitcoin subjects, and clearly could not resist the urge to deconstruct any dreams people had that Satoshi Nakamoto was back from the grave with an anti-SegWitmessage in hand. His post doesn’t gloss over the technicalities, which we will ignore here.However,he concludes that the signature was fake, and then reproduces the forgery in his own example.
“The Tweet is equivalent to someone that’s ‘proving’ that they ran a marathon in under 2 hours while allowing us to only observe them at the finish line. The nonsense signature is equivalent to someone ‘running’ a marathon in under 2 hours by starting close to the finish line.”
He notes that billionaire Calvin Ayre used the tweet from @satoshi as proof that the Bitcoin creator “lives” (a fact few besides those who believe he was eitherHal FinneyorDave Kleimandispute) and used it in the ongoing war with Bitcoin.com and Bitcoin Cash ABC.
A bit of web history research reveals that the account @satoshi has existed almost as long as the social media platform itself, and it must have been only recently started tweeting about anything related to Bitcoin. As recently as 2013, when news of Bitcoin was spreading rapidly, and CCN was just getting started,there were less than 50 followers, and the account was private.
Twitter accounts have frequently been sold online, with prices ranging depending on popularity of the account, username, and follower account. There aresites dedicated to the practice. Satoshi is a Japanese name meaning “clear thinking, quick-witted, wise.” In 2007, Twitter was generally a plaything of the technorati, not taken overly seriously. Blogspot would have been considered a more viable platform to develop a following. The day of the microblog was many eons off in web history, really coinciding with the smartphone revolution.
We present the above unrelated facts to float a potential theory:whoever made the fake signature tweet claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto this past week probably bought the Twitter handle.As to who that person is, well, it would seem Twitter is reviewing the account – perhaps the real Satoshi is welcome to claim it, but just as likely, the company has decided the account violated their wide-berth terms of use.
This is, of course, not the first time someone has come to the fore claiming to be Satoshi Nakamotowith an urgent message from Bitcoin past.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postDebunked: Bitcoin Dev. Jimmy Song Exposes Fradulent ‘Satoshi’ Tweetappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoins Patient Zero: Crypto is an Intellectual Experiment That May Fail [But Probably Wont]: Wences Casares Bitcoin Crypto is a robust intellectual experiment that could fail, but it probably wont. Thats the assessment of Argentine tech entrepreneur Wences Casares, the founder of Xapo, a bitcoin wallet provider based in Palo Alto, California. We are living through a really interesting intellectual experiment, Casares told Bloomberg TV (video below). And its going on right in front of our noses. It may work, it may not work. In either case its interesting that its happening right now, so its worthwhile paying attention. Casares has been nicknamed bitcoins Patient Zero for his role in boosting cryptos profile in Silicon Valley, where Xapo is based. Xapo, which claims to be the worlds most secure bitcoin wallet, stores about $10 billion in BTC in underground vaults across five continents. Xapo is backed by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and former Goldman Sachs investment banker Mike Novogratz. Both Hoffman and Novograt are cryptocurrency evangelists. It Could Take Years For Crypto To Succeed In recent years, Casares has persuaded his fellow Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires to buy bitcoin by convincing them that crypto is the currency of the future. This is a sentiment echoed by Twitter billionaire Jack Dorsey, as CCN has reported . When asked how he could speak so flippantly about an industry he works in, Casares said its irresponsible to not be brutally honest. I think its irresponsible to not acknowledge that it could not work, he said. The chances of this experiment not working are non-trivial. I think its important for people like myself to let people know that. Were living in an intellectual experiment when it comes to cryptocurrency and blockchain, says Capo CEO Wences Casares https://t.co/gn7fCFkG8f pic.twitter.com/rtCKeQPsU8 Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) October 29, 2018 Casares, a serial entrepreneur whos on the board of PayPal, said crypto is an incredibly robust technological experiment, but it could still fail because technology is made by humans, and humans are fallible. Story continues That said, he believes crypto is more likely to succeed than fail because digital currencies and blockchain are unique and cutting-edge. We could find something in 10 years that renders the system worthless, Casares said. Its more likely that will not happen. At this point, the chances of success are better than the chances of failure. Crypto Is Where The Internet Was In 1992 Casares says cryptocurrencies today are where the Internet was in 1992 at its beginning stages. Casares says it could take seven years (or 10 or 20) to know if bitcoin will be successful. A world in which bitcoin is successful is a world in which bitcoin has become two things: Its a global nonpolitical standard of value, and its a global nonpolitical standard of settlement, he said. Just like we have a nonpolitical standard of weight, we need a nonpolitical standard of value. Wences Casares: I think theres a huge bubble going on in alt coins and ICOs. (screenshot from Bloomberg) Casares says one revolutionary thing about blockchain is that its decentralized and sovereign. For the first time, we have a computer system that is autonomous and answers to no one, he said. It answers to its own rules. Its uncensorable. In January 2018, Wences Casares predicted that if the crypto experiment succeeds, the price of one bitcoin could top $1 million . Featured image from Flickr/ TechCrunch . The post Bitcoins Patient Zero: Crypto is an Intellectual Experiment That May Fail [But Probably Wont] appeared first on CCN . || When will Bitcoin Come to Life?: On October 31 of 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto (still unknown person or organization) released a paper A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System that gave a birth to Bitcoin. During the decade, the crypto world has changed a lot. And today we will consider what Bitcoin has achieved to its 10th anniversary. Less than one year ago Bitcoin was one of the most discussed topics. However, up to now, the interest of traders has been waning. The number of Bitcoin search queries on Google reached the record low since December 2017 decreasing by 93%. Moreover, the volume of Bitcoin trading has plunged from $23 billion to $3 billion for 10 months. Bitcoin keeps trading within the horizontal channel since September 2018. As a result, traders are curious whether its an end of the digital currency or just the lull before the storm. Fundamental problems We all remember a triumph of Bitcoin at the end of 2017 when the price was near 20,000. But why Bitcoin couldnt stick at good levels? The digital currency suffers several problems that have to be solved. Otherwise, it wont be able to repeat its success. According to analysts, the biggest problem of Bitcoin is its security. During the first half of 2018, over $761 million Bitcoin was stolen. Of course, other cryptocurrencies suffer this problem as well. But it doesnt make the Bitcoins problem better. Cryptocurrency transactions are considered as something difficult. As soon as the technology is more understandable and easy-to-use, Bitcoin will get a chance to attract more people. Dependence on the market sentiment. The cryptocurrency highly affected by negative news related to cryptocurrency regulation, hacking attacks, theft of money and etc. It happens because the cryptomarket is barely known and understandable. Until countries accept cryptocurrency as one of the payment options, Bitcoin will stay under big pressure. There are two scenarios Experts split up into two groups. The first one believes in a rise of Bitcoin. The second one considers a possibility of the further fall. Story continues A rise. This group of analysts predicts a soon rise of the cryptocurrency. According to Mike Novogratz, the founder of cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital Capital Management, a break of the $6,800 level will boost the Bitcoin price by at least 30%. Therefore, we can expect Bitcoin at $8,800 and $9,000 and the level of $10,000 becomes highly possible. Moreover, the investor anticipates a significant rise in the first quarter of 2019. Tom Lee, the Fundstrat Global Advisors Bitcoin analyst, has a more optimistic outlook and says that Bitcoin could end 2018 at $22,000. Llew Claasen, the executive director of Bitcoin Foundation, claimed that Bitcoin may hit $40,000 by the end of the year. However, we all understand that only a significant change in the current situation will be able to uplift the price. Above I listed the major problems of Bitcoin. As soon as one of them is solved, Bitcoin will get a chance to become more attractive for traders. Until then, the rise of the cryptocurrency will be highly unlikely. A fall. Most of the experts predict a rise in the cryptocurrency market. However, it doesnt mean that the rise will be reflected in the Bitcoin price. According to this group of analysts, the cryptocurrency may lose its leading position and cut the share in the whole market. Bitcoin may suffer a huge competition as more and more currencies have been launching. If another cryptocurrency has advantages over Bitcoin, there are risks that the major digital currency will be replaced. For example, Arthur Hayes, the CEO of BitMEX predicts a depreciation of Bitcoin until 2020. As we can see, there is no general view of the long-term future of Bitcoin. The rise and fall of it will depend only on changes in current problems of Bitcoin. Key short-term levels Since September, the digital currency has been trading within the channel of 6,100-6,800. Indicators dont signal any reversal of the market. If only there is a shock event on the cryptomarket, the cryptocurrency will leave the channel. On the daily chart, Moving Averages are going in the horizontal direction that is a sign of the continuation of the trading in the channel. The first support lies at 6,190. If the price breaks this level, it will provoke a break of 6,100 that will be dramatic for the cryptocurrency. This break will pull the price to 5,883 and further down to lows of June 2018. However, positive news will encourage the Bitcoin price. The first significant resistance lies at 6,630. A break of this level will support a further climb to 6,800 the upper boundary of the channel. Bitcoin Daily Chart Making a conclusion, we can say that the future of Bitcoin is vague. In the near term, it is anticipated to keep trading within the horizontal channel. However, the longer perspectives will depend on the changes to the cryptocurrency market and Bitcoin problems. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Oil Monthly Forecast November 2018 Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 03/11/18 Bitcoin Cash Leaves Big Brother in the Dust as the November Hard Fork Nears A Hard Fork and the SEC Put Bitcoin Cash up Against Bitcoin Stock Market Whipsaw: Trust Kudlow, Not Unnamed Sources Tariffs Having Little Effect on Widening U.S. Trade Deficit || Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, Monero, TRON: Price Analysis, Nov. 12: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. Nikolay Storonsky, CEO and co-founder of Revolut Ltd., a digital banking provider with a user base of two million, has said at the Web Summit 2018 in Lisbon, that large institutions are showing little interest in digital assets. Any new technology takes time to catch up and become relevant to everyone. Even the internet took time to grow to its current scale. ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin has said that Blockchain might take a little longer than the internet to reach mass adoption. Venture capital investor Tim Draper, in a recent panel discussion, reiterated his previous call that Bitcoin will reach the price of $250,000 per coin by 2022. He believes that with mass adoption of Bitcoin, people are likely to switch from fiat currencies that are bound by a specific geography to cryptocurrencies, which in turn have universal acceptance. The recently concluded U.S. midterm elections have seen a number of pro-blockchain politicians being elected to office, which is a positive sign. Though the market movement is slow now, the future looks encouraging for the nascent asset class. BTC/USD The dip below $6,400 was purchased on Nov. 11, which shows buying at lower levels. However, Bitcoin is facing overhead resistance from both moving averages, which indicates that buying dries up at higher levels. BTC/USD Positional traders should avoid trading when the range is tight and shrinking. A large well-defined range provides an opportunity to buy low and sell high, however, the BTC/USD pair is not allowing such an opportunity. If the bulls push the price above $6,831.99, the digital currency is likely to invite short covering, propelling the price further to $7,400, and above that to $8,400. Story continues On the other hand, if the bears break below the critical support of $5,900, it might result in panic selling, dragging the pair to the lower levels of $5,000$5,450. Therefore, traders can keep the stop loss on their long positions at $5,900. ETH/USD Ethereum is not showing any signs of a trend. The investors arent looking to sell at the current levels, and the new money doesnt want to enter until there is a trend. So the price, the moving averages, and the RSI are all flat. ETH/USD The first sign of a trend will be when the ETH/USD pair escapes the tight range of $188.35$249.93. An upside breakout will indicate that the bulls have the upper hand and a new uptrend is likely. A break down of the range will indicate that panic has gripped the owners, and they are dumping their holdings. We recommend traders wait for a break out of $249.93 before initiating any long positions. Aggressive positions can also be taken if the support at $188.35 sees strong buying by the bulls. Until then, we suggest traders remain on the sidelines. XRP/USD Ripple is finding support just above the moving averages, which is a positive sign. The moving averages continue to slope up, with the RSI in the positive territory. This confirms that the bulls have the upper hand in the short-term. XRP/USD If the bulls succeed in breaking out of $0.565, a rally to the first target objective of $0.625 is likely, where traders can book partial profits. If this level is crossed, the rally can extend to $0.7644. Our bullish assumption will be invalidated if the XRP/USD pair turns around and breaks below the moving averages. In such a case, a drop to $0.42646, followed by a fall to $0.37185 is probable. Therefore, traders can trail their stop loss higher to $0.45. BCH/USD Bitcoin Cash has pulled back from the overhead resistance at $660.0753. We anticipate a strong support between the 20-day EMA and $500, which is the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level of the recent rally. The bounce from the current level might retest $660.0753 once again. A breakout will start a new uptrend, whereas a failure will keep the virtual currency in a large range of $408.0182$660.0753. BCH/USD Contrary to our opinion, if the BCH/USD pair breaks $500, the upward move will lose strength. The next support level on the downside is $460, and if this level breaks, a complete retracement of the recent rally to $410.2768 is probable. Therefore, traders who have partial positions left can keep a stop loss of about $480, which is just below the 50-day SMA. EOS/USD EOS has been trading close to the midpoint of the range for the past three days. Both moving averages have flattened out and are close to each other. The RSI is also close to the 50 levels, which shows equilibrium between demand and supply. EOS/USD We wont be able to find any new trades for as long as the EOS/USD pair stays between $5 and $6. If it breaks out of this tight range, it will increase the probability of a rally to $6.8299. A reversal will be confirmed when the price sustains above $6.8299 for three days. On the other hand, a break below $5 can result in a dip to the next support at $4.49, below which, a retest of the $3.8723 will be on the cards. Therefore, traders who own long positions can keep a stop loss of $4.9 on their existing positions. XLM/USD Stellar is showing promise as it has formed an ascending channel. It triggered our buy suggested in the Nov. 7 analysis. XLM/USD It is currently facing resistance at the resistance line of the channel, yet it remains positive because both moving averages are sloping up. Hence, any pullback is likely to find support at the trendline, and below that at the 20-day EMA. If the XLM/USD pair breaks above the channel, it is likely to pick up momentum, break out of the immediate resistance at $0.304, and rally towards its target objective of $0.36. For now, we suggest keeping the stops at $0.2. We shall watch for a couple of days and then raise the stops higher. LTC/USD Litecoin continues to slide after turning down from the downtrend line of the descending triangle. It might retest the critical support zone at $47.246$49.466 once again. This zone has held on four previous occasions; hence, we anticipate this support to hold once again. Nevertheless, traders left with partial long positions on our recommendations can close them at $50. LTC/USD If the bulls succeed in holding the critical support zone and show signs of a rebound, we might suggest to go long again. Our bullish view will be invalidated if the bears sink the LTC/USD pair below $47.246. In such a case, the downtrend will resume and can push prices to the next support levels at $40 and $32. ADA/USD For the past three days, Cardano has been trading close to the moving averages that have flattened out. The RSI is also just above the 50 levels. All these show a balance between the buyers and the sellers. ADA/USD A new trend will start on a break out of $0.094256, or on a break down of the support at $0.060105. Between these two levels, random and volatile price action is likely to continue. The first sign of strength will be if the ADA/USD pair sustains above $0.082207. However, we suggest traders wait for a new uptrend to start before initiating any long positions. XMR/USD The attempt to pull back from close to $102.6 is facing resistance at the 20-day EMA. If the bulls fail to scale the moving average, Monero is likely to drop to the bottom of the tight range at $100.453. XMR/USD The XMR/USD pair has successfully held the support at $100.453 on a closing basis on three previous occasions. Therefore, we expect it to offer a strong support this time too. However, contrary to our expectations, if the bears break below the range, a fall to the critical support at $81 is probable. On the upside, the bulls will gain strength if the price sustains above $112.44. We shall turn positive above $128.65. Currently, the virtual currency is not showing any reliable patterns that can be traded. TRX/USD The range in TRON has been shrinking. It is currently trading between $0.02134798 and $0.02517782. The RSI has also been moving between the levels of 40 and 60. TRX/USD If the bulls defend $0.02134798, the TRX/USD pair will again attempt to move to the top of the range at $0.02517782. However, if the bears break below the bottom of the tight range, a drop to the critical support at $0.0183 is probable. A break below this support will resume the downtrend. We shall turn positive on the digital currency on a breakout and close (UTC time frame) above $0.03. Until then, we suggest traders remain on the sidelines. The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. The charts for the analysis are provided by TradingView . Related Articles: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, Monero, TRON: Price Analysis, November 5 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, Monero, TRON: Price Analysis, October 31 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, Monero, TRON: Price Analysis, Nov. 9 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, Monero, TRON: Price Analysis, Nov. 7 || Geo-Political Risk and the Greenback Remain in Focus: Earlier in the Day: Economic data released through the Asian session this morning included August current account figures out of Japan, September business confidence numbers out of Australia and September retail sales figures out of the UK. For the Japanese Yen , the current account surplus narrowed from ¥2.010T to ¥1.838T on a non-seasonally adjusted basis in August, which was worse than a forecasted narrowing to ¥1.897T. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the current account surplus narrowed from ¥1.48T to ¥1.43T, which was worse than a forecasted widening to ¥1.52T. The Japanese Yen moved from ¥113.135 to ¥113.041 against the Dollar upon release of the figures, before rising to ¥113.03 against the Dollar at the time of writing, up 0.18% for the session. For the Aussie Dollar , the NAB Business Confidence Index rose from 5 to 6 in September, coming in ahead of a forecasted hold at 5. The uptick in the month was attributed to an improvement in the employment index that was partially offset by a minor decline in trading conditions, while profitability was reportedly unchanged. The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.70734 to $0.70745 upon release of the figures, before rising to $0.7079 at the time of writing, up 0.01% for the session, the Aussie Dollar finding some respite following last week’s sell-off. Elsewhere, the Kiwi Dollar was also on a better footing through the early hours, up 0.05% at $0.6451, though sentiment could shift quickly should risk aversion plague the Asian markets later in the morning. The Day Ahead: For the EUR , it’s another relatively quiet day on the data front, with key stats scheduled for release limited to August trade data out of Germany. Following disappointing industrial production figures out of Germany on Monday, the EUR could be in for another fall should the stats fail to meet forecasts, the trade surplus forecasted to widen from €15.8bn to €16.4bn in August. Story continues Outside of the stats, we can expect geo-political risk to remain front and centre, with Italy and the rising tensions between the U.S and China to influence. At the time of writing, the EUR was down 0.01% to $1.1491, geo-political risk the key driver, while today’s trade data will likely influence at the time of release. For the Pound , it’s another quiet day on the data front, with no material stats scheduled for release to provide direction for the Pound, leaving the markets to focus on Brexit chatter through the day and a BoE MPC member Broadbent speech scheduled for this afternoon. A combination of positive news on Brexit negotiations and hawkish MPC member chatter would certainly revive the Pound, though until the EU and Britain finalize any deal, the BoE may hold back on any optimism, the latest updates on Brexit negotiations suggesting there is still some way to go for Britain to garner a favourable deal. In the early hours of the day, the September BRC Retail Sales Monitor figures were released, which reflected a 0.2% fall in retail sales, reversing August’s 0.2% rise. The weakest sales figures in 5-months was attributed to increased uncertainty over Brexit, tepid wage growth and rising consumer prices. Total sales eased from 1.3% to 0.7% in September, with a shift in weather conditions and an end to the 2018 World Cup weighing on consumption. The Pound moved from $1.30907 to $1.30926 upon release of the figures, before easing to $1.3090 at the time of writing, flat for the session. Across the Pond , there are also no major stats scheduled for release, leaving the Dollar in the hands of Trump and chatter over trade and market risk appetite in general, with the less influential Redbook numbers likely to have some influence at the time of release later this afternoon. While we will expect geo-political risk to be the key driver, FOMC member Evans speaking in the afternoon could provide some direction, the recent rise in Treasury yields coming as the market begins to consider the need for a more aggressive rate path. At the time of writing, the Dollar Spot Index was down 0.01% to 95.75, with Oval Office chatter the key driver through the day. For the Loonie , key stats scheduled for release are limited to September housing start numbers that will provide the Loonie with some direction, with forecasts being positive, though we will expect direction to ultimately come from crude oil prices and chatter from the Oval Office through the day, risk aversion likely to continue weighing in spite of market sentiment towards BoC monetary policy. The Loonie flat at C$1.2965 against the U.S Dollar at the time of writing. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: USD/JPY Price Forecast – US dollar falls apart against Japanese yen NEM’s XEM Technical Analysis – Support Levels in Play – 09/10/18 Geo-Political Risk and the Greenback Remain in Focus Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 09/10/18 Gold Price Forecast – Gold markets fall hard to kick off week GBP/USD Price Forecast – British pound softens to kick off week against greenback || Bitcoin Climbs Above 4,034.3 Level, Up 6%: Investing.com - Bitcoin rose above the $4,034.3 threshold on Sunday. Bitcoin was trading at 4,034.3 by 15:40 (20:40 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, up 5.84% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since November 24.
The move upwards pushed Bitcoin's market cap up to $67.6B, or 54.24% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Bitcoin's market cap was $241.2B.
Bitcoin had traded in a range of $3,634.2 to $4,034.3 in the previous twenty-four hours.
Over the past seven days, Bitcoin has seen a drop in value, as it lost 30.69%. The volume of Bitcoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $6.9B or 33.53% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $3,634.1890 to $5,662.5200 in the past 7 days.
At its current price, Bitcoin is still down 79.70% from its all-time high of $19,870.62 set on December 17, 2017.
XRP was last at $0.36570 on the Investing.com Index, down 9.59% on the day.
Ethereum was trading at $116.75 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 4.27%.
XRP's market cap was last at $14.2B or 11.39% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $11.7B or 9.35% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#BTCUSD Market #1H timeframe on October 28 at 21:00 (UTC) is #Bearish. #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #btc #crypto #trading #idea #report technical analysis || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $TRX 1240 Tweets
2位 $BTC 656 Tweets
3位 $XRP 92 Tweets
4位 $ETH 63 Tweets
5位 $XMR 48 Tweets
2018-10-19 02:00 ～ 2018-10-19 02:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
https://cointrend.jp/ || 現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は634,648.8867円です。値段の取得日時はNov 14, 2018 23:00:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || Current price: $0.024947
Node count: 913
Total accounts: 497644
Coins burned: 2,476,048.00 TRX
#tron #trx $trx $btc #btc || 昨日の22時くらいの爆上げは一過性。逆に中途半端な上げ過ぎてこれからもっと下がりそう。左は5分足、右は日足のBTC/JPY pic.twitter.com/SVOJ5Yfwoo || Current price: $0.023231
Node count: 1250
Total accounts: 576707
Coins burned: 3,348,071.00 TRX
#tron #trx $trx $btc #btc || #LIZA #LAMBO price
11-14 06:00(GMT)
$LIZA
BTC :0.00000
ETH :0.00000
USD :0.0
RUR :0.0
JPY(btc) :0.0
JPY(eth) :0.0
$LAMBO
BTC :0.005
ETH :0.124
USD :25.3
RUR :1833.0
JPY(btc) :3421.4
JPY(eth) :2882.7 || 2018-11-10 15:00:07 UTC
BTC: $6405.45
BCH: $546.72
ETH: $212.5
ZEC: $136.43
LTC: $52.22
ETC: $9.53
XRP: $0.5082 || 10% Discount for 6 months on BITMEX trading fees wtih my Link!!
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$BAT $HOT $BTC $ETH $NEO $STRAT $KMD $SNT $LINK $WAN $ELF $ARK $MCO $NXT $GXS $ELA $MONA $GAS $CMT $DRGN $WAX $KNC $PIVX $LRC $XVG $LTC $NANO 1543326934pic.twitter.com/8rNzTBdhzk || #CriptoMonedaseICO Franquicia de joyería en Canadá acepta pagos en BTC y BCH - http://tinyurl.com/y7zos5nz
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By @criptomonedaseico -
#trader #trading #altcoin #decentralize #hashrate #bitcoins #bitcoin #cryptocurrency #blockchain #newspictures #btc #bitcoinnews
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Trend: down || Prices: 3894.13, 3956.89, 3753.99, 3521.10, 3419.94, 3476.11, 3614.23, 3502.66, 3424.59, 3486.95
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Prints Bullish Price Pattern With Move Above $9K: • Bitcoin’s hourly chart is signaling a bullish reversal and scope for a rally to $9,550. Daily chart indicators are also aligning in favor of the bulls.
• Markets may shake out weak hands by revisiting sub-$9,000 levels briefly before printing stronger gains on the bull breakout.
• The 200-day average at $8,713 is the level to beat for the bears.
Bitcoin (BTC) has crossed above $9,000, confirming a bullish breakout on technical charts and opening the doors for stronger gains.
The cryptocurrency is currently changing hands near $9,075 on Bitstamp, representing a 3.5 percent gain on the day. Meanwhile, its global average price, as calculated by CoinDesk’sBitcoin Price Index, is seen at $9,050.
Today’s rally is preceded by a bear failure at key support. Bitcoin sellers led the price action on Tuesday and Wednesday and printed intraday lows near $8,660, but could not establish a secure foothold below the 200-day average at $8,720.
Related:Bitcoin Stays Above $9,000 in US Trading
Defense of the long-term average has paved the way for a bigger bull move, as expected.
Notably, with the rise from $8,660 to $9,090 (today’s high so far), bitcoin has charted a bullish inverse head-and-shoulders breakout on the hourly technical chart.
The hourly candle, representing price action in the 60 minutes to 10:00 UTC, closed above neckline resistance of $9,000, confirming an inverse head-and-shoulders bullish reversal pattern – a transition from a bearish lower-highs and lower-lows set up to bullish higher-lows and higher-highs.
The breakout is backed by an uptick in buying volumes, as represented by the green bars, and has opened the doors to $9,550 (target as per the measured move method).
Related:How the Bitcoin Market Changed Since 2017’s Bull Run
Seasoned traders would argue an inverse head-and-shoulders breakout does not always accelerate the bull move and often traps buyers on the wrong side of the market. While that’s true, its effect depends on context.
If the pattern appears following a notable price drop, as is the case here, the breakout usually causes more buyers to join the market.
Further, markets often crowd out weak hands (buyers) following an inverse head-and-shoulders breakout by revisiting the former hurdle-turned-support of the neckline. So, a brief drop to or below $9,000 may be seen before rally toward higher resistance levels.
Bitcoin is flashing green, havingdefendedthe 200-day average for the second day running on Wednesday.
The cryptocurrency’s price rise is in line with a bullish reversal doji patternconfirmed on Monday.
The relative strength index has breached the descending trendline, signaling an end of the pullback from the recent high of $10,500. Further, the MACD histogram is producing higher lows in support of the bulls.
All in all, technical charts look to have aligned in favor of a rise to resistance at $9,312 (Feb. 19 low). A violation there would expose the inverse-head-and-shoulders breakout target of $9,550.
The bullish case would weaken only if prices print a UTC close below the 200-day average at $8,713.
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing.
• BitGo Reveals Bitcoin Lending Push; $150M Booked So Far
• Bitcoin Remains Steady Amid Weaker Volume || Policymakers Shouldn’t Fear Digital Money: So Far It’s Maintaining the Dollar’s Status: CoinDesk columnist Nic Carter is a partner at Castle Island Ventures, a public blockchain-focused venture fund based in Cambridge, Mass. He is also the cofounder of Coin Metrics, a blockchain analytics startup. On May 9, 2019, Representative Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), member of the House Financial Services Committee, made an impassioned speech about cryptocurrency. In his speech, the mask typically worn by policymakers slipped: his words betrayed the threat cryptocurrencies pose to the state. Sherman said: Related: Financial Services: The Coming Cataclysm “An awful lot of our international power comes from the fact that the dollar is the standard unit of international finance and transactions. Clearing through the N.Y. Fed is critical for major oil and other transactions, and it is the announced purpose of the supporters of cryptocurrency to take that power away from us, to put us in a position where the most significant sanctions we have on Iran, for example, would become irrelevant.” But does cryptocurrency really pose a threat to America’s monetary dominance? I’d like to propose an alternative. Far from compromising the dollar’s mighty advantage internationally, cryptocurrency, and the infrastructure built to support it, may well entrench its position. To assess this possibility, one must understand cases where the dollar has already infiltrated foreign countries. This is commonly called “dollarization.” Dollarization refers to the process of adopting a foreign currency (typically but, confusingly, not always, the U.S. dollar) in lieu of a local sovereign currency. It happens both in an informal, bottom-up way and a top-down manner, when the local central bank capitulates and adopts the dollar as legal tender. The bottom-up model occurs in a spontaneous manner as citizens flee a depreciating local currency and adopt the dollar, even when dollar holdings might be criminalized or where capital controls exist. In some cases, this kicks off a feedback loop, further depreciating the local currency and forcing the hand of the central bank which capitulates and officially adopts the dollar standard. The monetary economist Lawrence White calls this dolarización popular . Story continues The Educador dollarization phenomenon in 1999-2000 is a prime example of individuals freely making economic choices that overpowered their local government monopoly. Related: Don’t Obsess Over Crypto End Users, We Still Need Developers to Build the Back End In White’s words : The dollarization of Ecuador was not chosen by policymakers. It was chosen by the people. It grew from free choices people made between dollars and sucres. The people preferred a relatively sound money to a clearly unsound money. By their actions to dollarize themselves, they dislodged the rapidly depreciating sucre and spontaneously established a de facto U.S. dollar standard. Currently, several countries have entirely abandoned monetary discretion and outsourced this task to the U.S. The largest among these, the so-called fully dollarized states, include Ecuador, Panama, El Salvador, the British Virgin Islands and a smattering of other mostly island nations. However, many countries are also soft-dollarized; that is, dollars widely circulate in the economy as a preferred form of hard money. Soft dollarized countries may have a soft or crawling peg relative to the dollar or may not treat it as legal tender at all; regardless it has widespread usage due to its desirable properties. Countries in this category include Venezuela, Argentina, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Somalia, Uruguay, Zimbabwe and many others. In these countries, dollars are understood as a superior form of money and active measures are made to import and retain them. Indeed, visitors to Costa Rica will know that it’s common to pay for goods on the street with dollars and receive change in the local currency, the colón. This is essentially the inverse of Gresham’s law . This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as Thiers’ law – the idea that, when given the choice, transactors will generally prefer to receive a harder rather than a softer currency. Dollarization events generally follow specific catalysts: In Ecuador, users adopted the dollar in response to the devaluation of the sucre following a banking crisis, and the government ultimately capitulated. Cambodia’s effective dollar economy was kick-started by the flow of capital into the country after the U.N. intervened in 1992 following the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, virtually the entirety of eastern Europe, the Baltics, the Caucasuses and central Asia dollarized in a partial way, with the dollar penetrating 20 to 30 percent of the money supply in these regions in 1993, and growing to the 30 to 40 percent range in 2001 (Havrylyshyn 2003). In the wake of political and monetary collapse in Venezuela, the country is now at least 50 percent dollarized . Panama officially dollarized in 1904 when it seceded from Colombia and the U.S. began its decade-long canal building project in the country. Generally, ready access to dollars and a trade relationship with the U.S. is a necessary condition for successful dollarization, which explains why so many dollarized countries are in Latin America or states with current or prior U.S. influence. Opinions differ on the track record of dollarization. Free market economists tend to like it and the International Monetary Fund and Bank for International Settlements tend not to. Key data points show its success as a policy, however. The Misery Index, popularized by economist Steve Hanke, combines interest rates, inflation, unemployment, and GDP growth rates to derive a unified economic quality of life score. Venezuela and Argentina top the global misery index thanks to ruinous inflation (Venezuela has held that ignominious title for four straight years); Brazil is fourth worldwide. Their local neighbors Panama, Ecuador and El Salvador (all dollarized) rank best – i.e., least miserable – for Latin America, and fall in the middle of the pack globally. Illustration by Sonny Ross There is good evidence that abandoning an inflationary currency and establishing a dollar standard tends to index local inflation to the (generally low) U.S. rate, increase foreign domestic investment (thanks to an elimination of exchange risk) and increase local lending and financial sector activity. Hanke describes dollarization as a means to import property rights and rule of law from better-governed countries (with the implication that devaluation is an unfair confiscation from savers). Perhaps most importantly, it entirely eliminates monetary discretion from the hands of the government, forcing them to rely solely on fiscal policy. Irresponsible monetary policy and reckless spending is normally the reason countries are forced to dollarize, after all. This monetary straitjacket is part of the reason governments often rebel against the policy, only adopting it in dire circumstances. Today, the dollar accounts for about 60 percent of foreign exchange reserves globally and denominates about 70 percent of international trade, even in cases where neither counterparty is U.S.-based. Money doesn’t just possess network effects, money is a network. Dollarizing tends to reduce frictions in international trade as transactions no longer require a forex component. Despite its apparent benefits, however, dollarization is no panacea. Through the banking system, the state still ultimately exerts control over depositors. Zimbabwe is an indicative case study. In response to hyperinflation, the government officially dollarized in January 2009 – but following this decision, U.S. dollars became virtually absent from the transactional economy. The reason? According to American Institute for Economic Research , the Zimbabwe government essentially confiscated dollars in bank accounts by forcing commercial banks to swap dollar deposits for “Zimbabwe bonds.” After ATMs and banks stopped dispensing cash, a mismatch between these electronic pseudo-dollars and the value of physical dollar banknotes developed. These unbacked bond-dollars ended up trading at a discount to par. “For people working in the formal economy – accountants, retail workers, engineers and so on – everyone now uses electronic dollars, which are simply represented by numbers in a bank account. These electronic dollars are worth about half what a U.S. dollar is worth on the street, according to local observers.” American Institute for Economic Research Argentina’s pseudo-dollarization in the early 1990s is another telling example. As Steve Hanke documents , Argentina’s pledge to peg the peso to the dollar ended up being a ploy to confiscate deposits from savers: “ Under the convertibility system, which was established on April 1, 1991, the government made an explicit redemption pledge. Each person who owned an Argentine peso was guaranteed the right to convert a peso for a U.S. dollar. […] When the Convertibility Law was revoked by decree on January 6, 2002, the peso was devalued, the peso was allowed to float and the redemption pledge was rendered null and void. In consequence, the government confiscated $17.8 billion of central bank reserves that had been the property of people who held pesos at the time of the devaluation. “ Enter stablecoins So historically, the potential for confiscation of dollar deposits in the banking system by capricious governments has interfered with dollarization. Since holding cash is risky and difficult, depositors rely on banks. But if banks are a confiscation vector, merely dollarizing doesn’t do savers any good. Interestingly, the crypto world may well offer a solution in the form of cryptographic, dollar-denominated bearer assets. These are commonly referred to as “stablecoins”: crypto-assets serving as an IOU representing a dollar in a bank account (with a convertibility promise). They freely circulate on public ledgers and are generally unconstrained. They can be sent without restriction to a digital wallet in just the same manner as bitcoin (BTC). And importantly, stablecoins represent a base monetary asset which can be directly held by an end user, rather than a financial institution on their behalf. The insurgent crop of stablecoins represent a possible vector for a crypto-dollarization phenomenon. Piggybacking on the infrastructure built to support public blockchains like bitcoin and ethereum – and circulating on those protocols themselves – stablecoins have achieved apparent critical mass. According to Coin Metrics , the largest stablecoin, Tether, has a monetary base of $4.5 billion and an annualized on-chain transaction volume of around $200 billion. That’s a monetary velocity of about 44 – meaning each unit of Tether changes hands, on average, 44 times in a given year. This compares to velocity figures of about five for bitcoin, 6.2 for ethereum, and 5.5 for M1 Money Stock in the U.S. While this is a rough science, it’s quite apparent that stablecoins are used in a transactional manner while their non-fiat-denominated cryptocurrency counterparts turn over less frequently. Far from compromising the dollar’s mighty advantage internationally, cryptocurrency, and the infrastructure built to support it, may well entrench its position. The growth of bitcoin, and subsequently other monetary protocols like ethereum, has also funded, as a side effect, a global industry of exchanges, hardware and software wallets, and financial services, which stablecoins are now leveraging to reach a mass market audience. New keyless setups mean that users no longer need to write down a 24-word seed phrase or a private key, they can simply control their wealth with biometrics and a smartphone. The emergence of hundreds of local exchanges and “fiat on ramps” means crypto assets are ubiquitously available, even in frontier markets. And the budding crypto-financial ecosystem gives users a reason to transact with and hold these assets. Now, stablecoins rely for the most part on trusted issuers and administrators who must hold dollars in a bank account somewhere. This counterparty risk accompanies all of the dollar-backed coins, and may ultimately be their undoing. But these are private banks, generally outside the jurisdiction of states that may object to their issuance of private money. Regulators may also realize, to their horror, that the interior of the stablecoin transactional graph is mostly un-surveilled, as JP Koning has pointed out . Issuers appear to be following an informal don’t ask (users), don’t tell (regulators) policy. This could prove unsustainable. However, newer issuers like Libra, should they pass through the regulatory gauntlet, offer a potentially more salubrious, mostly dollar-backed product. Regardless, the crop of dollar-backed coins is growing at a hefty clip. The implications for U.S. policymakers should be clear. Far from compromising the dollar’s mighty advantage internationally, cryptocurrency, and the infrastructure built to support it, will most likely entrench its position. Clearly, individuals living with inflationary currencies have a demonstrated demand for (relatively) hard money, and a hodgepodge of private issuers have begun to fill this need by creating crypto-eurodollars. Instead of fearing this, policymakers would do well to evaluate this phenomenon and its potential implications for U.S. soft power. Why am I writing this now? Two reasons. First, I was startled to discover that LocalBitcoins traders in Venezuela were using bitcoin not simply as a means of mere exposure to BTC, but also as a passthrough currency in order to more easily import dollars into the country. Second, stablecoin transactional volumes have taken off, to the point where they have eclipsed every cryptocurrency aside from bitcoin in on-chain transactional value. It may well be the case that the crypto industry’s most impactful contribution in the near term is to near-frictionlessly distribute dollars on a direct-to-consumer basis to the world’s population – whether their governments like it or not. Thanks to Larry White for his review and feedback. Related Stories CoinDesk’s New Opinion Section: The Future of the Financial System Is Up for Debate Preston Byrne: Peirce’s Safe Harbor Proposal Would Be Hilarious if It Weren’t so Serious || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – 09/02/20: Bitcoin rose by 0.73% on Saturday. Following on from a 0.62% gain on Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,877.2. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall to an early morning intraday low $9,657.8 before making a move. Bitcoin fell through the first major support level at $9,706.07 before rallying to a late intraday high $9,920.8. The rally saw Bitcoin break through the first major resistance level at $9,882.17 to hit $9,900 levels for the 1 st time since late October. Coming within range of the second major resistance level at $9,959.13, Bitcoin eased back to sub-$9,900 late in the day. The near-term bearish trend, formed at late June’s swing hi $13,764.0, remained firmly intact, however, in spite of the current week gains. For the bulls, Bitcoin would need to break out from $11,000 levels to form a near-term bullish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a mixed day for the crypto majors. Bitcoin Cash SV led the way with a 13.43% surge. EOS (+3.64%), Litecoin (+3.22%), and Tezos (+4.85%) also made solid gains on the day. Bitcoin Cash ABC (-1.66%), Cardano’s ADA (+0.67%), Ethereum (+0.07%), and Monero’s XMR (+1.56%) also ended the day in the green. Binance Coin (-1.00%), Ripple’s XRP (-0.75%), and Stellar’s Lumen (-0.94%) end the day in the red, however. Through the current week, the crypto total market cap rose from a Tuesday low $254.52bn to an early Sunday high $286.16bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $285.90bn. Having fallen back from 66% levels, Bitcoin’s dominance slipped further back to sub-64% levels going into Sunday. More marked gains across the broader market pinned Bitcoin back on the day. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 63.8%. Trading volumes also picked up, rising to $146bn levels on Thursday before easing back. At the time of writing, 24-hr volumes stood at $134.90bn. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 1.98% to $10,073.0. A particularly bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rally from an early morning low $9,871.1 to a high $10,109.0. Story continues Steering clear of the major support levels, Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $9,979.4 and second major resistance level at $10,081.6. Elsewhere, it was a sea of green across the crypto board. Bitcoin Cash SV and Binance Coin led the way early with gains of 8.30% and 6.56% respectively. Litecoin and Tezos trailed the pack early, with gains of just 0.73% and 0.37% respectively. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to break back through the second major resistance level at $10,081.6 to target $10,500 levels. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $10,109.0. Barring an extended rally through the day, Bitcoin would likely fall short of the third major resistance level at $10,344.60. In the event of another breakout, resistance at $10,500 would likely limit the upside on the day. Failure to move back through the second major resistance level could see Bitcoin give up the early gains. A fall back through the first major resistance level to sub-$9,820 levels would bring the first major support level at $9,716.4 into play. Barring a crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the sub-$9,900 on the day. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Brent Crude Oil Futures (BZ) Technical Analysis – Trade Through $56.56 Changes Momentum to Upside USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Trade Through 109.534 Confirms Closing Price Reversal Top EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – 09/02/20 The Weekly Wrap – U.S Data, Monetary Policy, and Geopolitics the Majors European Equities: A Week in Review – 08/02/20 US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Slide on Profit Taking Despite Strong Jobs Data || TokenSoft Launches Wallet Allowing Investors to Self-Manage Security Tokens: U.S.-regulated security token platform TokenSoft is now providing self-managed accounts for investors. The new service, announced on Thursday, is aimed to provide users of the platform a less technical and more secure way to hold and control their security token investments. Effectively a digital wallet, the product offers automated dividend distributions and built-in reporting for token issuers. Multi-signature security is provided too, using a key model used by wallets currently holding over $1 billion in investments. “We’re excited to bring a multi-signature wallet security packaged in a self-controlled, easy to manage brokerage-style experience to the over 100,000 investors using our platform,” said TokenSoft CEO Mason Borda. Related: Retail Accumulation? Number of Bitcoin Addresses With One or More Coins Sees Solid Rise Regulatory compliant security token standards such as ethereum’s ERC-1404 and Tezos’ FA1.2 are supported. Jordan Davis, director of business development at the firm, said wallets like TokenSoft Investment Accounts will “put pressure” on financial institutions to offer better services and management tools to investors. “People will be able to add or remove service providers from accessing their assets the same way you can add or remove profiles from your Netflix subscription, he said. In December, TokenSoft’s subsidiary, DTAC LLC, was registered as a transfer agent with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – an important regulatory step on its path to bring tokenization to traditional institutions. TokenSoft also owns an interest in a broker-dealer registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Related: 3 More Execs Leave Swiss Stock Exchange’s $100M Blockchain Project Setting out to provide the tech for firms to “go straight to IPO” by putting their shares on a blockchain, Borda said in a previous report that TokenSoft is “building all the things you need for an automated investment bank.” Story continues EDIT (16:33 UTC, Sep. 30, 2020): Corrected an erroneous line about the multisig security. Related Stories Square Crypto Is Creating a ‘Lightning Development Kit’ for Bitcoin Wallets Watch Civic’s CEO Talk About His New Cross-Border Payment System || Ethereum’s ProgPoW Call Features Frustration but Little Progress: ProgPoW is still just a proposal.
Thecontroversialproposed change to Ethereum’s mining algorithm failed to change status after meeting resistance during Friday’score developers call. Ethereum hard fork coordinator James Hancock said ProgPoW will not be included on the hard fork schedule going forward.
During the call, opponents of the long-discussed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) voiced their frustrations.
Related:Asset Ratings Giant Morningstar Takes First Plunge Into Blockchain Securities
“ProgPoW people are a bunch of profit-seeking miners lobbying the core dev political committee to get what they want – full stop,” said SpankChain CEO and MolochDAO co-founder Ameen Soleimani.
“A hard fork is not just a technical process,” said Martin Koppelmann, founder of open finance startup Gnosis. “A hard fork means creating a narrative around it – convincing 20,000 people at the same time that this is the best thing to do right now.”
Matt Luongo, founder of crypto venture studio Thesis, joined Soleimani and Koppelmann in voicing his concerns. Luongo compared current ProgPoW tensions to 2017’sbitcoin(BTC) civil wars, which led to the creation ofbitcoin cash(BCH). Tweaking the Ethereum hash algorithm isn’t quite worth a chain split, he said.
AsCoinDesk previously reported, ProgPoW’s code was released in 2018 as a replacement to the current Ethash mining algorithm. The code was proposed as a remedy to an emerging trend of mining-power centralization around ASIC-wielding firms.
Related:Bitcoin’s Price Steady Over $9,000 As Sentiment Stays Positive
Some Ethereum community members viewed this trend as dangerous to the community and an unfair advantage against less capital-endowed miners (who typically use GPU-based rigs). The concern can also be found in other cryptocurrency circles, notably withmonero(XMR), which has built-in code changes every few months to disincentivize ASIC mining.
ProgPoW was nearly merged into Ethereum inJanuary 2019, but failed at the eleventh hour due to third-party audits exposing key vulnerabilities. Earlier last month, ProgPoW popped back into the conversation as a hard fork candidate.
As of Friday, the EIP has been left on “final” status but has yet to receive core developer support to be executed as a major code change.
The common anti-ProgPoW argument centers on the transition to Eth 2.0 and its new Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm.
Under PoS, miningether(ETH) will become a thing of the past. ProgPoW antagonists think addressing the current Proof-of-Work chain when the community is nearing its major switch to PoS is superfluous, if not dangerous.
“We should focus on PoS and communicating the transition to PoS where mining rewards are decreased over time,” said Koppelmann. “That alone would prevent people from doing large investments in six- or eight-gigabyte ASICs.”
Pro-ProgPoW members – represented on Friday’s call by Kristy-Leigh Minehan, an algorithm developer who helped create ProgPoW, and cryptocurrency educator Michael Carter – say the Ethereum network is liable to be captured by ASIC miners.
Minehan said GPU mining is a common way for people to enter the Ethereum community. Hobbyists will be walled off from the Ethereum garden if an algorithm change isn’t made, she said.
Minehan also pointed out a forthcoming study from CoinMetrics on so-callednoncepatterns in ethereum mining. In crypto mining, machines look for a nonce, or a specific golden number, to create a block and receive a coin reward. In some situations, you can tell what portion of a network is running a certain model of mining rig depending on the nonce patterns guessed by the machines. Minehan said the study from CoinMetrics suggests that 40 percent of the Ethereum network is running on Bitmain’s Antminer E3 miner, an ASIC.
Unfortunately, the E3 will become obsolete in the next few months, said Minehan and Carter, alluding toa recent report from mining pool 2Miners.
Minehan and Carter say they fear a more powerful ASIC miner will replace the E3, creating a tech cycle that iPhone users are quite familiar with: planned obsolescence. Cornering the network into changing products every time Bitmain produces a new mining rig undercuts the network’s security, they said.
This fear becomes even more pressing given the size of the Ethereum network, said Starkware product manager Louis Guthmann. Creating a GPU-friendly Ethereum is good for the network’s robustness, he said.
A compromise between the two camps was also given screen time on the call. Authored by Ben DiFrancesco, founder of software advisor ScopeLift, this middle path would make ProgPoW a testnet for the time being.
After further audits, the code would be issued as an emergency backup in case of an “ASIC attack” on the current Ethash algorithm. What an ASIC attack is remains unknown, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko pointed out.
As of now, nothing has been decided.
Core developers on the call said they feel the community is fairly anti-ProgPoW. Without this support, a change cannot be implemented even if perceived as a net benefit to the network.
As the call closed, DiFrancesco pointed out that both parties have begun talking past each other, though there does seem to be agreement on one thing: nobody wants a contentious chain split.
• Ethereum’s ProgPoW Debate Is About Much More Than Mining
• The Team Behind CryptoKitties Is One Step Closer to Leaving Ethereum || An Action-Packed January: Investors barely had time for a breather as the new developments were crucial in setting the tone for the rest of the year.
There were many expectations that 2020 which marks the start of a new decade will be the confirmation of a new era for climate change. January was the reality of the “green” shift in the world of finance. Extreme weather conditions and raging bushfires across Australia triggered fierce debates about the climate crisis across the globe.
This year, the World Economic Forum in Davos also emphasized on climate change and had even run a more environmentally-friendly event to raise awareness for the need to reduce our carbon footprint.
Market participants are recognising the intense pressure on policymakers and the urgency for climate action. Investors are at a key turning point where the fundamental shift is forcing sustainable investment.
The start of the month was marred by heightened tensions in the Middle East. A series of missile strikes from both the US and Iran has kept investors on edge due to rising fears of war. President Donald Trump’s decision not to retaliate after the latest Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq calmed investors.
Market participants welcomed the positive news on the trade front. After Mexico, the US formally signed the new North American trade pact into law on Wednesday. Canada is the only country left to ratify the revised trade agreement.
Phase One of the trade deal between the world’s two powerful economies is officially signed. Despite the scepticism that the next phase of trade negotiations will be tough, investors cheered the trade truce.
Brexit is now official and this Friday will mark the day the UK will formally leave the European Union. The European Parliament has approved UK’s withdrawal agreement and both parties now have an 11-month transition period to allow new UK-EU negotiations to take place.
Central banks eased monetary policies last year and had even restarted unconventional monetary policies amid fears of a slowing global economy and trade tensions. However, comments this month by the central banks have been more or less in line with expectations. Major central banks appear to be on hold, as anticipated, and projections have not been significantly different to trigger a reassessment of global interest rate outlook.
Despite a volatile few weeks, there was enough optimism on both the economic and geopolitical front to bolster confidence in the global markets. However, the outbreak has caused more than 170 deaths and 7,000 infected persons so far and has triggered some momentary panic in the markets.
Governments around the world are ramping up efforts to contain the virus which brought some reassurance to investors. China has quarantined major cities and many airlines have cancelled flights to China to limit the spread across borders.
Tourism, travel and aviation-related stocks are the most negatively affected while a handful of biotechs companies surged this month after the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations announced funding of $12.5 million to develop new vaccines against the Wuhan virus.
• Inovio Pharmaceuticals: Its share price rose by more than 20%.
• Moderna Inc.: Its share price added 8%.
• Novavax Inc.: Its share price bounced from all-time lows to $10 before retreating slightly. As of writing, it is currently 71% higher for the month at $6.84.
The World Health Organisatoin (WHO) has officially declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health emergency easing fears that the WHO is increasing its efforts to contain the virus.
Risks Remain
Overall, a series of key positive developments has helped the stock markets reach fresh new highs, but the Coronavirus has tamed the momentum. At this stage, the impact of the virus on the global economy is quite limited. While it is too early to determine the economic effect of the virus, any global epidemic generally tends to have a short or medium-term repercussions. The increased international efforts to contain the spread are so far encouraging.
Aside from the pandemic, investors are expecting a global recovery over the months. Economic data released this month has been promising. Yet, certain risks persist which could have some impact on the pace and magnitude of the global recovery:
• US-China Phase One: Its success is heavily dependent on China’s compliance and commitment, which remains murky. Traders are also less optimistic about the second phase which will handle challenging issues on IT, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity among other hi-tech areas.
• Geopolitical tensions:The rising tensions between the US and Iran came at a surprise. Investors are likely to keep risks within the Middle East on their radars. However, we expect geopolitical tensions to bring only periodic bouts of volatility unless there are serious escalations.
• Central Banks:There are expectations that most central banks will maintain a steady interest rate in 2020. The Bank of England (BoE) and Bank of Canada (BoC) were among the few to resist the global run towards easing monetary policies. However, investors are watching closely the change of tone coming from the central bankers.
Fundamentals are improving and there are more positive economic growth forecasts than expected. At the moment, volatility is mostly driven by headlines and the unexpected virus. The current environment is positive, but caution is still expected given the prevailing uncertainties. In February, we expect investors to keep monitoring those risks, and analyse economic data and earnings results to reassess growth expectations.
Deepta Bolaky, Market Analyst atGO Markets.
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Disclaimer: Articles and videos from GO Markets analysts are based on their independent analysis. Views expressed are of their own and of a ‘general’ nature. Advice (if any) are not based on the reader’s personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Readers should, therefore, consider how appropriate the advice (if any) is to their objectives, financial situation and needs, before acting on the advice.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Bitcoin Holds its Ground
• Equities Rebound, Coronavirus Spreads Further, Earnings Season In High Gear
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• Oil Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – OPEC+ Considering Further 500,000 bpd Oil Output Cut
• EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for February 3, 2020
• Markets in Search for the Bottom || E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Attempting Weak Comeback: March E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are coming back with a vengeance Thursday afternoon after the Federal Reserve announced extraordinary funding actions to ease strained capital markets in the wake of the coronavirus sell-off. The Fed announced it will ramp up its overnight funding operations to more than $500 billion.
At 17:36 GMT,March E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Averagefutures are trading 21934, down 1641 or -6.96%.
The trend is down. It won’t change to up unless buyers can take out 27075.
“Think long, think wrong” unless the market can close higher today and post a potentially bullish closing price reversal bottom.
The big question is “how long will the Fed bounce last?’ What happens when they take it back?
Earlier today, the Dow futures contract dipped below the 2019 March E-mini Dow low from December 24, 2018 at 21452.
There are two ranges we are focusing on.
The first is the Trump low at 17200 to the Trump high at 29543. Its 50% to 61.8% retracement zone at 21915 to 23372 is currently being tested. This means that the market has already erased 62% of the entire Trump rally.
The second range is the March 2009 bottom at 4075 to the February 2020 top at 29543. Its retracement zone at 16809 to 13804 is another major downside target.
At some point, we expect to see a huge retracement of the first leg down. This is often 50% to 61.8% of this break. We can’t calculate it until we reach a bottom. Right now, it’s about 25313. Since the trend is down, sellers are likely to return on a test of this level.
Keep it simple. Momentum is controlling the price action. Use momentum to get it, use it to get out. Don’t switch entry and exit methods. If it stops doing what you want it to do, just get out.
Don’t use oscillators, they don’t work. There is no such thing as oversold. RSI and stochastics are coincidental indicators. You only find out its “oversold” after it already turns. Besides, when there are millions of shares of outstanding stock, how can it be oversold? Investors can keep selling and selling until they run out of shares to sell. Trust me on that one.
Stick with the 50% and 61.8% lines. They are on everyone’s charts, some see them, some don’t. Not everyone uses the same moving averages. Some curve fit them to fit the market. Although I have confidence in the 200-day moving average.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Moment of Glory for Bitcoin?
• Crude Oil Daily Forecast – Oil Falls Below $30 as Trump Travel Ban Unnerves Investors
• EUR/USD Price Forecast – Euro All Over The Place After Lack Of Cut
• EUR/USD Mid-Session Technical Analysis for March 12, 2020
• E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – Crossed to Weak Side of Long-Term Retracement Zone
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Attempting Weak Comeback || With Freedom at Stake, More Hongkongers See Bitcoin’s Unique Value: Leo Weese is president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong.
From June to November 2019, Hong Kong saw its worst civil unrest in 50 years. What began with peaceful marches with up to two million participants (about one-fourth of the territory’s population) escalated into more and more violent clashes involving protesters, police and triads. More than 2,500 people have been injured so far, and at least 7,000 arrested. Vandalism targeting Chinese banks, government buildings, the subway system and stores appeared to be connected to criminal organizations and the Chinese government.
Hong Kong is a key financial center in Asia. Its access to the international banking system, the liquid stock market and large concentration of wealth has made it significant not only for the People’s Republic of China, but also the international Bitcoin community.
Related:Information Overload Is Stopping Us From Seeing the Truth
Multiple cryptocurrency exchanges, token funds, advisory firms and crypto events have made Hong Kong their home and profit from the city’s easy taxation regime and lack of capital controls. There are at least50 ATMs around the citywhere people can exchange their cash for bitcoin, ether or tether without sign-up or identification.
Before the protests, explaining the value proposition ofbitcoin(BTC) had been difficult. People privileged convenience over abstract ideas like “censorship resistance,” and anonymity was seen as something only criminals desired. As the protest movement grew, what makes bitcoin unique and valuable became more and more obvious.
As the protest movement grew, what makes bitcoin unique and valuable became more and more obvious.
The mass protests of 2014 ended with mass arrests. Leading figures were jailed, and those who served their time continue to beharassed by authorities. In 2019 few were willing to step up as organizers and figures. The movement learned quickly to coordinate without central leadership. The goals are formed by consensus, the strategies are created spontaneously. Messages are spread on message boards and group chats. The Hong Kong protest movement was the first decentralized civil movement, and its tactics have been replicated from Beirut to Santiago.
Related:Tron’s Takeover of Steemit Is Internet History Repeating Itself
As authorities began withholding or even withdrawing their approval for scheduled protest marches, locals suddenly risked long jail sentences for “unauthorized assembly” or even “rioting” (10 years), while others feared for their jobs. Those showing support for the movement were sometimesfiredandviolently attacked. People began to wear masks to disguise their faces.
In fear of being recorded digitally for having travelled to and from a protest location, protesters began abandoning their electronic stored value tickets, the Octopus card, in favor of cash. They even leftchange by subway ticketing machinesso other passengers could safeguard their privacy. This was a good idea, as policeused electronic payment recordsto determine who had participated in a protest.
Those holding bank accounts weren’t spared trouble. In December, police raided an organization that had crowdfunded money to defend arrested protesters,seizing $9 million and arresting four individualsfor money laundering. HSBC, with which theSpark Alliancegroup had been banking, found itself in the highly controversial position of complying with laws and beingtargeted with vandalism. Its corporate symbols, “Stephen” and “Stitt,” had to bejailed in a wooden cagefollowing an arson attack.
The most prominent Hong Kong groups that were using bitcoin at the height of the protests includeHK Map Live. The tool, which had its iOS appbanned from the App Store, was used to learn about street barricades, locations of police lines and special equipment like water cannons and armored vehicles. The data is crowdsourced and appreciated both by those seeking to support and avoid the protests, but the heavy traffic load was a big financial burden for the group. To cover these costs while preserving anonymity, the organizers mainly use bitcoin, gift cards, affiliate commissions for Amazon and donations made through Brave, the privacy-enhancing browser.
Hong Kong Free Press, after a difficult attempt to move funds out of Bitpay, shifted to the open-source payment processor BTCPay andraised almost 2 BTCin just a few weeks. Funds not immediately needed to keep one of the last remaining free media organizations running are not converted to fiat to avoid a similar fate of Spark Alliance.
A Telegram channel for protesters, whose name roughly translates to “Hong Kong School of Magic,” also raised funds with bitcoin while educating their 30,000 followers on how to buy masks on Amazon with bitcoin or buying and selling bitcoin in Hong Kong.
Capital flight out of Hong Kong was widely anticipated during this crisis, especially since the controversial extradition bill at the center of it would have also allowed for assets to be more easily reprimanded to mainland China, but there is no evidence bitcoin played a role here. In a system without capital controls, a bank wire remains the easiest mechanism to send funds abroad. While some, includingprominent speculator Kyle Bass, expected the peg to the U.S. dollar to be broken, the exchange rate remained stable.
Cash remains the most useful tool for Hong Kong protesters to retain anonymity, as most transactions happen in the physical world and cash remains widely accepted. Most problems faced by protesters are not of financial nature either way. More pressing are the availability of legal support, anonymity of online messaging platforms, how to avoid arrests at assemblies or abuse at home.
In 2019 Hong Kong, with its usually highly reliable civil service, trusted judiciary and respected financial system, abandoned faith in its institutions on a scale unprecedented for a modern rich society. The ripple effects will be felt by businesses and individuals for years to come, and a lot of the trust the territory relied on will be hard to rebuild. Cryptocurrencies play only a small role in this for now, but those who have been able to make them work for them are doing well.
• Stop Treating Bitcoin as Risky. It’s a Safer Asset Than Most
• India’s Supreme Court Ruling Is a Win for the Whole Blockchain Industry || New Settlement Layer to Offer Asian Crypto Institutions Local Alternative to Silvergate Bank: Legacy Trust’s digital asset division plans to create the first settlement layer in Asia for institutional investors trading both fiat and cryptocurrencies.
First Digital Trust (FDT) announced Friday its new rapid settlement and clearing network (RSCN) will provide custodian clients, including some of Asia’s most prominent over-the-counter desks and financial institutions, with the means to transfer digital assets seamlessly across the region.
Based in Hong Kong, FDT also holds its clients’ funds there because the territory’s regulatory framework allows it to offer a custodial solution for both cryptocurrencies and fiat, making it possible for institutions to perform secure trades between the two asset classes.
Related:Jill Carlson, Meltem Demirors Back $3.3M Round for Non-Custodial Settlement Protocol Arwen
“There isn’t a similar service anywhere in Asia,” said FTD COO Gunnar Jaerv, who added it was high time the region had a settlement solution of its own.
Asian trading constitutes a large percentage of total cryptocurrency trading volumes. But most of the region’s institutional investors use the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), the settlement layer from California-based Silvergate Bank – one of the few regulated financial institutions to take clients that trade cryptocurrencies.
SEN is popular with traders. The settlement layer, which allows users to move USD between cryptocurrency exchanges,processeda record of more than 14,000 transactions in Q4 2019, an increase in 17 percent from the previous quarter.
But Jaerv said it compelled its clients in Asia to follow strict U.S. financial regulation, even if the trades would not otherwise involve American entities. He added that it seemed pointless for a region, home to some of the largest OTC desks in the world, like OSL, should take the “scenic route” by processing payments with a U.S.-domiciled institution.
Related:Seychelles’ Stock Exchange Will List Ethereum Tokens Representing Supercars
“If they’re trading with a U.S. counterparty then it might make more sense for them to use Silvergate exchange network, but if they’re trading with somebody in Japan, Korea or Hong Kong … it definitely makes more sense to use a local provider,” Jaerv said.
Whereas Silvergate can only support U.S. dollars, any freely tradable currency, including the Singapore and Hong Kong dollars as well as euros, sterling and the greenback, can be used on FDT’s RSCN. That gives clients a broader range of fiat exchange rates as well as more diverse options for purchasing cryptocurrencies, Jaerv said.
FDT, which wasspun outof Legacy Trust in September, said the RSCN was currently in the testing phase, but a full launch is slated for sometime in May. The layer will initially be restricted to fiat and crypto assets but could be expanded to include other assets, like tokenized securities, sometime in the future, Jaerv indicated.
• Few Banks Will Touch Crypto Firms, but Silvergate Wants to Touch Bitcoin Itself
• Nomura Launching Benchmark for Japan’s Crypto Assets || Bitcoin Dips Below 6,666.5 Level, Down 0.87%: Investing.com - Bitcoin fell bellow the $6,666.5 level on Wednesday. Bitcoin was trading at 6,666.5 by 13:19 (17:19 GMT) on the Investing.com Index, down 0.87% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since March 24.
The move downwards pushed Bitcoin's market cap down to $122.0B, or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Bitcoin's market cap was $241.2B.
Bitcoin had traded in a range of $6,474.6 to $6,930.2 in the previous twenty-four hours.
Over the past seven days, Bitcoin has seen a rise in value, as it gained 28.29%. The volume of Bitcoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $46.1B or 0.00% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $5,256.0405 to $6,930.2427 in the past 7 days.
At its current price, Bitcoin is still down 66.45% from its all-time high of $19,870.62 set on December 17, 2017.
Ethereum was last at $136.07 on the Investing.com Index, down 0.08% on the day.
XRP was trading at $0.16068 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 0.28%.
Ethereum's market cap was last at $15.1B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while XRP's market cap totaled $7.1B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
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[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 6429.84, 6438.64, 6606.78, 6793.62, 6733.39, 6867.53, 6791.13, 7271.78, 7176.41, 7334.10
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2021-12-07]
BTC Price: 50700.09, BTC RSI: 35.68
Gold Price: 1782.60, Gold RSI: 44.78
Oil Price: 72.05, Oil RSI: 44.68
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Bandits Make Off With Crypto ATM in Barcelona: BeInCrypto –
A Bitcoin ATM was stolen from a Grayscale Bitcoin Trust crypto exchange in Barcelona on Friday, Nov. 12.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || What Happens to Social Security When You Die?: Zinkevych / Getty Images/iStockphoto The end of a persons life doesnt necessarily mean the end of their social security payments. Depending on factors like income and dependents, social security checks will still be issued to someone else even after the original recipient passes away. See: The Biggest Problems Facing Social Security Find: Can You Afford To Die in Your State? According to the Social Security Administration website, if you work and pay into Social Security, part of those taxes go toward survivor benefits, which means your surviving spouse, children and even parents could be eligible for payments based on your earnings. Likewise, you and your family could be eligible for benefits based on the earnings of someone else who died as long as the deceased worked long enough to qualify for benefits. If you have no survivors or dependents, the payments simply cease. Whenever someone dies, the Social Security office should be notified immediately. This is usually handled by the funeral home, which sends in a form called Statement of Death by Funeral Director. If that doesnt happen, youll have to call the SSA you cannot report a death or apply for survivor benefits online. If you need to report a death or apply for survivor benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Youll need to provide the deceased persons social security number when applying. In the event of your death, your survivor will need to provide your social security number. The executor of the estate can also call Social Security, CNBC reported. Here are some things to remember for those getting benefits on a spouses or parents record, according to the SSA: Social Security will automatically change any monthly benefits received to survivors benefits after it receives the report of death. The agency might be able to pay a Special Lump-Sum Death Payment automatically. One thing to keep in mind is that no social security benefits are due for the month of a persons death. Story continues Any benefit thats paid after the month of the persons death needs to be refunded, Peggy Sherman, a certified financial planner and lead advisor at Briaud Financial Advisors in College Station, Texas, told CNBC. See: What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die? Find: Key Points COVID-19 Long-Haulers Need to Know About Applying for Social Security Meanwhile, if your spouse or qualifying dependent were already getting money based on your record, that benefit will auto-convert to survivors benefits when the government gets notice of your death. If the surviving spouse has already reached their own full retirement age, they can get their deceased spouses full benefit. You can apply for reduced benefits as early as age 60 or age 50 if disabled which is a couple of years earlier than the standard earliest claiming age of 62 . More From GOBankingRates Take Our Poll: Are You Actually Spending Your Child Tax Credit Payment? 5 Things Most Americans Dont Know About Social Security Heres How Much You Need To Earn To Be Rich in Every State 5 Cities Around the World Experiencing a Housing Market Boom This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : What Happens to Social Security When You Die? || Kazakhstan to Limit Power for Crypto Mining to 100 MW Nationwide: Kazakhstans Ministry of Energy plans to limit the electricity consumption of the nations crypto mining industry to a total of 100 megawatts (MW) as it looks to curb power shortages. All newly authorized plants will be limited to using just 1 MW over two years, according to an Oct. 1 draft signed by the newly appointed energy minister, Magzum Maratuly Myrzagaliev. The ministerial order doesnt say if the restriction ends after that period. Kazakhstan has become the second-biggest contributor to the bitcoin network after a crackdown in China that started in May drove out crypto mining companies. It now accounts for 18% of the global hashrate, a measure of computing power used to mine bitcoin, according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. The 1 MW limit is far below what many existing industrialized mines operate on, but is more than many small cities consume. For example, earlier this week BIT Mining said it is investing in a site in Ohio to take capacity to 100 MW. The ministerial order takes effect 60 days after its publication. Increased demand for electricity is testing the Central Asian countrys electricity grid. Kazakhstans largest city, Almaty, was hit by a total blackout in mid-July. Coal plants suffered outages in October, adding to the power shortages, Reuters reported . At a Sept. 30 conference, the energy minister blamed the crypto mining boom for the power shortages, local news site Kazakhstan Today reported . The order also called on the countrys national grid operator, KEGOC, to audit any power plants with capacity of 5 MW within 10 working days. KEGOC is to look for ways crypto miners can use to plug into electricity plants and submit its findings to the ministry. Read more: Bitcoin Mining After the China Ban: US Dominance Is Set to Continu e || FOREX-Yen hits three-year low as global rally knocks safe-haven currencies: * Yen at lowest levels since October 2018 * Fed rate hikes in focus as dollar retreats * U.S. retail sales on Friday to be next test for dollar * Bitcoin hits $60,000 as traders eye first U.S. ETFs * Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Recasts with yen, adds details, latest prices) By Tommy Wilkes LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The Japanese yen skidded to a three-year low on Friday and was set for its worst week since March 2020, while the dollar headed for its first weekly decline versus major peers since the start of last month as global risk appetite rebounded. In cryptocurrency markets, the price of bitcoin topped $60,000 for the first time in six months and was not far from its record high on bets U.S. regulators will approve a bitcoin futures exchange traded fund. The dollar index slipped 0.1% to 93.9 and was down 0.2% for the week in what would be its first weekly loss in six weeks. The greenback tends to rise when investors seek safety. Global stock markets have rallied this week as fears about a stagflationary economy have been eased by forecast-beating corporate earnings in the United States. The Japanese yen was the biggest loser, dropping to as low as 114.4 yen per dollar, its weakest since October 2018. The yen is a safe-haven currency and has been knocked by the rebound in sentiment including in Asia. The dollar was last 0.5% higher at 114.31 yen — that brought week-to-date gains for the greenback of 1.9% in what would mark the worst week for the yen since March 2020. Analysts said investors who were long in dollars had been squeezed out of their positions in the past few days, and inflation data did not support a further rise in the currency. "The lack of any upside surprise in U.S. CPI (consumer price inflation) data and confirmation of existing expectations on Fed tapering in the minutes provided no catalyst for additional USD buying and hence the sell-off," said MUFG analyst Derek Halpenny. The greenback had rallied since early September on expectations the U.S. central bank would tighten monetary policy more quickly than previously expected amid an improving economy and surging energy prices. Story continues Minutes of the Fed's September meeting confirmed this week that a tapering of stimulus is all but certain to start this year, although policymakers are sharply divided over inflation and what they should do about it. Money markets are currently pricing in about 50/50 odds of a 25 basis point rate hike by July. The next gauge for the U.S. economy's health comes later on Friday with the release of retail sales figures. The euro edged up 0.1% to $1.1611 after touching $1.1624 on Thursday for the first time since Sept. 4. Sterling rose 0.5% to $1.3741 following its climb to the highest since Sept. 24 at $1.3734 overnight. The risk-sensitive Aussie dollar added 0.2% to $0.7428 before the gains fizzled. New Zealand's kiwi dollar jumped 0.4% to as high as $0.7065, extending Thursday's 1% surge. (Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Edmund Blair) || Blockchain Intelligence Group is First Analytics and Monitoring Company to Support Syscoin, Future-Proof Payments, Tokens, NFT and Asset Transfers: BIGG Digital Assets Inc. subsidiary, Blockchain Intelligence Group, Supports Blockchain Interoperability and Provides a Crypto Intelligence and Compliance Ecosystem VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (“BIGG” or the “Company”) ( CSE: BIGG , OTC: BBKCF , WKN: A2PS9W ), owner of Blockchain Intelligence Group , a global cryptocurrency compliance and intelligence company, announces it is the first blockchain analytics service to fully integrate Syscoin – a third generation blockchain – into its ecosystem. Syscoin is developed by Blockchain Foundry Inc. ( blockchainfoundry.com ) (“BCF”) (CSE:BCFN). Syscoin, a proof-of-work blockchain with a hashrate second only to Bitcoin, is a trustless computing platform combining both Ethereum and Bitcoin protocol into one ideal system that will power tomorrow's innovative distributed applications. The Syscoin network can be thought of as a modular design compared to other smart chains that are monolithic in nature, as Syscoin takes advantage of zero-knowledge-proofs within a rollup-centric roadmap to help scale infinitely in a decentralized manner yet still retain the security of Bitcoin. “By joining the BitRank Verified ecosystem, we are able to offer compliance and a regulatory framework to Syscoin customers for the first time on a public ledger that brings the same benefits as traditional financial services,” said Syscoin Foundation president and BCF Chief Technology Officer, Jagdeep Sidhu. “These benefits will integrate seamlessly for users all while they hold their tokens in their own digital wallets.” Blockchain Intelligence Group’s BitRank Verified ® solution gives banks and businesses confidence in risk-mitigation and regulatory compliance through real-time transaction monitoring and risk scoring to quickly clear low-risk transactions and investigate high-risk ones. BitRank Verified ® enables Syscoin to deliver more interoperability advancements and extend these capabilities to any blockchain that utilizes Zero-Knowledge Proofs. Story continues “Interoperability is the future of blockchain, and as more organizations seek out the benefits of crypto, our solutions are their north star for securing and legitimizing the future of finance,” said president at Blockchain Intelligence Group, Lance Morginn. “Integrating Syscoin is a proof point to the vision we share with our partners: building the future of cryptocurrency’s global adoption and utility.” This announcement further solidifies Blockchain Intelligence Group’s position as a global leader in blockchain technology search, risk-scoring and data analytics solutions and highlights Blockchain Intelligence Group’s market growth, which included a partnership with XinFin’s XDC Network and Blockchain Foundry, Inc. in Q2 2021. Learn more about Blockchain Intelligence Group and BitRank Verified ® at www.blockchaingroup.io On behalf of the Board Mark Binns CEO ir@biggdigitalassets.com Investor Relations Victoria Rutherford Victoria@adcap.ca T: 1 480 625 5772 For Press Requests Matt Eckess Red Lorry Yellow Lorry for Blockchain Intelligence Group BIG@RLYL.com T: +1 857 217 2925 About BIGG Digital Assets Inc. BIGG Digital Assets Inc. (BIGG) believes the future of crypto is a safe, compliant, and regulated environment. BIGG invests in products and companies to support this vision. BIGG owns two operating companies: Netcoins (netcoins.ca) and Blockchain Intelligence Group (blockchaingroup.io). Blockchain Intelligence Group builds technology to power compliance and intelligence for the crypto future. Banks and crypto companies depend on our technology to monitor risk from crypto transactions. Investigators and law enforcement quickly identify and track illicit activity. Blockchain Intelligence Group is trusted globally by banks, crypto companies, law enforcement, fintechs, regtechs and governments. Netcoins develops brokerage and exchange software to make the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency easily accessible to the mass consumer and investor with a focus on compliance and safety. Netcoins utilizes BitRank Verified ® software at the heart of its platform and facilitates crypto trading via a self-serve crypto brokerage portal at Netcoins.app. For more information and to register to BIGG’s mailing list, please visit our website at https://www.biggdigitalassets.com . Or visit SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include completion of the search technology software and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe” and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of BIGG. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because BIGG can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from BIGG’s expectations include, consumer sentiment towards BIGG’s products and Blockchain technology generally, technology failures, competition, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, BIGG disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, BIGG undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this Press Release. || Qual é a popularidade do Bitcoin no Brasil?: A América Latina está liderando o caminho na adoção em massa do Bitcoin (BTC) – com o continente sendo apelidado de “América descentralizada” após a legalização do Bitcoin em El Salvador pelo pioneiro Presidente Nayib Bukele. Enquanto o governo de Bukele abriu um caminho para outros seguirem, os olhos institucionais no espaço estão de olho nos peixes grandes – Colômbia, México e Brasil – todos os quais devem impulsionar um salto quântico no uso diário do Bitcoin sendo utilizado para reserva de valor, meio de remessa e opção de pagamento digital cada vez mais popular. O Brasil é de longe o maior país do continente – em tamanho, população e peso econômico – no entanto, sob a liderança incendiária do polêmico Jair Bolsonaro, a adoção da criptomoeda desacelerou com o presidente declarando de forma infame “Não sei o que é Bitcoin “. Mas como em muitos outros lugares do mundo a revolução descentralizada é de natureza popular e a adoção é alimentada não pelas permissões dos legisladores mas pelas pessoas comuns que optam por usá-la. Uma coisa é clara: os brasileiros estão escolhendo o Bitcoin . Estima-se que 5% de toda a população do Brasil agora possui criptomoedas – mais de 10 milhões de pessoas. Este número impressionante permite que o Brasil se orgulhe de ser a quinta maior comunidade de criptografia do mundo, com pesquisas demográficas mostrando que os detentores são em sua maioria homens com menos de 40 anos. Popularidade do Bitcoin no Brasil está impulsionando a adoção Porém, nem toda máquina estatal está adormecida – o BACEN e o Banco do Brasil estão acordados para a revolução que está à sua porta. Apesar da postura de desprezo do Bolsonaro, o Banco Central do Brasil (BACEN) reconheceu oficialmente o Bitcoin e as criptomoedas como ativos monetários em 2019, e o Banco do Brasil se tornou o primeiro banco estatal do mundo a permitir a exposição do consumidor ao Bitcoin por meio de produtos ETF – um enorme movimento para a indústria no início deste ano. A adoção em massa e a empolgação em torno do Bitcoin desde o início da corrida de touros de 2021 agora colocou as criptomoedas firmemente nas mesas dos legisladores do Brasil – com um projeto de lei em andamento que visa dar ao Bitcoin o status de curso legal completo – semelhante a El Salvador. Houve também a recente aprovação de emendas que trouxeram punições mais rígidas para os fraudadores de criptografia e cibercriminosos. A criptoeconomia do Brasil também está se beneficiando do boom do Bitcoin – o Mercado Bitcoin , com sede no Brasil, conseguiu levantar $ 200 milhões em sua recente rodada de financiamento da Série B. Story continues Este investimento no Mercado Bitcoin fez da 2TM (controladora do Mercado) a 8ª empresa ‘Unicórnio’ mais valiosa da América do Sul. Leia mais: O mercado brasileiro de apostas esportivas movimenta US $ 1,6 bilhão anualmente. View comments || Bitcoin Soars Past $68K for the First Time as Ether Also Sets Record High: Bitcoin, the oldest cryptocurrency, on Monday blew past $68,000 for the first time, hitting $68,382.60 during Asian hours trading.
The markets have been in a bull mode since the beginning of the October, as the crypto market in total has added nearly $1 trillion to its total value in just a month. At the press time, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has reached near $3 trillion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
As CoinDeskreported, bitcoin is widely perceived by many investors as a store of value asset like gold, making the crypto a haven as worries about inflation increase. Meanwhile, blockchain data from Glassnode shows that the number of unique wallets with a balance of more than zero bitcoin has returned to near 39 million, a number that’s close to a record high of 38.7 million in May.
At the same time, Glassnode noted inits weekly reporton Monday that bitcoin’s balances on exchanges continued to drop, while Bitcoin mining hashrate, a measure of the total computational power being used to secure the Bitcoin blockchain, could return new all-time highs before the end of the year – after itplunged inJuly due to China’s crackdown in bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin was surging above $68,000 at around 05:00 a.m. UTC on Tuesday. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also set an all-time high, hitting $4,823.95, according toCoinDesk.
Ether’s surge came asreportsshow that the Ethereum network burned more ether than it issued forat least a week, after Ethereum’s London hard fork upgrade introduceda mechanismto burn a large portion of transaction fees, measured in ether, instead of sending them to miners. Burning means that the ether is permanently removed from the circulating supply.
Meanwhile, the concerns around Ethereum blockchain’s scalability and high transaction fees continued to move parts of the market’s attention to so-called Ethereum alternative tokens including solana (SOL), polkadot (DOT), terra (LUNA), and avalanche (AVAX).
Data from blockchain data firm Kaiko shows that Ethereum is losing market share to other popular layer 1 blockchains since the beginning of the year, as ether’s trading volume on Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, has fallen to 42% from 76% in the beginning of the year with the lost volume shifting to other layer 1 tokens.
“The recent [non-fungible token] fervor has again generated high transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain, making alternate networks that solve for scalability concerns more attractive,” Kaiko wrote in its newsletter on Nov. 8.
UPDATE (NOV. 9 5:02 UTC):Updates bitcoin and ether record high throughout the report. || El Salvador Bitcoin City: ‘Absurd Political Stunt by a Delusional Dictator’, Says Steve Hanke: BeInCrypto –
Steve Hanke has criticized plans by El Salvador to build a Bitcoin city, calling the initiative an “absurd political stunt by a delusional dictator.”
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Economic Data Delivers Mixed Results for the EUR Ahead of U.S Stats and FED Chair Powell Testimony: It was yet another busy economic calendar this morning. German retail sales were in focus along with member state and Eurozone Manufacturing PMIs for November. German Retail Sales In October, retail sales fell by 0.3% following a 2.5% slide from September. Economists had forecast a 1.0% increase. According to Destatis , Compared with the pre-crisis month of Feb-2020, however, retail turnover was up 3.5%. Year-on-year, however, turnover was down 2.9%, with consumption weighed by delivery bottlenecks in retail trade. Member State Manufacturing PMIs Spain’s Manufacturing PMI slipped from 57.4 to 57.1 in November, versus a forecasted rise to 57.9. In November, Italy’s Manufacturing PMI rose from 61.1 to 62.8 Economists had forecast for the PMI to hold steady at 61.1. According to finalized figures: France’s Manufacturing PMI rose from 53.6 to 55.9 which was up from a prelim 54.6. In November, Germany’s Manufacturing PMI fell from 57.8 to 57.4, which was down from a prelim 57.6. The Eurozone According to finalized figures, the Eurozone’s Manufacturing PMI rose from 58.3 to 58.4 in November, which was down from prelim 58.6. According to the November survey , Manufacturing sector growth stabilized following a 4-month slowdown in growth from June’s record expansion. Severe supply-related constraints continued to hinder sector activity. Consumer goods producers recorded an accelerated expansion, while intermediate and investment goods makers saw growth slow further. While at a slower pace, new business continued to rise at a solid clip. Average lead times lengthened once more, however. Costs rose at the third strongest pace in the series history. Output prices, as a result, were raised to the greatest extent since the series began in Nov-2002. By Country, Italy topped the table, with a record PMI high of 62.8 followed by the Netherlands (9-month low 60.7%). France sat at the bottom of the table with a 3-month high 55.9. While avoiding the bottom, German and Austria saw their respective PMIs fall to 10-month lows, with Spain’s declining to an 8-month low. Story continues Market Impact Ahead of today’s stats, the EUR had fallen to a pre-stat low $1.13165 before rising to a pre-stat and current day high $1.13599. In response today’s stats, the EUR rose to a post-Spain PMI release high $1.13412 before sliding to a post-stat and current day low $1.13027. At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.17% to $1.13192. Next Up ADP nonfarm employment and ISM Manufacturing PMI figures and day-2 of FED Chair Powell testimony. On the monetary policy front, ECB Member Panetta is also scheduled to speak following November’s inflation figures released on Tuesday. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin Price Prediction – A Break Through to $59,500 Needed to Bring $60,000 back into Play Bitcoin Supports For Potential Longs Former Citi Top Trading Executive Launches Hivemind Capital Meme Coin Floki Inu to Be Promoted on Burj Khalifa Tomorrow Budweiser is Launching its own NFT Series Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Bouncing Back After Overreaction to Powell Remarks || Bitcoin (BTC) Closes Monthly Candlestick with Slight Dip Below $57,000: BeInCrypto –
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently attempting to break out from both a horizontal and diagonal resistance level. Doing so would confirm that the correction is complete.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 50504.80, 47672.12, 47243.30, 49362.51, 50098.34, 46737.48, 46612.63, 48896.72, 47665.43, 46202.14
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Mark Cuban is backing a new cryptocurrency fund months after calling bitcoin a 'bubble': mark cuban (Mark Cuban speaking at the 2015 Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference.Mike Blake/Reuters) Mark Cuban is singing a different tune when it comes to cryptocurrencies. The tech billionaire and "Shark Tank" star is an early backer of a new cryptocurrency fund, according to CoinDesk , which reports on blockchain and cryptocurrency news. The fund, 1confirmation, launched Tuesday, plans to invest exclusively in cryptocurrency assets, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission . Its founder, Nick Tomaino, a principal at the $270 million Palo Alto-based investor Runa Capital, is looking to raise $20 million. "I think Nick is one of the sharpest minds in the space, and I'm a big believer that there will be transformational apps built on blockchain," Cuban told CoinDesk. Cuban said in a tweet last week that he was looking to jump on the bitcoin bandwagon: I might have to rewrite all these replacing stocks with $btc . Might have to finally buy some https://t.co/ADiPQWUNF6 — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) August 14, 2017 Cuban's financial interest in the digital-currency world is an about-face for the billionaire, who two months ago called it a "bubble." In early June, soon after bitcoin hit what was then a near record high of $2,900 a coin, Cuban warned of a coming correction: I think it's in a bubble. I just don't know when or how much it corrects. When everyone is bragging about how easy they are making $=bubble https://t.co/hTrV5DeWNd — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 6, 2017 Cuban then turned his focus to cryptocurrencies as a whole: Anyone anywhere can buy a stock. #crypto is like gold. More religion than asset. Except of course gold makes nice jewelry. #crypto notsomuch https://t.co/xp334BCRa2 — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 6, 2017 Cuban's change of heart represents a pivot across Wall Street. Financial firms and institutional investors are waking up to the profit potential in cryptocurrencies as bitcoin and ether, its rival powered by the Ethereum blockchain, reach new heights — they're up more than 350% and 2,000%, respectively, since the beginning of the year. Story continues For instance, VanEck, the New York-based money manager with $24.7 billion in assets, is seeking to launch a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, according to an August 11 SEC preliminary filing . Additionally, Goldman Sachs is telling clients that cryptocurrencies are worth their attention. In a recent note to portfolio managers, the Goldman analyst Robert Boroujerdi and his team wrote: "With the total value nearly $120 billion, it's getting harder for institutional investors to ignore cryptocurrencies. Whether or not you believe in the merit of investing in cryptocurrencies (you know who you are) real dollars are at work here and warrant watching especially in light of the growing world of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and fundraising that now exceeds Internet Angel and Seed investing." ICOs, a fundraising method powered by blockchain, have raised over $1.8 billion since the beginning of the year, according to Autonomous Next, a fintech-analytics firm. According to CoinDesk, 1confirmation "will make initial investments in the $100,000 to $500,000 range" in "legal vehicles designed to help investors pre-purchase tokens or equity prior to an ICO." NOW WATCH: How working at Goldman Sachs is different from a hedge fund job More From Business Insider Bitcoin's rally is pausing — but Bitcoin Cash is popping Bitcoin is posting new record highs Bitcoin is back above $4,000 || The hottest trend in cryptocurrencies was just dealt a big blow: (Servers for data storage are seen at Advania's Thor Data Center in Hafnarfjordur, IcelandThomson Reuters)
The hottest trend in cryptocurrency was just dealt a serious blow.
On Monday, cryptocurrency trading startupCoinDashreported its site was hacked during an initial coin offering, according to reporting fromBloomberg's Alexandria Arnold.
$1.2 billionhas been raised by the new cryptocurrency-based capital raising method this year, according to Autonomous NEXT, a financial technology analytics firm. It is a trend that has sparked excitement across Wall Street.
A number of startups have used ICOs to raise capital. Gnosis, a prediction market for digital currency Ethereum,raised $12 million in just 10 minutes in April.Brave, a new web browser startup set up by the founder of Mozilla, made that look pedestrian,raising $35 million in less than 30 seconds selling "Basic Attention Tokens" last month.
But the hack, which redirected $7 million worth of ether, provides a reason for folks to be skeptical of the red-hot investment vehicle.
"Investors had been instructed to pay with Ethereum and send funds to the token sale’s smart contact address. In an email, CoinDash said it appeared that the sending address was hacked and changed to a fraudulent address," Bloomberg's Arnold wrote.
Wall Street skeptics were quick to cite the rapid appreciation of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether tokens as one reason initial coin offerings are a bad concept. David Rutter, a Wall Street vet who heads R3CEV, a fintech startup, previously told Business Insider:
"There’s approximately 200 coins now. If you had an analyst look at it, this is a typical kind of bubble, in that folks that have made money in bitcoin are trying to parlay that into other kinds of cryptocurrencies and now they’re moving out of those."
CoinDash, however, is resolute that it will overcome this hiccup.
"This was a damaging event to both our contributors and our company but it is surely not the end of our project," the firm said in a statement. "We are looking into the security breach and will update you all as soon as possible about the findings."
NOW WATCH:A $16B hedge fund CIO explains what it takes to work at a hedge fund today
More From Business Insider
• Bitcoin is on a tear amid signs that its civil war is coming to an end
• ETHEREUM COFOUNDER: There is 'a ticking time bomb' in cryptocurrencies
• Startups are enjoying a goldrush selling digital coins online — but can you tell the real one from the fakes? || Top Wall Street strategist expects bitcoin to be the best asset through year-end: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) will likely outperform stocks and bonds the rest of the year, according to the first major Wall Street strategist to issue a report on the digital currency. "I think bitcoin is an underowned asset with potential for huge institutional sponsorship coming," Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee said Wednesday on CNBC's " Fast Money ." "It has a lot of characteristics that are very similar to gold that I think will make it ultimately attractive as an alternate currency," he said. "It's a good store of value." Here's Lee's outlook on bitcoin given on the show into year-end: Gold or bitcoin? Bitcoin? "Yes." Would you rather own bitcoin versus a basket of U.S. stocks? "Between now and year end it's easily bitcoin." Will bitcoin be the best performing asset? "Yes." Bitcoin leaped to record highs this week above $3,500, more than tripling in value for the year despite a split in the currency last week into bitcoin and bitcoin cash, an alternative version supported by a minority of developers. Bitcoin traded 1.5 percent higher near $3,428 Thursday morning, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin cash steadied after wild swings in its first week, trading near $303, according to CoinMarketCap. Another digital currency, ethereum (Exchange: ETH=) , rose 1 percent to just under $300, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin three-month performance Source: CoinDesk Lee published a report in early July outlining the potential for bitcoin to rise above $20,000 and potentially reach $55,000 by 2022. Formerly the top stock strategist at JPMorgan and a perennial favorite of big institutional investors, Lee was also one of the few on Wall Street to predict that a Donald Trump win in last year's election would cause stocks to rally, not fall like most had seen. Lee sees another reason for optimism about bitcoin. "Institutions have to directly buy the coin today through a broker, but both the CBOE and the CFTC have opened up options futures trading, so I think it's going to grow in holdings," he told CNBC. Story continues In the last month, the Chicago Board Options Exchange said it plans to offer bitcoin futures by early next year, while the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a digital currency trading firm called LedgerX to clear derivatives. Market strategists have noted there are few highly attractive investment opportunities with U.S. stocks at all-time highs and bonds steady as the Federal Reserve remains on a gradual pace of monetary policy tightening and gold in a trading range. The median S&P 500 target of strategists surveyed by CNBC is 2,475, just a point above where the stock index closed Wednesday. Lee happens to be the most bearish among those strategists with a year-end target of 2,275, or 8 percent below Wednesday's close. More From CNBC Dow falls 100 points as North Korea tensions linger Early movers: KSS, APRN, GOOS, PRGO, EAT, DAL, FOXA, JACK, ELF & more North Korea concerns set the stage on Wall Street, stock futures fall || 5 Strong Buy Stocks a Better Bet Than Bitcoin: Feels like a new day after the eclipse here. Gone are the worries of North Korea and tensions following Charlottesville. We got a big bounce in stocks with virtually no pullbacks today and volatility left the building. All this while the Jackson Hole Summit has central bankers listening to Prince and watching Lonesome Dove.
Check out Dave’s Daily Dive video above where I break down the market action today!!!
Each day I, Dave Bartosiak of Zacks.com (Twitter @bartosiastics) dive into the charts, pointing out key price action and levels for you to watch.
But it doesn’t stop there because the highlight of today’s video, which you can see for free by clicking above, is where I uncover five Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks that are breaking out to new 52-week highs today. These stocks have a ton of momentum behind them and are charging higher. The list of stocks I cover today include:
Alibaba BABA
Alibaba Group Holding Limited Price and Consensus | Alibaba Group Holding Limited Quote
Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as an online and mobile commerce company in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Core Commerce, Cloud Computing, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others. It operates Taobao Marketplace, a mobile commerce destination; Tmall, a third-party platform for brands and retailers; Rural Taobao program that enables rural residents and businesses to sell agricultural products to urban consumers; Juhuasuan, a sales and marketing platform for flash sales; Alibaba.com, an online wholesale marketplace; Alitrip, an online travel booking platform; 1688.com, an online wholesale marketplace; and AliExpress, a consumer marketplace.
Getty Realty GTY
Getty Realty Corporation Price and Consensus | Getty Realty Corporation Quote
Getty Realty Corp. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. The company engages in the ownership and leasing of retail motor fuel and convenience store properties, and petroleum distribution terminals. The company’s properties are leased or sublet to distributors and retailers engaged in the sale of gasoline and various motor fuel products, convenience store products, and automotive repair services.
China Lodging HTHT
China Lodging Group, Limited Price and Consensus | China Lodging Group, Limited Quote
China Lodging Group, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops leased and owned, manachised, and franchised hotels primarily in the People’s Republic of China. It operates hotels under the Joya Hotel, Manxin Hotels & Resorts, JI Hotel, Starway Hotel, Elan Hotel, HanTing Hotel, Hi Inn, Grand Mercure Hotel, Novotel Hotel, Mercure Hotel, Ibis Styles Hotel, and Ibis Hotel brand names for business and leisure traveler customers.
Telecom Argentina TEO
Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom S.A. Price and Consensus | Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom S.A. Quote
Telecom Argentina S.A. provides fixed-line telecommunications and other telephone-related services to residential customers, businesses, and governmental agencies in Argentina and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Fixed Telecommunications Services, Personal Mobile Telecommunications Services, and Núcleo Mobile Telecommunications Services.
Xplore Technologies XPLR
Xplore Technologies Corp Price and Consensus | Xplore Technologies Corp Quote
Xplore Technologies Corp. develops, integrates, and markets rugged mobile personal computer systems in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company’s products enable the extension of traditional computing systems to a range of field personnel, including energy pipeline inspectors, public safety personnel, warehouse workers, and pharmaceutical scientists.
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAlibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) : Free Stock Analysis ReportXplore Technologies Corp (XPLR) : Free Stock Analysis ReportChina Lodging Group, Limited (HTHT) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTelecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom S.A. (TEO) : Free Stock Analysis ReportGetty Realty Corporation (GTY) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Rides the Bitcoin Boom: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Since the last time I wrote about Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD ) a month ago, AMD stock has risen nearly 20%. Credit the boom in Bitcoin. Source: Matthew Rutledge via Flickr Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are not created by government fiat, but mined by private individuals who search for valid answers to their encryption puzzles. Each answer represents a “coin,” and each coin then has a value created through an open market ledger. Fast processors bring faster answers to the puzzle. Cheaper, faster processors lower a miner’s costs. AMD, since it has cheap, fast processors, is naturally going to benefit when mining goes into overdrive. But, what mining gives , mining can also take away, as AMD shareholders have also learned recently. As Bitcoin prices have fallen — they’re down by about one-third since mid-June — the bears have also come out for AMD stock. Will AMD Deliver? AMD has a much lower market cap than any popular chip stock, making it more volatile, which in turn makes it of greater interest to traders and those who go in and out of stocks regularly. 7 Stocks to Buy to Get in on the Internet of Things For investors, however, what matters is momentum in sales and profits. For the quarter ending in June, analysts aren’t expecting much: either a 1 cent profit (or loss) on revenue of $1.16 billion being close to the profit of 8 cents per share and sales of $1.027 billion achieved a year ago. It would certainly beat the loss of 8 cents per share, and sales of $984 million, achieved last quarter, however, and that’s why AMD stock is generally rising. AMD players don’t look a year behind or a year ahead. They look at today, perhaps at a quarter, plunging in and out on rumors. The Bitcoin boom and bust are examples of that. AMD stock fell 6% in one day recently , simply because the price of Ethereum continued its own dramatic fall. Story continues The fact is, such moves are silly. Mining represents a small part of AMD’s sales. Game systems and cloud servers are where the money is made, and this is where AMD is making its biggest gains , thanks to its low-power designs and its graphics chips. Small Means Action Again, AMD is much smaller than rivals such as NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ), where it competes in graphics, and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC ), where it competes on processors. What may look like a bump in the road for Intel is a mountain to AMD. The same is true with NVIDIA. And, this can have a dramatic impact on the price of AMD stock. While it is interesting that AMD is “toeing the launching pad,” as Joseph Hargett wrote recently, what should matter to investors is whether the present gains are sustainable. Richard Saintvilus thinks the gains are, and believes AMD stock could hit $15 by the end of the year, delivering a solid gain. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) and VMware, Inc. (VMW) Are Teaming Up Again While anything is possible, I think it more likely that AMD is going through the same boom-and-bust cycle it has seen in previous generations of chips. Intel moves slowly, but it moves, and that will be the case this time. It has vast resources with which to design and build new processors that do everything AMD does, and more. This will happen. When it does, a year or so from now, AMD is not where you will want to be. But, as previously mentioned, AMD shareholders don’t think that far ahead. If you can stand the volatility, if you pay careful attention, and if you don’t fall in love with your AMD investment, you can still make some money here. Just keep an eye on it. As Bitcoin investors will tell you, action can go both ways. Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of the historical mystery romance The Reluctant Detective Travels in Time , available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn . As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace 7 Tech Stocks That Aren't Bothered by Washington 10 Dogs of 2017 That Will Become 2018's Best Stocks to Buy 3 Tech Stocks That Belong In Every Retirement Portfolio The post Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Rides the Bitcoin Boom appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Is the Dollar Ready for a Tumble?: One does have to wonder whether the next 3 plus years are going to be anything like the last 8 months, with the U.S administration seemingly more capable of dictating the direction of the Dollar than the FED. Economic data out of the U.S this week hasn’t been too bad, with the weekly jobless claims figures out yesterday having been Dollar positive, while industrial production and manufacturing activity softened in Philly. The markets should be getting to the point where there is less sensitivity to noise from Capitol Hill, but judging by the moves in the Dollar this week, the Trump era has certainly yet to be completely priced out and there may be more to come for the Dollar and the markets as the investigations develop and Trump continues to chop and change members of the administration, not to mention speak. At the end of the day, there has been very little delivered by the administration for there to be any concerns over who comes and goes. Perhaps it should be Dollar positive for the existing members of the administration to be replaced by new… Its food for thought and when considering how little time has passed since Trump’s inauguration, one does need to ponder on how things will be in even a year from now. It’s hard to recall a U.S administration having such a damming impact on the Dollar, but they wanted a weaker Dollar and they got it. On the macroeconomic data front, it’s a much quieter day, with stats out of the U.S limited to prelim August consumer sentiment figures, which are forecasted to be Dollar positive. The survey will have been completed after Trump’s latest failings over Charlottesville and the mass walk out of CEOs this week from his two business councils. So it could well be downhill after this, though looking at how consumer confidence has fared through the year, it’s been pretty resilient despite the administration failing to deliver on growth policies pledged during and after the Presidential Election campaign. Story continues Perhaps of more interest will be how the EUR performs in the coming days, having slumped back to sub-$1.17 levels before a partial recovery. The ECB has certainly done a stellar job in pegging the EUR back from $1.19 levels, but with the economic outlook for the Eurozone on a more positive footing than that of the U.S and with geo-political risk having abated in the Eurozone, in stark contrast to the U.S, it’s hard to imagine the EUR easing any further. There’s very little else for the markets to deal with through the day, so on merit, it would be the Dollar that should be on the weaker footing at the end of the week. At the time of the report, the Dollar Spot Index was down 0.19% at 93.442, with both the EUR and the Pound on the bounce, gaining 0.26% and 0.21% respectively. It is a reflection of just how bad market sentiment is towards the U.S administration that even the Pound is able to make ground, despite a weakening economy and the uncertainty over Brexit and what looms. While we do expect the Dollar to remain under pressure, there will also be some support, particularly when considering current levels, though it’s anyone’s guess what comes next from the Oval Office. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: All the Reasons why Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $4000, What’s Next? Is the Dollar Ready for a Tumble? Morning Market Updates – EUR/USD Gold Looking for Breakout U.S. Dollar Rattled by Political Rumors, Geopolitical Risks, Fed Policy Market Snapshot – Stock Market Rally Hits a Roadblock || David Pogue on the solar eclipse: I’ve always thought eclipse chasers—these people who spend thousands of dollars flying around the world to spend two minutes looking at a solar eclipse—were a little nutty. I mean, that’s a little extreme, right? If you want to see what a solar eclipse looks like, type solar eclipse into Google, right? Of course, I get that an eclipse is supposed to be better experienced live, in the same way that seeing a band perform live is more exciting than listening to a recording. But the way these people talk? “Life-changing?” “Addicting?” “Spiritual?” That, I’ve always thought, was a little much. A total eclipse of the sun is when the earth, moon, and sun are all lined up perfectly, so that the moon precisely blocks the sun for couple of minutes. (How come its silhouette is exactly the right size to block the more distant sun? Pure coincidence.) That’s the moment of totality — where the moon is positioned fully between you and the sun, so that all you see of the sun is a ring of fire around a jet-black circle. It supposedly looks like this: Here’s the kind of eclipse photo we usually see. It’s not accurate. (nasa.gov) Getting to see a total eclipse is relatively hard. There were just 62 total eclipses during the 20th century. Even then, the moon’s shadow carves out a narrow path, only 70 miles wide, where you can experience totality. (Outside that band, you see a partial eclipse, where you see the sun with a rounded bite taken out of it—kind of like the Apple logo.) So to experience totality, you have to be in the right place in the right time—and have the right weather. Experts were raving about how rare and special this week’s eclipse would be. They called it the “Great American Eclipse,” because (a) its path would cross the entire continental USA, for the first time in 99 years, and (b) the total eclipse would be visible only from this country. Totality would pass through 14 states, passing over the homes of 12.2 million Americans. The “path of totality” during this week’s solar eclipse crossed the entire United States. (NASA.gov) It would also fall during the final days of school summer vacation. In other words, all the planets were aligned for me to make my own first trip to see a total solar eclipse. Story continues Not for my benefit. For my kids. Obviously. Where to go NASA’s websites featured some great tools for planning a visit. Almost every state in the U.S. would be able to see some of the eclipse. But we wanted to experience totality if we could. NASA’s interactive map made it clear that, for us, the closest spot would be South Carolina. So I booked a plane, a car, and a cheap hotel, and started getting my kids excited. Three days before the eclipse, though, it became clear that South Carolina was not the place to be this time; almost the entire state would be covered by clouds on the big day! Of course, a total solar eclipse is very cool even if it’s cloudy. You still feel a crazy rapid temperature drop, see the day rapidly turning into temporary night, and hear animals and bugs going crazy. But you miss the grand prize: Looking into the sky and seeing the eclipse itself. Well, dangit. Now what? Well, I’d come this far. I bit the bullet and canceled our reservations. The next closest spot on the eclipse’s path of totality seemed to be Nashville, Tennessee—a great place for a family trip even without an eclipse. Better yet, the weather was supposed to be clear! Nashville was hosting all kinds of special events. At their science museum, for example, there would be talks and booths and exhibits. At the baseball stadium, the mayor was hosting a massive viewing party. All the flights to Nashville were sold out. So we flew to Memphis instead, and drove the 3.5 hours to Nashville. The night before, in our hotel room, my sons (ages 20 and 12) and I planned our strategy. Nashville would experience 1 minute, 55 seconds of totality; but smaller towns 30 miles away were closer to the eclipse’s center line. Gallatin, Tennessee, for example, would have 2 minutes, 40 seconds of totality. Jeffrey, my seventh grader, insisted that we skip the festivities of Nashville and go for the longer eclipse experience. The closer to the center line, the longer the moment of totality. Gallatin was looking good. (greatamericaneclipse.com) “You realize that, with all the traffic, we’ll have to sit in the car for two extra hours to get to Gallatin—for 45 seconds more eclipse?” said Kell, his older brother. But Jeffrey was adamant. The big morning We arrived at Triple Creek Park in Gallatin two hours before the start of the eclipse. This is a vast public park—acres and acres of soccer fields, baseball fields, field fields. There were lots of people there for the eclipse, but the park wasn’t what you’d call crowded in any sense; finding places to park our car and ourselves was easy. Here and there, we saw people with telescopes or huge telephoto camera lenses. Everyone was incredibly friendly; there was a sense of shared excitement. The day was blistering hot, so most people found shady trees for waiting. It was a hot August day in Tennessee, so most of us waited under the trees until the big moment. The eclipse began at 11:28 a.m. For an hour, it was OK. You could wear your cardboard eclipse glasses, look up at the sun, and see the growing rounded bite taken out of its side. “It’s a Pac-Man,” said almost everyone. Interesting, but slow. But then, as 12:29 p.m. approached, things began to get wild. We could feel the heat ease off fast, as more and more of the sun got blocked. The cicadas that had produced a loud, steady background rattle all morning suddenly went quiet. My sons and I, moments before the totality that blew us away. And then, with a minute to go, the magic began. The whole world began to dim. But here’s the thing—it wasn’t dark like nightfall. This darkness had a silvery-grey tint to it. It was as though someone had put a giant Instagram dimming filter on everything you could see. Completely otherworldly and strange and beautiful. And then, suddenly, the eclipse hit totality: The sun was completely blocked by the moon. All around us, we could hear people crying out. These weren’t crowd noises like you’d hear at a circus, baseball game, or theater—it was gasps of awe and emotion, a collective sound I’d never heard from a crowd before. My eclipse app’s guide voice announced that it was now safe to remove our glasses and look directly up at the sun. Oh, my, god. While we’d had the glasses on, all we could see was the bright yellow crescent of the sun—and around it, blankness. No color, no detail. But with the glasses off…!! Where there should have been the sun, there was a jet-black perfect circle, sharp and laser-cut. Around it was the corona—a blazing intense spill of the sun’s atmosphere. All of it was suspended against a deep blue sky . That’s what I remember: Intense black circle, intense ring of white, intense glowing blue. Yes, there is color in an eclipse—vivid, iridescent, alien. Almost every solar-eclipse photo lies . All of those Google image searches? They’re baloney. They show a black ball against a black sky, and that is not what it looks like. I’ve tried to Photoshop the right color scheme into this photo: This is my Photoshop hack trying to show the blue sky. We could see some stars—against blue, not black. Here’s another reason why no photo can ever represent a total eclipse: Because a photo can show the corona only as bright as your screen (or piece of paper)! You don’t get any sense of how stunningly bright and pure and intense that fire is. It’s hundreds of times brighter than your screen. Our eyes can detect a much greater dynamic range (the scale of brights and darks) than any camera can. What I learned that day is that a total solar eclipse is almost alone among the things we experience, in that you can’t photograph it. To see what it looks like, you have to be there. When I looked around us, I saw a strange, gorgeous fake twilight. There was what looked like a 360-degrees “sunrise” around the entire horizon, and the sky ranged from dusky blue to deep violet. When I looked up, though, my heart raced. The intensity, the dazzling colors, the freakishness of that sight—a jet-black hole where the sun should be! I’m not a touchy-feely person by any stretch, but this was a spiritual experience; I was so moved, and I could tell that my sons were, too. I could easily see why ancient civilizations assumed that some god or mystic force was responsible for total eclipses. (I love this description by retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, who’s witnessed 27 solar eclipses: “You feel something in the pit of your stomach like something is wrong in the day, something is not right,” he told Time . “As totality begins, and the shadow sweeps over you, the hairs on the back of your neck and arms stand up.”) I’d been warned not to try to take pictures of my first eclipse; the last thing you want is to miss the magic while you’re futzing with your gear. So during the 160 seconds of totality, I allowed myself about 10 seconds to snap pictures (Sony a6000 SLR, solar filter, 210mm lens). They’re not great pictures—you really need much more zoom—but here’s the idea: Even my SLR with a solar filter captured only the roughest idea of the eclipse. Remember: The sky was deep blue, not black. As the moon began to edge out of the sun’s way, we were treated to a moment of the “diamond ring” effect as the sun breaks past the right edge of the moon: The “diamond ring” moment, where the sun begins to peek out again as the moon moves on. And again: Imagine the sky deep blue, not black. (abcnews.com) And then, as quickly as it had begun, the process reversed itself. Daylight returned, and the world’s colors faded back in. The temperature shot back up. The crowd cheered. People ran to check their cameras, or babble with their families, or wipe tears from their eyes. The first-timers, in particular, had been somehow changed. We’d all seen something freakish, rare, beautiful, shocking, historic—and much, much bigger than ourselves. I had set up a GoPro on a tripod to film the whole scene, hoping to capture the fading light and the sounds of the event. Unfortunately, I was too wrapped up in the event to notice that another guy set up his camera and tripod right in front of mine, partially blocking the shot. Sorry about that, but you still get the idea—you can see the light fall, and hear the crowds and the confused cicadas—in this time-lapse video: The modern-age eclipse Actually, this wasn’t my first solar eclipse. I can still remember my parents showing me one in the backyard in Cleveland when I was 7 years old—and using a stack of color film negatives to protect my eyes! (A little research reveals that, first of all, that’s not a safe way to view an eclipse—and second, we weren’t in the path of totality. But I remember everybody being pretty excited anyway.) What’s different, of course, is time and technology. The internet made planning our eclipse trip a snap—we could see the path of totality and observe the weather. Phone apps guided us through the experience. Those cheap cardboard eclipse glasses made it safe to look up with confidence. Social media made it possible to share the experience around the world in real time—both the exhilaration of seeing the eclipse, and, for some, the heartbreak of being thwarted by unexpected clouds (as Nashville viewers ultimately were). The next total eclipse will come to the Earth in July 2019, but most of it will be wasted on empty ocean. (You’ll be able to see it in Chile and Argentina, but it’ll be winter time, and therefore possibly cloudy.) The next one to come to the U.S. will occur in April, 2024—seven years from now. It’ll fly up from Texas to Maine, like this: nasa.gov Take it from a guy with a changed attitude: You should try to be there. I’ll be joining you. More from David Pogue: Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant is ambitious, powerful, and half-baked Is through-the-air charging a hoax? Electrify your existing bike in 2 minutes with these ingenious wheels Marty Cooper, inventor of the cellphone: The next step is implantables The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s poguester@yahoo.com. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . || Walmart, Kroger, Unilever try IBM blockchain for food data: IBM ( IBM ) has convinced a slew of big-name grocers and consumer brands to try blockchain, the technology that originated with the digital currency Bitcoin in 2009 but is now being applied in a number of business contexts that have nothing to with Bitcoin. Walmart ( WMT ), Kroger ( KR ), Unilever ( UN ), Nestlé, Dole ( DOLE ), Tyson Foods ( TSN ), Golden State Foods, and McCormick ( MKC ) have all joined the collaboration to use IBM blockchain to track food shipments and monitor food safety, IBM announced on Tuesday. This is the second blockchain trial Walmart has done with IBM; the first, nearly a year ago, was to track shipments of pork in China . This time, many more companies have signed on, and the scope is much larger. “I think the fun has begun,” says IBM’s blockchain exec Jerry Cuomo. Why does this matter? Skeptics of Bitcoin, and of blockchain, have dismissed these burgeoning technologies on the argument that the average person doesn’t understand how they work (and in the case of Bitcoin, many people think it exists mainly for crime). Bitcoin and blockchain believers have long retorted that non-techies don’t need to understand them in order to use them . They reason that people could end up using these technologies without knowing how they work, a la HTTP, the protocol on which the internet runs, or SMTP, the e-mail protocol. This IBM trial backs up that argument. Customers of Walmart (or Kroger, or Nestle, and so on) won’t know that a blockchain had anything to do with the papayas, or mangoes, or pork chops they buy at the market. But if IBM is to be believed, shoppers will benefit from it, because the use of a blockchain to track the shipment and supply chain can “t race contaminated product to its source in a short amount of time and ensure safe removal from store shelves,” according to a press release. In other words: the success of blockchain tech (which Wall Street is also embracing for faster back-end trade settlements ) does not rely on consumers understanding what it is. Story continues ‘There is a new style of blockchain’ Still, you may wonder, what is blockchain? It’s a distributed, immutable ledger for recording data or executing smart contracts. The Bitcoin blockchain is a peer-to-peer, permission-less, anonymous ledger that records every transaction done in Bitcoin; “miners” upload records of transactions in bundles called “blocks” and receive a small reward in Bitcoin for their work. (For more, watch this video .) But the IBM blockchain, and the blockchains that many financial institutions are building , are slightly different: permissioned, closed, and usually minus cryptocurrency. “There is a new style of blockchain, and it’s permissioned, and it’s good, and it works,” says Cuomo. “Each of these members, while they are permitted to transact privately, their identity is known through a sort of digital membership card that is given to each member when they onboard the network. And this allows for audit scenarios.” (And so the hype around “blockchain without bitcoin” continues , even as the price of Bitcoin as a speculative investment soars .) IBM’s blockchain is built on top of the Hyperledger Project , an open-source group created by the non-profit Linux Foundation in which IBM, Accenture, Intel, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo were founding members. Hyperledger now has more than 40 member institutions. To be sure, this is all a bit of “look at what we’re doing” PR for IBM and these clients. “Tracking food safety” is a broad and vague purview. For a specific example of what this trial will actually do, Cuomo gives papaya. “Say there is a salmonella outbreak on papaya. Right now, you run the risk of regions shutting down papaya whether they are affected or not.” From tracking shipments and supplier records closely on a shared blockchain, grocers can pinpoint issues and prevent importing from certain areas, cut down on spoilage, and target demand. But wait a minute. In many markets, Walmart is a competitor of Kroger. Aren’t they hesitant to share information with each other? Yes, Cuomo says: “ There is hesitation almost across the board. It’s only human that when you’re sharing, you step back and think, am I going too far in sharing unique corporation information here? And there is a chance that you might lose some edge in the small. But you’ll get greater gain in the end.” The members of this blockchain trial pay to be a member, so they are beginning to demonstrate a belief in the power of the tech. “There’s legitimate framework and substance in terms of the product,” Walmart VP of food safety Frank Yiannas told Coindesk . “It’s substantial and real.” Of course, all of this is still in the trial phase. The pork chain trial with Walmart “showed the art of the possible,” Cuomo says. “And as soon as we opened up the invitation to others, they wanted to come in for the good of food safety.” — Daniel Roberts closely covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ readDanwrite . Read more: Everything you need to know about initial coin offerings Why Ethereum is the hottest new thing in digital currency More than 75 banks are now on Ripple’s blockchain network Expect more blockchain hype in 2017 || Here's why some Americans are risking their life savings on a Bitcoin IRA: Investors have been bullish on bitcoin all this year because of its rapid appreciation, but now, mom and pop buyers are also looking for a way to benefit from its price surge, despite the big risks. BitcoinIRA launched in May of 2016 , offering investors the tax-advantage of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), plus the return of a high-risk, high-reward alternative asset class. It's similar in nature to other IRAs, except that instead of being funded by gold, cash, and bonds, it's backed by bitcoin. And the company isn't just dealing in bitcoin anymore. As of April, it now includes rival cryptocurrency ether, and it plans to add two more coins to its roster by the end of the summer. Chief Operating Officer Chris Kline says business couldn't be better. In its first year, he says BitcoinIRA was averaging around a million dollars of monthly inflows. In the last six months, they started doing that amount of business in a single day, he says. (CNBC did not independently verify the flows.) The popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, may be highly volatile, but that didn't deter early adopter Roy Trimboli. Roy calls himself '11,' since he's the proud owner of the eleventh-ever BitcoinIRA. He says he's been a conventional guy since 22, always maxing out his 401(k) and investing in blue chip mutual funds, but a year ago, he put 10 bitcoins into a BitcoinIRA. He says he's now up about 300 percent. "It's a couple of generations worth of returns," he says. '11' is now just one of over 700 individual account holders, including clients as young as 20-years-old. But even with these kinds of returns, the fact remains, a speculative asset like bitcoin or ether comes with a certain degree of risk. Cryptocurrencies don't sleep. They're literally always moving, and if recent history is any indication, they're prone to seismic price moves in a very short space of time. Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University, says this kind of volatility is brutal. "We're talking six times the volatility of the S&P 500 or five times the volatility of gold." He says it has to do with the fact that this is new technology, "and it's not easy to think about the fundamental value of a cryptocurrency." Story continues That brutal volatility he's talking about is partly to do with the fact that these cryptocurrencies aren't collateralized. They're valuable, because people believe they're valuable. That's a big part of why Campbell says he's really worried about the BitcoinIRA. "I'm worried that people will put too much of their retirement in an asset like this. It's a very small piece of the market right now and it's extremely volatile. To put this into your savings, you need to be willing to lose everything. If you put your retirement savings into the stock market, there is almost no chance that you're going to lose everything." Risk aside, a BitcoinIRA itself isn't free. If you sink any less than $50,000 into your crypto nest egg, you'll face a hefty 15 percent set-up fee. But clients like Damon Smedley remain undeterred. He invested $330,000 into his BitcoinIRA last November. "You look at where I was one year ago, versus where I'm at today, and it's quite a drastic difference," Smedley said. It's not just the promise of a crazy return that's intrigued savers, it's also the fact that it's a hedge against the inflationary tendencies of mainstream currencies. Central banks in countries around the world have been printing cash to prop up their struggling economies, but that goes hand in hand with inflation. In the U.S., gold, stocks, and bonds have long been the traditional hedge against inflation and the rising dollar. But now, bitcoin and ethereum offer an alternative way to beat inflation, though it's clearly not for the faint of heart. One thing is for sure, despite its volatility, this new cryptocurrency asset class isn't going anywhere. More From CNBC Terror to end bitcoin anonymity? 'Smart' people and Panama Papers Bitcoin mining IPO falls short || The Coolest New ETFs of 2017: • (0:30) - Recently Launched ETFs of 2017
• (1:50) - Bitcoin ETF Filings
• (4:00) - Equal Weight DOW ETF:EDOW
• (7:00) - New Media and Tech:FNG
• (9:15) - Small Cap Cash Cow:CALF
• (13:00) - Founder Run Companies:BOSS
• (17:05) - Infrastructure ETF:PAVE
Welcome to Episode #96 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.
Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.
In this episode, Tracey is joined by Eric Dutram, Zacks Chief ETF Strategist and the Editor of the weekly newsletter, the ETF Investor, to discuss what are the coolest new ETF launches this year.
With over 2,000 ETFs now on the market, it’s hard to sort through all the names to find ones that have stand out niches. Eric brings some sanity to all the ETF news with the most interesting new ETFs.
However, before you get your hopes up, a Bitcoin ETF is not among the coolest launches. Not yet.
But is a Bitcoin ETF coming soon? Eric discusses the odds of one launching. And yes, Tracey will be doing a podcast on it one, or if, it launches.
But if you’re looking to spice up your portfolio with some intriguing niche ETFs that are already available, these are ones you should keep on your short list.
5 of the Coolest ETFs to Launch This Year
1.Equal Weight Dow ETF (EDOW)solves the dilemma of owning the price weighted version. You really want to own all 30 components equally, right? This is the answer.
2.New Tech and Media ETF (FNG)is an actively managed ETF that focuses on technology, media and social media. Yes, that means the “FANG” stocks, hence its ticker of FNG. But investors should also think about the content creators. Want to own the companies that own Instagram and YouTube? Then this is the one for you.
3.Small Cap Cash Cow ETF (CALF)is helpful to those who want to own the small caps but don’t want to own them individually. Eric also says it leans towards a value play as it has a P/E ratio of 18.5 while the S&P Small Cap 600 Index is trading at 24.9x. It’s free cash flow yield and 3-year dividend growth rates are also much higher than its small cap peers.
4.Founder-Run ETF (BOSS)lets you buy a basket of companies where the founder is serving as CEO. Right now, it appears to be heavy in technology names and biotechs. But if you’ve ever wanted to own the stocks of the “visionary” type leaders, this is the ETF for you.
5.The Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE)was launched just as infrastructure seemed to finally be on the table in Washington DC. So far, there is no new stimulus bill, but if you want to be ready for the rebuilding of America, then this ETF, which owns the railroads, construction companies, materials and equipment firms, is one you should explore.
Want to know more about the Small Cap Cash Cow ETF and how it works?
Eric did a podcast covering this so you might want to give it a listen if you want to know more.
What else should you know about these ETFs and how to use them?
Tune into this week’s podcast to find out.
Want to Learn How to Trade Options?
Have you always wanted to trade stock options but are unsure where to begin or what to look for?
Each week, Zacks’ Dave Bartosiak will bring you a detailed explanation of the trades “live” on YouTube.
Watch him go through the trade as he answers your questions in real time.
Become one of Dave’s minions. Join theZacks Live Tradercommunity today. Click here for a free 14-day trial >>>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportFT-DOW30 EW (EDOW): ETF Research ReportsADVS-NW TEC MDA (FNG): ETF Research ReportsGLBL-X US INFR (PAVE): ETF Research ReportsPACR-US SC CC1 (CALF): ETF Research ReportsGLBL-X FNDR RUN (BOSS): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Today's 7pm SGT/HKT auction: 500.00 BTC (~2.22M USD) @ $4,437.500 (0.28% off mid). https://gemini.com/auction-data/ || YOU！参加しちゃいなよ！
9月3日(日)の12:00から！
Bitcoinミートアップ@名古屋http://meetu.ps/e/.mxhxlnywmbfb/x472g/d … || 2017-08-07 7:00~8:00のBitcoin市場はしっかりだったのかな。
変化率は-0.2203%
9:00までは反騰かな?
直近の市場の平均Bitcoinの価格は362869.0円
#ビットコイン
#bitcoin
#AI || Gizmodo Australia You Can Use Bitcoin, Ethereum And Litecoin To BPAY Your Bills Gizmodo… https://goo.gl/fb/abjR87 || @Tahoesquaw1 @lovetogive2 There's a lot of campaign funds that came from Bitcoin and from oligarchs to PACs/SuperPACs via Rybolovlev and others.
Maybe R guided some. || Order your secure and smart Bitcoin hardware wallet - Only 69.60 EUR https://www.ledgerwallet.com/r/4518?path=/products/ledger-nano-s … #bitcoin #btc 13:17 pic.twitter.com/omP9z3Yk8r || でも、なぜか世界のBTC取引量の比較とかで日本円が圧倒的にトップだったりする.... || Jul 28, 2017 14:00:00 UTC | 2,784.80$ | 2,376.80€ | 2,129.00£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/qPFATUtGnH || #Bitcoin is in a bubble because people only "use" it for two things:
1) To purchase illegal goods
2) To make DOLLARS.
USD is still king. || Preço Atual do Bitcoin $4011.00 saiba mais sobre essa moeda ñ inflacionária e imune a confisco estatal https://bitcoin.org/pt_BR/
|
Trend: down || Prices: 4236.31, 4376.53, 4597.12, 4599.88, 4228.75, 4226.06, 4122.94, 4161.27, 4130.81, 3882.59
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Coinsource Receives BitLicense to Operate Bitcoin ATMs in New York: Bitcoin ATM Operator Coinsource has been granted a BitLicense by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
Based in Texas, Coinsourcedeploys Bitcoin ATMsto key population centers across the world with over 200 machines installed in the U.S. alone.
CEO of Coinsource Sheffield Clark called the announcement a “landmark day for Coinsource" and an "important win for New Yorkers" in a statement.
In an interview withBitcoin Magazine, Clark noted that he sees the "license as validation of not only our tireless efforts to offer Americans easy, convenient access to an evolving global financial system, but also progress in the acceptance and legitimization of bitcoin as a valuable currency."
The virtual currency license from the NYDFS will allow Coinsource to conduct business with customers and companies based in the state. Additionally, New York-based businesses will also be able to use Coinsource's ATM kiosks to buy and sell bitcoins instantly.
Formulatedin 2015, BitLicense approvals have been among the most difficult credentials to procure for virtual currency businesses seeking to operate in New York. The set of rules was developed by the New York Department of Financial Services to govern digital currency businesses operating in the state.
CoinSource becomes the first Bitcoin ATM operator and the 12th company overall to receive a BitLicense from the New York regulator, joining other crypto-related businesses such as Genesis, Square,Coinbase,bitFlyer,Circleand others.
Before receiving its BitLicense, Coinsource had operated under a special DFS provisional license in the state.
According to Clark, the license took over three years to obtain; Coinsource had applied for it back in August 2015. Having now received it, Clark says the company feels excited to have been granted such a "prestigious license."
"We are extremely honored to receive this recognition from the state of New York and applaud the state for its dedication to ensuring cryptocurrency companies are regulated appropriately."
He also spoke about the growth in the demand for Bitcoin ATMs in the country, which he noted surpassed the expectations of the firm. Notwithstanding, the ATM operator's immediate focus is to grow domestically as it expands its presence to all the 50 states in America.
"Aligning with blockchain’s decentralized nature, Coinsource focuses on allowing any person, no matter what their socio-economic status is, technological know-how, or where they are based, access to our generation’s most important innovation," he concluded.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Bitcoin Mutual Fund CEO Explains Why Canada is More Blockchain-Friendly than the U.S.: Canada has set the pace as the first government to ever approve an exclusive bitcoin mutual fund. This builds upon its reputation as a friendly environment for emerging technologies.
The atmosphere in Canada seems to be freer and more conducive to innovation in this field, based onthe numerous developmentsthat the industry has experienced even prior to this time. This is in comparison to its prominent neighbour, the United States, whose Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) upholds strict measures while trying to figure out appropriate regulatory systems for the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem.
In an exclusive interview with CCN, Sean Clark, CEO ofFirst Block Capital Inc.— the operator of FBC Bitcoin Trust, the first bitcoin mutual fund to trade in Canada — discussed the underlying factors that make Canada a country that is friendly to new technologies such as cryptocurrency. According to Clark, unrelenting education, political will, and open-mindedness, among other factors make the North American nation an ideal hub for technological innovation.
He told CCN:
“I think in general, the Canadian regulatory bodies understand the potential benefits of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and traditionally Canadian regulators have been open to technological innovation. That is different from what you get in places like the US.”
Clark noted that his company, in collaboration with other experts, worked directly with the Canadian securities regulators and educated them for a period of six months while also using the discussions as an opportunity to build relationships. Comparing this to what is obtained in the United States, especially with the SEC, he believes that the Canadian regulators appear to be more open to dialogue with regards to technological innovations.
The elected leadership of Canada is also identified by Clark as a key factor that is enabling the openness of government to cryptocurrency and other emerging technologies. He noted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is embracing blockchain technology. Also, the Canadian leadership sees the United States’ increased isolation of these technologies as an opportunity to get skilled labour migrated into Canada to help contribute to the economy.
“This is what we’re seeing trickling down to the regulatory environment, he said, “as they are not stone-walling but rather embracing and wanting to understand the implications of blockchain technology and working with local companies to be able to understand and have the asset class flourish.”
Another important factor that Clark noted is that the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is one of very few capital markets globally where you can see blockchain and cryptocurrency companies publicly listed.
[Editor’s Note: Severalblockchain ETFshave been publicly listed in the U.S., but regulators asked them not to include the word “blockchain” in their names.]
While the the government of Canada offers a relatively conducive environment to blockchain technology and digital currency, Clark noted that they are also ensuring that both institutions and investors are protected against the risks involved. While funds such as First Block Capital are given access into the markets, more critical attention is paid towards them, especially in terms of auditing. So the government and regulatory bodies keep a very close eye on these funds, which facilitates a more cooperative relationship between the companies and the regulators.
Elaborating on the product offered by First Block, Clark described it as a true bitcoin trust, claiming that there is nothing like it currently existing in the industry, even on a global level. The only comparable product as at the time of the interview, he said, was theBitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC) from Grayscalein the states. However, while GBTC offers its clients fractional ownership of bitcoin pools, First Block’s services are entirely different in the sense that subscribers’ actual fiat values are exclusively used to purchase the equivalent worth of bitcoin for the period of investment and kept in cold storage to be redeemable in the future. It is like an ETF for qualified investors.
Looking into the future, Clark said that he believes that the digital asset market class will grow into a multi-trillion dollar asset class over the next 5 to 10 years. However, he identified the prevailing bear market cycle in the near-term, so he expects bitcoin and altcoin prices to trade sideways or even down for at least the next four months, ahead of another significant bull run in the next one-and-a-half to two years. This would be powered by the entrance of institutions into the space and the likely approval of ETFs.
Clark concluded by elaborating on his company’s commitment towards creating financial products and providing legitimacy and transparency to the cryptocurrency asset class through traditional equities. This he expects to improve the confidence of investors, who will no longer need to go through unregulated exchanges to participate in the cryptocurrency marketplace. According to him, this will eliminate a lot of risks and at the same time give institutional investors access into the crypto space just like they have access to equities.
Images from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Mutual Fund CEO Explains Why Canada is More Blockchain-Friendly than the U.S.appeared first onCCN. || Morning Brief: Facebook revenue, daily active users disappoint: Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET.Subscribe
On Wednesday, investors will be greeted by the final trading day of what’s been the market’s worst months during the post-crisis bull run. And as The Financial Timesnoted Tuesday, the S&P 500 has dropped 16 of 22 trading days in October so far, putting it on track to see the highest percentage of losing sessions since 2000. Markets on Wednesday could take their direction from shares of Facebook (FB), with the company’sthird quarter earnings reportreleased after the market close on Tuesday showing the company beat on earnings per share but came in a bit light on revenue. In after hours trading shares were trading up as much as 4.5%.
The earnings schedule remains busy withGeneral Motors (GM), Kellogg (K), Yum Brands (YUM), and AIG (AIG) among the notable companies set to report results.And on the economic data side, the flow of labor market data for the month of October will begin when ADP releases its report on private payroll growth in October in the morning, which is expected to show 190,000 jobs were created in the private sector this month.
Read more
Facebook revenue disappoints: Facebook (FB) followed a second-quarter flop with tepid third-quarter results. The social media giant narrowly missed expectations for global daily active users and revenue while beating on earnings per share. Facebook delivered earnings of $1.76 per share on revenue of $13.73 billion. This beat consensus estimates of earnings of $1.47 per share but missed the $13.8 billion in revenue foreseen by average analyst expectations. [Yahoo Finance]
China’s export gauge signals worse to come:China’s manufacturing sector worsened in October as the trade war hit home, adding to risks the global economy may be edging toward a synchronized slowdown. China’s official factory gauge missed estimates with a reading of 50.2 and its exports sub-index slumped to the lowest reading since early 2016. [Bloomberg]
Crypto CEO: Bitcoin bear market to last 18 months:BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes told Yahoo Finance UK: “My view is the volatility environment that exists right now could persist for another 12 to 18 months, the flatness.” Bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged to a high of over $20,000 in December last year but crashed at the start of 2018 and has traded in a tight range close to $6,300 for the past few months. [Yahoo Finance UK]
Barnes & Noble countersues ex-CEO it fired: Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) on Tuesday filed a countersuit seeking damages from the former chief executive officer it fired in part because of claims he sexually harassed a female employee. The largest U.S. bookstore chain said Demos Parneros breached his duties of loyalty and good faith by sexually harassing the female employee, bullying subordinates, and attempting to “sabotage” a potential sale of the New York-based company. [Reuters]
Waymo gets crucial first California OK:Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL) Waymo unit on Tuesday became the first company to receive a permit from the state of California to test driverless vehicles without a backup driver in the front seat, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles said. [Reuters]
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—
The Morning Brief provides a quick rundown on what to watch in the markets, top news stories, and the best of Yahoo Finance Originals. || New York regulator grants virtual license to bitcoin ATM operator: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers will be able to use their mobile phones to obtain bitcoin or sell it for cash at kiosks similar to ATMs in and around New York City after the state Department of Financial Services said on Thursday it has approved the virtual currency license of Coinsource Inc. Bitcoin teller machines operator Coinsource, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has 40 bitcoin kiosks in the state, located in New York City and Westchester and Nassau Counties. The company allows customers to insert cash and buy bitcoin and store it on their mobile wallet, or sell bitcoin for cash, by scanning their mobile wallet at the kiosk. "Today's approval is a further step in implementing strong regulatory safeguards and effective risk-based controls while encouraging the responsible growth of financial innovation," Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo said in a statement on Thursday. The state Department of Financial Services has approved 12 charters or licenses so far for companies in the virtual currency marketplace. The New York regulatory agency said Thursday's approval follows a comprehensive and rigorous review of Coinsource's application and is subject to significant regulatory conditions. "New York represents not just a center of global innovation but also one of our largest target markets," said Sheffield Clark, Coinsource's chief executive officer. Founded in 2015, Coinsource deploys ATMs to key population centers across the United States, with more than 200 machines in 19 states, including the District of Columbia. Coinsource said the majority of customers choose to use bitcoin ATMs as an alternative to online exchanges, which require highly technical knowledge, has long transaction delays, high fees, and limited customer service support. Aside from that the ATM operator said online exchanges are vulnerable to manipulative trading activity and fund hacks. Story continues "Bitcoin is no longer a fringe currency, and in 2018, is increasingly being adopted by the mainstream," Sheffield said. DFS has earlier granted virtual licenses to BitFlyer, BitPay, Coinbase, Circle, Genesis Global Trading, XRP II, Square, and Xapo, with charters issued to Gemini Trust Company, Paxos (formerly itBit), and Coinbase Custody Trust Company LLC. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by David Gregorio) || Bitcoin Gradually Increased in Price in September, Case for a Bull Run in 2018: Since early September, the price of Bitcoin has gradually increased from $6,100 to $6,550, testing the $6,800 resistance level on two occasions.
Bitcoin experienced four dips in its price in the past 30 days and every consecutive drop in the price of the asset stabilized in a higher region than its previous decline in value.
On Sept. 9, theprice of Bitcoindropped to around $6,100 during its first fall in the month. On Sept. 16, a week after the initial drop followed by a corrective rally, the price of Bitcoin dropped to $6,250, at a higher point than its previous drop at $6,100.
On Sept. 26, around 10 days after the second dip, the price of BTC dropped to $6,400, $150 higher than the region BTC fell to on Sept. 16. On Oct. 4, it’s latest minor drop in price, Bitcoin dropped to the higher region of $6,400.
Given thatBitcoinhas seen the $6,000 support level strengthen and the momentum of the asset at the $6,550 mark intensify, it is entirely likely that the asset will continue to engage in a gradual recovery throughout October.
A rapid increase in price from $6,000 to a higher region like $7,000 and $8,000 in the short-term, similar to its movement from $6,800 to $8,000 earlier this year, is not likely due to the decline in its volume.
On October 6, CCNreportedthat the volume of Bitcoin fell from $4 billion to $3.2 billion on Coinmarketcap and from $2.6 billion to $2 billion on ShapeShift’s CoinCap.io, suggesting that an exponential increase in price of Bitcoin is not in play in the short-term.
If Bitcoin continues to sustain its momentum it has demonstrated throughout September, it is possible that it can break out of the $6,800 resistance level and potentially eye an entrance into the $7,000 mark.
But, in consideration of the positive regulation-related developments in Japan, South Korea and the US, many analysts expected BTC to surpass major resistance levels at $8,000 and $9,000.
Masayuki Tashiro, a prominent Japanese market analyst,said in August:
“Personally I am bullish, and by the time the outline of the regulations will come together in October, those investors who will feel safer will come back. I hope things won’t get as overheated as last year, but I believe BTC can win back the value of 1 million yen (9,020$) in range.”
Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market has dropped 69 to 80 percent of the valuation in the past nine months, recording some of the steepest falls in value in recent years.
A short-term bubble is often followed with a gradual recovery in value, volume, and market demand. Although the market has started to demonstrate sellar fatigue and clear signs of a bottom in the low range of $200 billion, a gradual recovery could be more beneficial for BTC in the long run.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Gradually Increased in Price in September, Case for a Bull Run in 2018appeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Sees New Price Support From 7-Year-Long Rising Trendline: With the number of strong support levels increasing for bitcoin (BTC), the bitcoin bears are facing an uphill battle. The latest addition to the list is the support of the trendline connecting the November 2011 and August 2016 lows, currently at $5,830. Up to Oct. 31, the two key support levels were the 21-month EMA and the trendline drawn between the June and August lows. In particular, the 21-month EMA was the level to beat for the bears till last month, meaning a close below that support would likely have revived the sell-off from the record high of $20,000 seen last December. Winklevoss Brothers Sue Charlie Shrem Over $32 Million in Bitcoin While the 21-month EMA still remains a crucial support, the new make-or-break level is the seven-year-long rising trendline. That's because the trendline support, which was located around $5,300 last month, has now moved closer to the current price and is seen rising above $6,300 in December. Hence, it may now be incorrect to call a break below the 21-month EMA a sign of a bear revival. At press time, BTC is changing hands at $6,330 on Bitstamp, representing a 0.5 percent drop on a 24-hour basis. Monthly chart Apps for Kik's Crypto Are Beginning to Appear on Apple and Google Stores On the monthly chart, a break below the trendline support of $5,830 would strengthen the bear grip and allow a drop to the psychological support of $5,000. The bulls, however, would feel emboldened if the cryptocurrency produces a strong bounce off that key support. As for the next 24 hours, investors should keep an eye on the symmetrical triangle seen in the chart below. Daily Chart The upper edge of the symmetrical triangle, currently at $6,400, is proving a tough nut to crack on the daily chart. A break above that level would put the bulls in a commanding position, opening the doors for a rally to $6,756 (Oct. 15 high). View The 7-year-long-rising trendline is the new level to beat for the bears. A symmetrical triangle breakout, if confirmed, could yield a re-test of Oct. 15 highs above $6,750. On the other hand, a downside break would expose the Oct. 11 low of $6,055. Story continues Disclosure:  The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing. Bitcoin  image via Shutterstock; charts by Trading View  Related Stories 'Ruff' Month? Dogecoin's Price Slid 36 Percent in October Tether Produces Letter Vouching for Dollar Deposits, But Bank Hedges || AI to power new TSX-listed blockchain ETF: Blockchain is depicted in an illustrated photo. (Getty) A new artificial intelligence-powered blockchain ETF will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, offering exposure to the disruptive technology being woven into everything from financial services to healthcare. The Coincapital STOXX Blockchain Patents Innovation Index Fund (LDGR) is based on the iSTOXX Yewno Developed Markets Blockchain Index. An artificial intelligence algorithm cherrypicks companies for the fund that invest in blockchain technology and research by combing through patent and intellectual property filings. We looked at all the previous blockchain funds out there. We came to the realization that actually having companies that are investing in the research and development and patents is resoundingly the way to start this, Coincaptial CEO Lewis Bateman told Yahoo Canada Finance on Wednesday. The ETF debuts with a basket of about 37 companies, according to Bateman. Top holdings include Mastercard Inc. ( MA ) (8.78 per cent), technology and industrial firm Johnson Controls International ( JCI ) (8.43 per cent) , and Royal Bank ( RY ) (8.38 per cent). Records show Mastercard and Royal Bank are pursuing blockchain-related patents. Mastercard is aiming modernize business-to-business transactions. Royal Bank is interested using blockchain technology to improve its credit rating system. A blockchain ETF offering from Coin Capital Investment Management is fitting, given its parent companys expertise in the cryptocurrency market. Toronto-based Coinsquare is known for its trading platform for Bitcoin , Ethereum and other digital currencies. The new investment vehicle for the ledger-like technology that underpins the notoriously volatile cryptocurrencies comes as investor appetite for Bitcoin, and its peers, continues to wane. The price of Bitcoin has plunged more than 60 per cent since reaching an all-time high of nearly $20,000 in December. New blockchain ETFs have not had an easy run either. Harvest Portfolio Group Inc.s Blockchain Technologies ETF (HBLK) has plunged more than 30 per cent since its launch in late January. Evolve Funds Group Inc.s blockchain ETF (LINK) has shed more over 20 per cent since it hit the market in March. Story continues The construction itself is going to differentiate between us and their funds, said Bateman. We could have advanced our launch earlier, but we took the time and effort in the buildout, and not just marched to the marketplace with a thematic opportunity. Coincapital will also launch its STOXX B.R.AI.N Index Fund ETF when its executives ring the ceremonial TSX opening bell at the start of Thursdays trading session. The fund is designed to tap into four technology-based megatrends identified by the company biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology (which spell out brain when listed in that order). These sub-sectors are where we think the tremendous growth is going to happen over the next three, five and 10 years, Bateman said. There is really a nice correlation between all four industries. The largest holdings include NVIDIA Corp. ( NVDA ) (8.32 per cent), Google parent Alphabet Class C shares ( GOOG ) (8.21 per cent), and Intel Corp. ( INTC ) (6.81 per cent). Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android . || Bitcoin Price Intraday Analysis: BTC/USD Invalidates Bear Pennant: Bitcoin price on Thursday escaped its prevailing downtrend and appreciated close to 3 percent against the US Dollar.
The BTC/USD started the day in support of the late-night breakout action from Wednesday, in which the pair broke above the symmetric triangle resistance – what could have been a bear pennant if the price had continued to its downtrend. Therefore, the price continued to form high highs during the Asian trading session, a sentiment that rippled through the entire European trading day. Overall, BTC/USD managed to retest the very psychological resistance sentiment near 6500-fiat. It once even broke above the level to form higher highs towards 6528-fiat.
The BTC/USD rally seems like a good news for day traders, but in long-term, the bearish bias is far from over. The uptrend is still capped by a descending trendline. It means BTC/USD could still restest 7000-fiat area but only a breakout above the trendline could confirm a medium-term bull bias. In near-term, however, the Bitcoin market is showing a neutral-to-buying sentiment. BTC/USD is trading below its 100H and 200H MA on a 4H chart, but it has crossed above its 50H MA. The RSI and Stochastic indicators have also entered their respective overbought areas, indicating a potential downside correction anytime.
In a smaller timeframe chart, we can see BTC/USD inside an ascending parallel channel, providing speculators potential entry and exit positions to play throughout the day. Meanwhile, we are particularly focused on our breakout positions. The range we are watching today has 6528-fiat as our interim resistance and 6434-fiat as interim support.
We are first waiting for BTC/USD to retest the resistance level to give us two potential scenarios: a breakout and a pullback. In case the pair crosses above the resistance line, it would have us put a long position towards 6645-fiat, our potential upside target from August 10 and 15. In this position, a stop loss four-pips below the entry point will define our risk management perspective.
In the event of a pullback from resistance, we’ll put a short towards our current support near 6434-fiat while keeping our stop loss two-pips above the entry level to protect our positions in case the trend reverses. The next positions would arise upon achieving the short target towards 6434-fiat. On a bounce back from it, we’ll put a long towards 6528-fiat. On a breakout, however, another short position towards 6391-fiat would make sense.
Featured image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postBitcoin Price Intraday Analysis: BTC/USD Invalidates Bear Pennantappeared first onCCN. || The Probable Reason Why MannKind Corporation Is Rallying Again: What happened Investors in MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) are having another pleasant day . Shares were up 37% as of 10:05 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. That's quite a bullish move for a single day, but it's all the more impressive given that the stock also jumped 89% higher on Tuesday. So what There isn't any news today that can justify the huge gain, so the most likely explanation for today's price is a short squeeze . More than 28 million shares of MannKind's stock were sold short as of Aug. 15, so millions of shares are probably being purchased today to cover the short in response to yesterday's news that MannKind has struck up a brand-new collaborative partnership with United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) . Man cheering while looking at a laptop Image source: Getty Images. As a reminder, that deal will net MannKind more than $55 million up front, which should buy the company about six more months of runway. That's a big enough number to silence the critics who believe that this company is heading for bankruptcy (at least for now). Now what This short-term price jump is a welcome relief for MannKind's long-suffering bulls. However, investors need to remember that success still hinges on the company's ability to turn Afrezza into a commercially viable product. Since there's a long road ahead of the company on that front, I think that skepticism is still warranted. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Brian Feroldi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || This Week In Cryptocurrency: Coinbase's $8B Valuation, Bitcoin's 10-Year Anniversary: The cryptocurrency market finished a rough week on a high note on Friday, with most major currencies trading up more than 1 percent on the day.
Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market this week and which currencies were on the move.
Headlines
On Tuesday, Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced it completed a $300 million Series E fundraising round that values the company at about $8 billion. Coinbase’s new valuation is an indication of the meteoric rise of the popularity of cryptocurrency trading and Coinbase’s leadership in the market. Coinbase’s previous fundraising round in August 2017 valued the company at just $1.6 billion.
On Wednesday, the world’s first and most valuable cryptocurrency, bitcoin celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Bitcoin was famously launched Oct. 31, 2008 by anonymous cryptographer “Satoshi Nakamoto” and has since grown from a block of just 50 bitcoins in 2009 to a global market cap of more than $110 billion.
On Thursday, Larry Fink, CEO the world’s largest asset managerBlackRock, Inc.(NYSE:BLK), said at the New York Times Dealbook Conference in Manhattan Thursday BlackRock would be open to launching a cryptocurrency exchange traded fund only when cryptocurrency becomes “legitimate.” Fink said the world has no need for cryptocurrency as a digital store of wealth at the moment, and there’s much more potential value in the underlying blockchain technology.
Price Action
TheBitcoin Investment Trust(OTC:GBTC) traded at $6.94, down 0.4 percent for the week.
Here’s how several top crypto investments fared this week. Prices are as of 3:45 p.m. ET and reflect the previous seven days.
• Bitcoin declined 1.7 percent to $6,360;
• Ethereum declined 1.3 percent to $200;
• XRP declined 0.1 percent to 45 cents;
• Bitcoin Cash gained 6.0 percent to $465;
• EOS declined 0.6 percent to $5.35.
The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past seven days are:
• Gravity: $4.3-million market cap, 3,475.0-percent gain.
• NewYorkCoin: $8.2-million market cap, 352.8-percent gain.
• Bitcoin Incognito: $4.2-million market cap, 329.3-percent gain.
The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past seven days were:
• Happycoin: $12.2-million market cap, 40.8-percent decline.
• Atmos: $2.1-million market cap, 38.7-percent decline.
• Cashbery Coin: $2.7-million market cap, 37.0-percent decline.
Related Links:
This Week In Cryptocurrency: CENTRE Consortium Announced, Rumored Coinbase IPO
Fidelity Launches Cryptocurrency Services Company For Institutional Investors
See more from Benzinga
• This Week In Cryptocurrency: CENTRE Consortium Announced, Rumored Coinbase IPO
• This Week In Cryptocurrency: Fidelity Launches Crypto Services Company, ICO Study Reveals Terrible Returns
• Fidelity Launches Cryptocurrency Services Company For Institutional Investors
© 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
$BTC volume spike. 46 coin print at $6690.00. $BTCUSD #BTCUSD #BTC #Bitcoin #coinbase #gdax || 1hr Report : 17:00:44 UTC Top 10 Mentions
$BTC, $ETH, $XRP, $LTC, $NEO, $XLM, $EOS, $CVC, $BCH, $SCpic.twitter.com/t7xbLsZU4D || 10/22 12:00 のStrongHands価格（日本円）をお知らせします。
1剛力 = 0.0000171306 円 (前日比 : -2.13 パーセント)
1億剛力 = 1713 円
10億剛力 = 17130 円
プロテインはこちらへ↓
【SPV4eLwzqt8arMP1QxzfJbEQndYYwyAgAq】
#StrongHands #SHND #仮想通貨 #bitcoin || 1 BTC = 24355.04007000 BRL em 15/10/2018 ás 16:00:01. #bitcoin #bitcoinbr #bitcoinexchangebr || #BTCUSD Market #1H timeframe on September 5 at 01:00 (UTC) is #Bullish. #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #btc #crypto #trading #idea #report technical analysis || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $BTC 453 Tweets
2位 $XRP 117 Tweets
3位 $IOST 83 Tweets
4位 $TRX 69 Tweets
5位 $ETH 58 Tweets
2018-11-03 19:00 ～ 2018-11-03 19:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
https://cointrend.jp/ || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $BTC 662 Tweets
2位 $TRX 450 Tweets
3位 $ETH 120 Tweets
4位 $XRP 119 Tweets
5位 $IOST 58 Tweets
2018-09-13 19:00 ～ 2018-09-13 19:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
https://cointrend.jp/ || Buy Bitcoin With PayPal! Also with CC, paysafecard, Skrill, OKPAY https://www.virwox.com?r=4db29virwox.com/?r=4db29 #btc #bitcoin 00 pic.twitter.com/KtXABLC7em || But isn’t this already standard operating procedure for over half the bitcoin podcasts out there? || ビットコインはもう遅いかも！？
海外の取引所なら10倍とか100倍とかになる通貨もあるよ！！
お小遣い程度で買ってみたら、もしかしたら1億円とかになっちゃうかも！！
これから伸びる通貨はcoinexchange→ https://www.coinexchange.io/?r=747b1442
#BTC #ビットコイン #仮想通貨
#XRP #ETH #XRP #裏垢 #JC #JK
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 6376.13, 6419.66, 6461.01, 6530.14, 6453.72, 6385.62, 6409.22, 6411.27, 6371.27, 6359.49
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2018-10-10]
BTC Price: 6585.53, BTC RSI: 49.23
Gold Price: 1189.30, Gold RSI: 45.50
Oil Price: 73.17, Oil RSI: 54.73
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Coinbase Seeks Patent for Security-Enhanced Bitcoin Payment System: U.S.-based digital currency exchange Coinbase hasfiled a patenton a new Bitcoin payment system designed to make cryptocurrency payments safer. The new platform will provide an added layer of security for users’ keys and allow them to make bitcoin payments directly from their digital wallets.
A segment of the patent filing states, “It may be a security concern for users that the private keys of their Bitcoin addresses may be stolen from their wallets. Existing systems do not provide a solution for maintaining security over private keys while still allowing the users to checkout [sic] on a merchant page and making payments using their wallets.”
If approved, the system would work by allowing customers to encrypt their passphrases into a master key to create an additional buffer against theft. The master key encrypts customers’ private keys and whatever transactions are made. Once a transaction is complete, the master key is deleted, ensuring no outside party can gain access to the information. A new master key is created for each transaction.
Another novel element of the system is its “freeze logic,” which would allow administrators to suspend the system and prevent transactions from occurring in the event of a theft or cyberattack.
The patent reads, “At any point in time after the master key is loaded, the system can be frozen. The system can be unfrozen after it has been frozen using keys from the key ceremony. The checkout process can be carried out when the system is frozen and when the system is unfrozen. The payment process can only be carried out when the system is unfrozen and not when the system is frozen.”
Lastly, the application proposes API integration capabilities, which would enable various websites to run versions of the payment system. The API uses a specific pair of keys — one of which is stored on the corresponding website, the other on Coinbase — that must match for a transaction to be approved and completed.
This is not the first time Coinbase has filed for such a patent. The company had tried for something similar nine times in 2015 alone, leading critics to accuse the exchange of trying to build a monopoly on Bitcoin services. CEO Brian Armstrong denied this, saying that the company’s goal was protect blockchain technology from “patent trolls.”
“One of the best ways to defend against patent trolls is to build your own portfolio of patents, and this is exactly what we are doing, along with just about every other tech company out there,”he wrote in a blog post. “It is an unfortunate game we all must play, but we didn’t invent the rules.”
The company also filed a patent in 2016 to potentially secure Bitcoin-based private keys.
In addition to Coinbase, several traditional financial institutions have filed for blockchain-based patents. Bank of America filed approximately 50 live patents in the blockchain space, more than any other venture. Software giant IBM also has several under its belt, including one for “node characterization in blockchain,” which would allow a distributed ledger to house a series of nodes characterized by specific functions.
In June 2017, delivery company UPS also filed a blockchain patent for what it calls the “autonomous services selection system and distributed transportation database.” Whenever something is delivered from one point to another, it must go through multiple networks and segments before it reaches its destination. This makes it difficult for logistics services to coordinate with one another. The patented system would generate sets of transportation data that are then stored securely on a blockchain and easily tracked to ensure logistics companies meet handling requirements appropriately.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Retail Brokerage TD Ameritrade Backs New Crypto Exchange: Brokerage firm TD Ameritrade is investing in a brand new cryptocurrency exchange, BloombergreportedWednesday.
Dubbed ErisX, the exchange will allow investors to trade bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin, as well as bitcoin futures, a spokesperson told the news source.
The exchange, built by derivatives market provider Eris Exchange, is also backed by DRW Holdings and Virtu Financial.
Coinbase Rolls Out System to Free Up Stuck Bitcoin Payments
Adding more detail, the report indicates that the futures contracts traded by the exchange in particular will be physically delivered, not cash-settled.
Moreover, while at present TD Ameritrade customers can trade bitcoin futures contracts through the Cboe market, managing director J.B. Mackenzietold Reutersthat ErisX may also allow customers to trade ethereum and litecoin futures eventually.
TD Ameritrade executive vice president of trading and education Steve Quirk told Bloomberg that "our retail clients are seeking to access and trade digital currency products in the same way they do with traditional capital markets â through a legitimate, regulated and transparent exchange."
ErisX is currently in the process of self-certifying its futures contracts with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and will clear its derivatives products through its parent firm's clearinghouse if and when it is approved.
Coinbase Adds Charles Schwab Advisor to Board of Directors
Should the CFTC give ErisX the go-ahead, it will begin cash-trading processes sometime from March to June next year, and begin trading derivatives in the second half of the year.
TD Ameritradeimage via Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock
• Indian Crypto Exchange Zebpay Halts Trading Over Banking Ban
• Mt Gox Trustee Has Sold $230 Million in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash Since March || Bitcoin Plunges in Crypto Sell-Off: Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies slumped in a massive sell-off on Tuesday, with Bitcoin falling to its lowest level since November.
Bitcoin plunged 6.59% to $6,071.00 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:50 AM ET (12:50 GMT), but still remained near a three-and-a-half-week low.
The price of digital coins had risen in the end of July over rumors that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could approve the first crypto exchange traded fund. But prices plunged after the agency postponed its decision to September.
Cryptocurrencies overall lost almost $24 billion in the last 24 hours. The coin market cap of total market capitalization was at $193 billion at the time of writing, compared to $217 billion on Monday.
Ethereum, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 21.05% to $263.28 on the Bitfinex exchange amid reports that investors who bought Ethereum to participate in initial coin offerings (ICOs) are cashing out to cover expenses.
Ripple, the third-largest virtual currency, decreased 16.27% to $0.26141, while Litecoin was at $51.886, down 16.01%.
In other news, money and payments app Square (NYSE:SQ) has rolled out a Bitcoin trading on the platform in all U.S. states.
The company obtained the New York BitLicense in June, allowing it to offer the service to residents of New York state. The Bitcoin buying and selling option was rolled out last November to some customers in select states. Users can conduct transactions almost instantly and spend the cryptocurrency through a Visa card issued by Square.
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5 Crypto Investing Tips to Survive the Altcoin Crash
Crypto Mining: Are There Signs of Miners Giving Up? || EURUSD and Gold climb higher. Bitcoin drops!: EURUSDcreated an inverse head and shoulders pattern on a super important horizontal support. The buy signal is on as we already broke the neckline of this formation. Currently, the price stopped on a mid-term resistance but it looks like this one will be broken soon.
Goldis breaking the upper line of the flag formation. That pattern is promoting a further upswing. As for now, we are below the 23.6 % Fibo but with today’s breakout, we do have high chances to come back above that level.
Bitcoinexperienced a huge drop yesterday.Thursdayis not any better though.In two days, this crypto erased the two weeks of an upswing. The sentiment is negative and we should soon see the price on the long-term support around 5800 USD.
This article is written by Tomasz Wisniewski, a senior analyst atAlpari Research & Analysis
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Social Media Stock Worries Pressuring U.S, Asia Tech Sectors
• Global Stocks Fall as Emerging Markets Sale-Off Spreading to Developed Markets
• Are Precious Metals Due for a Relief Rally?
• EURUSD and Gold climb higher. Bitcoin drops!
• Silver Price Forecast – Silver markets rally on dollar weakness
• Price of Gold Fundamental Daily Forecast – Economic Data, Tariffs Could Drive Dollar, Gold Prices Today || Hackers Hijack Elon Musks Twitter, Offer Free Cryptocurrency: A business magnates Twitter account got hacked and started promising free Bitcoin and Ethereum to its 22.5 million followers. Elon Musk, CEO & co-founder of Tesla, became the victim of growing hacking incidents on Twitter for the second time. As the tycoon got busy posting philosophical tweets, his impersonator with a verified Twitter account joined the thread line and started offering cryptocurrency tips. The fake Musk built on real Musks promise to take [Tesla], private, stating that the planned reorganization will see the addition of Bitcoin and Ethereum payment methods as one of the steps in moving forward. The extent to which the fake news spread could not be verified. However, some users did fell for it, with one of them accusing Musk of stealing from people. While others also questioned how a fake Musk was able to obtain a Twitter-verified status. Twitter recently had emerged as a hotbed for fraudulent account practices. The accounts of many high profile cryptocurrency celebrities, including Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, and cybersecurity expert John McAfee, have been impersonated by hackers with a Twitter-verified status. Musk himself has been a victim of identity hack already. In February, a fake Elon Musk profile on Twitter had announced that it was giving out 400 ETH to fans. Twitter later assured its users with better defense frameworks to safeguard profiles. Excerpt from its statement on The Verge : Were aware of this form of manipulation and are proactively implementing a number of signals to prevent these types of accounts from engaging with others in a deceptive manner. And yet, many fake profiles remain, proving it an arduous task to govern. The Anatomy of Free Cryptocurrency Scam As of now, there are hundreds of fake accounts on Twitter that promise to send free cryptocurrencies to victims. Sky News in February reported that a Twitter-based scam has siphoned off as much as £50,000 in a day. And such cases are on the rise. Story continues The trick to lure victims is stupidly simple. The hackers impersonate high profile accounts and urge victims to send a few quantities of cryptocurrencies units to their wallet address. In return, these hackers promise high yields at a later date. These tricks have worked so well in the past that it has moved legitimate personalities to issue a clarification to their followers. Vitalik Buterin even changed his Twitter profiles name, stating that he does not give free Ether. The only defense a Twitter user can apply to safeguard himself is to stay doubtful of profiles promising free cryptocurrencies even if they are verified. Featured image from Flickr/ TED Conference . The post Hackers Hijack Elon Musks Twitter, Offer Free Cryptocurrency appeared first on CCN . || SEC rejects nine proposals for bitcoin ETFs: (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday rejected applications for nine bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETF) from three separate companies. ETF provider Direxion proposed to list and trade five bitcoin ETFs, while GraniteShares and ProShare presented two each, all of which were rejected by the SEC. ( https://bit.ly/2BC9PA9 ) ( https://bit.ly/2LfDyP6 ) Bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) was trading up 1.07 pct at $6422.99on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange at 0058 GMT on Wednesday. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru) || Bitcoin Price Looks North After Passing $6.4K Resistance: Bitcoin (BTC) is teasing a decent bullish move, having cleared crucial resistance a few hours ago.
The leading cryptocurrency moved past $6,400 earlier today, signaling that bearish exhaustion â as indicated by Tuesday'sspinning bottomcandle â is paving way for a corrective rally.
Notably, the positive price action was preceded by a solid defense of the long-term trendline connecting the June low and Aug. 11 low and an upside break of the symmetrical triangle.
10 Years After Lehman: Bitcoin and Wall Street Are Closer Than Ever
As a result, the stage looks set for an upside move. However, caution is still the name of the game, as the bearish moving averages (MAs) could work as hurdles and complicate the recovery.
At press time, BTC is changing hands at $6,450, having clocked a high of $6,490 earlier today, according to Bitfinex data.
The symmetrical triangle breakout, as seen in the above chart, indicates a bullish reversal, meaning the sell-off from the recent highs above $7,400 has ended and the bulls have regained control.
Ether Shorts Hit Another Record High as Price Sinks
Further, the 50-hour and 100-hour MAs are beginning to curl up in favor of the bulls. So, while there is a reason to be optimistic here, the downward sloping (bearish) 200-hour MA is warning the bulls against being too ambitious.
Over on the daily chart, the persistent bear failure to penetrate the lower end of the pennant pattern is finally yielding a bullish move. A UTC close today above $6,400 would further cement the short-term bullish case.
However, as of writing, the downward sloping (bearish) 10-day moving average, is putting brakes on the price rally.
• The bullish price action on the hourly and daily chart indicates BTC could test the 10-week MA of $6,847 in a day or two.
• The bearish moving averages may slow down the pace of the bullish move, but are unlikely to derail the corrective move higher. Moreover, price action always supersedeslagging indicatorslike the moving averages.
• A downside break of the pennant pattern seen in the daily chart would revive the bearish view.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Golden compassimage via Shutterstock; Charts byÂTrading View
• Below $50: Litecoin Price Clocks 12-Month Low
• Crypto Billionaire Di Iorio Seeks New Start for Jaxx as All-in-One Wallet || Is General Electric's Bold Oil and Gas Bet About to Start Paying Off?: This past year has been a challenging one for General Electric (NYSE: GE) . Not only have shares of the industrial giant tumbled nearly 50% -- which is the same fate as its dividend -- but the company got kicked out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average . While the biggest culprit has been GE's power business , its decision to merge its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHGE) has gotten off to a rocky start . However, one year into that deal and the companies have made significant progress. As that continues, and the oil market makes further improvements, this transaction could eventually pay big dividends for GE investors. Oil workers near some oil pumps. Image source: Getty Images. One step at a time When GE took control of Baker Hughes, it set three priorities: Grow its market share, increase its margins, and generate free cash flow. While the company has endured its share of ups and downs, it's making progress on all fronts. Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli outlined this during the company's second-quarter conference call. On the market-share front, he noted that by working hard to strengthen its commercial position in the Middle East and North America, it's "gaining momentum with key wins in these two critical regions." In addition to that, it has "introduced new and innovative commercial models, resulting in a number of fullstream awards," which are across its four businesses. Meanwhile, on the margin front, the company has made it a priority to increase the profitability of its oil-field services segment. These efforts have enabled the company to improve this segment's operating margin from 1% in the second quarter of 2017 to 6.6% in this year's second quarter. On top of that, the company's ability to capture synergies from combining the two companies has helped push sales, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue down from 15% in the third quarter of last year to 11.9% in the most recent quarter. Overall, the company has captured $330 million of synergies, which puts it well on its way toward achieving its target of $700 million for the year. Story continues Finally, Baker Hughes generated $204 million of free cash flow during the first half of the year, which enabled it to continue returning cash to shareholders. Overall, it has sent $2.3 billion to investors since the deal closed, which includes about $800 million in dividends and another $1.5 billion in share repurchases. That buyback, which has retired more than 3% of Baker Hughes stock in the last year, has helped keep it afloat in what remains a challenging oil-field service market, as shares are down only about 7% in the past year, which is slightly better than its two biggest rivals. An oil worker with a laptop standing near an oil pump jack. Image source: Getty Images. Headwinds should continue abating While the oil industry's recovery hasn't been a smooth ride, conditions are getting better with each passing day. The drilling rig count, for example, has increased 8% over the past year, which has driven a 14% improvement in Baker Hughes' oil-field services revenue. While drilling activities in places like the Permian Basin will slow down over the next year due to pipeline constraints , they'll likely pick up elsewhere, especially offshore. Baker Hughes' CEO noted this on the second-quarter call, stating that he sees more onshore and offshore production orders ramping up in the next year. "As more large projects are sanctioned and offshore spend returns to more normalized levels, we expect these orders to start generating revenues in 2020," according to Simonelli. In addition to that, the company is also a leader in natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG), which has a long runway ahead of it . On top of that upside from the continuing improvement of the oil market, Baker Hughes expects to capture additional synergies from its merger with GE's oil and gas business. It aims to lock in $1.6 billion of annual synergies by 2020, which will further improve its margins and cash flow. Why this is all good news for GE investors While it has taken more than a year, GE's decision to merge its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes is starting to pay off. With more improvements likely on the way, the oil-field service company's stock price should follow suit, which would likely provide a near-term boost to GE's stock since it currently owns 62.5% of the company. Meanwhile, in the longer term, continued improvement at Baker Hughes would enable GE to extract more value from its position in the company when it eventually separates the business, either by selling its stake or spinning it off to shareholders. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Matthew DiLallo owns shares of General Electric. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Elon Musk Plays Along with ETH Giveaway Scam on Twitter: Barely a few hours after crypto giveaway scam bots on Twittertargetedthe official account of Pope Francis to promote a fake bitcoin giveaway, Elon Musk has again been targeted while taking a playful jab at the now-ubiquitous Twitter scam.
Responding to a thread under atweetfrom Techmeme referencing Twitter’s latest purge of scam bots, Musk playfully remarked:
“At this point I want ETH even if it is a scam”
Incredibly, right under Musk’s clearly tongue-in-cheek tweet, a fake “Elon Musk” handle soon appeared touting a purported crypto giveaway from the Tesla founder, in anow-deleted tweet.
As with other similar cases of high profile accounts on Twitter being targeted by the scam giveaway botnet, the network of dummy accounts used retweets and likes to push the fraudulent reply to the very top of the thread so that it appeared immediately after Musk’s tweet, creating the impression that Musk replied to his own tweet in a thread.
This sort of astroturfing makes it easier for potential marks to fall victim to the scam. The image in the scam link shows Musk at a speaking engagement, and it purports to link to an announcement by Musk hosted on medium.com.
When the user clicks, they are taken to a website called “https://musk-surprise.info/” where a Medium article supposedly by Musk outlines the basic format of the popular scam, offering both BTC and ETH giveaways plus a Tesla Model 3 to one lucky winner after “verifying” user wallet addresses by getting them to send a crypto sum first.
At first glance, the name and photo at the top of the page seem to check out, especially as the poster’s URL is www.medium.com/@elonmusk, which is the correct spelling of the Space X founder’s name.
Clicking on the poster’s name, however, takes the user to the page of a completely different user called ‘Rahul’ with the url www.medium.com/@elonmusk.
The Medium article advertising the purported BTC and ETH giveaway by Tesla’s marketing department has a number of suspiciously enthusiastic and positive responses in the comments, which is a key signifier of the same kind of bot astroturfing that the botnet uses on Twitter.
CCN earlier reported that Twitter scammerstargetedhigh profile accounts in February with the aim of compromising them so as to promote fraudulent giveaways.
Since then, cybercriminals behind the botnet appear to have changed tactics, focusing on creating several duplicate accounts for high-value accounts and gaming Twitter algorithms to promote scam content.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postElon Musk Plays Along with ETH Giveaway Scam on Twitterappeared first onCCN. || Weed stock Tilray is on a wild ride: Weed stock Tilray ( TLRY ) has been sending investors on a ride. Shares of Tilray fell 19.1% to $99.50 per share at market close Monday, marking the British Columbia-based medical marijuana company’s third day of declines. Some other members of the cannabis industry also saw their shares fall Monday, with shares of New Age Beverage ( NBEV ) down 35.6% and shares of Cronos Group ( CRON ) lower by 5.2%. Shares of Tilray have been cut by more than two thirds since hitting a high of $300 per share last Wednesday afternoon. Tilray opened with shares higher by 50.7% on Sept. 19 after the company’s CEO, Brendan Kennedy, told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that investment in cannabis companies “is a global opportunity .” Earlier last Tuesday, Tilray gained approval from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to import medical cannabis into the U.S. for testing purposes. ‘Is it a bubble? Absolutely’ Shares of Tilray continued to climb last Wednesday as traders scrambled to get in fast. The stock then began to collapse after shares were halted for trade five times within an hour. It finished Wednesday’s session up 38% at $214.06 per share — after seeing intraday gains of more than 90%. Tilray’s intraday volatility last Wednesday produced some winners as well as some losers . Prominent investor Whitney Tilson predicted that individual investors would be hit the hardest amid the collapse in Tilray’s stock price. Short-seller Whitney Tilson talks weed stocks on the Final Round. (Photo: screenshot/Yahoo Finance) “I’ve been short selling for 20 years … and I’ve seen this story so many times before,” Tilson said on Yahoo Finance’s Final Round. “It created good opportunities to make money on the short side. But it makes me sort of feel bad because I know who’s going to get incinerated here, and it’s the retail investors.” Cramer echoed warnings for individual investors in response to Wednesday’s hectic day of trading. “This whole group has gotten too hot – no argument here,” Cramer said on Thursday . “Is it a bubble? Absolutely.” (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance) ‘Cannabis stocks today feel like Bitcoin and Ethereum did in December’ While Tilray has pulled focus as the most valuable pot company, shares of marijuana industry peers Aurora Cannabis ( ACBFF ), Canopy Growth Corporation ( CGC ), and New Age Beverage have been similarly volatile. Story continues The recent cannabis boom has prompted comparisons to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and ballooning prices of cryptocurrencies last year . “The prices of the cannabis stocks today feel like Bitcoin and Ethereum did in December of last year,” said former hedge fund manager and emergent cryptocurrencies authority Mike Novogratz in an interview Thursday at Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit. “So if I was long on them I’d sell them. And if you’re a speculator, I’d short them.” Bitcoin saw a miraculous rise in 2017 before a steep fall in 2018. (Photo: St. Louis Fed) Even with the past week’s volatility, Tilray is still up about 485% from its July initial public offering price of $17 per share and boasts a market cap of more than $9 billion. Kennedy asserted Tuesday on CNBC that medical marijuana could be around a $100 billion industry globally. In the video above, Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer notes that, “The problem is there are fundamentals, but they don’t begin to justify the valuations. And you [say] that’s because the potential is unlimited. Like, you can take a little sip in the state of Colorado. But soon, all 50 states, you’ll be guzzling gallons, right? So that’s sort of how it’s supposed to play out. But to get from here to there is a huge stretch.” Milestones that ‘attract pharmaceutical companies to the space’ Regulatory changes and new deals have helped propel the industry forward. Aurora Cannabis saw a spike in share prices after Bloomberg reported that the company was in talks with Coca-Cola to produce beverages infused with cannabidiol earlier this week. The Canadian company, which currently trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, plans to establish a U.S. listing next month. Bruce Linton, chief executive officer of Canadian company Canopy Growth, sees the cannabis industry growing as the legalization of medical marijuana use expands to other countries and becomes more entwined with the pharmaceutical industry. A Tilray scientist waters some marijuana plants. (Photo: Tilray) “You’re going to see, over the next year or two, a great number of milestones met which are going to attract pharmaceutical companies to the space,” Linton said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box . “If you can reduce anxiety in a medical world, you can see where they start to crisscross and become part of the recreational world.” The business activities of cannabis companies will help to “boost and develop” a variety of other industries, Marijuana Business Daily CEO Cassandra Farrington said on Yahoo Finance’s Midday Movers Friday . She cited construction – which would get a boost on demand for new facilities to grow the crops – and the beverage industry as two such examples. “Whatever you’re interested in, whatever you are following in the marketplace, there is an aspect of cannabis that you should be paying attention to,” Farrington said. An earlier version of this story was published on Saturday, Sept. 22. Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck READ MORE: Weed is the new blockchain Munson on weed stocks: ‘90% of them are frauds’ ‘100% illegal’: The business of weed banking is veiled in secrecy
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#LIZA #LAMBO price
08-27 21:00(GMT)
$LIZA
BTC :0.00002
ETH :0.00040
USD :0.1
RUR :10.0
JPY(btc) :15.7
JPY(eth) :12.3
$LAMBO
BTC :0.087
ETH :1.002
USD :869.1
RUR :44002.0
JPY(btc) :64809.8
JPY(eth) :30802.6 || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $BTC 532 Tweets
2位 $TRX 456 Tweets
3位 $ETH 72 Tweets
4位 $XEM 66 Tweets
5位 $XRP 50 Tweets
2018-09-04 19:00 ～ 2018-09-04 19:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
https://cointrend.jp/ || #BTCUSD Market #1H timeframe on August 28 at 23:00 (UTC) is #Bullish. #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #btc #crypto #trading #idea #report technical analysis || Cotización del Bitcoin Cash: 486 20.€ | +0.04% | Kraken | 28/08/18 23:00 #BitcoinCash #Kraken #BCHEUR || Register PIVOT to get BTC Bonus：PIVOT is a community for cryptocurrency investors. https://www.pivot.one/app/invite_login?inviteCode=itnriq … || You can trade
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16:00 || تسلم يا حبيبي || #LIZA #LAMBO price
08-23 08:00(GMT)
$LIZA
BTC :0.00004
ETH :0.00100
USD :0.3
RUR :21.0
JPY(btc) :31.3
JPY(eth) :30.3
$LAMBO
BTC :0.106
ETH :1.000
USD :556.0
RUR :52000.0
JPY(btc) :75633.1
JPY(eth) :30255.0 || 09/16 06:00 現在のビットコインの価格 BTC/JPY ask: 744,757 / bid: 715,441 || ARN 1H'da önemli direnç olan 5900'ü hacimli kırar ise golden cross start alacaktır... 🚀🚀🚀 İzliyoruz... 😎🤟 $arn #arn $btc #btc #bitcoin #altcoin #crypto https://t.co/ZcitqsXH57
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Trend: up || Prices: 6256.24, 6274.58, 6285.99, 6290.93, 6596.54, 6596.11, 6544.43, 6476.71, 6465.41, 6489.19
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Games are being reportedly developed for a version of the Switch that Nintendo denies even exists: Nintendo Switch (AFP via Getty Images) Companies are still working on games for a “Pro” version of the Nintendo Switch, with a 4K display, despite Nintendo repeatedly denying that such a console even exists. Employees at 11 game companies – ranging from large firms like Zynga to smaller studios - told Bloomberg that they had a 4K development kit for the Nintendo Switch to build games for the console. A Zynga spokesperson denied to the publication that they had a development kit. The kit reportedly contains additional ports to connect to a computer, and more memory for debugging software, but is otherwise like the hardware consumers would eventually buy. The development kit for the original Switch transmitted 1080p resolution video, while the new one reportedly transmits 4K. The model is not expected to be released until 2022, the employees said, but the coronavirus pandemic has delayed production. Previous reports about the console suggest it would have better performance with a more recent chipset and a larger display. Nintendo reportedly suffered from component shortages, which has affected many technology companies and interfered with the manufacture of other consoles like the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X, according to one person apparently familiar with its hardware planning. In contrast to Bloomberg’s reporting, though, the company has repeatedly denied any theories about the development of the 4K Switch, stating in a tweet that the report “falsely claims that Nintendo is supplying tools to drive game development for a Nintendo Switch with 4K support”. We also want to restate that, as we announced in July, we have no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, which will launch on October 8, 2021. (2/2) — 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) September 30, 2021 It continues that it has “no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch – OLED Model”, which launches in October. Story continues A larger, better screen is a major feature of the Nintendo Switch OLED Model , which was rumoured to come to the 4K Switch ‘Pro’. Nintendo also unexpectedly equipped all Switch consoles with Bluetooth audio in a software update, at the expense of some multiplayer joy-con connectivity . Read More Remove Visa from Apple Pay travel card feature due to dangerous flaw, experts say Bitcoin price rises as crypto analysts predict second leg of bull run Searching Google is about to completely change || First Uniswap ETP Goes Live as Institutional DeFi Products Proliferate: Institutional investors appear to be flocking into DeFi assets, with a flurry of institutional investment products offering exposure to the decentralized finance sector being launched by major asset managers this year. Valour Inc., a Switzerland-based issuer of digital asset-based exchange-traded products (ETPs), became the latest asset manager to embrace DeFi on Oct. 26 when it launched the world’s first ETP tracking the governance token of leading decentralized exchange Uniswap (UNI). The product is trading on the German-based Börse Frankfurt Zertifikate exchange. Valour CEO Diana Briggs said, “The future of financial services is being built on open, interoperable protocols.” She added that the firm is working hard to bring additional digital asset ETPs to market and offer exposure to DeFi assets “via mainstream investment channels.” The product is physically backed, meaning Valour buys and sells a corresponding value of UNI as units of the ETP are purchased and sold on the exchange. Valour’s Institutional Appeal Valour launched in 2018 and is quietly emerging as a significant player within the institutional crypto product sector, having amassed $290 million worth of assets under management (AUM). It debuted with a Bitcoin ETP in December 2020 and launched its Ether ETP during April 2021, before following up with products tracking Cardano and Polkadot in May and Solana in September. Its products initially traded exclusively on the Nordic Growth Market. But in October, Valour’s ETPs were launched on Börse Frankfurt Zertifikate, with Briggs praising German lawmakers for “providing a clear mandate for institutions to invest in crypto” and ripening the digital asset sector for mass adoption. Valour’s parent company, DeFi Technologies, describes itself as the “only publicly-traded company built to give investors direct exposure to the booming decentralized finance market.” Its venture fund offers exposure to eight top DeFi assets including MKR, SNX, SUSHI, YFI, LUNA, LINK, UNI and AAVE. Story continues Not the Only Way However, Valour’s ETP is not the only way institutional investors can gain exposure to UNI via a regulated product. Grayscale launched its DeFi Fund in June, with the product tracking CoinDesk’s DeFi Index (DFX). Despite branding itself as offering diversified exposure to a selection of leading DeFi protocols, the product has been criticized for tracking an index that is roughly 50% composed of UNI. CRV is the second-most dominant asset in the DFX index at 14.3%, followed by AAVE at 9.6%, COMP at 6.2%, and SUSHI, MKR, SNX, YFI, UMA, and BNT with between roughly 2% and 5% each respectively. As of this writing, Grayscale’s DeFi fund is up 43% since inception and represents an AUM of $13.3 million. Grayscale also added UNI to its Digital Large Cap Fund at the start of October, with the token comprising the fifth-largest held by the fund. More Asset Managers Other institutional asset managers have also stepped in to capitalize on DeFi’s meteoric rise. In February, Bitwise Asset Management launched the world’s first DeFi index fund. While the fund is up nearly 24% in the past three months, it is down 8.7% since inception. Galaxy Digital collaborated with Bloomberg to launch a joint price index tracking decentralized finance assets, in addition to launching its DeFi Index Fund in August. In late September, Amplify ETFs, the issuer of the standout blockchain-focused exchange-traded $BLOK , filed with the SEC to launch the Amplify Decentralized Finance & Crypto Exposure ETF. If approved, the fund will invest a minimum of 40% of its net assets into equity securities issued by DeFi companies. This includes firms that derive at least 50% of their revenue from mining and staking, provide DeFi services to traditional financial institutions, or develop and distribute DeFi application and software services, in addition to “pre-revenue decentralized finance companies.” At the start of October, Australia’s Trovio Capital Management announced the creation of its Digital Asset Income Fund — an institutional product offering exposure to gains from high-yielding stablecoin DeFi protocols.The fund will regularly rebalance its assets in a bid to maintain 90% exposure to stablecoins, and predicts annual returns of between 15% and 20%. Data on Institutional DeFi According to blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, many institutional investors arrived in DeFi during the second quarter of this year. Chainalysis estimates that transactions worth $10 million or more represented more than 60% of all transactions involving DeFi protocols during Q2. In PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual crypto hedge fund report, the firm estimated that 31% of crypto hedge funds were using decentralized exchanges directly. However, not everyone agrees that institutional investors are chomping at the bit to gain exposure to DeFi assets. Genesis Trading’s Michael Moro told Business Insider recently that the prevalence of exploits and buggy code in the DeFi sector is scaring some large wealth managers away. “Errors and mistakes that you’ve seen certainly make [institutions] shy from doing anything in size, in any particular platform,” Moro said. While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent approval of the United States’ first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund has been described as opening the door to new institutional capital to access crypto, it appears smart money has already set its eyes on DeFi. Demand is evidenced by this year’s steady proliferation of DeFi-focused investment products, including ETPs, index funds, and perhaps an ETF. Read the original post on The Defiant . || Comparing Dogecoin, Baby Doge and Shiba Inu: Is There One To Watch?: Bitcoin has been the most popular and well-known cryptocurrency since it literally began the asset class in 2009. However, as speculative fervor has broken out among many markets over the past few years, literally hundreds of new cryptocurrencies have been created, with many skyrocketing in price. Some of these newer cryptos don’t, as of yet, have any discernible value in the blockchain world, and many have whimsical names, such as Dogecoin, Baby Doge and Shiba Inu. Here’s a look at the story behind these three particular cryptos and whether or not they are worth keeping tabs on as an investor.
Find Out More:Is the Shiba Inu Coin the Cryptocurrency You Should Be Watching?See:Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From?
Dogecoin was initially created as a joke by two software engineers in December 2013, with a Shiba Inu — a breed of hunting dog in Japan— as its mascot.What began as a joke is now a full-fledged, functioning cryptocurrency. In fact, as of Aug. 9, Dogecoin has the fifth-largest market cap of any cryptocurrency at $31 billion.
Consider:Dogecoin’s Highs and Lows: Is It Still Worth an Investment?
Part of the reason that Dogecoin is so well-known is thanks to the tweets of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Some market participants have even dubbed Musk the “Dogefather” for his support of the crypto.Yet, Musk is not alone in his support for Dogecoin. Billionaire entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban told CNBC’s “Make It” that Dogecoin is the “strongest” cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange,to which Elon Musk immediately agreed, tweeting, “I’ve been saying this for a while.”All of this combined to spike Dogecoin’s price yet again, rising about 10% in 24 hours.
Although investing in any cryptocurrency is a speculation, the former “joke” crypto seems to have staying power. The coin actually exists as a medium of exchange, and it’s got backing from at least two prominent and popular billionaires.
More Economy Explained:Ethereum (ETH): What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Be Investing?
Baby Dogeis another crypto with a fanciful side, as it was designed by the Dogecoin community as the offspring of its “father,” Doge. The crypto’s own website emphasizes its playfulness, as it states that “Baby Doge seeks to impress his father by showing his new improved transaction speeds & adorableness.”
Unlike other cryptos, however, Baby Doge isn’t meant to be used as a currency. Rather, owners are incentivized to simply hold on to the coin and hope that it increases in value. While Dogecoin, along with many other cryptos, has no cap on the amount that can be mined, Baby Doge is pre-mined, meaning no more can be created.According to the Baby Doge website, this makes the coin hyper-deflationary and designed to become more scarce over time. Baby Doge holders are rewarded with a 5% fee from every transaction on the Baby Doge network, paid in Baby Doge.An additional 5% of each transaction is retained by the network for liquidity.
Read:How To Invest In Cryptocurrency: What You Should Know Before Investing
Although Baby Doge references its transaction speeds as a draw for investors, it’s really focused on increasing its price via a six-pronged roadmap.While the supply of Baby Doge is “limited,” that cap sits at a massive 420 quadrillion tokens,part of the reason its current share price is at an unbelievably low $0.000000001464, as of Aug. 23.The idea is that with a share price so low, early adopters will want to hoard massive numbers of tokens in the hopes of an eventual payoff.
Take a Look:What Is the Next Big Cryptocurrency To Explode in 2021?
Shiba Inu was originally created as the mascot for Dogecoin, but now it operates as its own token on the Ethereum blockchain. Unlike some cryptos which limit their supply, Shiba Inu acts more like Baby Doge, with a nearly unfathomable circulation of 1 quadrillion coins.Shiba Inu has a similarly low price, at just $0.0000082 as of Aug. 23.One major difference between Baby Doge and Shiba Inu, however, is that Shiba Inu strives to be an Ethereum-based alternative to Dogecoin by supporting an NFT art incubator and other projects on its decentralized exchange known as Shibaswap.
Find Out:Why Some Money Experts Believe In Bitcoin and Others Don’t
As Shiba Inu serves a workable function and is based on popular and well-known Ethereum, some investors believe that it might have more legs than Baby Doge. However, Shiba Inu is still extremely speculative, and like many altcoins trying to find their place in the crypto universe, a single tweet can create massive price movements up or down. Not surprisingly, Elon Musk is one of the main culprits with Shiba Inu as well; a single tweet from Musk stating, “My Shiba Inu will be named Floki,” was enough to push the Shiba Inu price up 25%.Investors would be wise to tread with caution on this one.
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Last updated: Aug. 24, 2021
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Comparing Dogecoin, Baby Doge and Shiba Inu: Is There One To Watch? || BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says he's likely in the same camp as Jamie Dimon in seeing bitcoin as worthless, though there are opportunities in blockchain: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink (left) and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters, Jeenah Moon/Reuters BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Wednesday he's likely in line with Jamie Dimon's view that bitcoin is worthless. Fink was interviewed on CNBC a day after JPMorgan's chief said he still wasn't on board with bitcoin. Fink said he does see big opportunities for consumers in a digitized currency. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Wednesday he's likely aligned with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon's view that bitcoin has no value, but the head of the world's largest asset manager does see value in the idea of a digitized currency and blockchain. "I'm probably more on the Jamie Dimon camp," Fink said in a CNBC interview , answering a question referring to Dimon's comment Monday that he believes bitcoin is "worthless," and that he still isn't buying into the hype surrounding the world's most-traded cryptocurrency. "I'm not a student of bitcoin and where it's going to go so I can't tell you whether it's going to $80,000 or zero. But I do believe there is a huge role for a digitized currency and I believe that's going to help consumers worldwide," said Fink. Bitcoin during Wednesday's choppy session was up 0.3% to trade around $56,360 and recently recaptured the valuation mark of more than $1 trillion. Despite Dimon's bitcoin skepticism, his bank conducts business with clients that want access to the world's most-traded cryptocurrency. "We're studying blockchain and the whole concept of crypto and we believe that will play a very large role," said Fink in responding to a question about whether he has shifted in his view in offering crypto products and access to BlackRock's investors. "I see huge opportunities in a digitized crypto-blockchain-related currency and that's where I think it's going and that's going to create some big winners and some big losers," he said. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated July 31 showed the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund made $369,137 from bitcoin futures. BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income Rick Reider in February told CNBC the firm had "started to dabble" in cryptocurrencies. Read the original article on Business Insider || HIVE Blockchain Provides Expansion Update and New Nasdaq Ticker: This news release constitutes a "designated news release" for the purposes of the Company's prospectus supplement dated February 2, 2021 to its short form base shelf prospectus dated January 27, 2021
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 13, 2021) - HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: HIVE) (NASDAQ: HVBT) (FSE: HBF) (the "Company" or "HIVE") is pleased to announce provide its investors with an update on its data center construction in New Brunswick and that its Nasdaq tricker will be changing to "HIVE".
Expansion Update
Construction is in full throttle with our Canadian expansion which will enable HIVE to deploy an additional 20MW of green and clean Bitcoin mining before the end of calendar 2021, with an additional 20MW on schedule to come online within first quarter of calendar 2022. We expect this expansion to add over 900 Petahash per second to our Bitcoin production and enable HIVE to HODL more virgin coins.
Nasdaq Ticker
HIVE is very pleased to announce that effective Tuesday September 14, 2021, on the Nasdaq's Capital Markets Exchange that the Company's ticker will be changing from "HVBT" to "HIVE". "I am thrilled that we will make it much easier for Hive Blockchain technology investors and traders in both Canada and the US to have only one ticker. We are very thankful to NASDAQ in assisting us with acquiring the original symbol "HIVE" that relates to our name. This is important in branding and positioning our name in the minds and hearts of investors and traders as the first crypto mining company and only mining with green energy," said Mr. Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman of HIVE.
About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. went public in 2017 as the first cryptocurrency mining company with a green energy and ESG strategy.
HIVE is a growth-oriented technology stock in the emergent blockchain industry. As a company whose shares trade on a major stock exchange, we are building a bridge between the digital currency and blockchain sector and traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art, green energy-powered data centre facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland, where we source only green energy to mine on the cloud and HODL both Ethereum and Bitcoin. Since the beginning of 2021, HIVE has held in secure storage the majority of its ETH and BTC coin mining rewards. Our shares provide investors with exposure to the operating margins of digital currency mining, as well as a portfolio of cryptocurrencies such as ETH and BTC. Because HIVE also owns hard assets such as data centers and advanced multi-use servers, we believe our shares offer investors an attractive way to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency space. HIVE traded over 2 billion shares in 2020.
We encourage you to visit HIVE's YouTube channelhereto learn more about HIVE.
For more information and to register to HIVE's mailing list, please visitwww.HIVEblockchain.com. Follow@HIVEblockchain on Twitterand subscribe toHIVE's YouTube channel.
On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd."Frank Holmes"Executive Chairman
For further information please contact:Frank HolmesTel: (604) 664-1078
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. "Forward-looking information" in this news release includes, but is not limited to, including the potential increase in hashpower, the potential for the Company's long-term growth, business goals and objectives of the Company, and other forward-looking information concerning the intentions, plans and future actions of the parties to the transactions described herein and the terms thereon.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: the volatility of the digital currency market; the Company's ability to successfully mine digital currency; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory as required, or at all; a material decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Company's operations; the volatility of digital currency prices; continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may have a material adverse effect on the Company's performance as supply chains are disrupted and prevent the Company from carrying out its expansion plans or operating its assets; and other related risks as more fully set out in the registration statement of Company and other documents disclosed under the Company's filings at www.sec.gov/EDGAR andwww.sedar.com.
The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions about the Company's ability to complete the expansion facilities in an economical and timely manner. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/96283 || Morgan Stanley's Dennis Lynch says bitcoin's ability to recover is like the character Kenny from South Park that 'dies every episode': South Park and death Getty Images Morgan Stanley's Dennis Lynch compares bitcoin's ability to bounce back to the character Kenny from South Park. Lynch, who heads up an asset management subsidiary of the bank, said bitcoin is "anti-fragile". He said people will look at bitcoin as "digital gold", or even as a currency in its own right, given the low-rate environment. Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell . Bitcoin's ability to bounce back from even the deepest sell-off is like South Park character Kenny's comical ability to return to life after dying in each episode of the long-running cartoon series, according to Morgan Stanley's Dennis Lynch. Lynch, who heads up Morgan Stanley asset management subsidiary Counterpoint, was discussing bitcoin at Morningstar's annual investment conference on Thursday. "I like to say that bitcoin's kind of like Kenny from South Park - he dies every episode, and is back again," he said. Bitcoin's extreme volatility means it's just as capable of rallying 10% in a day as it is of falling 10%. It's seen a number of sell-offs this year, most recently at the start of this week, when it dropped by almost 9% in a day on Monday to its lowest in six weeks, as part of a broader market decline on the back of concerns about indebted Chinese property firm Evergrande. But it's since risen by about 14%, more than recouping those losses. In fact, bitcoin has fallen by 10% or more on a single day on at least six occasions this year, and every time, it's bounced back. Like Kenny of the Comedy Central franchise, bitcoin just keeps coming back, Lynch said. "I think (bitcoin) demonstrates some 'anti-fragile' qualities during this period of time - anti-fragile being something that gains from disorder," he said. "It kind of sits in the portfolio in a small manner, that it is something that can go right when the rest of our portfolios have something going wrong," he said. Story continues Part of the boom in cryptocurrency demand this year has stemmed from ultra-low interest rates that have depressed the dollar and driven investors into riskier, higher-yielding assets. "I can envision (bitcoin) benefiting from different environments, whether people look at it as a digital gold, or people start to really question (the) fiat currency, given all the stimulus and the policy there - (since) the Fed has had to be so accommodating," Lynch said. Read the original article on Business Insider || Rollercoin Introduces BNB Mining into its Gameplay: Rollercoin online crypto mining announces the integration with BNB. A new concept of play to earn gaming and a marketplace release are coming soon. LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 22, 2021 / Rollercoin, the leading online crypto mining simulator integrates BNB (Binance Coin) and makes it an integral part of its gameplay. The gaming platform has managed to acquire an extensive 1 million user global community in the past few years and continues to expand its cryptocurrency coverage. Rollercoin reports that from now on, the players can build their virtual rigs around BNB mining and compete in arcade games to improve the performance of the developed infrastructure. It is free, and the more active the community is in completing games, the more free BNB they can mine . Earn BNB with Rollercoin Online mining simulators have been around since the rise of Bitcoin but it is only Rollercoin that managed to take the center stage. The uptake is simple. Players compete in online mini games to increase the mining performance of their rigs and get rewarded with real crypto. The latter can then be spent on further rig improvements or can simply be withdrawn. Rollercoin community gets access to special events, like the latest Dark Star series of special tasks, whilst the soon to be released Marketplace introduces even more addons, aimed at mining and hashrate improvements. At launch, players were limited to mining free BTC only. Shortly after, the team behind the leading crypto sim added free Ethereum mining and Doge. Binance coin acts as the latest addition to the list of integrated cryptocurrencies and according to the team, becomes the new step in the sim's development. Its gaming structure mimics real-world mining techniques, giving players an in-depth understanding of the intricacies involved in the process. Therefore, it can be used as an introduction to crypto mining with an added benefit of free crypto rewards. BNB is the third most popular crypto asset in the world and acts as the backbone on which the renowned Binance exchange operates. Another benefit behind the Binance Coin is its tokenomics. Unlike the plethora of conventional tokens, a certain share of BNB gets burned, which in turn decreases total supply and increases value of the token. Unlike many other online simulator games, Rollercoin follows the Play to Earn gameplay model where users do not have to spend any of their own funds in order to mine crypto. Perhaps it is this, that kicked off the flamboyant rise of the platform and makes players return to the game daily. The Play to Earn model means that the more you play, the more rewards you get. And in the case of Rollercoin, users start with a basic crypto mining rig of their choice and then have to play simple but engaging arcade mini-games to increase hashrate of the said equipment. The more games users play, the greater the hashrate gets and the higher the rewards are. Mined crypto can then be withdrawn or spent on in-game rig improvements, which further increases the hashrate. Story continues About Rollercoin Rolled out in 2018, Rollercoin quickly became the number one platform for virtual mining of free crypto. The sim's gameplay is designed in such a way that players get to learn all the intricacies of real crypto mining and earn free BNB at the same time. Users compete in simple but entertaining online mini games, build and improve rigs and fight for the online mining supremacy. Impressive, to say the least! Contact - Hamster Rollercoin Email - marketing@rollercoin.com Phone number - 436603960633 Website - https://rollercoin.com/ SOURCE: Rollercoin View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/668901/Rollercoin-Introduces-BNB-Mining-into-its-Gameplay View comments || Crypto Stocks: Why RIOT, MARA, COIN and BTBT Are Falling Today: Crypto stocks aren’t doing so hot today and it’s all thanks to recent news out of China. a bitcoin concept coin sitting on wires representing crypto stocks. Source: biggunsband / Shutterstock.com The country is cracking down even harder on crypto with new bans from regulators . That includes China’s central bank banning all crypto transactions. Other regulators in the country are also putting in place news restrictions that stop the mining of crypto in China. China choosing to ban anything to do with crypto is a major blow to the space and easily explains why some stocks are falling today. After all, the world’s second-largest economy just brought down a hammer on the crypto market. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Investors that want more details about the China crypto ban can find it here. Due to this, several crypto stocks are dropping hard today. Let’s jump into those below! 7 High-Yield Dividend Stocks That Will Please Any Income Lover Crypto Stocks Falling Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ: RIOT ) stock starts us off with shares taking an almost 7% beating as of this writing. Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA ) shares are up next with an almost 7% decline as of Friday morning. Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN ) stock also isn’t taking today’s news well with shares dipping more than 2%. Bit Digital (NASDAQ: BTBT ) is also feeling the heat from China’s ban with shares decreasing roughly 5% this morning. It will also come as no surprise to traders that cryptos themselves are also falling today considering the China ban. You can find out more about that by following this link ! Investors that want more of the latest crypto news will want to stick around. We’ve got all the most recent crypto coverage that traders need to know about. A few examples of it include the latest news for Ethereum (CCC: ETH-USD ), Bitcoin (CCC: BTC-USD ), and Litecoin (CCC: LTC-USD ). You can get all of those details by checking out the links below! More Recent Crypto News Ethereum Holders Face Some Hard Questions Ahead In Unpredictable Market If Bitcoin Really Is Digital Gold, Then $500,000 Is the Next Stop Litecoin Is an Interesting Crypto With a Huge Upside Story continues On the date of publication, William White did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2… Says Buy THIS Now Analyst Who Found Microsoft at $0.38 Names #1 Pick for the AI Boom America’s #1 EV Stock Still Flying Under the Radar The post Crypto Stocks: Why RIOT, MARA, COIN and BTBT Are Falling Today appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Bitcoin has no value and authorities will soon 'regulate the hell out of it,' says JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon: Mike Blake/Reuters JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon doubled down on past skepticism of bitcoin in a TV interview with Axios. Dimon is a longtime crypto critic who has trashed bitcoin as a "fraud" and a waste of time. His critical remarks come in contrast to growing crypto interest by mainstream financial institutions - including JPMorgan. Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell . JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon doubled down on past skepticism of bitcoin in a TV interview with Axios published on Monday, warning investors that the cryptocurrency has no underlying value. "It's got no intrinsic value," said Dimon in response to a question on whether bitcoin was akin to fool's gold. Asked about whether authorities should regulate crypto, Dimon said, "Regulators are going to regulate the hell out of it," adding that this was more a factual than a moral statement. "If people are using it for tax avoidance and sex trafficking and ransomware, it's going to be regulated, whether you like it or not," he told Axios. Dimon was also pressed on his $31 million compensation package, which in July was boosted with around $49 million in JPMorgan share options, according to the Financial Times . "The board decides what I make," he said. "We have a free market in this country, which ... everyone should applaud." Dimon is a longtime crypto critic who has trashed bitcoin as a "fraud" and a waste of time . In September, the JPMorgan boss said he wouldn't care if bitcoin's price shot up even further. "That does not mean it can't go 10 times in price in the next five years," Dimon told the Times of India . "I remember when beanie babies were selling for $2,000 a pop. We all know about tulip bulbs ." Dimon's critical remarks come in contrast to growing crypto interest by mainstream financial institutions - including his own JPMorgan. In July, Insider reported that would be the first big bank to execute crypto trades requested by its wealth-management clients. Read the original article on Business Insider View comments || Crypto Funds Double Weekly Inflows to $226M as Ebullience Returns to Bitcoin Market: Crypto-focused funds took in more than double the amount of new money last week that it did the prior week as bullish sentiment returned to the bitcoin market. Digital asset investment products saw a total of $226 million in inflows during the week ended last Friday, up from $90 million the week before. The jump was largely driven by bitcoin-focused funds, where inflows rose by $156 million to $225 million, the highest in five months, according to a report Monday from digital asset manager CoinShares. The resurgence in interest in bitcoin funds came as the largest cryptocurrency’s price rose last week to a five-month high. The crypto was recently trading at around $57,300. The last time bitcoin saw inflows this high was in May, when its price was about $58,500 on its way down from the all-time high of nearly $65,000 reached earlier in the year. Bitcoin’s price subsequently fell to as low as $29,000 in July, but has recently staged a fresh rally, up 20% in October alone. The Gensler effect Ethereum-focused funds, which had gained in recent months as bitcoin funds were mostly flat to down, saw minor outflows last week, totaling $14 million. Funds focused on alternative blockchains Litecoin, Ripple and Polkadot also saw outflows last week. The authors of the CoinShares report attributed the uptick in bitcoin flows to recent statements by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who has hinted that the regulatory agency might be willing to approve an exchange-traded fund linked to bitcoin futures. Gensler also notably said last week that he has no intention of banning cryptocurrencies. “We believe the turnaround in sentiment towards bitcoin is due to constructive statements from SEC chair Gary Gensler, potentially allowing a bitcoin ETF in the U.S.,” the report stated. Some other altcoin-focused funds continued to see gains. Investment vehicles focused on Solana’s SOL token saw inflows of $12.5 million, while funds linked to Cardano’s ADA token took in $3 million. Correction (Oct. 12, 13:45 UTC): A previous version of this story incorrectly stated last week’s inflows into bitcoin funds. The story has now been corrected to show that the inflows increased by $156 million.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 67566.83, 66971.83, 64995.23, 64949.96, 64155.94, 64469.53, 65466.84, 63557.87, 60161.25, 60368.01
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-08-23]
BTC Price: 21528.09, BTC RSI: 39.69
Gold Price: 1746.80, Gold RSI: 44.03
Oil Price: 93.74, Oil RSI: 49.80
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Crypterium Becomes Choise.com, the MetaFi Ecosystem Connecting CeFi and DeFi: London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - July 16, 2022) - Popular crypto wallet Crypterium has rebranded toChoise.comand declared its intent to connect the worlds of centralised and decentralised finance. Its new mandate will see Choise.com evolve into a MetaFi ecosystem that gives users exposure to the best elements of CeFi and DeFi.
Figure 1
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8831/130971_b2a21b48a4a53883_001full.jpg
Since its launch in 2017, the company has grown rapidly, expanding its ecosystem with new products and services. In the process, Crypterium has evolved into much more than a mere cryptocurrency wallet.
The rebrand marks the greatest milestone in the project's history. Choise.com represents a massive leap forward, transforming Crypterium into an innovative digital asset ecosystem that will give its users greater choice and financial freedom than ever before.
Choise.com's maiden mission is to create the industry's first MetaFi ecosystem. By combining centralised and decentralised finance products and services, its platform gives users the choice to earn more on their coins through yield farming, DEXs, liquidity pools, and lending protocols. The new-look platform promises an intuitive user experience, state-of-the-art security and customer support, and a single marketplace to suit the needs of everyone from newcomers to veterans.
"When I launched Crypterium back in 2017, one of the main challenges was to connect traditional banking with the then-new and unexplored blockchain technology. At the time, our goal was to create a neobank for crypto and make digital assets simpler for users. As we have developed alongside the cryptocurrency market, our mission has broadened. Now, we do not only want to simplify access to crypto but also to provide users with new ways to earn more. To achieve that, we are building the Choise.com MetaFi ecosystem that seamlessly connects CeFi and DeFi across multiple blockchains, protocols, wallets, and liquidity pools with the same convenience as our clients have already been enjoying on Crypterium,"- Vladimir Gorbunov, Founder and CEO of Choise.com, shared more about the company's vision in afounder's letter.
Choise.com will aggregate crypto solutions under one roof, making it possible for newbies and pros to generate revenue on their digital assets. Its battle-tested CeFi services provide a convenient way for clients to store, exchange, invest, and spend their digital assets with the Crypterium Debit Card, bank transfers, and seamless fiat on- and off-ramps.
This will be complemented by the Charism protocol that gives users access to decentralised finance tools, protocols, and dApps to generate revenue above current market rates without facing the complexity of DeFi. Users can also leverage CHO, Choise.com's native token, to maximise their profits with yield farming and staking by receiving additional APY from intelligent wealth management and CHO airdrops.
Furthermore, Choise.com's crypto price insurance product allows customers to fix a guaranteed minimum price when purchasing digital assets (currently, the service is only available for BTC and ETH). This way, if the price of a given cryptocurrency appears to be less than the insurance price at expiry, the user's losses will be covered by the insurance.
About Choise.com
Choise.com is the first-ever MetaFi ecosystem that combines the best of the CeFi and DeFi worlds under a single, user-friendly platform. Choise.com is the evolution of Crypterium, serving over 700,000 registered users and with a €230 million turnover in 2021. With the recent rebrand, the company seeks to offer its clients the most profitable and exciting opportunities to earn crypto via centralised and decentralised finance solutions alike.
Learn more:https://choise.com/
ContactsAlena AkimovaChoise.compr@choise.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/130971 || Current Bear Market is Worst Ever Recorded, Report Shows: • The first sign of a bear market is the decline in Bitcoin price below its 200-day moving average.
• Bitcoin is trading at less than half of the 200-day moving average level.
• Only 13.9% of all Bitcoin trading days have seen spot prices below unrealized prices.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, the crypto market collapsed in May, erasing more than $2 trillion in value. In a week, Terra went from being valued at more than $50 billion tocollapsing into a state of disrepair.
As Terra collapsed, wiping out nearly $40 billion in investors’ capital, so too did other cryptocurrencies. When the algorithmic stablecoinUSTlost itspeg to the U.S. dollarand the price of LUNA dropped 98%, it fuelled a slump across cryptocurrencies. The result was a market capitalization that fell below $1 trillion for the first time since January 2021.
While cryptocurrencies have a track record of boom and bust cycles, owing to their volatility, a new report by blockchain analysis firm Glassnode shows that the current crypto bear market is the worst ever recorded.
More specifically, on-chain analysis highlights how Bitcoin’s (BTC) combined current dip below the 200-daymoving average(MA), negative deviation from realized price and net realized losses makes 2022, unequivocally, the worst in BTC’s history.
The most obvious indication of a bear market is when the spot price of Bitcoin falls below the 200-day MA or worse, the 200-week MA.
Glassnode highlighted how rare the current price levels are, especially since falling below the 0.5 Mayer Multiple (MM) is a unique occurrence that hasn’t happened since 2015.
The report found that only 84 out of 4160 trading days (2%) have recorded a closing MM value below 0.5. The MM factors in price changes above and below the 200-day MA to indicate overbought or oversold conditions.
Ethereum (ETH) is trading at a 63% discount to its 200-day MA, and its Mayer Multiple has hit 0.37, below the 0.6 MM band downside deviation.
When the spot price falls below the realized price, it can lead to traders increasingly selling their coins at a loss. Notably, Glassnode did express that such a cascade effect is typical of bear markets and market capitulations.
However, instances when spot prices trade below the realized price are rare, since this is only the third time it has happened in the last six years and the fifth time it’s happened since 2009.
Put into perspective, only 13.9% of all Bitcoin trading days have seen spot prices below unrealized prices.
To make matters worse, investors are locking in their losses on Bitcoin. For example, when Bitcoin fell below the $20,000 mark on June 18, investors collectively locked in a loss of -$4.234 billion in a single day, which is a 22.5% increase from the previous record of $3.457 billion set in 2021.
Overall, this means that the market is, lamentably, in the midst of a capitulation event. As well as investors selling their Bitcoin holdings at a discount due to the the financial pressures of limitedliquidityand risinginflation, miners have also started selling their stacks too – which is another indicator that capitulation has taken place.
BTC is down 69% from itsall-time high of $69,044set in November 2021 and is currently trading at around $20,000.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Technical View for June 29th 2022
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• Trump did not care that Jan. 6 rioters were armed, tried to hijack limo || Shares slip, dollar firms on recession concerns: By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. shares fell sharply and the dollar surged on Monday as fears mounted that central bank efforts to tame rising consumer prices with inflation-busting interest-rate hikes will weaken the global economy and lead to a recession. Earlier in Europe the benchmark STOXX index for regional shares closed down 1% after Russia's Gazprom said it would halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month. Oil at first fell 4% as traders bet a slowdown would dent demand. But the latest disruption to energy supplies in Europe heightened concerns about the continent's economic outlook after hawkish signals from European Central Bank policymakers. Russian natural gas supplies to Europe are down around 75% year on year. A closely monitored recession signal - the inversion of the U.S. Treasuries' yield curve - widened as the market braced for remarks on Friday from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who will discuss at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the Fed's mission to lower inflation. The dollar strengthened, knocking the euro below parity at 0.9944 and pushing the Canadian dollar to breach 1.30 against the greenback. The strong dollar led gold prices to fall to their lowest level in nearly four weeks. "Ahead of Jackson Hole the dollar is going to remain relatively firm, even though it's overextended," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex. Despite a quick shift toward a more hawkish view of the Fed, "the market has this habit of reading Powell to be dovish. So I see the risk of 'buy the rumor,' - the rumor of a hawkish Fed - and then sell it 'on the fact,'" he said. Fed funds futures are now pricing in a 54.5% chance of a 75 basis-point hike by the Fed in September, instead of the greater probability of a 50 basis-point hike as the market had expected going into the weekend. A Reuters poll of economists taken Aug. 16-19 forecast the Fed will raise rates by 50 basis points in September, with the risks skewed toward a higher peak. Story continues The Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year notes inverted to -29.7 basis points after easing a bit last week in a sign recession bets have increased. "The inverted yield curve is signaling a massive 'recession' is upon us," said Tom di Galoma, managing director at Seaport Global Holdings, in a note to investors. "Yield curve inversions are great predictors of recessions." The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.91%, the S&P 500 lost 2.14% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.55% as all 11 of the major S&P 500 sectors slid. Declining shares outnumbered those advancing by a more than 5:1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 has repeatedly failed to clear its 200-day moving average around 4,320, a sign it would be pulling out of a bear market. The 10-year note rose 4 basis points in price to yield 3.0294%. [US/] One exception to the tightening trend is China, where the central bank trimmed some key lending rates by between 5 and 15 basis points on Monday in a bid to support a slowing economy and a stressed housing sector. Unease over China's economy tipped the yuan to a 23-month low, while pressuring stocks across the region. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.97%, while its U.S.-centric index of shares across the globe slid 1.8%. Germany's 10-year bond yield set a fresh four- week high of 1.314% as a key gauge of long-term euro zone inflation expectations hit a more than two-month high of 2.207%. The ECB must keep raising rates even if a recession in Germany is increasingly likely, as inflation will stay uncomfortably high all through 2023, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said over the weekend. Oil prices bounced off session lows to trade nearly flat in a volatile session after Saudi Arabia's energy minister said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies could cut production to confront market challenges. U.S. crude futures fell 54 cents to settle at $90.23 a barrel, while Brent settled down 24 cents at $96.48. U.S. gold futures fell 0.8% to settle at $1,748.40 an ounce. Bitcoin was 1.94% lower at $21,096, weighed down by broad risk aversion in markets. (Reporting by Herbert Lash in New YorkAdditional reporting by Lawrence White and Wayne ColeEditing by Catherine Evans and Matthew Lewis) || Stock Market Today: Energy Sector Drags on Stocks: blue stock market chart with bars Getty Images Stocks started August on shaky footing, with markets struggling to find direction following their best month since 2020. Much of last week's gains came on the heels of well-received tech earnings . And while the earnings calendar heats up later this week, the main focus on Monday was economic data. Namely, the Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers' index (PMI) – a measure of factory activity in the U.S. – fell to 52.8 in July from 53.0 in June. SEE MORE 10 Bond Funds to Buy Now "Manufacturing was still expanding in July, but at the slowest rate in over two years," says Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for independent broker-dealer LPL Financial. "As demand slows and supply bottlenecks improve, we should expect a corresponding slowdown in inflation during the back half of this year." Separately, the Commerce Department released data this morning that showed construction spending fell 1.1% month-over-month in June – due in part to a 3.1% drop in single-family homes (the largest one-month drop in this metric since the start of the pandemic). Economists had been expecting a 0.4% increase. Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. While markets spent most of the morning in positive territory, they turned lower around lunchtime – dragged down by the energy sector , which slumped 2.1% as U.S. crude futures plummeted 4.7% to $93.95 per barrel. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.1% at 32,798, the S&P 500 Index was 0.3% lower at 4,118 and the Nasdaq Composite had given back 0.2% to end at 12,368. stock price chart 080122 YCharts Other news in the stock market today: The small-cap Russell 2000 slipped 0.1% to 1,883. Gold futures rose for a fourth straight day, gaining 0.3% to settle at $1,787.70 an ounce. Bitcoin shed 4% to $22,956.73.(Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.) Boeing ( BA ) was the best Dow Jones stock today, adding 6.1%. The surge in share price came amid media reports indicating the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday said it would approve the company's plan to fix issues on planes before they are sent to customers. This will allow BA to resume deliveries of its 787 aircraft, which have been halted since May 2021. Target ( TGT ) jumped 1.3% after Wells Fargo analyst Edward Kelly upgraded the retail stock to Overweight from Equal Weight (the equivalents of Buy and Hold, respectively. "TGT's sell-off provides the opportunity to pick up a proven share gainer into an underappreciated earnings recovery at the right price, in our view," Kelly says. While the company deserves criticisms for its inventory missteps, it "took the earliest and biggest margin hit in retail, suggesting relatively lower risk from here and a faster recovery," he adds. Story continues How to Prepare Your Portfolio for a Recession Are we in a recession? That's the question that's been bouncing around since data released from the Commerce Department last Thursday showed the U.S. economy contracted for a second straight quarter in Q2. SEE MORE 10 Defensive ETFs to Protect Your Portfolio While that meets the unofficial criteria for a recession, the official judge is the National Bureau of Economic Research – and they have yet to chime in. Still, plenty of experts have , including Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth, who is pushing back on the notion that the U.S. economy is in a recession. "Personal consumption grew for the eighth straight quarter [in Q2]," he says. "Looking at the gains in spending alongside continued strength in payrolls, it's really difficult to call what we’re experiencing right now a recession." So what does this mean for investors? Opportunity, says Kiplinger columnist James K. Glassman, who recently put together a tidy primer on how to invest for a recession . While we won't know for certain until the NBER makes the official call, there are plenty of areas of the market that are priced as if there will be one – and that presents an opportunity for investors. Take a look. SEE MORE How Senate Breakthrough on Climate Could Benefit ESG Investors You may also like Amazon Ending a Key Perk for Amazon Prime Customers Your Guide to Roth Conversions A Medicare Surcharge That Might Surprise You If You’re Not Careful – IRMAA || CleanSpark Announces June 2022 Bitcoin Production: Production hits all-time-high of 12.1 BTC per day; hashrate increases 12% month-over-month LAS VEGAS, July 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CleanSpark, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLSK) (the "Company" or "CleanSpark"), a sustainable bitcoin mining and energy technology company, today released its unaudited bitcoin production and operations update for the calendar year-to-date ending June 30, 2022. Bitcoin Production & Operations Update (unaudited) June monthly production: 339 Calendar year-to-date production ending June 30: 1863 Total BTC holdings as of June 30: 561 Total BTC converted for operations and growth in June: 328 Currently deployed fleet of approximately 28,500 latest-generation bitcoin miners with a hashrate exceeding 2.8 EH/s The Company fully funded growth and operations through the sale of 328 bitcoins in June 2022 at an average of approximately $25,644 per BTC. Sales of BTC equated to proceeds of approximately $8.4 million. June daily BTC production reached a high of 12.1. Energy Business Update CleanSpark is one step closer to being a pure play bitcoin miner after achieving the important milestone last month of exiting the switchgear business. The agreement releases the Company from all liabilities related to its prior switchgear business, while retaining certain receivable rights from existing contracts. Additionally, certain prepaid deposits are expected to be returned to CleanSpark. “This move strengthens our balance sheet and frees up working and human capital for our high-value, bitcoin mining business,” said Zach Bradford, CEO. About CleanSpark CleanSpark, Inc., a Nevada corporation, is a sustainable bitcoin mining and energy technology company that is solving modern energy challenges. For more information about the Company, please visit the Company's website at https://www.cleanspark.com/investor-relations . Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “targets,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our future deliveries of miners and other related infrastructure, future deliveries of immersion cooling equipment, and future deployment of energy infrastructure, industry and business trends, our business and financial/capital strategy, market growth and our objectives for future operations. Story continues The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the success of its digital currency mining activities; the volatile and unpredictable cycles in the emerging and evolving industries in which we operate, increasing difficulty rates for bitcoin mining; bitcoin halving; new or additional governmental regulation; the anticipated delivery dates of new miners; the ability to successfully deploy new miners; the dependency on utility rate structures and government incentive programs; the timely completion of mining facilities or expansions thereof; recognizing the full benefits of immersion cooling; future hashrate growth; the expectations of future revenue growth may not be realized; the expectations of future revenue growth may not be realized; ongoing demand for the Company's software products and related services; the impact of global pandemics (including COVID-19) on logistics and shipping and the demand for our products and services; and other risks described in the Company's prior press releases and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to us as of the date of this press release, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. You should read this press release with the understanding that our actual future results, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Relations Contact Matt Schultz ir@cleanspark.com Media Contacts Isaac Holyoak pr@cleanspark.com BlocksBridge Consulting Nishant Sharma cleanspark@blocksbridge.com CONTACT: Isaac Holyoak CleanSpark, Inc. 702-989-7694 pr@cleanspark.com || SEC Rejects Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Application: Don't miss CoinDesk's Consensus 2022 , the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12. Grayscale Investments’ application to convert its $13.5 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was denied by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday despite the company’s extensive efforts to win approval. Grayscale is owned by Digital Currency Group, which is also the parent company of CoinDesk. The SEC stated in its decision that the application failed to answer the SEC's questions about preventing market manipulation, as well as other concerns. The decision joins the SEC’s rejection on Wednesday of Bitwise’s application for approval of a spot bitcoin ETF, which is comprised of bitcoin or assets related to bitcoin's price. Like Bitwise, Grayscale initially filed its application in October but the decision was delayed multiple times as the SEC requested additional information and comment from the public. The final deadline for the SEC to render a decision on Grayscale’s application was July 6. Proponents of a spot bitcoin ETF approval have argued the product would offer a low-cost and easily accessible way for individuals and institutions to invest in bitcoin. Optimism about an approval began to grow following the approval of several bitcoin futures-based ETFs last fall, and then that of two more futures ETF approvals earlier this year based on the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 , the same act under which spot bitcoin ETFs have been filed. For its part, Grayscale has argued forcefully that it is inconsistent to approve an ETF based on bitcoin futures but not allow one based on the underlying investment. Some of its efforts have included marketing to urge members of the public to voice their support to the SEC, a May meeting with the SEC and the strengthening of its legal team with the addition of Donald B. Verrilli Jr. , who previously served as a solicitor general in the Obama administration. The denial comes as a blow not only to Grayscale, but for the broader crypto industry after a long campaign in hopes of proving to the SEC the product contained sufficient investor protections. Few analysts and observers were anticipating an approval , however, noting that SEC Chair Gary Gensler has been consistent in wanting to see more oversight of crypto exchanges before approving a spot bitcoin ETF. Investors and crypto observers will now turn their focus to what Grayscale can and will do now to win approval for a conversion. CEO Michael Sonnenshein said on June 27 the company will be “preparing for all possible post-ruling scenarios.” And on that same date, Grayscale said it would be working with market makers Jane Street and Virtu Financial to help convert GBTC into an ETF if its application was approved. GBTC was trading at an approximate 29% discount to net asset value ahead of the denial, down from 34% a week prior. View comments || Bank of America Says Blockchains Have Intrinsic Value, Citing Transaction Fees: Blockchains and the applications that run on them have intrinsic value, Bank of America noted in a research report, saying it rejects regularly heard claims to the contrary.
In June, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey echoed negative sentiment about cryptocurrencies in comments to Parliament, saying theasset class has no “intrinsic value.”
The Ethereum blockchain has generated about $3.9 billion in transaction fees so far this year and generated about $9.9 billion in fees last year. Last year's total was 1,558% more than the year before, the report published Friday said.
The Bitcoin blockchain has produced around $93 million in fees year to date, compared with about $1 billion for all of last year, the report added.
Ethereum transaction fees likely declined year to date as holders “moved to the sidelines,” the bank said. Bitcoin fees have probably fallen since April 2021 because of the adoption of theLightning Network, which allows for smaller and instant bitcoin (BTC) payments.
Bank of America says it is not yet able to forecast cash flows for blockchains because they are unpredictable in the “nascent industry." Blockchains generate cash flows via transaction fees from validating native token transactions or by validating transactions from applications that run on top of the blockchain.
Cash flows in the form of transaction fees are expected to accelerate for blockchains that have strong user growth and development in addition to a clear use case, the note said.
Read more:BofA Says Ethereum Needs Scalability Improvements to Hold Its Market Position || MoHash raises $6M seed funding to bring sustainable, stable yields to DeFi: The recent collapse of UST has once again demonstrated that many of the so-called stablecoins in the web3 world today are tied to high-risk and often unsustainable assets. As decentralized finance attempts to expand its reach, it appears to be in dire need to find alternative sources of yields. During the last DeFi summer, the yields on USDC across lending protocols ranged from 4%-6%, says Md Halim, founder of DeFi startup ZeFi . At times, the yields went as high as 9%. “As the value of Bitcoin and Ethereum appreciated, the demand for loans against them skyrocketed, prompting higher yields. But now as we grapple with fear and uncertainty in the markets, lots of large funds/whales have suffered losses," he said. "This has caused a cascading effect on players who loaned to them. The lenders in turn are liquidating their collateral to recoup the loans, leading to a further decline in the prices of BTC/ETH and other assets. That’s reflected in the contraction of TVL in DeFi procotols in terms of absolute units of assets locked.” The message is clear: “If you’re a crypto person, you also need access to safer assets,” says Arun Devarajan, founder and chief executive of MoHash. Devarajan’s startup, MoHash, is working to address this gap by tapping the real world’s yields. The startup is building a decentralized finance protocol that will tap global capital and liquidity for alternative assets in fast-growing economies. “We are enabling access to fast-growing economies, and whose growth has meaning … it’s not tied to the fluctuations in the crypto market. Crypto has one great use case of trading, but it swings with the wind. There’s a lot more things you can do with the same infrastructure and we are trying to expand what it can do by bringing high-yield, regulated assets,” he said. MoHash has been working to solve this challenge for a year and has assembled several experienced tech and finance individuals from firms such as Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Oliver Wyman, India Stack and Samsung. Story continues The startup aims to begin doing transactions in the next few weeks and is targeting to serve institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals with check sizes typically above $1 million. "This solution has the potential to meaningfully bridge MSME funding gaps across the globe — starting with India," said Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founder and managing partner at Quona, in a statement. Devarajan, co-founder of MoHash, previously worked at India Stack. Image Credits: MoHash For Devarajan, MoHash is an opportunity to write atop of standards that can be used globally, he said. Devarajan previously worked at India Stack, a nonprofit that developed several infrastructure protocols including the UPI, which is now the most popular way Indians transact today. “With OCEN (Open Credit Enablement Network, open standards to facilitate the various aspects of the lending value chain), we designed a system where Indian platforms were able to raise capital from Indian lenders. The single standard worked across the Indian market. At MoHash, we are writing atop a global standard on ERC20, and this standardization means we get access to global capital and liquidity,” he said. The startup’s vision has already won some backing. On Thursday, MoHash announced it has raised $6 million in seed funding. The round was led by Sequoia Capital India and Quona Capital. Ledger Prime, Jump Crypto, Hashed Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and CoinSwitch. Balaji Srinivasan and Polygon founders Sandeep Nailwal and Jaynti Kanani also participated in the round. “MoHash is bringing real-world assets to DeFi users globally and providing sustainable, uncorrelated and hard to access yields on-chain for the first time,” said Shailesh Lakhani, managing director at Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia, in a statement. “We think that this is exactly the type of product DeFi needs — one that leverages the strengths of blockchains and helps solve a real-world problem. We’ve loved working with them over the past few months and Sequoia Capital India is thrilled to co-lead this financing.” Subscribe to TechCrunch’s crypto newsletter "Chain Reaction" for news, funding updates and hot takes on the wild world of web3 -- and take a listen to our companion podcast! || Core Scientific Sold More Bitcoin in July Than It Mined: Core Scientific (CORZ), one of the world's largest bitcoin miners by hashrate, which is a measure of computing power, said it produced 1,221 bitcoins in July while selling 1,975 to pay for capital and growth expenses. The miner received a total of $44 million, or $22,000 each, according to a statement published Friday. Core Scientific used the cash from the sale for capital investments related to increasing its data center capacity and to pay mining rig manufacturer Bitmain for the 100,000 mining rigs that it ordered in 2021. Core Scientific said it has less than $10 million in payments remaining for the rigs, excluding shipping and customs charges. The company still holds 1,205 bitcoins, and it has about $83 million in cash on its balance sheet. “During the month of July, we continued to enhance liquidity, strengthen our balance sheet, streamline our organization and make further progress toward achieving our 2022 operating objectives,” CEO Mike Levitt said in the statement. The sale comes after the miner offloaded 7,202 bitcoins in June to raise about $167 million. The company is not alone as bitcoin miners have started to sell their mined digital assets this year to pay for expenses during the bear market. Most recently, Riot Blockchain (RIOT) said it sold 275 bitcoins in July for $5.6 million. Core Scientific expects to continue selling self-mined bitcoin to pay operating expenses, fund growth, retire debt and maintain liquidity. The miner said it has about 195,000 mining rigs with a total hashrate of about 19.3 exahash per second (EH/s), which it says is the largest mining capacity of “any listed company in North America.” Core Scientific's operation is a blend of self-mining and hosting for other miners. Its shares were up about 4% on Friday morning, outperforming some of its mining peers and bitcoin. || Unpacking the Latest Bitcoin ETF Rejections: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected more spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund applications. It’s worth unpacking the agency’s reasoning, even as new applications are filed.
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Two bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications were denied last week. The big question for me is whether we’re learning anything new from these rejections. At this point, I’m not sure – a lot of these rejections really read the same.
Even if the bitcoin ETF rejections are all similar, it’s always worth digging in and examining the Securities and Exchange Commission’s reasoning, and what we can learn from it.
To no one’s surprise, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)rejected yet more bitcoin ETF applications, this time by Grayscale Investments and Bitwise Asset Management.
Grayscale almost immediatelyfiled a petition for reviewwith the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., asking the federal court system to take a look at the SEC’s decision and either declare it is with the Administrative Procedures Act or possibly just remand the decision back to the SEC but asking it to take another look at the application and review its process as to whether or not the rejection complied with its internal processes.
Disclosure: Grayscale and CoinDesk share a parent company in Digital Currency Group. CoinDesk remains editorially independent of all DCG companies.
The SECreiterated its at this point very frequent concernsthat there is the potential for market manipulation, that the stablecoin tether (USDT) might be used to manipulate the market and that it does not believe that Grayscale or its partner, the NYSE Arca exchange, have met their obligations to reassure the SEC that this is not possible.
For its part, Grayscale says the approval of bitcoin futures ETF products should indicate that a spot market-based ETF product is safe for consumers. In the words of Grayscale Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm, like products should receive like treatment.
To better understand the SEC’s rejection, we should probably take a look at theTeucrium futures ETF approval. This is the bitcoin futures ETF that was filed under the same law that all the spot ETF applications have been filed under. When it was approved earlier this year, a lot of bitcoin ETF advocates said they believed it was a sign the SEC might actually be willing to budge on the spot bitcoin applications.
The reasoning is this: SEC Chair Gary Gensler said last year that he was comfortable with futures ETFs filed under a specific law because that law enshrined certain consumer protections. The law that will govern spot bitcoin ETFs does not have the same protections.
In approving a futures ETF filed under the other law, the SEC opened the door to a spot ETF under that law, these advocates said.
(I’m keeping things relatively simple and vague – these are the 1940 and 1933-34 Acts, respectively, for those of you curious.)
The Teucrium approvalalso addressedthe market manipulation concerns, saying:
“As Arca states, as a Designated Contracts Market … the CME ‘comprehensively surveils futures market conditions and price movements on a realtime and ongoing basis in order to detect and prevent price distortions, including price distortions caused by manipulative efforts.’ Thus the CME’s surveillance can reasonably be relied upon to capture the effects on the CME bitcoin futures market caused by a person attempting to manipulate the proposed futures [exchange-traded product] by manipulating the price of CME bitcoin futures contracts, whether that attempt is made by directly trading on the CME bitcoin futures market or indirectly by trading outside of the CME bitcoin futures market. As such, when the CME shares its surveillance information with Arca, the information would assist in detecting and deterring fraudulent or manipulative misconduct related to the non-cash assets held by the proposed ETP.”
In other words, the SEC believes the CME can identify futures market manipulation regardless of how it’s attempted, even if the CME futures market is based on the price of bitcoin in some spot markets.
As a footnote in the Teucrium approval notes, “the CME CF BRR aggregates the trade flow of major bitcoin spot platforms during a specific calculation window into a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin.”
At the same time, the SEC says it does not believe that the CME’s specific surveillance tools would be able to identify manipulation of the spot market “even if the Exchange or the Sponsor had demonstrated a link between the BRR and/or the Index and the prices of CME bitcoin futures ETFs/ETPs and/or the proposed ETP, which they have not.”
Once again, we must turn to the footnotes for the real juice. In footnote 46 of the Teucrium order, the SEC states that its reasoning in approving a futures ETF based on the CME’s ability to spot futures market manipulation “does not extend to spot bitcoin ETPs. Spot bitcoin markets are not currently ‘regulated.’”
In other words, Gensler may indeed be holding the bitcoin ETF “hostage” in an effort to bring crypto exchanges under his agency’s regulatory umbrella.
So what does all this mean for the Grayscale appeal? Meh, who knows. The company staffed up and prepared for this in recent weeks, bringing on formerSolicitor General Don Verrilliand havingan appeal letterready to go pretty much immediately.
Christopher LaVigne, a litigation partner at the law firm Withers, told CoinDesk that “Grayscale’s in an uphill battle here,” saying the law tends to be “deferential” to the SEC.
“It’s just whether they made that decision and exercised that discretion in a way that was completely arbitrary, completely capricious and had no grounding in the law,” he said. “I think that’s a hard standard to meet and it’s intentionally a deferential standard. Otherwise, all federal agencies’ decisions would be constantly second guessed and they’d be subject to an unending amount of litigation.”
Bloomberg Intelligence’s James Seyffart pointed out that other industries do have ETFs despite a regulated spot market duringa Twitter Spacewe held last week.
“There's equity markets that the ISG does not have surveillance sharing agreements with, that we have ETFs for,” he said. “My overarching view is more so that the the SEC and Gary Gensler are holding these applications hostage until he can get regulation of the underlying spot market.”
So the next question may be what this actually looks like – it’s hard to see Congress moving swiftly to clarify when or how a crypto trading platform must register as a national securities exchange, and the SEC itself has yet to publish any proposed rule making on the matter.
Cheyenne Ligoncontributed reporting.
The European Union’s landmark Markets in Crypto Assets regulation is essentially a done deal now.Jack Schicklerexplains:
Last week was a big news week in the European Union. The bloc’s Council and Parliament, the two bodies that need to agree on new laws, have done just that twice over – for a landmarkMarkets in Crypto Assets Regulation(MiCA), and for identity checks on crypto payments. The latter is intended tostamp out money laundering, but with big consequences for privacy – and is an implementation of the internationalTravel Rulethat’s proved so hard to apply in the crypto space.
The final deals seem to have steered clear of some near misses that had plenty of crypto companies sweating. In the end, the laws don’t ban theproof-of-work technology that underpins bitcoin, or impose endless checks on transfers toself-hosted wallets, or force decentralized finance players toregister with the authorities(and who would fill out the form, anyway?).
In principle, MiCA offers a sweet deal to crypto companies – who, in exchange for jumping through the EU’s hoops, get to market their wares across the bloc, which is one of the biggest economies in the world. But there’s still some pretty major questions over exactly who will have to sign up to the new system, and whether stablecoin rules that are designed to avoid collapses like terraUSD’s (UST) might strangle the market all together. In particular, there’s a lot of confusion about what the MiCA deal means for non-fungible tokens (NFT) – and whether platforms like OpenSea will have to seek a license as the EU seeks to curb wash trades and other market abuses.
As the first major jurisdiction in the world to have such a comprehensive law, officials reckon they’re setting the tone for the rest of the world, and establishing the EU as the home of sound crypto. With the U.S. contemplating itsown legislation on the issue, the bloc may not keep its lead very long.
CoinDesk reported both deals from the Room Where It Happened,hereandhere.
Read more:Here's What Still Needs to Happen Before the EU's MiCA Bill Becomes Law
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision nominee Michael Barr is inching closer to a vote from the Senate.
• Biden Official Says US Government Could Pass Stablecoin Rules by End of Year:There is so much I want to unpack on the legislative front, but that’ll have to wait for another time. For now: An official in the administration tells me there's some real movement toward possible legislation on stablecoins by the end of 2022, though no specifics have emerged yet.
• Three Arrows Paper Trail Leads to Trading Desk Obscured Via Offshore Entities:Three Arrows Capital was tied to an over-the-counter trading desk called Tai Ping Shen Capital, according to company documents. Sam Reynolds dives into this relationship and what it means for Three Arrows’s money.
• Here's What Still Needs to Happen Before the EU's MiCA Bill Becomes Law:The European Union is closer to implementing its landmark Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill, but there's a few steps left. Jack Schickler explains.
• Voyager Seeks Bankruptcy Protection Amid Crypto Credit Crisis:Crypto broker Voyager Digital has filed for bankruptcy. More on this next week.
• Genesis Faces ‘Hundreds of Millions’ in Losses as 3AC Exposure Swamps Crypto Lenders: Sources:Genesis Trading is facing a nine-figure loss due to overexposure to Three Arrows and Babel Finance. (Disclosure: Genesis is another DCG subsidiary.)
• (Bloomberg)Bloomberg takes a look at Heather Morgan (aka Razzlekhan) and Ilya Lichtenstein and asks whether they really could be the hackers behind Bitfinex’s 2016 theft.
• (Trail of Bits)The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contracted Trail of Bits to take a look at how blockchains might be vulnerable. Interestingly, they found that underlying infrastructure providers (read: ISPs) may be a bigger threat vector than just node operators. The report is worth a read.
If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me atnik@coindesk.comor find me on Twitter@nikhileshde.
You can also join the group conversation onTelegram.
See ya’ll next week!
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 21395.02, 21600.90, 20260.02, 20041.74, 19616.81, 20297.99, 19796.81, 20049.76, 20127.14, 19969.77
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Your first trade for Thursday, September 8: The " Fast Money " traders gave their final trades of the day. Pete Najarian is a buyer of Macy's (M (NYSE: M ) ). Steve Grasso is a buyer of Nike (NKE ( NKE ) ). Brian Kelly is a buyer of the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Explore & Prod. (XOP (NYSE Arca: XOP) ). Guy Adami is a buyer of Whole Food Market (WFM ( WFM ) ). Trader disclosure: On Wednesday, September 7 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: PETE NAJARIAN is l ong: AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, PEP, PFE, TGT, VIAB Long Calls: AAL, AMD, ABT, AKS, BAC, CIT, CNX, COP, CRM, CSCO, DAL, DISH, DVN, EGO, ETP, FB, FSLR, FXI, GLD, HALO, KGC, KO, LLY, M, MS, MT, MU, NEM, SBUX, SLV, TGT, TMUS, TWTR, TTS, UA, VRX, XLE Puts: CLF, MBLY, MRO, TSLA, EEM STEVE GRASSO is long BA, CC, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MON, MU, NKE, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX Grasso's Kids Own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY NO SHORTS Stuart Frankel & Co Inc. and some of its Partners have a financial interest in LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, NXTD, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, JCP, GE, AIR FP BRIAN KELLY is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY= GUY ADAMI is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. || Cable & Wireless partners with Ericsson and Cisco to enhance its Caribbean IP networks: • C&W Communications invests in new network that will serve as backbone for IPTV services, fixed operations and part of business-to-business services
• Ericsson and Cisco will deliver an IP/MPLS network for C&W in three markets: the Bahamas, Jamaica and Barbados
• An IP backbone network in the Bahamas will be upgraded to support traffic growth and improve performance on the fixed network
MIAMI, FL - August 30, 2016Ericsson (ERIC) and Cisco (CSCO) today announced an agreement to supply and install IP networks forC&W Communications, which operates the retail brand Flow, in three Caribbean markets. The plans include an upgrade to the IP backbone network in the Bahamas to improve performance and support an increase of traffic, and a new business-to-business IP/MPLS network in Jamaica and Barbados.
The partnership is part of C&W`s investment plan for the region to continue transforming its customer experience. As part of the partnership, Cisco will provide the necessary hardware while Ericsson will provide project management services.
"We needed a powerful and intelligent solution to bring IP networking to both Jamaica and Barbados, while at the same time improving the IP network in the Bahamas," says Carlo Alloni, Executive Vice-president and CTIO, C&W. "This partnership will allow us to offer even more value-added services including our world class IPTV services as well as introduce more innovative solutions to our customers."
"Our teams complemented each other with the right approach, from network analysis and planning to systems integration and customer support from Ericsson, to selecting the right routers and switches from Cisco, and finally ensuring the right flow along every step with Ericsson services," says Clayton Cruz, Vice President Ericsson Latin America and Caribbean. "The partnership has delivered real value to Cable & Wireless in terms of accelerating their IP transformation by combining end-to-end business transformation competence and experience with deep product and domain expertise."
The deal includes Cisco® routers and switches (ASR9000, ASR900 and WR4500 families), supply and installation of NMS system (EPN-M), overall project management, and customer support.
"Cisco and Ericsson working together have the combined breadth, depth and lifecycle engagement required to help operators like Cable & Wireless succeed in their transformation to an IP-centric network," says Jordi Botifoll, Cisco President Latin America & Senior Vice President in the Americas. "Working together on this project will lead Cable & Wireless to a standardized approach across other markets, so that all their business-to-business and IP fixed networks will be supported by IP/MPLS, helping them do things better and faster."
Ericsson and Cisco - two industry leaders in the development and delivery of networking, mobility, and cloud - formed a global business and technology partnership in November 2015 to create the networks of the future. The partnership offers customers the best of both companies: routing, data center, networking, cloud, mobility, management and control, and global services capabilities. The next-generation strategic partnership will drive growth, accelerate innovation, and speed digital transformation demanded by customers across industries. The first product from the partnership, Ericsson Dynamic Service Manager, was announced in February 2016. To date, over 200 active customer engagements have now started to turn into won deals. Multiple deals, spread around the world, are in IP (routing and transport) and services. The companies announced deals with 3 Italy, Vodafone Portugal and Aster Dominican Republic earlier this year.
The Cisco-Ericsson partnership has been cleared by Brazilian regulatory authorities and will be implemented there under local agreements.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Ericsson and Cisco team up for next generation Network Service Management
For media kits, backgrounders and high-resolution photos, please visitwww.ericsson.com/press
Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society - a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, business and society to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future.
Our services, software and infrastructure - especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud- are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.
With approximately 115,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries,we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world`s mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions - and our customers - stay in front.
Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in2015 were SEK 246.9 billion (USD 29.4 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.
www.ericsson.comwww.ericsson.com/newswww.twitter.com/ericssonpresswww.facebook.com/ericssonwww.youtube.com/ericsson
About CiscoCisco (CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that has been making the Internet work since 1984. Our people, products, and partners help society securely connect and seize tomorrow`s digital opportunity today. Discover more at newsroom.cisco.com and follow us on Twitter at @Cisco.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco`s trademarks can be found atwww.cisco.com/go/trademarks.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Ericsson Corporate CommunicationsPhone: +46 10 719 69 92E-mail:media.relations@ericsson.com
Ericsson Investor RelationsPhone: +46 10 719 00 00E-mail:investor.relations@ericsson.com
Cisco PR ContactSara CiceroCisco Service Provider Public RelationsE-Mail:stutzes@cisco.com
CWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network - the most extensive in the region - in over 30 markets.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world`s largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points.
Liberty Global`s businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link: LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com.
C&W Communications
Investor Relations:Kunal Patel+1 (786) 376 9294
Media Relations:Claudia Restrepo+1 (786) 218 0407
Ericsson-Cisco CW deal_Press Release_final
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.Source: Ericsson via GlobeNewswireHUG#2038210 || 'Grumpy hold-outs' could sink Bitfinex recovery plan after Bitcoin theft: By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) - Crypto-currency exchange Bitfinex's plan to impose losses on all its trading clients for the theft by hackers of $72 million in Bitcoin rests on two flawed pillars, according to lawyers. The Hong Kong-based exchange said on August 2 that hackers had stolen 119,756 bitcoins from some clients' accounts, the second-biggest such hack in dollar terms, and later said it would spread the losses across all its customers, whether or not they had been hacked or even held bitcoin. It said customers would forfeit 36 percent of their holdings and be given "BFX tokens" instead that could be redeemed by the exchange or converted to shares in its parent company iFinex. Both elements of the plan are open to legal challenge, lawyers said. Imposing losses on customers who were not hacked appears to go against the company's terms of service, said Ryan Straus, a Fenwick & West lawyer who advises financial technology companies on regulation and co-authored the U.S. chapter of a book on bitcoin law. The terms state "bitcoins in your multi-signature wallets belong to and are owned by you", which Straus said implied a special banking relationship with clients that the Bitfinex plan would breach. "The depository ... is obligated to return, on demand, the same monetary objects deposited," he said, quoting a line from his book. The exchange's tokens could also be problematic, said Zach Zweihorn, a lawyer at DavisPolk who specialises in U.S. securities and trading laws. The way they are currently being described - redeemable by the exchange or convertible to shares in iFinex - places them somewhere between a bond and a security and makes it highly likely that issuing them and trading them would require licences in the U.S. that Bitfinex doesn't have. "If they are issuing an equity interest in their parent company, I don't really think the fact that it's evidenced through an electronic token ... really changes the analysis of whether it's a security," said Zweihorn. Story continues The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not return a request for comment. Bitfinex did not respond to requests for comment on either issue. "ROBBED" Bitfinex's website acknowledges there are "protocol level details" still to be worked out for the tokens, and that U.S. residents can sell but not buy them for the time being. "I feel like I was robbed," a 33 year-old investor who had a five-figure U.S. dollar amount on the platform told Reuters. He said he took a 36 percent "haircut" across all assets, including U.S. dollar reserves, and as a U.S. trader he couldn't properly deal in the IOU token. "Basically they took customers' funds in order to try to stay afloat. Nowhere in their terms of service did it mention that this was a possibility," said the user, who works in the financial services industry. Bitfinex is nevertheless hoping that traders will be patient and accept that they won't get a better deal if legal challenges force it into liquidation. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context," it told traders in a blog post a week ago, while the tokens gave them some hope of ultimately recovering their losses. Traders will be aware of the fate of Tokyo-based crypto-currency exchange Mt Gox, which suffered the biggest bitcoin theft of all time in 2014, and consequently went bankrupt. Traders have not recovered any losses, and court proceedings are still ongoing. "People are afraid to see their assets completely frozen if they sue Bitfinex too early," said 28-year-old Nathan Bourgeois, who is based in France and moderates a 2,000-member traders' messaging group called Whaleclub under the username dr Helmut. He said he thought people would agree to the deal if there was a chance of getting some of their money back. But Patrick Murck, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, said the Bitfinex plan was unlikely to survive a legal challenge. "It might be a pyrrhic victory. You might still end up with less money," said Murck, who is also co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation and its former general counsel, but the "odds are fairly low" that nobody will test it in court. "It takes one grumpy hold-out ... to blow the whole thing up, he said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Hera Poon and Tris Pan; Editing by Will Waterman) || Bank of England aims to revamp interbank payment system by 2020: LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Friday it aimed to revamp the system that underpins British banking and trading in the City of London by 2020 to boost its defences against cyber-attacks and widen the number of businesses that can use it. The BoE's Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) handles transactions worth around 500 billion pounds a day - equivalent to almost a third of Britain's annual economic output. It suffered a major outage in October 2014, and in June BoE Governor Mark Carney said he wanted to make it easier for smaller firms to use the system directly rather than via large incumbent banks. On Friday the BoE set out more detailed proposals and said it planned to fund the changes by temporarily increasing the charges banks pay to use the system. "The world of payments is changing rapidly, and central banks need to keep pace if we are to deliver our mission of monetary and financial stability ... whilst also enabling innovation and competition where we can," BoE executive director Andrew Hauser said. Proposed enhancements include running the system continuously, rather than just during normal working hours, and making it easier for smaller banks, brokers and payment processing firms to access the system directly. "A key enabler for delivering these changes will be a comprehensive rebuild of the RTGS technology platform. The Bank will make decisions on its resilience, including in particular its cyber defences, in consultation with intelligence partners," the BoE said. Other goals included allowing forward-dated payments and creating an interface with the 'distributed-ledger' technology that underpins digital currencies such as Bitcoin "if/when they achieve critical mass", it said. (Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Costas Pitas and Hugh Lawson) || Flow Study Gets More Caribbean Students Closer to Examination Success: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Sep 20, 2016) - As parents and students get fully into the new school term, Flow unveils its e-learning platform, Flow Study , an online portal to help students better prepare for the CAPE and CSEC examinations. One of the most significant features of Flow Study is that it offers access to a comprehensive range of educational materials, including exam strategies, past paper solutions, CyberPedia and virtual labs, that students can access from multiple devices including smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. The portal is also linked to video-based tutorials via Flow TV on Demand. Ricardo D. Allen , head of One On One Educational Services , is the founder and developer of the Flow Study program. For the last several years, his team has been preparing students for the CSEC mathematics exam, maintaining a 100 percent pass rate with an average of 83 percent of these students, attaining a grade one. Flow sees the partnership with One to One as an opportunity to twin the educational expertise and successful track record of One on One with Flow's world class technological platform to significantly expand access to e-learning to thousands more Caribbean students. "Our partnership with One On One Educational Services enables us to deliver the highest-quality educational content via our industry-leading technology, giving Caribbean students a better opportunity to excel," said Michele English, Acting President of Flow. "The platform supplements classroom learning and gives students the ability to study anytime, anywhere. It's the future of studying and we are pleased to offer this opportunity to our customers," she stated. The App offers free access to basic study materials to all Flow's broadband customers. Parents who want more specialized and detailed material for their children, can access additional subjects and content for a small fee that they will be able to pay through their Flow bill or prepaid balance. Story continues Getting started is simple -- visit www.flowstudy.co , 'login' to register for a free FLOW ID. Download the Flow Study app on your mobile device from the Google Play Store to access learning material and you're on your way to better grades. Flow Study is available across all Flow markets except Curacao. About C&W Communications CWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network - the most extensive in the region - in over 30 markets. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3058430 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3058433 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3058436 || Yahoo Says Hacker Stole Data on At Least 500 Million Users: Yahoo on Thursday confirmed a massive data breach, in which it said a “state-sponsored” hacker broke into the internet company’s systems and stole personal information on at least 500 million users — the biggest such theft of user data from a single entity to date. The user-account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords and in some cases encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers, according to Yahoo. The data was stolen from the company’s network in late 2014, Yahoo said, which did not provide an explanation for why it has taken two years to report the incident. It didn’t identify the country it believes was behind the attack. What the disclosure means for Verizon’s pending $4.8 billion deal to acquire the core web businesses of Yahoo is not immediately clear, but according to Verizon it was not apprised of the severity of the breach until this week. Verizon, in a statement, said it was notified of Yahoo’s security breach in the last two days. “We understand that Yahoo is conducting an active investigation of this matter, but we otherwise have limited information and understanding of the impact,” the telco said. “We will evaluate as the investigation continues through the lens of overall Verizon interests, including consumers, customers, shareholders and related communities. Until then, we are not in position to further comment.” The Yahoo announcement came after Vice’s Motherboard reported in August that a hacker known as “Peace,” who is believed to be a Russian cybercriminal, was advertising the sale of 200 million Yahoo user accounts in a black-market online forum for about $1,860 worth of Bitcoin. At the time, Yahoo said it was investigating the claims. Recode reported early Thursday that Yahoo was expected to confirm the data breach this week. Regardless of how it affects the outcome of Verizon’s planned acquisition, the enormous security breach will stand as a disastrous bookend to the tenure of CEO Marissa Mayer. Story continues Mayer, a former top Google exec hired four years ago to much fanfare, failed to turn around Yahoo’s core search and advertising business . Mayer and Yahoo’s board eventually bowed to investor pressure to sell its operating businesses (excluding its stakes in Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan), and initiated an auction process earlier this year. Verizon emerged as the winning bidder in July and the telco has outlined plans to merge Yahoo’s web operations with AOL , which it acquired last year for $4.4 billion. In announcing the breach, Yahoo said it was working with law-enforcement officials on investigating the incident. According to the company, based on what it has learned so far, none of the stolen information included unprotected passwords, payment-card data, or bank-account information. “Yahoo is notifying potentially affected users and has taken steps to secure their accounts,” the company said. “These steps include invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account and asking potentially affected users to change their passwords. Yahoo is also recommending that users who haven’t changed their passwords since 2014 do so.” Security and legal experts said Yahoo’s costs associated with the attack could run into the tens of millions of dollars. The incident is likely to prompt class-action lawsuits and could even scuttle the Verizon acquisition. Given that the breach occurred in 2014 and Yahoo did not properly communicate or manage it, Verizon may seek to nullify or renegotiate the deal, said Corey Williams, senior director of products and marketing at security vendor Centrify. “This is less of a story about 500 million user accounts being stolen and more about how lax security and poor handling of incidents can impact the very existence of a company,” he said. Yahoo, which reaches some 1 billion users around the world, has posted a frequently asked questions document on its website about the breach. The company also is encouraging users to use Account Key , an authentication tool for its email app that associates a Yahoo account with a specific device to eliminate the need for a password. As part of responding to the incident, Yahoo has enlisted New York-based communications firm Joel Frank, which specializes in crisis PR. Related stories Verizon in Talks to Acquire Video Startup Vessel (Report) Snapchat Adds Verizon-Hearst's Complex to Discover Lineup Yahoo to Disclose Data Breach Affecting 200 Million or More Users (Report) Get more from Variety and Variety411 : Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Newsletter || With millions of helpers (and $100M), SETI 'still hasn't found ET'— here's why: What would Enrico Fermi do?
For those unfamiliar with the name,Fermi was a famous scientistwho postulated that if intelligent life on other planets actually existed, we would have found them by now — or they certainly would have found us. It's an idea that resonates, especially with vast sums of public and privatemoney being thrown at space travel, accompanied by rapid advances in modern technology.
Approximately a year ago, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner gave a $100 million gift to over a ten year span to the University of California to aid in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Since then, the SETI Institute has been occupied with its prime directive—understanding the universe and trying to contact aliens.
Milner, a venture capitalist who was among the early investors in tech giants like Twitter and Facebook,is convinced that— given the billions of Earth-like planets and even more galaxies that exist — it's all but inconceivable that the human race is alone.
SETI is flush with new riches and interest in outer space has reached a crescendo unseen since at least the 'Space Race' of the last century. Yet for years, skeptics have argued that attempting to explore the outer reaches of space was a waste of time.
So it begs the question: Exactly why does discovering intelligent life outside of Earth remain so elusive, and why can't they (as in the aliens) be coaxed out of hiding?
"We haven't found E.T.," Dan Werthimer, SETI's chief scientist and an astronomer at University of California at Berkeley, joked to a panel discussion at "Star Trek: Mission New York" on Saturday.
E.T., of course, is a reference to the classic 1982 Steven Spielberg movie where an alien falls to earth, bringing a combination of delight and trouble to a group of kids.
As Werthimer explained in more sophisticated fashion to the legions of Trekkies assembled to commemorate "Star Trek's" 50th anniversary, maybe E.T. doesn't want to phone home — or maybe he can't.
Even with the morale and logistical boost $100 million can bring, it's quite possible E.T. may not exist.
"Maybe they're [aliens] waiting for us to stop killing each other," Werthimer said in response to a question about why extraterrestrial life hadn't yet reached out to the human race. He posited that they themselves could be lower than earthlings on the evolutionary and technological scale, or perhaps we're beneath them.
"There [are] a lot of different scenarios but the other possibility is that we really are alone and that's why we don't see them zooming around the galaxy," the scientist said.
According to SETI, on any given day there are at millions of volunteers around the world working on various projects to prove there's life outside of earth. On Saturday, Werthimer joked that at least a million of them "bounded by optimism leave their [computers] on" in the hopes of intercepting a message from another world.
"We've only had 100 years, but we'd be kind of lucky to find [alien life] now because we don't know what frequency to look at, we don't know if they're broadcasting radio and we can't cover the whole spectrum. But I'm optimistic because the technology is changing so fast."
According to Werthimer, some SETI volunteers, perhaps impatient waiting all these years for E.T.'s arrival, are moonlighting by mining for Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that's can be 'mined' using special software and solving complex math problems.
Although numerous SETI volunteers take on side projects, digital currency mining is not a side gig Werthimer would recommend.
Bitcoin is attractive "because you can make money that way. Although you can't make much [because] I think your power bill is more expensive," he said. "I dont think it's a good idea."
All of which brings us full circle to the estimable Fermi. With all the technology surrounding human civilization andbillions being invested in space exploration, what exactly is preventing E.T.'s eagerly anticipated arrival?
One answer may be that aliens haven't yet caught up to humans technologically. "We don't know how to find them if they are more primitive than we are," Werthimer said. "What's the chance we can find a civilization that's just invented radio? It's kind of small in the 4 billion years of life on this planet."
The scientist added that same optimism keeps him reasonably hopeful that extraterrestrial life would eventually be found, as Earthlings were "just getting in the game" of trying to locate life on other planets—but no one should hold their breath.
"I think it's not going to be in my lifetime [that we find aliens], I think its going to be my students or my students students...it will take a couple of generations," Werthimer added.
"It's hard to predict but my guess is that it's going to be a generation or two" before the discovery is made, he said.
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• Personal Finance || The NSA cyber-weapon auction is a total smokescreen — here's what's really going on: (Josh Mayeux, a network defender, works at the US Air Force Space Command Network Operations
A group calling itself the "Shadow Brokers" claimed earlier this week that it hacked into the US National Security Agency and stole an apparent treasure trove of exploits and hacking toolsthat it is now trying to auction off.
But experts say that this is all a smokescreen for a not-so-subtle message from Moscow to Washington: Don't mess with us.
"It's a smokescreen, there's nothing real about this," John Schindler, a former NSA analyst and counterintelligence officer, told Business Insider. "This is Moscow's way of upping the ante in the spy war, and sending a message no one can miss [which is] 'we have you penetrated, we've got you by the balls, don't push us.'"
He added: "The Russians are making a power play because they think they can right now."
The previously-unknown Shadow Brokerscreated a number ofsocial-media accounts earlier this month on Reddit, Github, Twitter, and Imgur, before announcing on August 13 its "cyber weapon auction," which promised bidders a "full state sponsor tool set" from a hacking unit believed to be within the NSA known only as "The Equation Group."
It released a 234-megabyte archive on various file-sharing sites with one-half being free to view and use — which numerous expertssay is legitimate— while the other half was encrypted. The winner of the auction, the group said, would get the decryption key.
But an auction for hacking tools and exploits is not something that ever happens,experts say. Instead, exploits are bought and sold on the black market for hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of dollars, in private.
There's something else going on here, and it seems like it has nothing to do with a hacking group looking for cash.
(Reuters)
In the announcement of its auction, Shadow Brokers seemed to ensure that no one would seriously consider bidding on the other half of its treasure trove, which it claims has within it software that is better than "Stuxnet" — the US-Israeli malware that destroyed Iranian nuclear centrifuges.
Its FAQ tells bidders that they are going to lose their Bitcoin, no matter what they do. If you win the auction, you'll get the files, but if you lose the auction, you don't get the files — and you don't get your Bitcoin back.
"Sorry lose bidding war lose bitcoin and files," the group wrote.
That's probably why the so-called auction hasn't moved anywhere close to the group's goal of 1 million Bitcoin, or roughly $575 million. The high bid iscurrently1.629 Bitcoin, a surprisingly low figure for a software package that, if it were "better than Stuxnet," would contain a number of unknown software exploits called "zero days," each of whichcan be soldfor $100,000 or more on the black market.
"This auction is one of the more bizarre things that I've ever seen in this space. People who buy and sell exploits would not just dump money into an auction," a source who used to work for the NSA's elite hacker unit, Tailored Access Operations, told Business Insider on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters. "It kind of makes no sense."
"The low Bitcoin offers are pretty amusing though,"Dr. Peter Singer, a strategist at the think tank New America and coauthor of "Ghost Fleet," told Business Insider in an email.
Further, the website WikiLeaks apparently has the full archiveand saysthat it will release its own "pristine copy in due course." WikiLeaks did not respond to an email from Business Insider asking when that release would be.
This just "shows the fraud of the whole Bitcoin angle," Schindler said.
(The Kremlin towers and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.Thomson Reuters)
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden offered his opinion on the underlying message behind the "auction" in a series of tweets on Tuesday,notably pointingthe finger at Russia as being behind it.
After cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that it uncovered two different state-sponsored Russian hacking groups inside the servers ofthe Democratic National Committee in June, Snowden wrote that "if Russia hacked the DNC, they should be condemned for it," and then chided the US for not releasing evidence that he believed the NSA had that would prove it.
That "smoking gun" evidence never came, though a number of US political and intelligence officialshave saidthat the DNC hack was at the Kremlin's direction.
"Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility,"wroteSnowden of this latest breach, adding, "This leak looks like somebody sending a message that an escalation in the attribution game could get messy fast."
How messy? According to Snowden, the fully-leaked toolkit — from 2013 — could offer insight into previous hacks carried out by the NSA, or it could bereverse-engineeredto help adversaries detect them in the future. Even Schindler, the former NSA analyst who's an outspoken critic of Snowden, agrees with Snowden's finding on the overt message, though he doesn't think that leaked tools will have any significant effect on future NSA operations.
"This stuff has all been changed," Schindler said. "Three years is a long time in cyber ops, because that's not the point. The point is to show NSA that we've got you by the balls."
NOW WATCH:FORMER NSA DIRECTOR: America is ‘really good’ at stealing data from other countries
More From Business Insider
• Experts think Russia has leaked NSA cyberweapons online
• Here's why the supposed NSA 'hack' is unlike anything we've ever seen before
• EDWARD SNOWDEN: Russia might have leaked alleged NSA cyberweapons as a 'warning' || Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin may become a target in the fight against ransomware: David A. Kris CSIS ransomware bitcoin nationa security (David S. Kris speaking at a CSIS panel event in September 2016.CSIS) Many crimes can be solved by following the money, and that may hold true for the growth of ransomware attacks — though the money itself may be different. Countering the increasing use of ransomware — malware that attacks computers and networks and encrypts files, which criminals then demand payment in order to decrypt — may require action against hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies like bitcoin that are often used to pay the criminals behind the attacks, according to David S. Kris, former assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice's national-security division. "I think the way to attack this — and I think the way you’re probably going to see some legal change over the next few years — is on the other end, with respect to the payments," Kris said during the question-and-answer session of a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel event . "And as I understand it — again, without having studied it too extensively — is that, you know, fintech is what is enabling this, cryptocurrency," Kris added. Reports of ransomware use have increased considerably in recent months. "In the last six to 12 months, this has just gone so aggressively to the business environment," Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of cybersecurity company Malwarebytes, told Business Insider in August . "We see companies from 25 people all the way to 250,000 people getting hit with ransomware." Malwarebytes ransomware survey (An Osterman research survey sponsored by Malwarebytes found that 54% of businesses surveyed had come under attack from ransomware in the 12 months through August 2016.Malwarebytes) Tech firm Kaspersky Lab said this summer that the number of victims attacked was growing at an alarming rate — up from 131,000 in 2014-2015 to 718,000 in 2015-2016, according to AFP. Some researchers have seen a 3,500% increase in the web infrastructure needed to run ransomware campaigns. According to Kleczynski, some banks have begun stockpiling bitcoin — which currently trades about about $600 to one — in case of a ransomware attack. "I talked to a couple of banks, and they say they have 50-100 bitcoin ready at all times in a wallet to deploy if a ransomware attack hits," he told Business Insider's James Cook . Story continues A report this summer found that hackers employing ransomware could pull in as much as $7,500 a month . And while individual victims are usually only hit with demands for a few hundred dollars , the likelihood that they will pay has made ransomware an appealing venture for hackers. And financial-services firms and individual people aren't the only potential targets. A NASCAR team admitted to paying hackers after its computers where hit with a ransomware attack. In August, security researchers demonstrated a ransomware attack on a smart thermostat , raising the possibility that Internet of Things devices will come into the crosshairs. Hackers have reportedly stolen $65 million worth of Bitcoins from a major Hong Kong exchange Bitfinex, which has now suspended all transactions (Hackers have reportedly stolen $65 million worth of Bitcoins from a major Hong Kong exchange Bitfinex, which has now suspended all transactions© AFP/File Philippe Lopez) The appeal of ransomware has no doubt been burnished by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin coming into the mainstream. " I personally would not be surprised to see over the next few years increasing regulation that maybe makes it more challenging for these kinds of anonymous, substantially untraceable — I don’t want to say it’s completely untraceable — payments to be made," Kris said during the CSIS event. "I think probably where you’re going to see legal change is in the area of the payment scheme. That may be wrong, but that’s sort of what I expect." However authorities choose to counter the use of ransomware, it's unlikely the threat will go away any time soon. "The extortion model is here to stay," a Kaspersky Lab expert said in a statement about rising ransomware attacks on Android users. NOW WATCH: Mac users are being attacked by malware that locks their computer and demands a $400 ransom — here’s how to protect yourself More From Business Insider Spanish police busted 30 people suspected of using a 'crypto-currency' to launder money One of 'El Chapo' Guzmán's chief money launderers is involved in a strange Hollywood kidnapping plot The ECB is getting rid of drug cartels' favorite currency || Your first trade for Wednesday, September 14: The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Pete Najarian was a buyer of Lululemon ( LULU ) . Dan Nathan was a seller of the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE Arca: XLF) . Brian Kelly was a seller of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE Arca: EEM) . Guy Adami was a buyer of Allergan ( AGN ) . Trader disclosure: On September 13, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Pete Najarian was long AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, PEP, PFE, VIAB; Long Calls: AAL, AMD, ABT, AKS, BAC, CIT, CNX, COP, CRM, CSCO, CYH, DISH, DVN, EGO, ETP, FSLR, FXI, GLD, GS, HALO, JBLU, KGC, KMI, KO, LLY, LULU, M, MS, MT, NEM, SBUX, SLV, SWKS, SYMC, TGT, TWTR, TTS, UA, VRX, XLE Long Puts: CLV, MBLY, MRO, TSLA, EEM. Brian Kelly was long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, TLT, VXX, XLF, XOP, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY=. Dan Nathan was long TWTR, IWM long Sept put, long PYPL call calendar, XOP Sept put spread, BAC long Sept put, Long FEZ Nov put spread, long EEM Nov put spread, long FB Sept put spread, AAPL long Nov 105/95 put spread, long XLK Jan put spread. Guy Adami was long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
#EuroCoin #EUC $0.000385 (-16.13%) 0.00000063 BTC (-16.00%) || $606.38 at 06:30 UTC [24h Range: $602.00 - $609.74 Volume: 4324 BTC] || i don't get bitcoin || Bitcoin Supply Exchange 800% daily for 5 days,#FrankOceanListeningParty . http://ow.ly/qHue303tRbO || 1 KOBO = 0.00000524 BTC
= 0.0030 USD
= 0.9900 NGN
= 0.0418 ZAR
= 0.3038 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-08-24 08:00 pic.twitter.com/aLCncT2DRj || One Bitcoin now worth $608.76@bitstamp. High $609.50. Low $603.00. Market Cap $9.668 Billion #bitcoin || 1 MUE Price: Bittrex 0.00000091 BTC YoBit 0.00000090 BTC Bleutrade 0.00000088 BTC #MUE #MUEprice 2016-09-10 00:00 pic.twitter.com/qubaReUpWI || #bitcoin #miner ASIC Bitcoin Miner Block Erupter USB 330MH/s BTC USB - RANDOM COLOR $25.00 http://ift.tt/2bBOqav pic.twitter.com/335iS0QD7l || 1 #bitcoin = $10500.00 MXN | $571.38 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 18.38MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 12 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $385.08 #bitcoin #btc
|
Trend: up || Prices: 616.75, 618.99, 641.07, 636.19, 636.79, 640.38, 638.65, 641.63, 639.19, 637.96
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bootstrapping Mobile Mesh Networks With Bitcoin Lightning: The best Sundays are for long reads and deep conversations. Recently the hosts of theLet’s Talk Bitcoin! Showwere joined by Richard Myers to discuss the current state of mesh networks and how Bitcoin’s Lightning may be the missing ingredient to their success.
Listen/subscribe to the CoinDesk Podcast feed for unique perspectives and fresh daily insight withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,IHeartRadioorRSS.
The episode is sponsored byeToro.comandThe Internet of Money Vol. 3
On today’s episode of Let’s Talk Bitcoin! you’re invited to join Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and special guest Richard Myers for an in-depth look at the past, present and future of Mobile Mesh Networking technology and the open source LOT49 protocol built on top of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Just as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin don’t rely on static infrastructure and professional providers, mobile mesh networking allows the creation of inexpensive, high range, low-bandwidth and low-power networks that’ll let your phone send text messages or even bitcoin micro-transactions, even in areas with no coverage.
According to Myers, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is what’s needed to make mobile mesh networks catch on by bootstrapping on top of the payment routing infrastructure.
“The Lightning Network currently sends payments from A to B to C and then all those intermediate nodes can collect a small fee if the payment is delivered at the end. All we’re doing is saying ‘Not only [can you send] a payment, but [you can send] a small message.’ In our case, it’d be a SMS message. So you’re sending an SMS message along with a Lightning payment from A to B to C to D, and when D receives that message they return proof that it was delivered and that’s what flows back through the network. In the Lightning sense, that’s your pre-image. It’s computed from the message, that’s how the nodes are able to collect payment even if they lose touch with the original person who sent it.”
Related:Bootstrapping Mobile Mesh Networks With Bitcoin Lightning
See also:Grasping Lightning: Mapping the Key Players in Bitcoin’s Next Phase
But the way the Lightning Network uses data natively isn’t ideal for mobile mesh. The open sourceLot49 protocolis another layer on top of Lightning that Myers says is necessary to make it work at scale while using mesh devices as an extremely low-bandwidth TOR-like privacy layer.
“In many ways we’re not making a new protocol, we’re literally using Lightning.Lot49is ca ustom communication protocol that’s optimized for mesh. For example, right now there’s a 1300-byte onion that’s used to route messages over the internet and that’s very important because you lose a lot of privacy … you lose all your privacy … if you were to just send messages over the internet without onion routing.
We’re sending over more or less a physical TOR network since it’s going from node to node, not through a central ISP who can associate who you’re trying to pay. We’re also doing it over a low bandwidth network, so if you were sending 1300 bytes it may not sound like much in the age of the internet but we’re talking about devices that [have a maximum data transmission capacity of] about a kilobyte a minute so that’s a significant amount of the bandwidth that you have [tied up just in the web’s onion routing]
So, for example with LOT49, we take out the onion and we use the native routing at the mesh device [level] which is optimized for mesh communications. And there are a few other little changes we make like that in order to reduce the bandwidth by chunking up messages. … The ultimate goal is to minimize the Lightning protocol overhead so that there is more bandwidth available for data … for things like sending an SMS and as bandwidth increases there may be things like internet protocol.”
Credits
This episode of Let’s Talk Bitcoin features Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine and Richard Myers. Music provided by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats, with editing by Jonas.
• JPMorgan Analysts: Bitcoin Is Likely to Survive (as a Speculative Asset)
• The Chad Index Versus Doomer Internet Money: The Breakdown Weekly Recap || Bitcoin News Roundup for June 19, 2020: WithBTCminers HODLing, Reddit dreaming big and a crypto card issuer missing billions of dollars and drawing comparisons to Enron, CoinDesk’s Markets Daily is back with another Bitcoin news roundup.
For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublicaorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byBitstampandCiphertrace.
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Outflow of Bitcoin From Miners at Lows Not Seen Since 2010
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Reddit Seeks Scaling Solution for Ethereum-Based ‘Community Points’
Reddit announced a partnership with the Ethereum Foundation to find a scaling solution for the site’s new blockchain-based Community Points.
Related:Why Monetary Debasement Is Here to Stay, Feat. Dr. Vikram Mansharamani
Crypto Card Issuer Wirecard Says It’s Missing $2.1B in ‘German Enron’ Scandal
Wirecard admitted the accounting hole was roughly a quarter of the company’s total balance sheet.
Polkadot Is Latest Blockchain to Explore Redeemable Bitcoin Tokens
It’s only a proof-of-concept at this point, but there’s now a model for locking BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain and minting PolkaBTC on Polkadot.
• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 19, 2020
• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 19, 2020 || Blockchain Bites: DeFi and DEXs Surge, Bitcoin’s Negligible Adjustment and an ICO Class Action: DeFi’s agricultural revolution is spurring growth in decentralized exchanges.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin network experienced its lowest difficulty adjustment in 10 years, clocking a negligible change in mining difficulty today, while a novel legal strategy is bringing an initial coin offering project to court. Here’s the story:
You’re readingBlockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’snewsletters here.
Related:First Mover: Crypto.com's Chain Token Dominated Markets in June With 33% Gain
Breaking Down DeFiDecentralized exchanges (DEXs) are growing due to asurge in decentralized finance(DeFi) activity. “Compound sparked the beginning of a new agricultural revolution where so-called yield farmers are siphoning volume through [automated market makers] instead of centralized exchanges. This isn’t ideological behavior – it’s the same CeFi users now shifting to DeFi because it’s more efficient and profit-maximizing,” said Ben Forman of Parafi Capital. That’s as the daily distribution of the Compound protocol’s COMP governance token isset to change,following a vote on a new proposal. The 2,880 COMP distributed to users every day will now be based on the dollar value of assets they have put in or borrowed from the system. Finally, DeFi protocol bXz announced a proposal to update its governance token, which would enable users to participate in the yield farming trend. (Decrypt)
Capital RaisesJapanese financial firm SBI Holdings will take a$30 million minority stakein institutional crypto trading platform B2C2 as the firms enter a strategic partnership, under which B2C2 will provide crypto liquidity for SBI, which is planning to grow its crypto offering to “millions of existing customers.” Meanwhile, New York Digital Investments Group (NYDIG) raised$190 million from 24 investorsfor anotherbitcoinfund. Meanwhile, Curv, a crypto security firm, has closed a$23 million Series Afunding round from CommerzVentures, Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group (CoinDesk’s parent), among others.
Ethereum & Bitcoin Non-DevelopmentsEthereum Core developers decided Friday to postpone work on the protocol’snext hard fork,Berlin, until at least August in an effort to let people transition off Geth, a client or programming language used by an overwhelming majority of Ethereum coders. Elsewhere, Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin said ZK-rollups may become “the dominant scaling paradigm for at least a couple of years,” or the main method by which Ethereum processes transactions, while developers work on building Eth 2.0,Decryptreports. Finally, the Bitcoin network barely adjusted its difficulty level down 0.0033%, a percentage change small enough that itrounds down to zero.The negligible adjustment might be tied to the lack of new mining devices plugging in or any newly added computing power being offset by those that are squeezed out after Bitcoin’s halving.
Legal Precedents?20,000 claimants are pursuing aclass-action lawsuitagainst the micro-mobility platform Helbiz, after the company’s 2018 ICO. Most litigation involving token projects falls under securities law, however the plaintiffs are saying Helbiz built a platform but reneged on its promise to integrate HelbizCoin as the sole payment method. Elsewhere, lawyers working in Washington, D.C., can now accept crypto forproviding legal services.Spain’s National Police arrested 33 people who allegedly sold illegal medications online and laundered at least part of their €3 million profit invirtual currencywhile, separately, Facebook scammers are targeting people at risk of suicide with fake poison pills and partially accepting payment in crypto. (BBC)
• Augur is launching a new version of its protocolnext month.
• Deutsche Boerse has listed a Bitcoin ETP onEurope’s third-largestexchange.
• Fans have donated 300BCH(~$60,000) after Stefan Molyneux was banned from YouTube. (Decrypt)
• U.K.’s financial watchdog estimates 3.86% of the nation owns cryptocurrencies. (The Block)
• Beijing is teeing up to become a blockchain hub. (The Block)
Related:Blockchain Bites: Digital Dollars, Ethereum's Gas and ASX's Blockchain 'Lacks Clarity'
Alt-Season?Credit card lender and wallet provider Crypto.com’s Chain (CRO) token surged 33% in June,dominating digital-asset marketsasbitcoin,etherandXRPfrom Ripple all declined. The CRO token’s gains made it the top performer during the month among digital assets with a market value of at least $1 billion. The second-best performer, Unus Sed Leo (LEO), rose 6.4% in June, followed by Chainlink (LINK) with a 4.6% price increase. The worst performer wasbitcoin SV(BSV), which tumbled 21%.
Valuing BitcoinNearly half of investors in a recent survey said a lack of fundamentals keeps them from participating. In a 30-minute webinar July 7, CoinDesk Research will explore one of the first and oldest unique data points to be developed by crypto asset analysts: Bitcoin Days Destroyed.
We’ll be joined by Lucas Nuzzi, a veteran analyst and a network data expert at Coin Metrics. Lucas and CoinDesk Research will walk you through the structure of this unique financial metric and demonstrate some of its many applications.Sign up for the July 7 webinar“How to Value Bitcoin: Bitcoin Days Destroyed.”
Money PrintingFrances Coppola, a CoinDesk columnist and freelance writer, thinks the Federal Reserve’sloose monetary policiesare maintaining the U.S. dollar’s reserve status rather than inflating its value, and that’s a good thing. “Those who thought the Fed’s expansion of the monetary base would cause runaway inflation because banks would lend out the money have been proved wrong… So let the Fed continue pouring dollars into international financial markets. That’s how to ensure that the dollar remains king, and the U.S. economy remains the richest in the world,” she writes.
• Blockchain Bites: DeFi and DEXs Surge, Bitcoin’s Negligible Adjustment and an ICO Class Action
• Blockchain Bites: DeFi and DEXs Surge, Bitcoin’s Negligible Adjustment and an ICO Class Action || Is Bitcoin Coming to PayPal? 5-Star Analyst Weighs In: Crypto could take another step towards mainstream adoption if new reports from CoinDesk turn out to be true.
On June 22, unconfirmed reports began making the rounds indicating PayPal (PYPL) will facilitate the buying and selling of cryptocurrency on its Venmo and PayPal platforms. With 325 million active accounts, the move – which could take place over the next three months – will position the company as a direct competitor of Square’s Cash App. Since launching Bitcoin trading in 2018, the Cash App has been a storming success.
The move is not an unexpected one, claims Rosenblatt Securities analystKenneth Hill.
“We are not surprised by the potential addition, and we believe a crypto offering will fit well with PYPL’s user base (particularly Venmo users). SQ’s Cash App monetization efforts serve as an effective blueprint of how to better monetize what had been a historically P2P user base. As the product evolves, we expect to see more substantial efforts made to extend product functionality to further engage and attract clients, in addition to adding services geared at monetizing those on the platform,” said the 5-star analyst.
Although PayPal subsidiary Venmo boasts more users than its P2P competitor, with it estimated to have 50 million MAUs (monthly active users) vs. the Cash App’s roughly 30 million, Square has been able to better monetize its platform. Hill reckons Cash App’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is more than 3x that of Venmo’s, illustrating the potential of the new initiative.
The addition of Bitcoin to the Cash App has resulted in increased engagement levels, and brought in more customers, a fact that is not lost on Hill.
“We believe a crypto trading offering will drive higher levels of engagement among Venmo’s young user base and potentially lead to improved monetization over time,” the analyst concluded.
Accordingly, Hill reiterated a Buy rating on PayPal, accompanied by a $163 price target. The figure, though, implies downside potential of 6% from current levels. (To watch Hill’s track record,click here)
Based on 23 Buys and 7 Holds, PayPal has a Strong Buy consensus rating. However, as is increasingly common in the current bubbly market, PayPal has just notched an all-time high (while also up by 60% year-to-date), so targets have been left eating dust. Therefore, the average price target of $160.85 indicates possible downside of 6%. (See PayPal stock analysis on TipRanks)
Crypto could take another step towards mainstream adoption if new reports from CoinDesk turn out to be true.On June 22, unconfirmed reports began making the rounds indicating PayPal (PYPL) will facilitate the buying and selling of cryptocurrency on its Venmo and PayPal platforms. With 325 million active accounts, the move – which could take place over the next three months – will position the company as a direct competitor of Square’s Cash App. Since launching Bitcoin trading in 2018, the Cash App has been a storming success.The move is not an unexpected one, claims Rosenblatt Securities analystKenneth Hill.
“We are not surprised by the potential addition, and we believe a crypto offering will fit well with PYPL’s user base (particularly Venmo users). SQ’s Cash App monetization efforts serve as an effective blueprint of how to better monetize what had been a historically P2P user base. As the product evolves, we expect to see more substantial efforts made to extend product functionality to further engage and attract clients, in addition to adding services geared at monetizing those on the platform,” said the 5-star analyst.
Although PayPal subsidiary Venmo boasts more users than its P2P competitor, with it estimated to have 50 million MAUs (monthly active users) vs. the Cash App’s roughly 30 million, Square has been able to better monetize its platform. Hill reckons Cash App’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is more than 3x that of Venmo’s, illustrating the potential of the new initiative.
The addition of Bitcoin to the Cash App has resulted in increased engagement levels, and brought in more customers, a fact that is not lost on Hill.
“We believe a crypto trading offering will drive higher levels of engagement among Venmo’s young user base and potentially lead to improved monetization over time,” the analyst concluded.
Accordingly, Hill reiterated a Buy rating on PayPal, accompanied by a $163 price target. The figure, though, implies downside potential of 6% from current levels. (To watch Hill’s track record,click here)
Based on 23 Buys and 7 Holds, PayPal has a Strong Buy consensus rating. However, as is increasingly common in the current bubbly market, PayPal has just notched an all-time high (while also up by 60% year-to-date), so targets have been left eating dust. Therefore, the average price target of $162.48 indicates possible downside of 6%. (See PayPal stock analysis on TipRanks)
To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
• The Rise of E-Commerce and Cloud Services Positions Amazon (AMZN) for the Win
• Facebook Faces More Ad Boycotts, But This Analyst Expects Minimal Impact
• 3 "Strong Buy" Penny Stocks With Explosive Upside Ahead
• Heron Therapeutics: HTX-011 Will Eventually Be Approved, Says Analyst || Polkadot Is Latest Blockchain to Explore Redeemable Bitcoin Tokens: The latest blockchain to announce a token redeemable forbitcoin(BTC) is Polkadot.
It’s only a proof-of-concept at this point and Polkadot isrunning but not usable yet, but a company calledInterlayhas designed a model under a Web3 Foundation grant for locking BTC on the Bitcoin blockchain and minting what it’s calling PolkaBTC on Polkadot.
If Polkadot does prove to be a meeting place for different blockchains, then the interoperability project will have to touch the original crypto asset, and that’s bitcoin.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Quiet at $9.3K While DeFi Gets Loud
“Bitcoin is the asset with the most liquidity and hence we believe there is a natural demand for BTC on platforms that offer DeFi products and other features that are not natively supported in Bitcoin,” Alexei Zamyatin, CEO of Interlay, told CoinDesk in an email. Interlay works to make decentralized finance (DeFi) products interoperable.
The model deployed has similarities to the modelKeep used in launching its tBTC system. A smart contract on Polkadot controls a key to a wallet on the Bitcoin blockchain and verifies its contents usingsimplified payment verification (SPV). That wallet is collateralized with Polkadot’s native token, DOT, which the initial design sets at 200%, though this could change. Once it verifies that the BTC is present in the wallet it controls, it issues PolkaBTC equivalent to the amount deposited.
Read more:Makers of Keep Protocol Raise $7.7M to Bring Trustless BTC to DeFi
It’s important to note here the proof-of-concept describes how it would be done, not who would do it. Different entities would be able to set up vaults to issue PolkaBTC, earning income as the tokens are issued and redeemed.
Related:FTX Releases COMP Derivatives to Keep Up With DeFi Frenzy
This also makes it a marked contrast from, for example, wBTC on Ethereum, which is entirely under the centralizedcontrol of BitGo, as the sole custodian and issuer.
Once a PolkaBTC is created, that new token can be used throughout the Polkadot network and any holder of PolkaBTC can redeem it for actual BTC at any time. The BTC locked on Polkadot is monitored bythe BTC-Relay announcedby Interlay in April.
A key difference between BTC on Polkadot and on Ethereum is that Polkadot is building it ahead of the use cases. There are no DeFi products as yet ready to enlist PolkaBTC for uses such as lending or collateral.
“While Etheruem is without question the market leader, there are quite a few projects on Polkadot that are preparing to offer DeFi products,” Zamyatin noted. He listedKatal, which will enable selling future cash flows, andAcala, a stablecoin platform that could use PolkaBTC as a form of collateral.
Interlay is itself going to create a derivatives platform on which PolkaBTC could be useful.
That said, using wBTC as the main example of the original cryptocurrency on another chain, without a real use case the market showed relatively little interest in bridging the two chains.
Looking atBitGo’s record of supply verifications, the wBTC supply hovered between 100 and 600 before wBTC was accepted as a form ofcollateral on MakerDAOon May 3, 2020. Since then, it has consistently been over 1,000, with a current supply of 4,095 wBTC.
If the Interlay model proves to work well, it can be extended beyond Polkadot.
“Both the design and code underlying the BTC-Parachain can be reused to bridge other blockchains such as Zcash with only minor modifications,” Zamyatin said.
• Polkadot Is Latest Blockchain to Explore Redeemable Bitcoin Tokens
• Polkadot Is Latest Blockchain to Explore Redeemable Bitcoin Tokens || Coinbase Extends Tezos Staking Rewards to 4 European Countries: Coinbase is expanding its Tezos staking service to select European countries. The San Francisco-based exchange announced Thursday that users in the U.K., Spain, France and the Netherlands would now be able to stake Tezos through its proprietary staking service. “Coinbase is offering an easy, secure way for U.K. and certain [European Union] customers to actively participate in the Tezos network,” the exchange said in a press release. “While it’s possible to stake Tezos on your own or via a delegated staking service, it can be confusing, complicated and even risky with regard to the security of your staked Tezos.” Related: Blockchain Bites: Google Validates Theta, Coinbase and BitGo Eye Crypto Prime Brokerage Coinbase first launched its staking service in the U.S. back in November. It claims customers have earned well over $2 million in crypto since then. In the press release, the exchange said staking offered a new lucrative alternative to more traditional investments, such as equities or bonds. Coinbase – which only listed Tezos last July – estimates the current annual earnings for users staking Tezos comes in at around 5%. See also: Industry Group Led by Polychain, Coinbase Seeks to Get Ahead on Staking Regulations A spokesperson for the exchange told CoinDesk it was working with local regulators, in response to a question about why it’s only offering the service to four European nations. Related: Bitcoin News Roundup for May 27, 2020 “While we are starting with these new markets first, as we expand internationally, we are continuously reviewing and considering additional markets as well,” the spokesperson said. Related Stories Coinbase Buys Tagomi as ‘Foundation’ of Institutional Trading Arm Staking Will Turn Ethereum Into a Functional Store of Value || Money Reimagined: Designer Money for a Machine-Run Post-COVID World: A headline in MIT Technology Review caught my attention this week: “The pandemic is emptying call centers. AI chatbots are swooping in.” COVID-19’s perfect storm – a global public health crisis, an economic meltdown and a surge in online connectivity – could accelerate what World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab calls the Fourth Industrial Revolution . In creating imperatives for both cost-cutting and software-dependent innovation, the pandemic is bringing us closer to an economy dominated by integrated networks of digital devices. This raises all sorts of vital questions. But here we’ll just drill down into one: what kind of money will this new society need? Related: USV’s Albert Wenger on the World After Capital It’s likely that long-term unemployment will be a defining condition of this emerging machine-dominant economy. We’re not just talking about cyclical, recessionary layoffs but net job losses that are structural and permanent. You’re reading Money Reimagined , a weekly look at the technological, economic and social events and trends that are redefining our relationship with money and transforming the global financial system. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . If so, the situation could confirm the so-called “end of work” thesis, which foresees new technologies leaving employers with an ever-declining need for human labor. It proved largely unfounded during the 20th century, as each fresh technological wave created new jobs that offset the old ones. But the thesis is gaining weight again in response to a new, self-advancing phase in computer technology. Machine-learning algorithms mean our periodic competitions with new technologies are no longer one-off events. Humans are now engaged in an endless battle with computers that are constantly getting smarter. As machines acquire the very cognitive and creative skills that previously allowed us to reinvent our employment opportunities, the battle may be unwinnable. Story continues UBI’s moment If we are indeed approaching the end of work, expect a surge of interest in universal basic income. Related: Where Bitcoin Fits in the New Monetary Order UBI is the idea that the government should pay a basic living wage to all citizens. It has been thrust into public consciousness by COVID-19 and the sudden, massive expansion in unemployment that came with it – 36 million alone in the U.S. On Thursday, its advocates got a boost when Twitter founder Jack Dorsey announced a $5 million donation to former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s Humanity Forward nonprofit , which is using $250 microgrants to make the case for UBI. We don’t have space here for a deep debate about UBI. Just please don’t narrow-mindedly reject it as “socialism.” UBI backers range from liberals who want to expand public safety nets to conservatives who see potential to reform inefficient and highly politicized welfare distribution. Others see UBI as correcting for the power of big tech by redistributing revenue gained through personal data mining. The system should compensate them for those vital resources. If UBI is to be part of our new digital economy, it would seem logical to make it digital too. We’ve already seen U.S. lawmakers propose that, rather than mailing out checks for COVID-19 relief, funds should be sent directly as digital dollars via special Federal Reserve wallets. The proposal didn’t pass, but having central banks establish a digital currency for social distribution payments is, remarkably, now a mainstream topic. There are clear benefits to digitizing UBI: Direct-to-consumer payments could improve efficiency, prevent confiscation by middlemen, create parity for the “unbanked,” and, provided the rollout goes smoothly, legitimize the direct connection between a government and its people. Programmability could also allow authorities to constrain how the funds are used. Software designs could, say, allow supermarkets or landlords to accept the funds, but not barmen. (To be sure, this is inconsistent with the spirit of pure UBI, but it would likely to resonate with some politicians.) On the other hand, as European Central Bank executive board member Yves Mersch noted in a presentation to Consensus Distributed last week, citizens could see their civil rights undermined if central banks don’t build privacy protections into direct-to-consumer digital currency accounts. With this infrastructure, central banks could directly manipulate the value of people’s personal money, creating a more powerful mechanism for managing consumer spending and inflation than the current solution, which relies on banks and financial markets as indirect conduits for monetary policy. Whether you think that’s a good thing depends on how you feel about central banks’ being empowered to manipulate the value of money to manage economic conditions. Another challenging issue is that involving central banks in governments’ fiscal distributions may make their economic policymaking dependent on political interests. That would be a radical departure from the independence principles upon which central banking has been founded for the past four decades. It might make central bankers more accountable to the public interest, as their actions would directly impact voters’ pocketbooks. But they could also be forced to pursue the self interests of politicians. You get the idea: Inevitable or not, digital currency-based UBI brings many complications. Machine money I hate to say this, but we humans aren’t the only constituents in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We must also consider the interests of the digital machines. As social distancing becomes normalized, expect cities to ease ordinances on things like delivery robots, self-driving taxis and other autonomous devices. Next, expect urban planners to draw up sweeping blueprints for smart cities that combine the data generated by such devices with network-driven dynamic pricing so that everything from traffic flows to renewable energy sharing can be managed in a self-correcting system. To optimize such systems, devices owned by different individuals and companies would be given autonomy to interact and exchange data, goods and valuable services, and to receive, hold and send digital, programmable money as standalone entities. For this to happen, the system’s unit of value, its currency, must function as a digital token exchanged peer-to-peer – in this case, machine-to-machine – without the interference of a banking intermediary. Whether such a system would use central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, native blockchain tokens like bitcoin, or all three is yet to be determined. China is surging ahead with such a model, incorporating its Digital Currency Electronic Payment system, or DCEP, into a network of smart cities that deploy tools provided by the national Blockchain Services Network . In due time, the efficiencies China extracts from that will put competitive pressure on Western countries to follow suit. When that happens, we must ensure that optimizing such systems doesn’t compromise the interests of those they are supposed to serve. The money of the future can serve the interests of machines, but only if they align with the interests of us humans. How to scale blockchains? Ask the internet You know how it is: life in lockdown has you staring constantly at a screen. Not just 9-to-5, but always. Almost every single human interaction outside of your immediate family and almost every commercial transaction you make is done online. And how many more hours of streaming videos are watching? So, how much more busy is the internet these days? John Graham-Cumming, the Chief Technology Officer of Cloudflare, answered that question by treating the traffic flowing through his network security company’s systems as a proxy for overall usage. Sure enough, global traffic is up 40% on the year, as per the chart above that Cloudfare provided us. In a blog post addressing earlier data last month , Graham-Cumming highlighted what this says about the resilience of the internet, which has had no real interruptions despite the surging usage. “Overall the Internet has shown that it was built for this: designed to handle huge changes in traffic, outages, and a changing mix of use,” he wrote. There are lessons here for blockchains. To scale them, look to the layered design of the internet. The base layer protocol, known as TCP/IP, is sometimes described as a one trick pony. It only does data switching, but it does it really well. The single task design means it can deal with the challenges of heavy traffic. All the other functionality of the internet – email, web sites, file transfer, etc. – isn’t forced on that main load-bearing system but enabled by higher level open protocols such as SMTP and HTTP, and then by proprietary applications even further “up the stack.” It’s relevant to the bitcoin versus ethereum debate, with the latter more sophisticated, multifaceted and powerful for running things like smart contracts but, according to its critics, entailing a complexity that makes it more prone to breakdowns and security breaches. The global town hall $91 million. That’s the current value of the 10,000 bitcoin Laszlo Hanyecz gave up to purchase two pizzas on this day 10 years ago. It was the first time bitcoin was spent on a good or service, giving the event canonical relevance in the cryptocurrency’s history. Ever since, it has been memorialized on this date as “Bitcoin Pizza Day.” The outside world tends to focus on the massive fortune Hanyecz left on the table by not “HODLing” his bitcoin, which after exchanging them for $25 worth of pizza were valued at a mere quarter of a cent at the time. He tends to respond with a shrug, arguing that he did something to help legitimize bitcoin. And, indeed, his act helped set off a price rally that has continued to today. But Hanyecz’s pizza order is also important for the value it ascribed to bitcoin for its utility as a payment vehicle. Hanyecz has continued to take an interest in initiatives to help make bitcoin more usable for payments, even as the narrative has shifted toward its value proposition as “digital gold.” Two years ago on this day he made a point by using the Lightning Network, which seeks to make bitcoin transactions more efficient and viable for low-value transactions, to make a certain, iconic purchase: a pizza. The Fed is “not out of ammunition by a long shot.” So said the man in charge of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, in a gloomy interview on CBS 60 Minutes last Sunday . Markets rallied in response, which should have left heads scratching. I mean, of course, the Fed has loads more ammunition left – it has unlimited printing power. The question is whether that ammunition is effective. Is it firing blanks? The bigger risk is that the real limit to its effective power won’t reveal itself until some indeterminate time in the future, when it’s too late. But at some point – after the Fed has flooded trillions of dollars into markets, after it has acquired huge swaths of corporate debt to find itself politically compromised, after it has restored the wealth of hedge funds but has left ordinary Americans living hand to mouth – confidence in the dollar will disappear. At that moment, everyone will finally realize that the ammunition was useless all along. Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, is one of the most influential financial journalists of all time . So when an article of his comes out with the title “Why inflation might follow the pandemic” it’s time to sit up and take notice. The headline suggested a countervailing view to that of the economic mainstream, with its persistent argument that the demand contraction from the COVID-19 crisis will produce long-lasting deflation. But if you’re expecting this to align with the forecasts of those in the crypto community who believe the central banks’ aggressive stimulus will result in debased money and hyperinflation, think again. Wolf puts all the variables on the table – huge government debt ratios, rapidly expanding broad money supply measures potentially offset by a slowing money velocity, and the end of the disinflationary effect of globalization – to argue, that inflation might finally return, but also might not. Bottom line: we live in chartered territory. No one really knows. Not even someone who earned himself a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for his services to financial journalism. Related Stories Money Reimagined: No, Secretary Summers, Financial Privacy Is a Vital Freedom The Rise of the Dollar Killers || Bootstrapping Mobile Mesh Networks With Bitcoin Lightning: The best Sundays are for long reads and deep conversations. Recently the hosts of the Lets Talk Bitcoin! Show were joined by Richard Myers to discuss the current state of mesh networks and how Bitcoins Lightning may be the missing ingredient to their success. Listen/subscribe to the CoinDesk Podcast feed for unique perspectives and fresh daily insight with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , IHeartRadio or RSS . The episode is sponsored by eToro.com and The Internet of Money Vol. 3 On todays episode of Lets Talk Bitcoin! youre invited to join Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and special guest Richard Myers for an in-depth look at the past, present and future of Mobile Mesh Networking technology and the open source LOT49 protocol built on top of Bitcoins Lightning Network. Just as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin dont rely on static infrastructure and professional providers, mobile mesh networking allows the creation of inexpensive, high range, low-bandwidth and low-power networks thatll let your phone send text messages or even bitcoin micro-transactions, even in areas with no coverage. According to Myers, Bitcoins Lightning Network is whats needed to make mobile mesh networks catch on by bootstrapping on top of the payment routing infrastructure. The Lightning Network currently sends payments from A to B to C and then all those intermediate nodes can collect a small fee if the payment is delivered at the end. All were doing is saying Not only [can you send] a payment, but [you can send] a small message. In our case, itd be a SMS message. So youre sending an SMS message along with a Lightning payment from A to B to C to D, and when D receives that message they return proof that it was delivered and thats what flows back through the network. In the Lightning sense, thats your pre-image. Its computed from the message, thats how the nodes are able to collect payment even if they lose touch with the original person who sent it. Story continues Related: Bootstrapping Mobile Mesh Networks With Bitcoin Lightning See also: Grasping Lightning: Mapping the Key Players in Bitcoins Next Phase But the way the Lightning Network uses data natively isnt ideal for mobile mesh. The open source Lot49 protocol is another layer on top of Lightning that Myers says is necessary to make it work at scale while using mesh devices as an extremely low-bandwidth TOR-like privacy layer. In many ways were not making a new protocol, were literally using Lightning. Lot49 is ca ustom communication protocol thats optimized for mesh. For example, right now theres a 1300-byte onion thats used to route messages over the internet and thats very important because you lose a lot of privacy
you lose all your privacy
if you were to just send messages over the internet without onion routing. Were sending over more or less a physical TOR network since its going from node to node, not through a central ISP who can associate who youre trying to pay. Were also doing it over a low bandwidth network, so if you were sending 1300 bytes it may not sound like much in the age of the internet but were talking about devices that [have a maximum data transmission capacity of] about a kilobyte a minute so thats a significant amount of the bandwidth that you have [tied up just in the webs onion routing] So, for example with LOT49, we take out the onion and we use the native routing at the mesh device [level] which is optimized for mesh communications. And there are a few other little changes we make like that in order to reduce the bandwidth by chunking up messages.
The ultimate goal is to minimize the Lightning protocol overhead so that there is more bandwidth available for data
for things like sending an SMS and as bandwidth increases there may be things like internet protocol. Credits This episode of Lets Talk Bitcoin features Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine and Richard Myers. Music provided by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats, with editing by Jonas. Related Stories JPMorgan Analysts: Bitcoin Is Likely to Survive (as a Speculative Asset) The Chad Index Versus Doomer Internet Money: The Breakdown Weekly Recap || Miners Are Selling More of Their Bitcoin. That May Actually Be Bullish: Data BreachCoincheck has fallenvictim to a data breachafter attackers accessed one of its domain name accounts and used it to impersonate the cryptocurrency exchange. The Japanese firm said Tuesday that an unknown third party gained access to an account it held with domain registration service Onamae.com. An incident notice suggested the attackers then used its .jp domain account to send “fraudulent” emails to customers.
Hard ForkEthereum Classic completed its “Phoenix” hard fork making thenetwork fully compatible with Ethereum.The hard fork represents a major departure for Ethereum Classic, which is sticking with Proof-of-Work (PoW) while its sister chain moves to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) and sharding.
You’re readingBlockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’snewsletters here.
MainnetMatic, a sidechain scaling solution for Ethereum, began deploying its mainnet, which allows the network torun dapps and support asset transfersto and from the ethereum mainchain. The India-based Matic Foundation announced via a blog post that it had brought 10 nodes online and hopes to grow tenfold.
Angel RoundCrypto bankAvanti raised a $5 million angel roundled by the University of Wyoming Foundation with participation from Anthony Pompliano’s Morgan Creek Digital, Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, Lemniscap, Madison Paige Ventures and others.
Civil ClosureBlockchain journalism startupCivil is shutting down,with its team moving to the employ of parent company ConsenSys. “This pivot led to closer coordination with ConsenSys and the team building solutions for identity and provenance tracking, which in turn started conversations about a strategic merger,” Civil CEO Matthew Iles said.
New IPORenewable energy services provider WPO has won approval from the French financial markets regulator toraise funding through an ICO.WPO will hold a sale of its GreenToken (GTK) with the expectation of raising €10 million ($11.2 million).
Related:Blockchain Bites: Avanti’s Angel Round, Civil’s Closure and a Data Breach
Quantitative EasingPrices for bitcoin shot up 8% on Monday to a three-month high around $10,200, then quickly reversed on Tuesday,falling back to about $9,500.Some investors are looking ahead to Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting for fresh monetary stimulus that might underscore the cryptocurrency’s potential as an inflation hedge.
CoinDesk Research: May 2020 ReviewBitcoin’s returns continue to outpace stocks, bonds and gold, and so does its volatility. Spot exchange volumes probed historic highs in May and bitcoin options markets passed a milestone and didn’t look back. Outperforming crypto assets a couple of use-specific crypto tokens that topped crypto returns for the month.Download the full report here.
• First Mover: BSV Doubles in 2020 as Bitcoin Offshoot Wins Devotees
• Blockchain Bites: Chase Class Action, 30 Words for Censorship and a Bitcoin Bug || Meet the Pro-Bitcoin, Anti-BitLicense Democrat Running for State Office: In a now-deleted tweet, Coinbase Custody International announced it was adding support for withdrawals and deposits in the stablecoin tether.
While that May 30 tweet is now gone, it’s hard to hide its effects given a recent surge in the stablecoin’s count of active addresses. The number of unique addresses active in the network, either as a sender or receiver, nearly doubled to 203,776 last week, having risen by 26% in May, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firmGlassnode. However, as of Tuesday, the number of active addresses was back down sharply to 122,809.
Coinbase Custody’soriginal tweetwasshared onthe cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s social platform and also acknowledgedby Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether Ltd (creator of tether).
It is unclear when the tweet was removed. Also, there isno mention of USDTin the list of supported assets on its official website. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase Custody on Tuesday for information on whether it are supporting tether. As of press time, we have yet to receive any reply.
While that mystery remains, the on-chain data shows the original announcement was followed by a spike in the number of active addresses.
“Coinbase Custody International’s announcement may have contributed to the recent jump in addresses,” said Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari.
The custodian mainly serves wealthy institutional investors, such as family offices and trading firms. As such, one may conclude that its decision to add support for tether is reflective of the increased institutional interest in the stablecoin.
Related:Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses
See also:As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home
Demand for tether and other dollar-backed stablecoinshas been on the risethis year in the wake of the U.S. dollar shortage in the global economy and extremely low interest rates in fiat markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While commercial banks across the advanced world are offering near zero interest rates on deposits, cryptocurrencylending platformsincluding Nexo and Celsius Network are paying 8% interest rate on tether deposits.
Hence, it’s no surprise the number of active addresses has risen by over 600% so far this year. Meanwhile, Tether Ltd., the company behind the stablecoin,has issuedover $5 billion worth of tether since January and its market capitalization has increased from $4 billion to $9.3 billion, according to Glassnode.
• Stablecoins Are the Bridge From Central Banks to Consumer Payments
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Can’t Stick to $9,000 While Stocks Rally
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 9375.47, 9252.28, 9428.33, 9277.97, 9278.81, 9240.35, 9276.50, 9243.61, 9243.21, 9192.84
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-09-22]
BTC Price: 19413.55, BTC RSI: 43.98
Gold Price: 1670.80, Gold RSI: 36.57
Oil Price: 83.49, Oil RSI: 39.79
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Well Announces OTCQB Listing in the U.S.: Bitcoin Well EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug. 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitcoin Well Inc. (the Company or Bitcoin Well) (TSXV: BTCW) (OTCQB: BCNWF), is pleased to announce that the Company's common shares will begin trading in the United States on the OTCQB market on August 16, 2022, under the symbol "[BCNWF]". OTC Markets Group Inc. operates regulated markets for trading 12,000 U.S. and international securities. The Bitcoin Well common shares are eligible for electronic clearing and settlement through The Depository Trust Company ("DTC"). DTC eligibility simplifies the process of trading and transferring the common shares, enhances trading liquidity, and enables the Company's common shares to be traded over a wider selection of brokerage firms in the U.S. This U.S. listing allows us to more easily expand our investor base and gives us the ability to introduce our Company to a much larger audience outside of the Canadian market, enhancing liquidity and visibility for our shareholders, said Allen Stephen, CFO of Bitcoin Well. Our renewed strategy, along with this new listing, presents an exciting opportunity for U.S. investors who are seeking growth in this industry. The Companys common shares will continue to trade in Canada on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "BTCW". About Bitcoin Well Bitcoin Well offers convenient, secure and reliable ways to buy, sell and use bitcoin. Bitcoin Well is on a mission to enable independence by offering an ecosystem of products and services that give users the convenient control of their bitcoin. This ecosystem will future-proof money by including self custodial financial offerings (both in-person and online) and educational resources designed with the needs of both the customers, and the industry, in mind. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , YouTube , Facebook , and Instagram to keep up to date with our business. For OTC location information visit bitcoinwell.com/locations . Story continues Bitcoin Well Contact Information To book a virtual meeting with Founder & CEO Adam OBrien please use the following link: https://calendly.com/adamobitcoin/meet-adam For additional investor & media information, please contact: Tel: 1 888 711 3866 ir@bitcoinwell.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release . Forward-Looking Information: Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", or the negative thereof and similar expressions. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Bitcoin Well actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which Bitcoin Well operates, prevailing economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Bitcoin Well. Bitcoin Well believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents Bitcoin Well expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. Bitcoin Well disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation. For more information, see the Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information found in the Bitcoin Well quarterly Management Discussion and Analysis. || Wall Street Titans' New Crypto Exchange Aims to Seriously Cut Costs for Investors: A new cryptocurrency exchange forged by some of Wall Street's biggest players has ambitious plans to dramatically reduce how much traders pay to buy and sell digital assets. It will initially focus on only a "handful" of tokens including bitcoin (BTC) that its lawyers are confident aren't securities – thus avoiding a regulatory drama still playing out in Washington. The firm, EDX Markets, is backed by the two largest U.S. retail brokers, Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Fidelity Investments (through its digital-assets arm). Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial (VIRT), two of the biggest trading firms in U.S. stocks, and investment firms Paradigm and Sequoia Capital are also supporting the venture, and EDX expects others to join the group. Read more: Schwab, Citadel Securities, Fidelity, Other Wall Street Firms Start Crypto Exchange EDX Markets It's seeking to nudge crypto toward the low costs seen in U.S. stocks, EDX CEO Jamil Nazarali said in an interview Tuesday. He gave a theoretical example of an investor seeking to buy $5,000 worth of an S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, whose cost for that trade – as measured by the cut, known as the spread, an intermediary would take to complete the transaction – would likely be a few pennies. A similar-sized BTC trade might now cost $25, Nazarali said. "This market structure costs individual investors a lot of money," Nazarali said. "We want to bring a lot of those efficiencies [seen in stocks] to the digital marketplace." The securities question U.S. regulators are in the process of sorting out whether some crypto assets are actually securities and thus deserving of more oversight. EDX is sidestepping that battle. At launch, it will offer only "a handful of tokens that we feel good are not securities," Nazarali said. That includes bitcoin. Nazarali, who declined to name others or quantify the exact number of tokens, said EDX will open for a pilot round of trading in November, and officially launch in January. Story continues Read more: Crypto Doesn't Need More Guidance, SEC Chair Gensler Says The retail brokers in EDX's consortium of backers will bring order flow to the exchange, and Citadel Securities (Nazarali's former employer), Virtu and potentially other market makers will execute them, a role they are familiar with from equities. Competition among market makers will be part of what leads to lower trading costs for customers, Nazarali said. So will, he added, bringing over some of the accoutrements professional trading firms like Citadel Securities and Virtu rely on in stocks and other conventional markets. The EDX exchange will be based in the NY4 data center in Secaucus, New Jersey, the East Coast hub for almost all trading in U.S. financial markets, besides the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, which operate out of data centers elsewhere in New Jersey. That opens up the possibility of colocation – jargon for allowing exchange customers to house their computers inside the same data center. Crypto exchanges have historically been based on cloud platforms, which makes the physical location of an exchange – and thus getting the fastest access to it – harder to pin down. Colocation "results in lower latency and higher determinism, which allows market makers to quote tighter prices," Nazarali said. The New Jersey location also stands out because major trading firms like Citadel Securities and Virtu use fast, microwave-communications networks connecting NY4 to another important colocation-offering exchange elsewhere in the U.S.: CME Group (CME), which is housed in a data center in Aurora, Illinois, outside Chicago. CME lists bitcoin futures contracts, giving professional traders on EDX a fairly obvious place to offset risk if they are trading BTC itself. Robinhood Markets and other major U.S. retail brokers not presently listed among EDX's backers outsource crypto trades to third parties for execution, including Jump Crypto, the digital-asset division of a trading firm Citadel Securities and Virtu compete with in traditional markets. Nazarali said he would love to lure that volume to EDX. "We want all of that to come on exchange, and we think that that'll be good for the retail broker-dealers," he said. "We want Jump to be a big market maker on EDX." As for why he made the leap from traditional finance to crypto – he had been a senior executive at Citadel Securities – Nazarali said the energy in the ecosystem was a draw. "There's a lot of younger people," he said. "There's a lot of dynamism, and it's quite energizing." || GLOBAL MARKETS-World shares recover after U.S. jobs report sell-off: * Euro STOXX gains 0.8%
* Wall Street set to gain
* Markets narrow odds on 75 bp hike ahead of U.S. CPI
* Dollar falls
* Oil down after earlier gains
By Tom Wilson
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Global stock markets gained ground on Monday, recovering from losses sparked by a strong U.S. jobs report last week that bolstered the case for sharp interest rate hikes, while the dollar weakened and government bond yields fell.
Markets quickly moved on Friday to price about a 70% chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise rates by 75 basis points in September, sending two-year yields up 20 basis points and further inverting the curve.
Yet the broad Euro STOXX 600 gained 0.8% in early trade on Monday, led by cyclical and growth stocks, helping recover losses from Friday driven by the U.S. jobs report. Miners and technology stocks, hit hard in the previous week, led the gains.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, added 0.2%, recovering losses of the same amount seen on Friday.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were up 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. The S&P 500 had ended lower on Friday, weighed down by tech stocks.
Yet higher rates remained squarely in focus for investors.
"Sectors like the higher rated tech stocks are still going to come under pressure for a while until we can see the Fed funds rate coming down," said Robert Alster, chief investment officer at Close Brothers Asset Management.
The jobs data raised the stakes for the July U.S. consumer prices report due on Wednesday, which could see a slight pullback in headline growth, but likely a further acceleration in core inflation.
"Our economists expect the headline (annual) rate to finally dip after energy prices have fallen of late," Deutsche Bank analysts wrote.
The risk of recession had earlier haunted equity markets, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipping 0.5%.
After surging on Friday following the solid U.S. non-farm payrolls data, most euro zone bond yields were lower. Germany's 10-year Bund yield fell slightly to 0.89%.
Italian bonds underperformed, with 10-year yields around 2 bps higher on the day at 3.04%. Italy's closely watched bond-yield gap over Germany was around 213 bps, versus 205 bps late on Friday.
Ratings agency Moody's cut Italy's outlook to "negative" from "stable" on Friday, weeks after Prime Minister Mario Draghi's resignation sparked fresh political uncertainty.
Two-year Treasury yields were up at 3.19%, some 40 basis points above 10-year yields.
Bonds also got a safe-haven bid due to unease over Beijing's sabre rattling against Taiwan as China conducts four days of military exercises around the island.
DOLLAR EXPECTIONALISM?
The U.S. dollar fell 0.3% versus a basket of currencies to 106.34, giving up some gains after strengthening on the jobs boom and the jump in yields.
It however gained 0.2% against the Japanese yen to 134.75 yen, after jumping 1.6% on Friday.
FX analysts were bullish on the greenback's prospects.
"Data like this will further any thoughts about 'U.S. exceptionalism' and is very positive for the USD against all currencies," said Alan Ruskin, global head of G10 FX strategy at Deutsche Bank, referring to the U.S. jobs statistics.
The euro squeezed out slim gains to reach $1.021.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which tend to act as a barometer for risk appetite, gained. Bitcoin was last up 3.9%.
Gold managed to bounce from the lows hit on Friday to rise 0.5% to $1,782.
Erasing earlier gains, Brent crude futures fell 1.8% to $93.26 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was at $87.54 a barrel, down 1.7%.
(Reporting by Tom Wilson in London; additional reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Bradley Perrett and Jan Harvey) || Applied Blockchain Announces Appointment and Promotion of Regina Ingel as Chief Marketing Officer: Through Expanded Leadership Role, Ingel Will Lead the Company’s Marketing and Brand Strategy to Support Its Next Stage of Accelerated Growth
Applied Blockchain Chief Marketing Officer, Regina Ingel
DALLAS, Aug. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Applied Blockchain, Inc.(Nasdaq: APLD)("Applied Blockchain" or the "Company")announced today the promotion ofRegina Ingelfrom Executive Vice President of Operations to Chief Marketing Officer (“CMO”) effective August 1, 2022. Ingel had served as the Company’s Executive Vice President of Operations since April 2021. In her new role as CMO, Ingel will lead Applied Blockchain’s fully integrated marketing strategy to support the Company's next stage of accelerated growth and further market penetration, including corporate branding, community outreach, communications, marketing, investor relations, and social media engagement programing.
“Regina’s business development expertise and thorough grasp of Applied Blockchain’s strategic vision and key initiatives will only be more apparent and impactful as our CMO,” said Applied Blockchain Chairman and CEO, Wes Cummins. “Regina has been with our company essentially since its founding and has, like many of us, worn multiple hats through Applied Blockchain’s rapid growth. Today, I am pleased to officially appoint her to this position, which will provide an increased opportunity for her to make a larger impact at Applied Blockchain.”
Ingel joined Applied Blockchain shortly after its founding as Executive Vice President of Operations. Prior to Applied Blockchain, Ingel was a successful entrepreneur, leveraging her marketing expertise and scaling businesses for both startups and large corporations.
“Applied Blockchain is a disruptor on the forefront of the financial industry's digital transformation, with a dedication to a sustainable blockchain infrastructure, white-glove customer service, and industry-leading execution,” said Ingel. “I am thrilled to grow my role within the Company and look forward to accelerating our growth, leadership voice, community engagement and continuing to build our momentum within the blockchain industry.”
Earlier this month Applied Blockchainannounceda five-year hosting contract withMarathon Digital Holdings, Inc.(Nasdaq: MARA) (“Marathon”) for 200-Megawatts (“MW”) of Bitcoin mining capacity. Partnering with Marathon, one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the industry, represents a significant step forward in Applied Blockchain’s growth trajectory.
AboutApplied Blockchain
Applied Blockchain, Inc. (Nasdaq: APLD) is a builder and operator of next-generation data centers across North America, which provide substantial compute power to blockchain infrastructure and support Bitcoin mining. The Company has partnered with some of the most recognized names in the industry to develop, deploy, and scale its business. Find more information atwww.appliedblockchaininc.com. Follow us on Twitter at@APLDBlockchain.
Investor Relations ContactsMatt Glover or Jeff Grampp, CFAGateway Group, Inc.(949) 574-3860APLD@gatewayir.com
Media ContactCatherine AdcockGateway Group, Inc.(949) 574-3860APLD@gatewayir.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available athttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/af7981fd-37d7-4b40-8b73-f8f20755ac20 || Here's what Ethereum's Merge means for investors who want to generate extra cash flow from crypto staking, according to 2 industry experts: Master your Crypto Presented by Matrixport Kazi Awal/Insider iStock; Insider Ethereum recently revamped its protocol from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake model. Industry analysts have predicted that this upgrade could triple current Ethereum staking yields. Here's how staking will change in light of Ethereum's Merge — and what that means for returns. This article is part of " Master Your Crypto ," a series from Insider helping investors improve their skills in and knowledge of cryptocurrency. Ethereum's long-anticipated Merge on Thursday, September 15 — where the blockchain transitioned its protocol from a proof-of-work to the much more energy-efficient proof-of-stake consensus model — will certainly be immortalized as one of the most important events in crypto history . It represents the next evolution of digital assets and future growth in the space, according to Thomas Perfumo, head of strategy at Kraken, which is currently the fourth largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. There's another reason the Merge was so important, Perfumo told Insider — eventually, it will single-handedly increase the total market cap of staked crypto assets from 25% to 30% to over 50%. For context, proof-of-work protocols like Bitcoin verify blockchain transactions by having miners solve computation puzzles , while proof-of-stake systems like those employed by Solana, Cardano, and Polkadot choose validators at random who've staked — or locked up their crypto assets — for upwards of two to three weeks. While validators are randomly chosen, they're more likely to be selected if they have a bigger stake and they've held their stake for a longer period of time than others. How investors make money from staking Similar to holding a dividend stock , investors who stake their cryptocurrencies are theoretically able to benefit in two ways — from the underlying asset's price appreciation, and from the additional reward they earn each time they verify a transaction, known as the annual percentage rate, or APR. Story continues Because Ethereum validators also earn gas fees , higher transaction volumes mean a higher yield. And since each block only has a fixed number of rewards, the reward rate dwindles as the total number of validators and staked cryptos competing for those rewards increases. Since validators take risks through their exposure to the underlying asset, investors shouldn't buy crypto solely for its potential APR, Perfumo said. "But if you have conviction in Ethereum over your time horizon and you feel like staking offers you a way to increase the rewards on the asset while you hold it, it sounds like a good idea," he added. Before the Merge, Ethereum holders were able to stake on its Beacon Chain, with one big caveat — they were unable to withdraw their assets, which means the percentage of Ethereum staked has only grown over time. But withdrawals should be allowed once the Shanghai fork of the Merge is complete within the next six to nine months, Perfumo estimates. While theoretically, every crypto holder can stake by themselves as opposed to staking on an exchange, in practice, it's much harder to solo stake because validators have to constantly monitor the software or risk paying an inactivity penalty. Ethereum also requires all solo validators to hold at least 32 ether before they can stake, and costs of nodes and servers can quickly add up, said Perfumo. On the other hand, exchanges like Kraken and Lido — which take a fee on yield — allow users to contribute an amount of their choice, and can also minimize slashing penalties through redundancy mechanisms. Because Lido gives users one derivative ETH token for every ether they stake, users are even able to unstake their coins by simply trading back the two currencies. But since these exchanges effectively manage custody of a user's assets, Perfumo emphasized the importance in choosing a trusted exchange to minimize counterparty risk. Lido currently lists its Ethereum APR as 3.8%, while Kraken advertises its Ethereum yearly rewards rate ranging between 4% to 7% due to variability between transaction demand and validator supply, Perfumo explained. He added that rewards differ between blockchain protocols since newer ones might offer higher base yields to circulate currency supply, while more mature networks with large validator networks like Ethereum offer a smaller percentage of new tokens relative to total supply. Stakers will now earn all the rewards post-Merge One of the biggest post-Merge takeaways is that the pool of rewards for validators has now increased substantially, said AD, a pseudonym used by Lido's head of marketing and community. "The yields are expected to go up because the fees that used to flow to miners will now come to the stakers," he explained to Insider. "You're going from a yield that's currently around 3.8% — it varies a little bit — but our modeling shows that it will potentially double or even triple." Lido's estimates are in line with estimates made earlier this year by other crypto analysts that post-Merge staking yields could swell to between 7% to 15% . However, Perfumo says that the exact post-Merge rewards rates are difficult to predict, especially as ether becomes more liquid in a few months. "If people are allowed to unstake, the reward rate is going to be more variable, in the sense that it can go up and down, depending on how many people are staking. It's possible that over time, the reward rate may skew to the downside because the liquidity of being able to unstake encourages people to stake," he explained. Additionally, platforms might lower reward rates to compensate for the fact that mining is much higher in energy consumption than staking. "You don't have to have such a big incentive model to encourage validators to work on the platform," Perfumo said. Since he believes that Ethereum rewards may not necessarily increase post-Merge, Perfumo emphasized that investors should still keep their personal time horizons in mind when it comes to Ethereum staking, and only consider staking if they're comfortable with locking down their assets for at least another six months. This article is intended to provide generalized information designed to educate a broad segment of the public; it does not give personalized investment, legal, or other business and professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always consult with your own financial, legal, tax, investment, or other professional for advice on matters that affect you and/or your business. Read the original article on Business Insider || Musk Subpoenas Ex-Twitter CEO Dorsey in Battle Over Buyout: (Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk subpoenaed Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter Inc. and his longtime friend, in his defense against the social media company’s lawsuit to make him complete his proposed $44 billion buyout. Most Read from Bloomberg GOP Fury Over ESG Triggers Backlash With US Pensions at Risk A 129-Foot Superyacht Worth Millions Sinks Off the Italian Coast Biden Unveils Plan to Free Students from ‘Unsustainable Debt’ Korea Shatters Its Own Record for World’s Lowest Fertility Rate Six Months of Putin’s War Unravels Russia’s Superpower Image Dorsey, who stepped down as Twitter’s chief executive officer last year, has been an energetic booster of Musk’s bid for the company, tweeting in April that Musk was the “singular solution I trust” to take over. The subpoena follows a pair filed Friday for Kayvon Beykpour, former head of consumer product at Twitter, and Bruce Falck, formerly in charge of revenue product. The billionaire is rapidly marshaling documents and data to show that Twitter understated how much of its customer base is made up of spam and robot accounts. Read More: Twitter Must Give Musk Data, Documents From Ex-Product Head Since the world’s richest person retreated from the purchase, dozens of people, banks and funds have been subpoenaed by both sides in the legal fight playing out in Delaware. The push to gather information and interview important figures in the deal comes ahead of an expedited schedule for the trial, slated to begin Oct. 17 and last five days. Musk’s decision to subpoena Dorsey, who served two stints as CEO, is an interesting one given the duo’s history. The two executives, both big Bitcoin supporters, have been friendly for years. Dorsey has praised Musk, describing him as a favorite influential tweeter, and invited him to Twitter to discuss product ideas. In a Rolling Stone interview in early 2019, Dorsey said he “loved” Musk and what he was trying to do with Tesla Inc. and SpaceX. Musk even appeared at Twitter’s companywide retreat in early 2020 to speak with employees by videochat -- during which he complained about Twitter’s bot problem. Story continues Read More: All the Banks, Billionaires and VCs Sucked Into Twitter v. Musk More recently, the two have advocated for making Twitter’s software and content moderation decisions more transparent. After Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder in late March, Dorsey was the first person at the company he called, according to a regulatory filing. Dorsey, who was still a Twitter director at the time, later encouraged Musk to join the board and spoke glowingly of him after the board agreed to sell Musk the company. Earlier this month, the Tesla CEO accused Twitter of hiding the names of workers specifically responsible for evaluating the proportion of spam and robot accounts. Musk argues the company has failed to show that they make up fewer than 5% of its active users, as it has said in regulatory filings. Twitter says it’s all a show to justify walking away from the deal. Dorsey and Musk have their differences. Under Dorsey, Twitter permanently banned former president Donald Trump after the Capitol riot, although Dorsey delegated most of the moderation decisions to his legal deputy and later publicly questioned the ban. Musk has said he opposes “permanent bans” and would bring Trump back if he buys Twitter, although he hasn’t articulated a comprehensive content policy philosophy. Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO to focus on Block Inc., his payments processing company. Read More: Musk Says Twitter Is Hounding Him Over Every Chat About Buyout Beykpour, the former head of consumer product, was the top product executive at Twitter for years before he was unexpectedly dismissed by new chief executive officer Parag Agrawal. It was his team that was most directly responsible for expanding Twitter’s user base -- and it is the quality of that base Musk has questioned in seeking to escape from the acquisition. Beykpour joined Twitter in 2015 when the company acquired his live video app, Periscope, and quickly climbed the ranks under Dorsey. He was pushing Twitter into new product areas, like live audio spaces and newsletters, before he was ousted. The departures of Beykpour and Falck reflected Twitter’s state of limbo while it awaited a new owner, a state now intensified by the litigation. Meanwhile a hiring freeze and other cost-cutting efforts have left some employees unsure of whether the projects or teams they are working on will be prioritized under new leadership. The case is Twitter v. Musk, 22-0613, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington). Read More What If Musk Is Ordered to Do Twitter Deal and He Just Says No? Musk Seeks Dismissal of Twitter Investor Suit as ‘Hypothetical’ (Adds details, quotes and context starting in fifth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek A ‘Tsunami of Shutoffs’: 20 Million US Homes Are Behind on Energy Bills Good Luck Finding a Seat in That Fancy Airport Lounge How Deadly Bacteria Spread in a Similac Factory—and Caused the US Formula Shortage SoftBank’s Epic Losses Reveal Masayoshi Son’s Broken Business Model Get Ready for the Magic Mushroom Pill ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || Ex-PwC crypto head sets up digital asset fund in Dubai: report: Former PwC crypto arm leader Henri Arslanian said in a report the digital asset fund Nine Blocks Capital Management will receive $75 million from major supporters, including Hong Kong-based hedge fund Nine Masts Capital.
See related article:Dubai scorches crypto winter with plans to support 40,000 ‘virtual jobs’
• In aninterviewwith the Financial Times, Arslanian said Nine Blocks Capital has received provisional regulatory approval in Dubai, and the fund has placed three portfolio managers in the Cayman Islands.
• Arslanian said he has left his position as a crypto leader at PwC but retained a senior advisory role at the company. HisLinkedIn pageshows that he has been at Nine Blocks as cofounder and managing partner since March.
• Arslanian says he has moved to Dubai and chose to locate the fund in the Middle East city rather than Hong Kong or Singapore, due to increasingly strict regulations on the crypto industry in both cities.
• He added that the fund may later add a base in Asia.
• The Singapore Monetary Authority has reportedly considered plans toregulate stablecoins and restrict retail crypto investorsin the country after the recent insolvencies of crypto lenders.
• Hong Kong hasbanned retail investors from investing in some digital assetclasses like Bitcoin spot ETFs and plans to legislate alicensing systemfor crypto exchanges.
See related article:India’s WazirX cofounders move to Dubai || 7 Stocks to Buy That Can Soar in Good Times or in Bad: Many commentators, analysts, and economists are convinced that the U.S. will enter a recession next year. Given the strength of the labor market and of corporate balance sheets, along with theonshoring phenomenonand the many jobs that the energy transition is creating, I have my doubts as to whether a recession is on the way. Still, I can certainly understand investors’ desire to find recession-proof growth stocks to buy.
Such equities can come in a few different forms. Pharmaceutical stocks rely primarily on governments and health insurers for their revenue, neither of which is overly affected by recessions. As a result, the shares of successful drugmakers can soar in good times and bad.
Then there are the companies that become more popular with some consumers during recessions. Also known as “trade-down” stocks, fast food chains and deep-discount retailers fall into this category.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Finally, there are companies that sell products that most consumers, companies and governments will find necessary even during recessions, such as energy and cybersecurity.
Here are seven stocks to buy regardless of where the economy is headed.
[{"LLY": "MCD", "Eli Lilly": "McDonald\u2019s", "$311.32": "$247.91"}, {"LLY": "GSK", "Eli Lilly": "GlaxoSmithKline", "$311.32": "$30.02"}, {"LLY": "DLTR", "Eli Lilly": "Dollar Tree", "$311.32": "$139.33"}, {"LLY": "DG", "Eli Lilly": "Dollar General", "$311.32": "$240.25"}, {"LLY": "LNG", "Eli Lilly": "Cheniere Energy", "$311.32": "$166.29"}, {"LLY": "FTNT", "Eli Lilly": "Fortinet", "$311.32": "$48.74"}]
Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com
The broader market may be in the bear’s grips, but pharmaceutical giantEli Lilly’s(NYSE:LLY) isn’t. Shares are up 34% over the past year. The company has many successful drugs that treat ailments such as diabetes, psoriasis and breast cancer. But perhaps the one that holds the most promise is the company’s potential obesity drug.
Tirzepatide, which is marketed as Mounjaro,was approvedby the Food and Drug Administration to treat diabetes back in May after clinical data showed it lowered blood sugar levels and led to weight loss. The market for diabetes treatment is large, but the market for a successful weight loss treatment could be astronomical. Eli Lily is currently conducting studies on Mounjaro as a weight-loss treatment.
UBSanalyst Colin Bristow upgraded LLY stock to a “buy” from “neutral” based on the potential of Mounjaro.PerBarron’s:
Bristow’s thesis is simple: Treating 1.6 million Americans annually would equate to $20 billion in U.S. sales. And that is still less than 2% of the estimated obese population in the U.S., he said. Usage is likely to be higher partly because the drug has strong trial results and a favorable position in terms of competition, he said, noting that management said on an earnings call that demand is robust.
It’s possible Eli Lilly has one of the most lucrative drugs of all time on its hands. I don’t expect the stock to have any problem continuing to outperform.
Source: Tama2u / Shutterstock
A few weeks ago,I identifiedMcDonald’s(NYSE:MCD) as a stock that will benefit from the “trade-down” phenomenon during a recession. MCD “is a good defensive stock because many working-class and middle-class families will start eating there instead of more expensive restaurants if the economy turns south,” I wrote.
I’m far from the only one bullish on the fast food chain.
On Aug. 26,CNBC’sJim Cramer said he sees shareshitting the $300 level, which is about 20% above the current share price. And he’s not even the most optimistic of the bunch.Tigress Financial Partnersanalyst Ivan Feinseth recentlyupped his price targetto $320, implying nearly 30% upside. PerThe Fly, Feinseth said McDonald’s “reinvests its cash flow in new growth initiatives and enhances shareholder returns through ongoing dividend increases and share repurchases.”
Anecdotally, I remember that, in the 1990s and early 2000s, many members of Generation X and Generation Y with whom I was acquainted refused to eat McDonald’s food. But since around 2009, I’ve noticed that the company’s offerings have become accepted by more people in those generations, and the chain is popular among millennials. When I go to McDonald’s restaurants, they are often quite crowded.
Also noteworthy is that, during the second quarter, McDonald’s global comparable salessoared 9.7%year over year.
MCD stock is up 3% over the past year compared with a loss of 13% for theS&P 500. I believe shares will continue to perform well in both good and bad economic times.
Source: Willy Barton / Shutterstock.com
GSK(NYSE:GSK), formerly GlaxoSmithKline, has more than100 approved productsacross 80-plus markets, along with apromising pipelinewith more than 60 drugs and vaccines in development.
GSK has seen great success with its blockbuster shingles vaccine Shingrix, which provides more than eight years of protection against the virus, according to the company. Speaking at arecent industry conference, Roger Connor, president of GSK Vaccines, said that 33 million Americans have received at least one dose of Shingrix. But with 120 million people in the U.S. over the age of 50, and thus recommended to get the vaccine, Connor said the company is “still only scratching the surface” of the available market in the U.S. Meanwhile, GSK is distributing Shingrix in 24 countries and plans to raise that number to 35 by 2024, according to Connor.
On the oncology front, GSK has two very promising drugs. The first is Zejula for ovarian cancer. Earlier this month, GSKreleased positive resultsfrom a Phase 3 trial. The company said it “maintained a clinically significant risk reduction of progression or death of 48% compared to placebo” after a median time period of 3.5 years among patients withHRD biomarkers.
The second drug is Dostarlimab, sold under the brand name Jemperli, whichhas been approvedto treat mismatch repair-deficient recurrent or advanced solid tumors. These are most often associated with endometrial, colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers.
AsI wrote recently, a small study showed that 100% of the 12 rectal cancer patients who completed treatment with Dostarlimab went into remission. This success rate is extremely unusual for a cancer drug. Larger studies are obviously needed, but the potential for a highly effective cancer treatment is a good reason for investors to keep their eye on GSK stock.
Source: shutterstock.com/Jonathan Weiss
So-called “dollar store” operators always get a lot of attention when the economy is struggling, for obvious reasons. There are actually two of them on today’s list of stocks to buy, the first beingDollar Tree(NASDAQ:DLTR).
Shares are up 62% over the past year despite a sharp sell-off over the past month following the release of the company’ssecond-quarter results. Revenue increased nearly 7% year over year to $6.8 billion, while same-store sales increased 7.5%. And earnings of $1.60 per share beat analyst estimates by a penny. However, management reduced its guidance for the full year, citing a focus on offering more competitive pricing at its Family Dollar stores.
Despite its reduced outlook, Dollar Tree has felt the love from analysts. On Sept. 6,JPMorgan’sMatthew Bossreiterated his “overweight” ratingand raised his price target for shares to $176 from $171. Boss noted that the stock looks undervalued based on its historical forward price-to-earnings ratio.
Meanwhile,Truistanalyst Scot Ciccarelli said the post-earnings sell-off looks overdone. And despite lowering his price target to $168 from $178, he recommended investorsbe “aggressive buyers”of DLTR stock.
Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com
Dollar General(NYSE:DG) CEO Todd Vasosmade headlinesearlier this month when he said that more of the retailer’s customers have been higher-earning individuals who make between $75,000 and $100,000 a year. These middle-income and wealthier shoppers are feeling the sting of inflation as well and looking to cut costs.
Wall Street analysts have been beating the drums for DG stock. Citing solid Q1 and Q2 results,Deutsche Bankanalyst Krisztina Kataicalled it“one of the few stable retailers in a rocky retail backdrop.”
Meanwhile,Morgan Stanleyanalyst Simeon Gutman called DG his “preferred stock in the Dollar Store space” and upped his price target to $270 from $250. The new target implies 12% upside from current levels. PerThe Fly: “The company’s 10.5% EPS growth suggest[s] Dollar General is benefiting from the macro backdrop, including from trade down, while execution on initiatives and solid margin control reinforce what he sees as safety in his estimates, Gutman tells investors.”
Dollar General’s shares are up significantly less than Dollar Tree’s over the past year at around 9%. But this underperformance could mean shares have more room to run. They certainly look undervalued, trading at just 1.6 times sales.
Source: Aerial-motion / Shutterstock.com
Cheniere Energy(NYSE:LNG) is the top U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter. As I wrote ina previous column,it is extremely well-positioned to benefit from sky-high natural gas prices in Europe. Although the eurozone is almost certainlyheading for a recession, energy demand is not likely to be affected much and could very well rise as the region looks to transition to electric vehicles.
Also boding well for investors, the company recently said it expects to generateover $20 billion of available cashthrough 2026 and distributable cash flow of more than $20 per share on a run-rate basis.
Cheniere continues to add new infrastructure that will allow it to export much more liquefied natural gas over the long term. Despite its strong positive catalysts and the 90% gain in LNG stock over the past 12 months, shares have a forward P/E ratio of just 10.8.
Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com
Given the huge legal bills and negative publicity that large-scale cybersecurity attacks bring, most companies are unlikely to cut their cybersecurity budgets much, if at all, during a recession.Uber(NYSE:UBER) was the latest big companyto get hacked. Meanwhile, governments, which as I noted previously, are largely immune to recessions, are also spending a great deal of money on cybersecurity.
This makesFortinet(NASDAQ:FTNT) a good stock to buy for investors who are looking for names that can thrive during economic downturns.
On Sept. 17,MKM Partnersanalyst Catharine Trebnickinitiated coverageof FTNT stock with a “buy” rating and a $70 price target. That’s 44% above the current share price. Trebnick notes that Fortinet has a number of competitive advantages, including the ability to monitor network traffic across multiple devices. She forecasts its billings could reach $10 billion by 2025.
While FTNT stock is down 19% over the past year, shares are unlikely to remain in a downtrend for much longer.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
Larry Ramer has conducted research and written articles on U.S. stocks for 15 years. He has been employed by The Fly and Israel’s largest business newspaper, Globes. Larry began writing columns for InvestorPlace in 2015. Among his highly successful, contrarian picks have been GE, solar stocks, and Snap. You can reach him on StockTwits at @larryramer.
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The post7 Stocks to Buy That Can Soar in Good Times or in Badappeared first onInvestorPlace. || 7 Best Solar Stocks to Buy Now: The secular trends that favor solar energy are the same which existed for the last several years. Broadly speaking, concern for climate change continues to grow and demand for cleaner energy sources is increasing. A report from Deloitte highlights the fact that solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have declined 85% in cost over the past decade. That makes them among the cheapest energy sources in the market. The cost model is there, but more development needs to occur. The current administration has a vision to decarbonize the U.S. economy fully. That is a lofty goal, but it will move the needle whether a wholesale shift occurs or not. In short, solar energy investment remains worthwhile. 7 Nasdaq Stocks to Buy on the Dip Here are the seven best solar stocks to buy now: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Ticker Company Price SEDG SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. $319.88 DQ Daqo New Energy Corp. $63.55 CSIQ Canadian Solar Inc. $33.83 ENPH Enphase Energy, Inc. $249.51 TAN Invesco Solar ETF $75.81 FSLR First Solar, Inc. $76.40 SHLS Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. $18.67 Best Solar Stocks: SolarEdge (SEDG) the solar edge logo on an iPhone Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.com SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ: SEDG ) is an Israeli firm that produces solar inverters. Solar inverters transform the energy collected from PV cells into energy that can be used on a grid. Without them, a home, business, or solar farm has no way to utilize the energy collected and stored by PV cells and arrays. SolarEdge is focused on marketing its inverters not only as transmission conduits, but also as smart energy management devices, which allow users to monitor and manage storage and use. SolarEdge will provide earnings results in early August, which may or may not disappoint. Investors should focus on the broader picture here: SolarEdge is expected to make roughly $3.05 billion in sales this year. That number is expected to rise by 25.9% to $3.84 billion next year. That growth story means SEDG stock will remain relevant. Story continues Daqo New Energy (DQ) Clean energy stocks: Rows of solar panels are lined up around a center aisle. Source: Shutterstock Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ ) stock represents a Chinese company that produces the polysilicon that is sold to PV cell manufacturers. Its story is one of rapid growth, increasing production volumes, and price appreciation during a tumultuous 2022. Lets start with price appreciation first: DQ stock has gone from $42 in early 2022 to $63. That makes it something of an outlier in the current bear market. The stock is performing well because the company is performing well. Additionally, Revenues increased to $1.28 billion in the first quarter, up 400% from a year earlier. That rapid increase in sales allowed gross profits to rise from $118.9 million to $813.6 million in the same period. 7 Seriously Undervalued Tech Stocks to Buy Now Daqo New Energy is expanding its sales base rapidly. The firm sold 23,616 metric tons of polysilicon in the fourth quarter of 2021. That figure reached 31,383 metric tons a quarter later. Daqo New Energy is a basic materials provider, making it a smart choice to take advantage of secular trends. Best Solar Stocks: Canadian Solar (CSIQ) A Canadian Solar (CSIQ) display booth at a convention in Bangkok, Thailand. Source: Shutter B Photo / Shutterstock.com Solar investors seeking product manufacturers would be wise to consider Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) stock. The Ontario firm manufactures PV modules and has roughly 34% upside based on its target price. So, for investors who want to add a PV module manufacturing stock to their portfolio, CSIQ makes sense because it is increasingly attractive. Earnings per share ( EPS ) estimates sat at 21 cents three months ago. Those estimates have risen rapidly and now sit at 48 cents . Investors will be encouraged by the fact that Canadian Solar produced a net income of $9 million in its most recent quarter. That was a strong result on a year-over-year basis. However, high costs held the firms revenue and gross margin figures at the lower end of guidance. As costs normalize, the firm should be able to produce stronger results closer to the top end of guidance. Enphase Energy (ENPH) mobile phone screen with enphase energy logo on it to represent renewable energy stocks Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH ) stock is certainly volatile. A look at the price chart for the stock in 2022 reflects that. And that choppiness is evident in the 1.36 beta ENPH shares carry. But while that volatility can seem scary at times, its the greater trends that make Enphase Energy a worthy investment. When all is said and done, Enphase Energy should record around $2 billion in revenues this year. Those revenues are expected to increase about 37% in 2023 to $2.75 billion. 5 Electric Vehicle Stocks to Buy on the Dip The argument against ENPH is that net income numbers were slightly lower during the most recent quarter on a sequential basis, despite record revenues. But as higher costs normalize, investors should begin to calm down. Id argue that now is the time to strike because Enphase is doing remarkably well considering the overall environment. Best Solar Stocks: Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) A photo of two men installing a solar panel. Source: Shutterstock The reason to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is obvious: It is much easier to identify winning sectors than it is to separate the winners from the losers therein. Thats why the Invesco Solar ETF (NYSEARCA: TAN ) makes sense as a stock pick. Given that the Invesco Solar ETF tracks the MAC Global Solar Energy Index, investors are receiving significant exposure to secular trends in solar energy stocks. Those secular trends indicate that solar is entrenched as costs have come down drastically over the past decade. TAN stock has provided average annual returns of 17.85% over the past decade. Those returns significantly outpaced those of its peers within its exchange and would have turned $1,000 into more than $5,000 in that period. That is precisely the kind of information that investors who want to set it and forget it like to hear. First Solar (FSLR) First Solar (FSLR) logo on smartphone in front of computer screen with graphs Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR ) is an Arizona-based firm producing solar power systems and modules. On top of that, the firm also constructs and operates PV power plants. As reshoring efforts ramp up, First Solar will become an increasingly attractive choice in solar. The firm has the largest PV manufacturing footprint in the western hemisphere. It is set to expand that footprint in 2023. The company also proudly markets the fact that it does not rely on Chinese silicon for its manufacturing operations. That bolsters the notion that First Solar could rise in importance over the coming years as U.S.-China business relations remain tense and evolve. 7 Best Reddit Stocks to Buy Now For investors who worry that materials of Chinese origin occupy too large a portion of our supply chain, FSLR makes sense. It is among the best choices from that perspective among solar stocks. Best Solar Stocks: Shoals Technologies (SHLS) solar and wind power in coastal saline and alkaline land, develop shoals (SHLS) background. Source: chuyuss / Shutterstock.com Shoals Technologies (NASDAQ: SHLS ) stock is a strong choice for the solar investor who has a penchant for speculation and some risk. While the company has recorded two straight quarters in which EPS guidance fell short, it is growing rapidly. And while revenues increased by about 50% on a year-over-year basis in the most recent quarter, net income is arguably more impressive. Shoals Technologies reported a net loss in first quarter 2021 that approached $8.3 million . A year later and that net loss became a $4.6 million net income. This is impressive. Growth stocks are out because their fundamentals often include large losses. Shoals Technologies provides the best of both worlds in some sense: Rapid growth and net income. On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air Cash Holders Could Get Hit Hard THIS FRIDAY The post 7 Best Solar Stocks to Buy Now appeared first on InvestorPlace . || The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Snap, Carnival, Marathon Digital Holdings, Peloton Interactive and MicroStrategy: Chicago, IL – August 17, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Snap Inc. SNAP, Carnival Corp. & plc CCL, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. MARA, Peloton Interactive Inc. PTON and MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR.
Wall Street is yet to recover from the 2022 mayhem in spite of rallying from July. Year to date, all three major stock indexes — the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite — have dropped 6.7%, 9.8% and 16.1%, respectively.
Despite a marginal decline in July, various measures of inflation remained highly elevated. The Fed is set to continue its rigorous interest rate hike strategy from September. Yet a handful of stocks — widely known as meme stocks — skyrocketed recently.
The meme stock frenzy was a notable feature last year. A few meme stocks railed more than 200% in 2021 when the global economy, especially, the U.S. economy, was still to recover from pandemic-led restrictions fully. The craze for meme stocks was not visible in the first half of 2022. However, as U.S. stock markets showed initial signs of bottoming out, the meme stock mania regained momentum.
Meme stocks are those gaining massive popularity in a short period of time buoyed by a strong social media platform. This is a typical trading practice in which a few stocks heavily shorted by hedge fund giants were favored by a group of individual investors organized via Reddit's wallstreetbets forum and similar other social media platforms.
Retail investors take a contra view on these stocks as their prices are at a trough due to heavy shorting. Lump sum buying of these cheap stocks by retail investors raises their share price to a great extent. As prices of these stocks start moving northward, institutional investors, especially hedge funds, start short covering in order to maintain the balance of their portfolios. Consequently, the prices of these stocks skyrocket.
Month to date, meme stocks like AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC), GameStop Corp. (GME) and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) have jumped 66.3%, 16.7% and 218.1%, respectively. AMC Entertainment carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can seethe complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Investment in meme stocks is highly risky. In fact, these companies do not have stable fundamentals. Most of these stocks have either a negative revenue growth estimate or a negative earnings growth estimate for 2022. Moreover, these stocks are likely to remain unprofitable this year.
These are some of the primary reasons why institutional investors have heavily shorted these stocks. However, taking a contra view of these basic financial features indicates speculation or gambling. The investment value of these stocks in the mid to long-term is practically zero.
Even as a short-term investor, you have to be very careful and may need to settle your position on a daily basis. That means one has to become an intraday trader to gain a good return from these stocks.
Social media giantSnap Inc., the developer of the Snapchat platform, reported a highly disappointing second-quarter 2022 results. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings per share (EPS) growth is negative.
Our current projection indicates that the company will incur losses in 2022. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Yet the stock price of SNAP has appreciated 23.9% month to date.
Leisure tour cruise operatorCarnival Corp. & plcfailed to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EPS and revenues for the seventh straight quarter. The company's operations were affected by COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures and higher fuel prices.
Our current projection suggests that the company will continue to incur losses in 2022. Further, the earnings estimate for 2022 has declined in the last 30 days, depicting analysts' concern over the stock's growth potential. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #4. However, the stock price of CCL has advanced 18.3% month to date.
Marathon Digital Holdings Inc.reported disappointing results for second-quarter 2022 wherein the top and bottom lines came in below the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Following the results, most of the analysts downgraded the stocks and the consensus EPS for 2022 is currently pegged at a loss of $2.06 per share compared with earnings of $0.03 just 7 days ago.
The EPS for 2022 is currently estimated to plunge 221.2% year over year. Despite these negatives, the stock price of MARA has climbed 35.9% month to date. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #4.
The struggling fitness product developerPeloton Interactive Inc.has decided to layoff nearly 800 jobs, raising prices for its Bike+ and Tread machines, and outsourcing functions such as equipment deliveries and customer service.
Our current projection indicates that the company will remain a loss-making one in 2022. Further, the earnings estimate for 2022 has declined in the last 30 days, depicting analysts' concern over the stock's growth potential. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #4. However, the stock price of PTON has jumped 42.6% month to date.
Leading worldwide provider of business intelligence softwareMicroStrategy Inc.reported a loss of $1.062 billion in the second quarter mostly due to impairment charges of $917 million related to its Bitcoin holdings.
Our current projection indicates that the company will continue to incur losses in 2022. Further, the earnings estimate for 2022 has declined in the last 30 days, depicting analysts' concern over the stock's growth potential. Despite headwinds, the stock price of MSTR has surged 22.1% month to date. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #4.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visithttps://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportCarnival Corporation (CCL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMarathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (MARA) : Free Stock Analysis ReportSnap Inc. (SNAP) : Free Stock Analysis ReportPeloton Interactive, Inc. (PTON) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
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Trend: down || Prices: 19297.64, 18937.01, 18802.10, 19222.67, 19110.55, 19426.72, 19573.05, 19431.79, 19312.10, 19044.11
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
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[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
7 F-Rated Growth Stocks to Sell in November: It’s time to reconsider strategies and identify growth stocks to sell.
For many years, growth stocks were the key to building a top-performing portfolio. Investing in profitable growth stocks meant oversized returns and was a winning strategy.
But with the market sagging through all of 2022, all of that has changed.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Put simply, a growth stock is a company that is expected to grow significantly quicker than the average company in the stock market. For many quarters, you could put a lot of hot tech stocks into that category.
On the other end of the table, value stocks are stocks that trade at a lower price relative to its fundamentals. But this hasn’t been the year for growth stocks.
For example, theVanguard S&P 500 Growth Index Fund(NYSEARCA:VOOG) is down nearly 29% so far this year. That by far underperforms theDow Jones Industrial Average(down 11.8%) and theS&P 500(down 20%).
By using my exclusivePortfolio Gradertool, you can identify the growth stocks to sell that are likely to be the biggest drains on a portfolio.
The Portfolio Grader evaluates stocks on their fundamentals and factors in buying pressure and quantitative factors. Stocks that get a low “F” grade should be avoided.
Here are seven growth stocks to sell now, based on their Portfolio Grader ratings:
[{"CVNA": "PENN", "Carvana": "Penn Entertainment", "$14.49": "$32.00"}, {"CVNA": "PYPL", "Carvana": "PayPal Holdings", "$14.49": "$86.72"}, {"CVNA": "ZM", "Carvana": "Zoom Video", "$14.49": "$84.21"}, {"CVNA": "SFIX", "Carvana": "Stitch Fix", "$14.49": "$3.96"}, {"CVNA": "DDI", "Carvana": "DoubleDown Interactive", "$14.49": "$9.49"}, {"CVNA": "CGC", "Carvana": "Canopy Growth Corp.", "$14.49": "$3.01"}]
Source: Shutterstock
Carvana(NYSE:CVNA) looked to become a popular option for buying and selling cars while avoiding traditional automotive sales departments.
For a while, CVNA stock was flying high, now it’s one of the stocks to sell right now. In August 2021, share rose to more than $350 but it’s been all downhill since. A spike in used car prices makes buying a new car less appealing.
Today CVNA stock is less than $15 – a drop of almost 95% on the year – and the company is still posting losses on a quarterly basis. Analysts don’t think Carvana will turn a profit until 2025.
CVNA stock has an “F” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Source: Casimiro PT / Shutterstock.com
Penn Entertainment(NASDAQ:PENN) is going all-in on sports betting. It bought 36% ofBarstool Sportsback in 2020, and now it’s exercising its right to buy 100% of the company.
A year ago, that looked like a great bet, but investor enthusiasm for online gaming has been waning in the last few months. The rollout for legalized gaming is slower than anticipated. Online wagering is legal in less than 20 U.S. states.
That makes companies like PENN among the growth stocks to sell in this volatile market. The stock is down by more than 40% so far this year, and Penn Entertainment has had difficulties hitting earnings projections.
Not surprisingly, the Portfolio Grader is dinging PENN stock pretty hard for these miscues. PENN has an “F” rating.
Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com
I really can’t blame anyone for looking at thePayPal Holdings(NYSE:PYPL) chart and feeling a little hopeful.
Paypal at one point was a reliable growth stock as consumers looking for an alternative, easy digital payment system. PayPal became one of the most popular peer-to-peer payment systems. Today more than 70 million people use PayPal’s Venmo app.
But there’s lots of competition in the space.Block(NYSE:SQ) has Cash App, which had44 million monthly active usersin the fourth quarter of 2021. And Zelle, an app that’s backed byBank of America(NYSE:BAC),JPMorgan Chase & Co.(NYSE:JPM),Wells Fargo(NYSE:WFC) and others, moves more money per month than Cash App and Venmo combined.
PYPL stock is down 50% this year and yes, those losses have leveled out in the last five months. Analysts project improved EPS in the future – thanks in part to the company’s cost-cutting efforts and share repurchases.
But I think the market is already pricing in PayPal’s improved operating performance and it’s more likely the stock will fall than rise, making it one of the growth stocks to sell before it bottoms out.
PYPL stock has an “F” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com
Zoom Video Communications(NASDAQ:ZM) is the quintessential pandemic stock.
When people were stuck at home and remote work (and school) became a requirement and not just an option, Zoom stock soared as people looked to the platform to stay connected in virtual meetings and classes.
In October 2020, ZM stock was more than $560 per share. But now its just over $80 and there’s no reason to think that it will ever come close to its previous highs.
Platforms likeMicrosoft(NASDAQ:MSFT) has a Teams platform that is highly regarded and is seen as having superior security – in fact, federal government agencies to this day use Microsoft Teams for online meetings rather than Zoom.
So far this year, ZM stock is down nearly 55%. Third-quarter revenue of $1.1 billion was up only 7.6% on a year-over-year basis, missing analysts’ expectations for revenue of $1.12 billion.
It looks like ZM stock has peaked. It has an “F” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Source: Sharaf Maksumov / Shutterstock.com
Fashion and clothing companyStitch Fix(NASDAQ:SFIX) climbed on the e-commerce wagon and was another popular pandemic stock.
But runaway inflation means people have less money to spend on new outfits. And with Covid-19 restrictions lifted, people are returning to brick-and-mortar stores to do their shopping.
In the fiscal fourth quarter, SFIX missed on both top and bottom lines, with revenue of $481.9 million and an earnings loss of 89 cents per share worse than expectations of $488.79 million revenue and an expected earnings loss of 60 cents per share.
SFIX stock has an “F” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Source: 7th Sun / Shutterstock.com
Online gaming is really popular, whether you’re using a mobile device or playing on the web with your desktop or laptop computer. Companies likeElectronic Arts(NASDAQ:EA) andTake-Two Interactive(NASDAQ:TTWO) have loyal followings and own major franchises.
DoubleDown Interactive(NASDAQ:DDI) is trying to be a part of that conversation as well, but it’s not nearly as popular as the others. DDI specializes in casino-style games, although its most popular title isUndead World: Hero Survival.
But it’s going to be hard for DDI to compete with its bigger competitors. With a market capitalization of only $478 million, it doesn’t have the resources of EA (market cap of $35.5 billion) or Take-Two (market cap of $20.5 billion).
DoubleDown could only manage $80.57 million in revenue in the second quarter, and its year-to-date loss of 37% is much worse than the competition. DDI stock has an “F” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Source: Ralf Liebhold / Shutterstock
It may be a stretch to callCanopy Growth Corporation(NASDAQ:CGC) a true growth stock because its growth was really a matter of speculation than anything else.
CGC stock grew to as much as $42 per share in early 2021 as Democrats took control of the White House and both houses of Congress, raising hopes that the U.S. would finally follow Canada’s lead and decriminalize recreational marijuana use on a federal level.
But it hasn’t happened. The Democrats have been too busy dealing with the economy, inflation, the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war against Ukraine and non-economic issues like abortion rights to put any time into marijuana legislation.
CGC stock is down by 70% so far this year, and it has an “F” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
On the date of publication, neither Louis Navellier nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
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The post7 F-Rated Growth Stocks to Sell in Novemberappeared first onInvestorPlace. || 7 Strong Tech Stocks to Buy Now for the Upcoming Bull Market: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) became the latest member of the FAANG-plus- Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) group to deliver bad news on Nov. 6. Specifically, AAPL reported that shipments of its iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max would be below its previous outlook. The hardware giant blamed supply issues caused by Chinese anti-coronavirus measures for its miss, which strikes me as odd since I remember the company managing to deliver fairly great results during the heart of the pandemic. But in any event, the FAANG-plus-Microsoft names, which for many years were viewed as beyond approach by the Street, now seem to be on their heels. But recent data supports my view that now is, nonetheless, a very good time to look for excellent tech stocks to buy. Specifically, Reuters , citing Bank of America data, reported that, in the week that ended Oct. 26, inflows of $2.3 billion poured into tech equities. That was the largest such inflow in seven months, the news service reported. In the overall stock market, there were inflows of nearly $23 billion during the same week, also representing the largest such gain in seven months. So with a bull market looking poised to develop despite the struggles of Big Tech, here are seven strong tech stocks to buy now. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips BIDU Baidu $79.48 DGII Digi International $36.43 GEVO Gevo $1.81 HLIT Harmonic $13.14 ANET Arista Networks $122.92 SMCI Super Micro Computer $76.49 JD JD.com $42.46 Baidu (BIDU) A large shopping mall in the central city is festooned with Chinese flags in celebration of the National Day after the victory against the Covid-19 epidemic. Source: humphery / Shutterstock.com One of the top tech stocks to buy is Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ). Like many of its Chinese peers, has dropped sharply due to fears about U.S.-China relations and anti-coronavirus measures undertaken by Beijing. In fact Baidu, which owns Chinas leading search engine, has a forward price-earnings ratio of just 9.8. Thats extremely low for a profitable tech company like Baidu, which has a strong business and is generating significant growth on the top and bottom lines. Story continues But the news appears to be improving for Chinese stocks in general, making the Street less fearful of them. Specifically, American officials recently completed their first round of inspections sooner than expected without any apparent negative repercussions for any companies. And multiple, recent reports have indicated that the country is preparing to meaningfully ease its anti-coronavirus measures. Given these developments, Baidu stock should climb significantly in the coming weeks and months. Meanwhile, defying skeptics who say that robotaxis are still many years away from massive adoption, Baidu, using its Apollo autonomous-driving software, has launched robotaxis in more than ten Chinese cities . In the longer term, this business could become a tremendous revenue and profit generator for Baidu, launching BIDU stock much higher. Digi International ( DGII ) Tech stocks: Double exposure of man's hands holding and using a phone and financial graph drawing. Source: Peshkova / Shutterstock Another one of the top tech stocks to buy is Digi International (NASDAQ: DGII ), which produces and provides services for Internet of Things is expected to benefit from the proliferation of 5G technology. Among the companys key products are radio frequency modems to gateways , cellular routers, networking devices, embedded system-on-modules, and platforms that monitor devices. Among its customers are a number of major U.S. urban transit systems, Nobel Water , a major water-infrastructure company, irrigation- solutions provider Valmont (NYSE: VMI ), and medical-wearables startup LASARRUS . The latter start-up has received funding from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ). For the second quarter, Digi reported that its revenue jumped 32% year-over-year to $104 million, nearly $8 million above analysts average estimate. Meanwhile, its earnings per share, excluding certain items, came in at 45 cents. Analysts, on average, predict that its 2023 EPS will come in at $1.93 next year, up from $1.62 in 2022. Although DGII stock has climbed 50% so far in 2022, the forward price-earnings ratio of DGII stock is a quite reasonable 21 . Gevo ( GEVO ) a jet takes off on a clear runway. Source: m.photo / Shutterstock.com Though its not a traditional tech stock, Gevo (NASDAQ: GEVO ) has developed an important, new technology thats going to become an important part of our economy: sustainable airlines fuel. I used to be skeptical about Gevo, but as the company has kept the massive, new deals with airlines rolling in, Ive become a real believer in the company and in GEVO stock. Just in the last several weeks, Gevo has announced two, new, impressive agreements with major airlines. Further, the company is starting to sign deals with airlines in many different parts of the world, showing that its becoming a true international player in the SAF space. Specifically, on Nov. 2 the company unveiled a 6 million gallon per year, five-year agreement with Iberia Airlines that Gevo says is going to be worth a total of $165 million. On Oct. 25, Qatar Airways got into the act, as Gevo announced that the Middle Eastern airlines would purchase 5 million gallons of SAF from it starting in 2028. The agreement with Qatar
. supports Gevos efforts in pursuit of its stated goal of producing and commercializing a billion gallons of SAF by 2030, Gevo stated in conjunction with the announcement. And on Oct. 10, the company reported that it has approximately 375 million gallons per year of
SAF and hydrocarbon fuel supply agreements that should bring its annual revenue to about $2.3 billion. Yet the stocks market capitalization is only $444.46 million. Given the companys projected annual revenue total and many airlines apparent devotion to spending a great deal of money on SAF, GEVO is an excellent tech stock to buy now. Harmonic ( HLIT ) Close up of phone with creative forex chart on blue background. Trade, finance, technology and communication concept. 3D Rendering. Tech Stocks to Buy Before the Bull Market Returns Source: Golden Dayz / Shutterstock.com Another one of the top tech stocks to buy, Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT ) sells video delivery software, products, system solutions, and services worldwide. The company also provides networks that are used to manage broadband systems. Among its customers are traditional broadcasters, cable channels, streaming channels, and cable providers. Its very likely that, as more people around the world become middle class and more and more consumers stream video of themselves on social media, the use of video technologies is increasing exponentially. HLIT appears to be very well-positioned to benefit from this trend. Harmonic can also exploit the deployment of new broadband systems in many nations, including the U.S. Given these points, Im not surprised that the companys revenue jumped 23% year-over-year in the third quarter, with its broadband sales soaring 60% versus the same period a year earlier. Its operating income, excluding certain items, came in at $18.2 million, way up from $11.8 million during the same period a year earlier. HLIT stock has outperformed by a wide margin this year, jumping 17%. However, with the stock trading at a reasonable forward price-earnings ratio of 19.3, it has room to climb much further. Arista Networks ( ANET ) A concept image of robot hands with stock information in between them Source: Blue Planet Studio / Shutterstock Arista (NYSE: ANET ) sells cloud networking solutions. The company is benefiting from the continued, rapid proliferation of the cloud, data centers, and the edge along with new, lucrative products that it has introduced in recent quarters. Among Aristas recently introduced products are its updated routing platform and an encrypted data-transit offering. Additionally, Arista reports that, unlike its competitors, its systems can handle many updates with zero down time. Meanwhile, the company says that it offers more automation than its peers, enabling data centers to set up networking systems within just a few days with no human intervention or error. Previously, the process took at least several months, according to Arista. On Nov. 4, Piper Sandler analyst James Fish raised his rating on ANET stock to overweight from neutral. After attending the companys Analyst Day, his view of the companys outlook has improved, and he views its risk-reward ratio as positive. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) light bulb on abstract technology background Source: Thitichaya Yajampa / Shutterstock.com Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI ) develops and sells a variety of tech products, including server, AI, storage, IoT, and switch systems. However, it specializes in server, processor, and storage products. The companys focus on selling products to companies, as opposed to consumers, is insulating it from the impact of greatly reduced spending by consumers on PCs, smartphones, and other tech products. As evidence of that point, consider that, in its fiscal first quarter, its top line jumped an incredible 80% year-over-year to $12.85 billion, while exceeding analysts average estimate by $130 million. And impressively, despite the high inflation rates and supply-chain issues, its gross margin came in at 18.8%, up from 17,.6% during the previous quarter. Finally, on the bottom line, its net income climbed to $184 million from $141 million in the previous quarter and $25 million during the same period a year earlier. Among the other upbeat catalysts that are boosting the company and likely to continue doing so are strong demand for its GPU chips for use in AI and the proliferation of 5G technology. We are off to a great start for fiscal 2023, and we expect our unprecedented growth momentum to continue, CEO Charles Liang said on the companys Q1 earnings conference call held on Nov. 1. SMCI stock has jumped 40% in the last month and 78% this year, but it still has a tiny price-earnings ratio of just 9.6. JD.com (JD) JD stock, Jd.com, Tiger Global is a major investor in JD Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock.com Ill end this list much the way I began it: with a large-cap, undervalued Chinese tech firm that has an excellent business and a stock thats gathering momentum as Beijing prepares to ease its anti-coronavirus measures. Its another one of the top tech stocks to buy. JD.com (NASDAQ: JD ) specializes in e-commerce but also charges other companies for utilizing its expansive logistics network within China. The Asian nations reopening should cause the countrys economy to meaningfully accelerate in the medium-term to longer term, greatly lifting the demand for the products on JD.coms website. The reopening should also be very positive for its logistics network as other Chinese retailers also benefit greatly from the nations reopening. Analysts estimates, most of which probably do not take into account Chinas reopening, call for the company to grow significantly next year. Specifically, analysts, on average, expect its revenue to climb to $172 billion in 2023, up from $147.4 billion in 2022. And their mean earnings per share estimate for 2023 is $2.75, well above the $2.05 average EPS outlook for this year. JD stock jumped 18% in the five days of trading that ended on Nov. 8, but its forward price-earnings ratio of 15.8 is quite low , and its trailing price-sales ratio of 0.5 is really tiny. On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Larry Ramer has conducted research and written articles on U.S. stocks for 15 years. He has been employed by The Fly and Israels largest business newspaper, Globes. Larry began writing columns for InvestorPlace in 2015. Among his highly successful, contrarian picks have been PLUG, XOM and solar stocks. You can reach him on Stocktwits at @larryramer. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air It doesnt matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post 7 Strong Tech Stocks to Buy Now for the Upcoming Bull Market appeared first on InvestorPlace . || FTX Latest: Bankman-Fried Says He Will Speak at Event as Planned: (Bloomberg) -- Sam Bankman-Fried said in a tweet that he would speak with the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin at the publication’s annual DealBook Summit next week. A spokesperson for the New York Times said it currently expects Bankman-Fried to participate in the interview from the Bahamas.
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Coinbase Global Inc.’s junk bonds may have been an early warning sign of the FTX contagion. The largest US digital-asset trading platform has seen the price of its bonds plunge this year. The drop is mainly due to the crypto winter, but some industry participants said it was an omen.
Binance Holdings Ltd CEO and Founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao pledged to amass at least $1 billion for buying distressed assets as he further outlined his plans to backstop the stricken industry. The centerpiece of his plan is gathering partners for a fund aimed at backing promising but cash-strapped crypto projects, he told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in an interview Thursday.
Crypto markets steadied as Bitcoin traded above $16,000. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value is down 70% since the same time last year, when the token was trading just below the almost $69,000 all-time high. So, this Thanksgiving it might be wise to avoid talking about crypto at the dinner table.
Key stories and developments:
• FTX Investors Go After Brady, Shaq: Here Are Their Legal Chances
• FTX Flipped Jane Street’s Risk Obsession to Disastrous Effect
• Cathie Wood Sticks to $1 Million Bitcoin Call as Others See Rout
• What the FTX Collapse Suggests About Crypto and Risk
• Sequoia Capital Says Sorry for FTX But Defends Vetting Process
(Time references are New York unless otherwise stated.)
Binance CEO Outlines Crypto Rescue Plan (05:02 a.m.)
Crypto billionaire Changpeng “CZ” Zhao plans to raise at least $1 billion for a fund to buy distressed assets, he said in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin. He said he’d seek to gather partners for the fund aimed at backing promising crypto projects that are short of cash.
Bankman-Fried Says He’ll Speak at NYT Event (8:12 p.m.)
Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted that he would be speaking with New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook Summit in New York next week. A spokesperson for the New York Times said it currently expects Bankman-Fried to participate in the interview from the Bahamas. FTX was based in the island nation.
Accounting Firm in Metaverse Sucked Into Meltdown (2:42 p.m.)
An accounting firm that touts itself as the first to open its headquarters in the metaverse was accused in a lawsuit of turning a blind eye to a pattern of racketeering at FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed causing billions of dollars in losses. Prager Metis CPAs LLC, an auditor for FTX, was sued by an investor who claims to have lost almost $20,000.
Coinbase Debt Seen as Early Warning Sign (2:22 p.m.)
In the wake of the spectacular meltdown of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire, many investors are looking for early warning signs that may have foretold the contagion that was about to unfold. One possibility? Coinbase Global Inc.’s junk bonds.
The largest US digital-asset trading platform has seen the price of its bonds plunge this year. In early January, the price for one of its most active notes was at about 92 cents. It then slid to about 77 cents in April before dropping to 63 cents amid the Terra Luna market crash in May. The bonds traded around 53 cents on the dollar -- a level typically associated with distressed -- in early morning trading in New York Wednesday, according to Trace bond trading data.
Crypto Market Activity Plummets (1:17 p.m.)
Crypto investors are still sifting through the rubble of the FTX collapse, but one thing’s already evident: market activity has dwindled significantly.
Senators Want Executives to be Accountable (10:49 a.m.)
Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse have asked the Justice Department not to pull any punches as it investigates and seeks to hold accountable the executives at FTX who contributed to the crypto company’s demise.
Custodians Like Fidelity Will Attract Users: Novogratz (9:45 a.m.)
Crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz said the “crisis of confidence” in the digital asset world will drive more cryptocurrency users to seek out institutional players like Fidelity Investments.
The founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., a crypto financial services firm, told CNBC that more people will put their money in “safe and trusted custodians.”
Novogratz Says ‘Bitcoin Is Not Going Away’ (8:48 a.m.)
Mike Novogratz, the CEO and founder of Galaxy Digital, tells CNBC in an interview that while there was a “bubble” in crypto assets this is a long-term buying opportunity because “Bitcoin is not going away.”
He says that what happened at FTX is an indictment of the company and other similar firms that are poorly run, however it is not an indictment of crypto itself.
Serving Humble Pie This Thanksgiving (8:00 a.m.)
Polite company never talks politics or religion. This Thanksgiving, it might be wise to avoid crypto, too.
Last year’s digital asset investors basted themselves in Bitcoin riches. Then, the token traded just below the almost $69,000 all-time high set weeks earlier. By dessert time, the crypto hopefuls may have even sold the Baby Boomers on a token or two.
This holiday season, the Bitcoin bulls have less to be grateful for. The largest digital asset has plummeted about 70% since last Turkey Day. That drop might annoy the guests who bought in, including the Baby Boomers persuaded by their younger relatives.
Jane Street Alums Ditched Wall Street Firm’s Risk Focus at FTX (7:49 a.m.)
Jane Street Group is known among peers for its obsession with risk and preference for stealth. The more-than 2,000 employee powerhouse based in lower Manhattan digs into the health of trading partners, models potential catastrophes, autopsies losses and restricts staff from commenting publicly, because even that poses a danger.
The easiest way to describe the culture that Sam Bankman-Fried and a cadre of Jane Street alumni created at FTX: The opposite.
Crypto Crash Offers a Path to Recovery for Damaged Relationships (6:58 a.m.)
Devoting days and nights to a gamified digital economy left a mark on some people’s relationships, turning partners into crypto widows and widowers.
Now they have some emotional work to do: in the aftermath of the digital-asset mayhem, believers are trying to heal what Bitcoin and Bored Ape obsessions did to intimacy.
Wild Divergence in Bitcoin Predictions Highlights Uncertainty (4:32 a.m.)
Over the past few days, long-term targets for the world’s largest token by market value have ranged from $5,000 at strategists BCA Research Inc. to $1 million by 2030 for Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood.
The cavernous spread reflects the gnarly question of what further contagion may or may not lie ahead following the evisceration of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange and trading house Alameda Research, onetime crypto darlings.
El Salvador Closer to Issuing Bitcoin Bonds (12:05 p.m. HK)
The country’s presidency dispatched a digital-securities bill to lawmakers, taking the nation a step closer to raising $1 billion via the world’s first sovereign blockchain bond.
The legislation calls for a digital-assets commission and a Bitcoin Fund Management Agency to oversee crypto-related debt sales. The proposed blockchain bonds, with a minimum investment of just $100, are meant to help finance the construction of the Bitcoin City project.
New York Governor Signs Moratorium to Curb Crypto Mining (11:10 a.m. HK)
Kathy Hochul signed one of the most restrictive laws in the US on regulating cryptocurrency mining, with the bill triggering a two-year moratorium on new permits for crypto-mining companies.
“I will ensure that New York continues to be the center of financial innovation, while also taking important steps to prioritize the protection of the environment,” Hochul said in a statement.
Bankman-Fried Says Collateral Crashed by $51 Billion as FTX Fell (8:30 a.m. HK)
Bankman-Fried, disgraced founder of the now collapsed crypto exchange FTX and trading house Alameda Research, apologized to staff in a letter that outlined a crash in “collateral” to $9 billion from $60 billion.
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, and I would give anything to be able to go back and do things over again,” he wrote in the message sent to employees Tuesday and obtained by Bloomberg News.
Sequoia Capital Says Sorry for FTX But Defends Vetting Process (7:20 a.m. HK)
Top partners at the venture capital firm apologized to their investors in a conference call Tuesday for backing FTX, according to people familiar with the meeting.
Roelof Botha, the firm’s global leader, opened the call, and he and his colleagues were repentant for backing the company, with investments totaling $214 million in FTX.com and FTX.us across two funds. Alfred Lin, the partner who led the FTX deal, provided an update on the situation. Shaun Maguire, another partner who focuses on crypto, gave an overview of the sector.
Cathie Wood Holds On to $1 Million Target for Bitcoin (7:10 a.m. HK)
“Bitcoin is coming out of this smelling like a rose,” said the ARK Investment Management CEO as she defended her forecast.
Wood also said that crypto infrastructure is “working beautifully.” She added that digital-asset manager Grayscale Investments is now the crown jewel of Barry Silbert’s once-$10 billion Digital Currency Group conglomerate.
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©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || Markets: Bitcoin, Ether fall; top 10 crypto mixed following Fed rate hike: Bitcoin and Ether dropped in Thursday afternoon trading in Asia, while the rest of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, posted mixed results. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index led losses in Asia-Pacific equity markets.
See related article:Binance considers buying banks, bridging gap between crypto, TradFi
• Bitcoin lost 0.63% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$20,304 at 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether fell 1.37% to US$1,544, according todata from CoinMarketCap.
• Polygon led gains among the top 10 cryptos, jumping 11.22% to US$0.96, with BNB rising 3.47% to US$334.25 and XRP inching 0.40% down to US$0.46.
• Dogecoin led losses for the top 10 cryptos, slipping 4.79% to US$0.13 amid reports that new Twitter boss Elon Musk is preparing to cut 3,700 Twitter employees. Musk is an avid supporter of DOGE and has previously hinted he hopes to integrate the memecoin into Twitter as a payment method.
• Asia equity markets fell following Wall Street’s sharp drops overnight. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index slumped 3.08%, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.19% and the Nikkei 225 was little changed, closing 0.06% down.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday by 75 basis points, the fourth consecutive three-quarter point increase, to a target range of 3.75% to 4%, the highest since 2008. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at the FOMC press conference, it was “very premature to talk about a pause” in interest rate rises. The Fed hashinted, however, the rate hikes will begin to slow in December, but nevertheless continue until inflation returns to a target range of 2%.
• Inflationary woes were also found in Turkey, where President Erdogan ruled out increasing interest rates even as inflation topped 85% year-on-year for October. Food prices rose 99% compared to the same period last year, housing was up 85%, and transport was 117% higher, according to reports from the Turkish Statistical Institute on Thursday.
See related article:Crypto leaders differ over Do Kwon blame in May’s market crash || 3 Stocks to Buy to Benefit from a Looming Energy Crisis: If we look at stocks to buy for the long term, the energy sector is likely to remain an important focal point for investors. A report by International Energy Agency indicates that the world is facing its first “ truly global energy crisis .” Geopolitical factors remain the key reason for this situation. The European Union embargo on Russia oil imports likely to intensify disruptions in energy markets in 2023. Furthermore, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has pursued production cuts amidst economic uncertainty. Even as the world gradually shifts towards cleaner energy sources, fossil fuels will remain of key importance to all regions of the world. Thus, it’s not surprising that Warren Buffett has aggressively invested in two quality oil and gas exploration companies in 2022. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Of course, higher fossil fuel prices also imply that investments will accelerate in the alternative sources of energy. Attractive investment ideas would therefore include renewable energy sources and themes like electric vehicles. Let’s discuss three stocks to buy to benefit from a looming energy crisis and these aforementioned secular catalysts. CVX Chevron Corporation $183.70 OXY Occidental Petroleum $70.28 ALB Albermarle Corporation $272.82 Chevron Corporation (CVX) CVX stock Source: tishomir / Shutterstock.com While oil has corrected from highs of the year, Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX ) stock has remained firm. This stock, which currently provides a dividend yield of 3.1%, is buoyed by a business model which has proven to be a cash flow machine. To put things into perspective, Chevron reported operating cash flow of $13.7 billion for Q3 2022. If oil trades in the region of $80 to $90 per barrel, the company is positioned to report annual cash flows of $40 billion. These cash flows will allow Chevron to increase dividends and pursue larger share repurchases. At the same time, Chevron is targeting massive capital investments of $15 to $17 billion annually over the next few years. These will ensure robust reserve replacement over time, providing for future growth. Story continues It’s also worth noting that Chevron is investing in reducing the company’s reliance on its carbon-heavy businesses. Chevron expects capital expenditures of $10 billion through 2028 in lower-carbon business segments. The focus will be on renewable natural gas, other renewable fuels, and renewable base oil & lubricants. Occidental Petroleum (OXY) A magnifying glass zooms in on the Occidental Petroleum website. Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY ) stock is another oil and gas exploration name that has remained resilient at higher levels. It also seems to be one of the favorite stocks for Warren Buffett. This isn’t a surprise, considering the company’s cash flow potential in the long-term. For Q3 2022, Occidental reported $3.6 billion in free cash flows. For the same period, the company reduced debt by $1.5 billion . Occidental plans to continue deleveraging, and as credit metrics improve, the stock is likely to trend higher. It’s also worth noting that as of December 2021, Occidental reported proved reserves of 3.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent . On a year-over-year basis, proven and probable reserves increased by 600 million barrels of oil equivalent. With robust financial flexibility, the company will continue to invest in exploration. This will translate into long term cash flow visibility for investors looking to play this space for years or decades. Finally (and perhaps most importantly), Occidental also has very low breakeven costs. Thus, even with oil trading around the $80 range, strong cash flow and dividend growth is likely to be sustained. Albemarle Corporation (ALB) Albemarle (ALB) logo on a mobile phone screen Source: IgorGolovniov/Shutterstock.com A common policy focus of governments globally is to increase the adoption of electric vehicles in the coming decades. This will require significant investment in lithium production, to meet the surging demand for EV batteries. Just to put things into perspective, it’s estimated that by 2035, global lithium production is expected to come in at 1.1 million metric tons, or 24% lower than demand . Considering this key factor, Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB ) stock is attractive at current levels. The company has already been a key beneficiary of this supply and demand imbalance. Accordingly, with the company increasing lithium production, coupled with higher realized price, margins are set to really take off. This is already showing through in Albermarle’s results, with revenue and adjusted EBITDA for Q3 2022 increasing 152% and 447% respectively on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has also guided for full-year adjusted EBITDA growth in the range of 280% to 300% . With robust cash flows, ALB stock is among the top-quality dividend growth stocks to buy. It’s also worth noting that the company reported lithium conversion capacity of 88,000 metric tons per year in February 2022. Albemarle expects to increase conversion capacity to 200,000 metric tons per year by 2025. Therefore, the company is positioned for sustained growth. If lithium prices continue to remain in an uptrend, the company’s cash flow outlook will continue to be extremely enticing. On the date of publication, Faisal Humayun did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Faisal Humayun is a senior research analyst with 12 years of industry experience in the field of credit research, equity research and financial modeling. Faisal has authored over 1,500 stock specific articles with focus on the technology, energy and commodities sector. More From InvestorPlace Buy This $5 Stock BEFORE This Apple Project Goes Live The Best $1 Investment You Can Make Today Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade “On Air” It doesn’t matter if you have $500 or $5 million. Do this now. The post 3 Stocks to Buy to Benefit from a Looming Energy Crisis appeared first on InvestorPlace . || U.S. dollar gains ground as investors focus on future Fed path: (Updates prices, adds commentary)
By Sinéad Carew and Joice Alves
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar gained against the yen and the euro on Monday but pulled back from its highs of the day with investors betting on a slower pace of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes going forward.
The dollar index was higher after falling 4% last week, marking its biggest weekly drop since March 2020, after data showing U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in October and prompted bets for slower hikes.
While the greenback appeared to benefit earlier on Monday from hawkish investor readings of weekend comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller, it lost some ground as the session wore on as investor hopes for slower hikes were renewed by Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard's comments on Monday.
Waller said on Sunday that the Fed could now start thinking about hiking at a slower pace but cautioned that the inflation data was "just one data point" and that other readings are needed to show a convincing slowing in price gains.
While Brainard emphasized in an interview with Bloomberg that the Fed has more work to do, she signaled that it will likely slow its tightening pace soon as it figures out how high borrowing costs need to go and for how long in order to bring down inflation.
"Markets here are starting to really factor in the top of the Fed cycle," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto, pointing to last week's U.S. inflation reading as solid grounds to believe it can move lower.
And he noted that Brainard's comments boosted equity sentiment, which dragged on the dollar on Monday.
"Now that the end the end of this tightening cycle is become a little clearer for investors and there's more confidence equity markets can continue to improve that's likely to undercut the U.S. dollar to an extent," he said.
"We have been looking for at least a moderation in the dollar rally. That seems to be developing now and the scale of moves last week does suggest that the dollar may be poised for a bit more softness in the short run at least."
Investors had seen Waller's comments as cold water on hopes for a "rapid Fed recalibration," said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive in Toronto.
This had helped the dollar index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies including the euro, yen, and sterling, rise as much as 0.93% to 107.274 before it pulled back to last trade up 0.4% at 106.73.
The euro was last down 0.01% against the dollar at $1.0342, after earlier rising to a three-month high of $1.0368.
GRAPHIC-Euro slides after hitting 3-month high against the U.S. dollar https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/lbpggnrenpqEUROUSD.png
ECB board member Fabio Panetta said on Monday that the central bank must keep raising rates but needs to avoid overtightening, as doing so could destroy productive capacity and deepen an economic downturn.
Data had showed on Monday that euro zone industrial production rose much more than expected in September, and output for August was revised upwards too. Economists said that may be partly due to manufacturers front-loading production before energy-related disruptions this winter.
Sterling fell ahead of British Chancellor Jeremy Gaunt's autumn statement on Thursday when he is expected to set out tax rises and spending cuts. The pound was down 0.55% at $1.1770, having risen 4% in the previous two sessions, touching on Friday its highest level since late August.
Cryptocurrencies remained in turmoil after the fall of FTX. The crypto exchange's token was down 7.8% on the day at $1.308, representing a 95% drop on a month-to-date basis.
Bitcoin had fallen as far as $15,784 earlier on Monday before recovering somewhat. It was last down 0.18% at $16,280.
China's onshore yuan rose to nearly a two-month high against the dollar, coinciding with its central bank's official guidance and a broad lift in Chinese market sentiment on moves to help its embattled property sector and a decision to ease some of the country's strict COVID-19 restrictions.
Elsewhere, the dollar was last up 0.79% against the yen at 139.92 after earlier rising as high as 140.79.
The risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars regained lost ground after earlier slipping sharply against the greenback.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 3:27PM (2027 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar $1.0342 $1.0347 -0.01% -9.00% +$1.0368 +$1.0272
Dollar/Yen 139.9200 138.7600 +0.79% +21.48% +140.7850 +138.4000
Euro/Yen 144.71 143.69 +0.71% +11.04% +145.2200 +143.4800
Dollar/Swiss 0.9421 0.9413 +0.11% +3.31% +0.9488 +0.9406
Sterling/Dollar $1.1770 $1.1835 -0.55% -12.97% +$1.1852 +$1.1714
Dollar/Canadian 1.3295 1.3251 +0.31% +5.13% +1.3309 +1.3240
Aussie/Dollar $0.6712 $0.6707 +0.07% -7.66% +$0.6723 +$0.6664
Euro/Swiss 0.9744 0.9747 -0.03% -6.03% +0.9777 +0.9728
Euro/Sterling 0.8785 0.8742 +0.49% +4.58% +0.8822 +0.8728
NZ $0.6111 $0.6121 -0.04% -10.61% +$0.6127 +$0.6065
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway 10.0120 9.9465 +0.67% +13.66% +10.0425 +9.9710
Euro/Norway 10.3540 10.2827 +0.69% +3.41% +10.3749 +10.2423
Dollar/Sweden 10.4638 10.3678 +0.69% +16.03% +10.4948 +10.3578
Euro/Sweden 10.8178 10.7439 +0.69% +5.75% +10.8414 +10.7256
(Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Joice Alves in London; Editing by Alison Williams, Paul Simao and Lisa Shumaker) || Amid Uncertainty Over FTX Collapse BlockFi Suspends Withdrawals, Juul Shelves Bankruptcy Preparations, Berkshire Hathaway Trims Holdings In Tesla Competitor: Top Stories Friday, Nov. 11: Reuters
US Government Watchdog To Review FAA's Oversight Of Two Safety Features On Boeing 737 MAX
• The Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) will audit the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight of including MCAS inBoeing Co's(NYSE:BA) 737 MAX.
• The watchdog will also review FAA oversight of the inoperability of Angle of Attack (AOA) disagree alerts on most of the MAX fleet in 2019.
• Boeing, in 2017 identified that not all 737 MAX 8 aircraft were equipped with AOA disagreement alerts but did not directly notify the FAA of the issue.
Apple Supplier Foxconn Seeks 4x Rise In India Workforce Amid China's Zero-COVID Disruptions
• After recent chaos at the Zhengzhou plant,Apple IncsupplierFoxconnis now looking for a huge boost in its workforce at itsiPhonefactory in India.
• Foxconn is planning a four-fold jump in the workforce at the India plant, two government officials with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, pointing towards the company's recent disruption due to China's zero-COVID policies.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Trimmed Holdings In This Tesla Competitor Again
• Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company owned byWarren Buffett, has sold 5.78 million Hong Kong-listed shares of electric vehicle makerBYD Co, Ltd(OTC:BYDDF) (OTC:BYDDY) for HK$1.14 billion ($145.38 million).
• The sale lowered Berkshire's holdings in BYD's total issued H-shares to 16.62% on November 8, down from 17.15%. Last week Berkshire Hathaway sold H-shares worth HK$560 million.
• During August, Berkshire sold 1.33 million shares of BYD at an average price of HK$277.1 (about $47 million), cutting its stake to 19.92% from 20.04%.
Wall Street Journal
Juul Shelves Bankruptcy Preparations With New Cash Infusion, Cuts Third Of Its Workforce
• Some investors have invested inAltria Group Inc(NYSE:MO)- backedJuul Labs Incto stave off the proposed bankruptcy it had been preparing amid a dispute with the FDA over whether its products can remain on the U.S. market.
• With the capital injection, Juul said it has stopped its bankruptcy preparations and is working on a cost-cutting program. Juul plans to lay off about 400 people and reduce its operating budget by 30% to 40%.
WeWork Looks To Close 40 US Locations To Cut Costs
• WeWork Inc(NYSE:WE) prepared to close about 40 underperforming locations in the U.S. as the office-sharing company cuts costs and seeks to turn a profit.
• WeWork reported a wider-than-expected loss for the third quarter and slowing sales growth as many companies called their employees back to centralized offices after the pandemic.
Toyota, Sony Partner To Create Advanced Chip Business In Japan
• Toyota Motor Corp(NYSE:TM) andSony Group Corp(NYSE:SONY), along with six other Japanese companies, are planning to launch a new semiconductor business.
• Named Rapidus, the chip business move comes in a time when major economies are vying to boost their semiconductor availability to support artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Bloomberg
SoftBank Might Write Off $100M Loss On Stake Held In Beleaguered FTX Crypto Exchange
• SoftBank Group Corp(OTC:SFTBY) did not provide details on how much money it put into FTX (FTT/USD) or where it valued the stake in recent quarters.
• SoftBank Group Corp invested around $100 million in the crypto exchange FTX.com and anticipated writing down the entire value of the stake, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Alibaba's Lazada Finds Cautious Shoppers As Its Shopping Extravaganza Kicks Off
• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's(NYSE:BABA) Southeast Asia e-commerce unitLazada Groupsaw a slight pullback in higher-ticket items, including electronics, as Singles' Day's annual mega-sales event kicked off.
• Consumers are being more cautious when spending on high-ticket items like costly electronics, Lazada Chief Business Officer James Chang said in an interview.
Benzinga
BlockFi Suspends Withdrawals, Citing Uncertainty Over FTX Collapse
• BlockFi, a cryptocurrency lender, said that it could no longer operate its business "as usual" and is limiting withdrawals on the platform, citing a lack of clarity on the status ofSam Bankman-Fried'sbeleaguered crypto exchange FTX.
• The company said it was shocked by the news regardingFTX(FTT) andAlameda, which sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market and pulled down prices of coins such asBitcoin(BTC/USD),Ethereum(ETH/USD), andDogecoin(DOGE/USD).
Facebook, TikTok and Twitter Failed To Control Perpetration Of False Information In Kenya's Elections
• Social media platformsMeta Platforms Inc(NASDAQ:META) Facebook, TikTok, andTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk-owned Twitter failed to live up to their election integrity pledges during Kenya's August elections, a new study found.
• The Mozilla Foundation report said content labeling failed to stop misinformation, as political advertising served to amplify propaganda.
Repeat COVID-19 Infection Increases Risk Of Acute Outcomes, Long COVID Symptoms, Study Shows
• According to a report published in Nature Medicine, COVID-19-reinfected patients had a more than doubled risk of death and a more than tripled risk of hospitalization compared with those who were infected with COVID just once.
• The study also showed that people with repeat infection were more than three times more likely to develop lung problems, three times more likely to suffer heart conditions, and 60% more likely to experience neurological disorders than patients who had been infected only once.
• Researchers found that the higher risks were most pronounced in the first month after reinfection but were still evident six months later.
Dr. Pepper Soda Maker's CEO Resigns Over' Code Of Conduct Violations'
• Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc(NASDAQ:KDP) said its CEOOzan Dokmeciogluis quitting and will no longer be a board member.
• In a statement, the maker of Dr. Pepper Soda in the United States said, "Dokmecioglu agreed to resign due to violations of the Company's Code of Conduct that were unrelated to strategy, operations or financial reporting."
• Bob Gamort, Keurig Dr. Pepper's Chairman and former CEO was reappointed to the role of CEO. He will continue as Chairman.
See more from Benzinga
• FDA Approves AstraZeneca's Imfinzi/Imjudo Chemo Combo For Late Stage Lung Cancer
• Juul Shelves Bankruptcy Preparations With New Cash Infusion, Cuts Third Of Its Workforce
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© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Endless Downing Street chaos kills the precious dullness dividend.: Perpetual Downing Street drama is damaging the economy (PA Wire) City economist Simon French has given it a name: the dullness dividend. That is the value that investors would place on a vaguely competent, boring even, Prime Minister leading a stable Government with economic policies that add up. We are so far from that currently it is painful. Meanwhile, as we reveal in these pages today, the pound is now seen as so flaky that investors prefer to flip into volatile Bitcoin as a safe haven. This is a pattern that has only been seen before with some of the worlds most fragile currencies such as the Turkish lira. How the mighty pound sterling, once one of the worlds primary reserve currencies, has fallen. While the madness continues there is little hope of business investment picking up to drive the productivity and economic growth we all crave but seems so unattainable. In truth the anti-growth coalition is rooted in Downing Street. In a Britain of Prime Ministerial revolving doors, political psycho-dramas and Government by chaos what hope is there of meaningful long term planning and investment. Not everything can be laid at the Governments door. The spike in energy costs triggered by the war in Ukraine is of course a huge contributor to inflation. But at times of international crisis the dullness dividend becomes ever more important. Infact it could not be a worse time for our entire governing classes to suffer an apparent mass breakdown. One thing is for sure. We will all pay the price. || Bitcoin, Ethereum Erase Losses Following Hot Inflation Report: BitcoinandEthereumhave recovered all losses from yesterday, following their plunging in response to the release of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index (CPI), which was up 8.2% from last year’s numbers.
The leading cryptocurrency is trading at around $19,649 by press time, or up as much as 3.4% since yesterday’s low of $18,347.67, perCoinGecko.
However, today’s upwards move still sees Bitcoin sit at close to year-lows, down 71.5% from its November 2021 high of $69,044.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, more than recouped yesterday’s losses to trade at $1,322, up 3.7% over the past 24 hours, at press time.
However, it is still well below its year-high of $4,878, perCoinGecko.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 also recovered more than 2.5% since yesterday, largely erasing a week’s worth of decline. They are currently sitting at 30,038.72 and 3,669.91, respectively.
Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as most other cryptocurrencies, tend to follow the equities market’s downwards movements, as investors rush to safe havens like the U.S. dollar to avoid "risky" assets.
Fresh numbers released in the CPIreportyesterday showed that inflation on U.S. goods and services stood at 8.2% year-over-year.
The index tracks the rate of change in prices for things like gasoline, used cars, apparel, and other items, and helps track inflation across the economy.
The index rose 0.4 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.1 percent in August, said the report.
Nearly all items increased in price, with only the gasoline index down 4.9% since August.
The high inflation rate means that the Federal Reserve is likely to continue raising interest rates as it attempts to tame inflation, which currently stands at a 40-year high in the U.S. || Grayscale® DeFi Fund Now Trading on OTC Markets: Grayscale Investments Investors can now access diversified exposure to the DeFi ecosystem through a single, publicly-quoted investment vehicle STAMFORD, Conn., Dec. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grayscale Investments® , the worlds largest digital currency asset manager, today announced that Grayscale® Decentralized Finance Fund (DeFi Fund) has begun trading on OTC Markets under the symbol: DEFG. Grayscale now offers 15 digital currency investment products trading on OTC Markets. We believe that investors deserve access to the digital currency ecosystem through secure products, and are excited to now offer them exposure to the evolving decentralized finance sub-sector through a publicly-quoted security, said Grayscale Head of Investor Solutions, Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary. DEFG enables investors to gain exposure to the price movement of a diversified basket of DeFi digital assets through a singular investment vehicle. DEFG tracks the CoinDesk DeFi Select Index (DFX) and is rebalanced quarterly allowing investors to avoid the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping digital currencies directly. The protocols underlying DEFG digital assets seek to democratize access to financial services, such as borrowing, lending, custody, trading, derivatives, asset management and insurance, by removing third-party intermediaries. SECONDARY MARKET for the PRIVATE PLACEMENT DEFG has offered a private placement to accredited investors since July 2021. As of December 8, 2022, there were 233,960 Shares outstanding of DEFG. Shares created through DEFGs private placement become eligible to sell into the public market after a statutory one-year holding period pursuant to Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933.* All investors with access to U.S. securities will be able to buy and sell freely-tradable DEFG shares through their investment accounts, in the same manner as other securities. FUND CONSTRUCTION DEFG provides exposure to a diverse selection of digital assets that meet the funds construction criteria through a market capitalization-weighted portfolio (Fund Components). As of December 8, 2022, DEFGs Fund Components were a basket of 68.88% Uniswap (UNI), 13.00% Aave (AVE), 8.89% Maker (MKR), 5.14% Curve (CRV) and 4.09% Compound (COMP). The investment objective of DEFG is for the Shares (based on Fund Components per Share) to reflect the value of the Fund Components, determined by reference to the Digital Asset Reference Rate and weighting for each Fund Component less DEFGs expenses and other liabilities. As of December 8, 2022, each Share represented 1.5431 Uniswap (UNI), 0.0285 Aave (AAVE), 0.0020 Maker (MKR), 1.0763 Curve (CRV) and 0.0147 Compound (COMP). DEFG will not generate any income and regularly distributes Fund Components to pay for its ongoing expenses. Therefore, the amount of Fund Components represented by each Share gradually decreases over time. Story continues The Fund Components consist of the digital assets that make up the DFX as rebalanced from time to time, subject to the Grayscales discretion to exclude individual digital assets in certain cases. The composition of DEFG is evaluated on a quarterly basis** to remove existing Fund Components or to include new Fund Components in DEFG's portfolio, in accordance with the rebalancing of DFX and DEFGs fund construction criteria established by Grayscale. DEFG may also hold cash and assets arising as a result of a fork, airdrop, or similar event from time to time.*** DEFG is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not subject to disclosure and certain other requirements mandated by U.S. securities laws. GRAYSCALE PRODUCT FAMILY Grayscale's investment products are available to institutional and individual accredited investors through their respective periodic and ongoing private placements. In addition to DEFG, Grayscales other diversified products are Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund, which provides exposure to the largest and most liquid digital assets through a market cap-weighted portfolio designed to track the CoinDesk Large Cap Select Index (DLCS), and Grayscale Smart Contract Platform Ex-Ethereum Fund, which provides exposure to a selection of industry-leading Smart Contract Platforms through a market cap-weighted portfolio designed to track the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Ex ETH Index (SCPXX). Grayscale also offers investors exposure to digital assets through its single-asset investment products which provide exposure to Basic Attention Token (BAT), Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Chainlink (LINK), Decentraland (MANA), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Filecoin (FIL), Horizen (ZEN), Litecoin (LTC), Livepeer (LPT), Solana (SOL), Stellar Lumens (XLM), and Zcash (ZEC). This newly-trading product means that Grayscale now offers investors a total of 15 products with public quotations. Grayscale® Basic Attention Token Trust ( OTCQB: GBAT ), Grayscale® Bitcoin Trust ( OTCQX: GBTC ), Grayscale® Bitcoin Cash Trust ( OTCQX: BCHG ), Grayscale® Chainlink Trust ( OTCQB: GLNK ), Grayscale® Decentraland Trust ( OTCQX: MANA ), Grayscale® Ethereum Trust ( OTCQX: ETHE ), Grayscale® Ethereum Classic Trust ( OTCQX: ETCG ), Grayscale® Filecoin Trust ( OTCQB: FILG ), Grayscale® Horizen Trust ( OTCQX: HZEN ), Grayscale® Litecoin Trust ( OTCQX: LTCN ), Grayscale® Livepeer Trust ( OTCQB: GLIV ), Grayscale® Stellar Lumens Trust ( OTCQX: GXLM ), Grayscale® Zcash Trust ( OTCQX: ZCSH ) and Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund ( OTCQX: GDLC ) are also publicly-quoted and available to all investors with access to U.S. securities. Investors will be able to find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for Shares on www.otcmarkets.com/stock/DEFG/disclosure once trading for DEFG commences. *Because Grayscale DeFi Fund does not currently operate a redemption program, there can be no assurances that the value of the private placement Shares will approximate the value of the underlying assets held by DeFi when traded on a secondary market, like OTCQB. As such, the Shares of the public quotation may trade at a substantial premium over, or substantial discount to, the value of the assets held by DeFi. **DEFGs Fund Components are evaluated on a quarterly basis, beginning on the second business day of January, April, July, and October of each year. ***Forks, airdrops, and similar events are evaluated on a case-by-case basis in consultation with DEFGs legal advisors, tax consultants, and custodian. There are likely to be operational, tax, securities law, regulatory, legal, and practical issues that significantly limit, or prevent entirely, DEFGs ability to realize a benefit from any forks, airdrops, or similar events. This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction. About Grayscale Investments® Grayscale enables investors to access the digital economy through a family of secure, regulated, and future-forward investment products. Founded in 2013, Grayscale has a proven track record and deep expertise as the worlds largest digital currency asset manager. Investors, advisors, and allocators turn to Grayscale for single asset, diversified, and thematic exposure. Grayscale products are distributed by Grayscale Securities, LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC). For more information, please follow @ Grayscale or visit grayscale.com . Media Contact Jennifer Rosenthal press@grayscale.com View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: down || Prices: 17104.19, 17206.44, 17781.32, 17815.65, 17364.87, 16647.48, 16795.09, 16757.98, 16439.68, 16906.30
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2016-03-10]
BTC Price: 417.13, BTC RSI: 51.30
Gold Price: 1272.00, Gold RSI: 68.53
Oil Price: 37.84, Oil RSI: 64.98
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Safe Cash Speeds up Blockchain to 25,000 Transactions per Second: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 24, 2016) - Safe Cash ( www.safe.cash ), a digital payment technology for banks, merchants, and consumers, has announced that it is able to handle up to 25,000 transactions per second on its blockchain -- more than 3,000 times as many as Bitcoin. The time to complete and final settlement is under five seconds. This makes Safe Cash the fastest private blockchain, orders of magnitude ahead of competing private blockchains that are simple forks of bitcoin or litecoin. "Because of its slow consensus time, uncertain governance, and price volatility, Bitcoin is not a reasonable solution for banks, and it's not built to scale for massive adoption of instant e-commerce," said Chris Kitze, founder and CEO of Safe Cash Payment Technologies. "No open-source software can touch this performance. Our development team worked for the past eighteen months to solve a number of critical technical problems. It is not trivial. We also have a clear technical path to increase this speed to 100,000 transactions per second later this year, well in advance of that kind of global demand." In an era of permissioned blockchains gaining favor with financial institutions over decentralized, freely trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Ripple, Safe Cash is one of the first blockchains to be commercially viable that can meet the transaction processing speed and throughput requirements of today's market. Safe Cash employs instant settlement in under five seconds, improved security, and controlled consensus that does not rely on miners or any intermediary coin that must be purchased. It allows banks to wean themselves off the high-priced, inefficient SWIFT network that can take days to transfer money. Banks can have their own "white label" blockchain that they control and manage. Inter-bank settlement can be achieved with multi-currency wallets, a separate bank settlement blockchain, or a combination thereof, depending on bank requirements and legal compliance. Story continues A demonstration of this technology is freely available at https://safe.cash , where the public is invited to get a free account to test out Safe Cash's loyalty token. Banks are invited to internally proof-of-concept test Safe Cash. About Safe Cash Payment Technologies, Inc. Founded in 2015, Safe Cash is the first payment system to allow cash to be used as a digital asset, with member banks storing the USD and providing tokens that are redeemable for cash. The system is designed to work globally and on most phones. All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners. || 7 Signs Americas Super-Rich Are Finally Losing Power: With billionaire Donald Trump the Republican frontrunner, it may seem like the impact of the ultra-rich on our public life is reaching new heights. A self-proclaimed billionaire (Trump still hasnt released his tax records ), Trumps anti-establishment, anti-Wall Street, anti-free-trade rhetoric has him running as a traitor to his class, though. A loose affiliation of the super rich has been scheming to halt his rise most recently, Mitt Romney but so far, without any success. In fact, there are plenty of signs that plutocrats are losing their grip on the levers of power and influence. Yes, income inequality continues to rage . But plenty of people with ten-figure net worths simply arent getting the satisfaction to which they have become accustomed. We may have reached Peak Plutocrat. The phenomenon can best be seen in politics, where the kings of private enterprise are having a tough time playing kingmaker this time around. Bloomberg for President Remember that? If you blinked, you missed it. In late January, the former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, proprietor of the eponymous company, whose fortune is estimated at $36 billion to $48 billion , briefly considered jumping into the race. Never mind that third-party candidacies dont do well in the U.S., or that Bloomberg's constituency (coastal rich people who are socially liberal) are generally in the Hillary Clinton camp already. The candidacy of Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire candidate beloved by billionaires (hedge fund giant Bill Ackman wrote a passionate pro-Mike op-ed in the Financial Times), failed to launch. And then there was Jeb! Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush blew through $100 million of the establishments money before bowing out. Stanley Druckenmiller, the retired hedge fund billionaire, is backing. . . . John Kasich. The dealmakers from 2012 In 2012, Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate, played an immensely influential role in the Republican primary and general election. In 2016? Not so much. The Las Vegas Review Journal, the newspaper (!) Adelson recently purchased, has endorsed Marco Rubio , a victor in precisely one caucus. And Adelson has yet to put his card on the table. Story continues The Koch brothers feel disenfranchised For their part, the Koch brothers, who have used their billions to build a highly effective political operation that runs in parallel to the Republican party, are feeling disenfranchised. Far from adopting the Koch Brothers line on free trade, or immigration, the Republican field is running in the opposite direction. "You'd think we could have more influence," Charles Koch groused to the Financial Times . On March 3, Reuters reported the Koch brothers had decided not to use any of their war chest to fight Trumps candidacy. As Reuters notes, the brothers made the decision because they were concerned that spending millions of dollars attacking Trump would be money wasted , since they had not yet seen any attack on Trump stick. No longer minting money, either Billionaires are not doing so hot in the stock market, either. Bill Ackman, the proprietor of Pershing Square, shot the lights out in 2013 and 2014; Ackmans brand of dramatic activism and willingness to go all-in on high-profile stocks gave his fund a impressive returns. But last year , his main fund was off 20.5 percent, net of returns; its off more than 15 percent so far in 2016. Whoops! John Paulson, the hedge fund manger who shot to prominence on the backs of bearish bets on the housing market and was thus elevated into the market sage, is literally half the asset manager he used to be . As air comes out of the markets that Plutocrats rely on and love the stock market, yes, but also junk bonds, tech start-ups, natural resources their spending power and public influence are starting to deflate. (The egos, not so much.) Real estate values wane High-end real estate in London, which has functioned as a sort of safety deposit box for the globes ultra wealthy, is starting to fall . In Manhattan last year, the number of contracts signed on condos worth more than $10 million fell 16 percent, from 270 to 227. So if you're in the business of selling trophy properties to ultra-rich people, you may be struggling. Christie's reported that its sales of fine art were down 11 percent in 2015 and Sotheby's said that so far this quarter, sales are off 33 percent . TV, the lagging indicator Don't get me wrong. While signs are everywhere that their influence on our culture and economy are declining, the Plutocrats like the poor will always be with us. And they will often be unavoidable. One of the better new shows to debut this TV season is Showtime's Billions , featuring Damian Lewis as Bobby Axelrod, a Steve Cohen-esque hedge fund manager. Billions has been picked up for a second season. But even a show that humanizes and dramatizes plutocrats is a sign of their peak. When it comes to business trends, television shows are always an extremely lagging indicator. In the fall of 2000, the debut of a show about the bull market, The$treet, presaged the impending market crash. In October 2005, ABC aired Hot Properties, a sitcom starring Sofia Vergara about a group of realtors in California. The housing market began to crash the following year. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com The Crisis in Bitcoin and the Rise of Blockchain 3 Ways to Win Over Your Boss Here's Why China Laying Off 1.8 Million Workers Is Actually Good News Your Great Idea Will Fail Without This These Are the Super-Rich People Shaping China || A bunch of hedge fund managers are chasing the 'dream of crushing a major structural problem': (Thomson Reuters)William Ackman, founder and CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New YorkFinance Insider is Business Insider's midday summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.
To sign up, scroll to the bottom of this page and click "Get updates in your inbox," orclick here.
Wall Street already has a trade of the year.
Everyone from Bill Ackman to David Tepper to Kyle Bass is betting against the Chinese yuan.The shorts seem to be everywhere.
"Clearly a bunch of smart guys are chasing the [John] Paulson 2008 dream of crushing a major structural problem in the market," said Tim Seymour of Triogem Management.
In bank news,Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein today made his firstTV appearance after 600 hours of chemotherapy. He said he can easily explain what's going on in the equity market right now.The rest of the market, not so much.
The bank just announced a big shake-up,with lots of people moving role.Most notably,Jim Esposito, who was cohead of the global-financing group, will join the securities division as chief strategy officer.To read about him,click here.To read about what his appointment means,click here.
In other news, an18-year-old tennis player once sponsored by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackmanpulled off a pretty impressive trick shot to win a pointintheRBC Tennis Championships of Dallas.
AndUber will let you ordera puppy squad to your office.
Here are the top Wall Street headlines at midday:
We just got terrible news about the most important part of the US economy-The services sector is slowing down.
A kid in Bill Gross' high school nicknamed 'God of Thunder' eventually fell on hard times-Bill Gross had a big kid in his high school class.
Chipotle's disastrous 2015 explained in one chart-Fewer customers see it as a healthy food option. Ouch.
OLIVER WYMAN: It will take 10 years for the tech behind bitcoin to break big in finance-Blockchain database technology, which underpins digital cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, has got finance industry executives very excited.
Pack your bags, Wall Streeters: Your jobs are moving to Nashville- UBS has a plan to move about 2,500 jobs to low-cost locations such as Poland, India, China, and Nashville, Tennessee, over the next year. Yes, Nashville.
A Bill Gates-backed startup that wants to edit your genes just raised nearly $100 million-Editas became the first company to price an initial public offering in the US in 2016.
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• WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ON WALL STREET: The Steph Curry effect || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || Ericsson Core to Enable WiFi Calling and VoLTE for Cable & Wireless in Panama: MIAMI, FL, and STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN--(Marketwired - Feb 21, 2016) -Cable & Wireless CommunicationsPlc (LSE:CWC)
• Ericsson to upgrade core network to enable Wi-Fi calling and voice over LTE for Cable & Wireless Panama's (CWP) network
• CWP customers will enjoy both voice and video calling, and seamless handover is enabled between LTE and Wi-Fi, which provides operator voice services in more locations driving loyalty among subscribers
Cable & Wireless CommunicationsPlc (LSE:CWC) today announcesEricsson(NASDAQ:ERIC) will support an upgrade of the Cable & Wireless core network in Panama with an IMS and Evolved Packet Core solution that will enable strong possibilities of fixed and mobile convergence and enhanced subscriber services like Wi-Fi calling and voice over LTE (VoLTE).
"We are constantly working to enhance and upgrade our network and offer more services for our customers," said Carlo Alloni, EVP Technology and Group CTIO. "As a result of this upgrade, we will be able to offer our customers in Panama more options to make regular operator calls everywhere, and to have better quality all the time in a simple, seamless way," added Alloni.
The Ericsson Wi-Fi calling solution is based on an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) with a Wi-Fi Mobility Gateway (ePDG and TWAG combined) and Ericsson IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The solution is verified towards the smartphone brands that support Wi-Fi calling. The IMS will also support voice over LTE services which will be implemented in the near future. Rollout, integration, and implementation are currently underway.
"With this solution Cable & Wireless will be able to utilize one efficient core network to enable several communication services. In addition, it will unleash a superior communication services user experience by delivering seamless HD voice and video calling services in more locations," said Clayton Cruz, Vice President of Ericsson Latin America.
In the Ericsson ConsumerLab report "Wi-Fi Calling Finds Its Voice," (July 2015), 5 out of 10 respondents from the United States said that they would use the service if it were made available.
Ericsson Wi-Fi calling
Ericsson Mobile Telephony Evolution with VoLTE
Ericsson IMS
Ericsson Evolved Packet Core
For media kits, backgrounders and high-resolution photos, please visitwww.ericsson.com/press
Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society -- a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, business and society to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future.Our services, software and infrastructure -- especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud -- are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.
With approximately 115,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries, we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world's mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions -- and our customers -- stay in front.
Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in2015 were SEK 246.9 billion (USD 29.4 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACTEricsson Corporate CommunicationsPhone:+46 10 719 69 92E-mail:media.relations@ericsson.com
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About Cable & Wireless Communications PlcCable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in Latin America and the Caribbean. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. CWC delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and Video consumer offers. Through its business division, CWC provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
The Group also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity.
CWC has more than 7,300 employees serving 6.4 million customers (Mobile 4.1m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 470k and Broadband 690k) across 42 countries. The Group's leading brands include; LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. CWC is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc's shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The Group is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America.For more information visit:www.cwc.com. || Digatrade Executes Bitcoin Debit Card Development Contract: Digatrade Bitcoin Debit Card Set to Launch VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 25, 2016 / BITX FINANCIAL CORP ( BITXF ) and its 100% owned and operated digital asset-currency exchange DIGATRADE ( digatrade.com ) today announced the execution of a technology development agreement with ANX Technologies. Under terms of the agreement Digatrade will have a bitcoin debit card developed by ANX Technologies, one of the world's first financial technology companies to have developed a bitcoin debit card and one of the largest distributors of debit cards in the market offering customers as well as businesses a fast and reliable payment solution. The Digatrade debit card will provide a gateway between digital assets and traditional payments processing. The reloadable debit card can be used to make purchases in any retail, point-of-sale devices or withdraw cash from ATMs that support the global payment network. Digatrade customers will be able to add funds to their debit card via the Digatrade exchange platform and will empower digital assets to be accepted worldwide. More information will be made available as it materializes. ABOUT DIGATRADE: DIGATRADE is a global digital asset-currency exchange located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Company is owned and operated 100% by Bit-X Financial Corp which is publically listed on the OTC.QB under the trading symbol BITXF. BITXF is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC". Digatrade has now become a global platform offering its customers instant card-based transactions worldwide. CORPORATE CONTACT INFORMATION: Brad Moynes, CEO Bit-X Financial Corp DigaTrade.com 838 West Hastings Street, Suite 300 Vancouver, BC V6C-0A6 Canada Tel: +1(604) 200-0071 Fax: +1(604) 200-0072 www.digatrade.com Media inquiries: press@digatrade.com Forward-Looking Information This press release contains certain "forward-looking information". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or development that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future constitute forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the possibility of unanticipated costs and expenses. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. SOURCE: Bit-X Financial Corp || Ethereum Cloud Mining and Bitcoin Cloud Mining With Lifetime Contracts and Proof of Mining Offered by HashFlare: With over 3 years experience in the industry Hashflare is pleased to announce one year Ethereum cloud mining contracts with no maintenance fees
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SOURCE:HashFlare || Iceland's Genesis launches first bitcoin mining fund: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Genesis Mining, which provides computer equipment to create bitcoins in the cloud, on Thursday launched the world's first fund that invests in hardware used to create the digital currency.
Bitcoins are created through a "mining" process involving computer algorithms on equipment owned or rented out by companies such as Iceland-based Genesis. Bitcoins, which are worth more than $400 each, can be purchased from trading exchanges such as BitStamp and Kraken.
The Logos Fund was registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Genesis said in a statement. The fund will issue "pooled investment fund interests" to investors in an offering expected to last more than a year.
Genesis will initially seed the fund with $1 million of its own capital, co-founder and Chief Executive Marco Streng said, adding that investors have expressed an interest in putting in $100 million.
The mininum investment for the fund is $25,000.
"The fund would be clearly focused on bitcoin mining, but we can also purchase bitcoins directly from the exchanges," said Streng said in an interview.
Streng cited strong investor interest despite challenges facing the sector, whose profits have been pressured by growing competition.
More than $1 billion has been invested in bitcoin-related startups since 2013.
Bitcoin on Thursday traded at $416.01 on the BitStamp platform, down 1.8 percent.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Richard Chang) || Here's how you can invest in the blockchain: As big banks and other financial institutions continue to feel the love for blockchain technology, many of our readers have wondered how they can get in. Can a private, non-institutional investor somehow invest in the blockchain? Answering the question requires a distinction between the b itcoin blockchain and the broader, non-bitcoin idea of blockchain technology. Think of the bitcoin blockchain as a public ledger in the cloud, not unlike a library book slip (see the above video for more). It shows every transaction made with the digital currency bitcoin; the transactions are added in bundles called "blocks," by "miners" who receive a small fee in bitcoin as incentive to add the data. (You can view that happening in-real time.) The bitcoin blockchain is public, open-source and permissionless. What banks want to build is a private, closed blockchain, sans bitcoin, sans miners, to process their own transactions. The appeal is that it would make their systems faster and more efficient (most big banks are using old, outdated software for their record-keeping), as well as reduce friction and transfer delays. The bitcoin community is skeptical about the effort. " Having a closed, permissioned ledger run by banks might allow for better auditing, but there’s no innovation there," says Jerry Brito, executive director of the nonprofit Coin Center, which has raised funding from the biggest names in bitcoin. "You still have to go through a consortium to use the ledger." Indeed, 45 banks, including heavy-hitters like Citi, Credit Suisse, and JPMorgan, have jumped on board with a consortium, called R3 , to test out blockchain technology. JPMorgan, eager to come out to an early lead in the blockchain race, announced last month it has been testing its own blockchain with 2,200 customers. In addition to banks trying to build their own blockchains, fintech startups like itBit are offering their own non-bitcoin blockchains to financial customers. The blockchain product itBit offers is called Bankchain. "Bitcoin is a public, anonymous use case of blockchain technology," says itBit COO Andrew Chang. "Many financial institutions don't want to use the bitcoin blockchain because it’s an anonymous network and they're not okay with that." Story continues Whether the strategy will even bear fruit is unclear, but as Alex Kwiatkowski of financial software firm Misys says, " No one wants to be the one financial company that didn’t invest in blockchain. It feels like California in the Gold Rush -- those making an early claim think they’ll get the most gold. But it’s just an efficiency improvement. There’s going to be some value there, they just need to unlock what it is without promising too much." As banks and other big corporations continue to claim interest in blockchain, the idealogical divide between that side and the bitcoin side will only widen. Dan Conner, who is building a distributed ledger called DisLedger, aptly explains why: " If you’re a bitcoin fanboy and you’re a crypto-anarchist, that’s fine. But those people don’t tend to run in the same circles as banks." Conner predicts that even the term "blockchain" will go out of fashion for Wall Street the way "bitcoin" has, because there are inherent weaknesses in a blockchain. For now, clearly, the big banks are big believers in blockchain—or at least, they say they are. If you, a regular investor (and Yahoo Finance reader), are also a believer, is there a way to invest in blockchain technology? The short answer is: not directly. But there are three roundabout ways you could invest in the bitcoin blockchain or the broader, Wall Street concept of blockchain. If you believe in the strength of the bitcoin blockchain, the best way to invest is to buy bitcoin. Whether you want to do that for price-speculation purposes or simply out of curiosity to own a nascent asset class, there are myriad ways to obtain some easily, from exchanges like Coinbase, Circle, Bitstamp or Kraken, which has expanded in the U.S. recently through acquisitions . A second would be to buy stock in the banks that have joined up with R3, such as BBVA ( BBVA ), BNP Paribas ( BNP.PA ), Citi ( C ), Credit Suisse ( CS ), ING Group ( ING ), JPMorgan ( JPM ), Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS ), UBS ( UBS ), and Wells Fargo ( WFC ). Of course, for bitcoin true believers, buying bank stocks would defeat the purpose of a cryptocurrency designed to avoid traditional banks. Or you could buy shares in the Bitcoin Investment Trust ( GBTC ), which passively holds bitcoin to track the price (it's similar to the GLD gold trust) and began trading publicly over the counter last year. The trust was launched by Barry Silbert of the Digital Currency Group, which has invested in 75 bitcoin and non-bitcoin blockchain startups, and recently bought the news site CoinDesk . "We started the Trust," Silbert says, "as an easy way for casual investors to get exposure to the price of bitcoin without having to figure out where do you buy it, what price do you pay, and how do you store it. This is one easy way to play in the bitcoin/blockchain industry." The trust is up 20% since it began trading last May. And bitcoin itself is up 81% in the same time period. This is the second in a three-part Yahoo Finance series about blockchain technology. The first part was about why big banks are expressing interest in the blockchain; the third part is about the biggest names in the industry. -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: Bitcoin advocacy group scores funding from biggest names in industry Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter Bitcoin's biggest investor bought its biggest news site Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
LIVE: Profit = $401.05 (4.91 %). BUY B19.81 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $433.10 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #TrinityCoin #TTY $ 0.000004 (0.74 %) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00 %) || Current price: 374.4$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2016-02-08 12:00:41 EST || Liquid Bitcoin || LIVE: Profit = $168.25 (9.04 %). BUY B4.82 @ $410.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $421.32 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || $445.88 #coinbase;
$445.68 #bitfinex;
$445.00 #bitstamp;
$445.00 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc || #news #channel Chainalysis and Europol Join Hands to Take On Bitcoin Money… http://dlvr.it/Kd6HHj #Bitcoin #BTC #bAgile #wallstreet || Coinomi Founder John Jegutanis: Scale Bitcoin by Decreasing Latency - http://www.bitcoinsahoy.com/coinomi-founder-john-jegutanis-scale-bitcoin-by-decreasing-latency/ …pic.twitter.com/rBqqegcBNA || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges: Cryptsy: 0.00000005 Bittrex: 0.00000005 Average $1.9E-5 per #reddcoin 20:00:02 via #p…pic.twitter.com/tpCXv0JH0A || Liquid Bitcoin
|
Trend: down || Prices: 421.69, 411.62, 414.07, 416.44, 416.83, 417.01, 420.62, 409.55, 410.44, 413.76
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-05-21]
BTC Price: 9081.76, BTC RSI: 52.18
Gold Price: 1720.50, Gold RSI: 52.59
Oil Price: 33.92, Oil RSI: 62.08
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Blockchain Bites: Paul Tudor Jones, Open Options and Why Bitcoin Looks Strong Heading to the Halving: Yesterday, it came to light that Paul Tudor Jones II, a titan investor, is considering bitcoin as a hedge against inflation. While it’s unknown where he intends to make his allocation or how much he’ll invest over what period of time through his flagship fund, we do know why. Bitcoin is what gold was in the 1970s, he thinks. “I am not a millennial investing in cryptocurrency, which is very popular in that generation, but a baby boomer,” he said in a letter to investors. “In a world that craves new safe assets, there may be a growing role for bitcoin.” Next week as Consensus: Distributed kicks off, Blockchain Bites will be your guide to the event. We’ll publish twice daily, providing a detailed schedule of events as well as a daily recap. I hope you can join us for the completely free and virtual event. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . In other news, Bixin is launching a $66 million fund of funds, Massive Adoption organizer Jacob Kostecki is getting sued and Filecoin is delivering physical hard drives. Here’s the story: Top Shelf Related: Most Bitcoin Buyers Are in the Money Ahead of the Halving, Data Suggests Industry Head Looking to Hedge Paul Tudor Jones II, a pioneer of the modern hedge fund industry, is ready to bet on bitcoin’s price as an inflation hedge. Jones’ flagship $22 billion Tudor BVI Global Fund has been authorized to hold as much as “a low single-digit percentage exposure percentage” of its assets in bitcoin futures, according to a note sent to investors this month. It is not clear whether the fund has begun buying futures, what kind (physically delivered or cash-settled), on which exchange it would do so or whether it plans to also trade the underlying commodity. Bitcoin Halving Interest Doubles (Five Times Over) With fewer than four days left till bitcoin’s halving, popular interest in the once-every-four-years event is reaching a fever pitch. Google Trends, a barometer for gauging interest in trending search topics, shows searches for “halving” or “bitcoin halving” at five times the peak in 2016, when the blockchain underwent its previous halving event. CoinDesk’s First Mover team takes a deeper dive, you can sign up for the newsletter here. Serious Tensions Micree Ketuan Zhan, the exiled co-founder of Bitmain, has moved to reinstate his position granted the right to recover his status as legal representative of Beijing Bitmain Technology by the Beijing Haidian District Justice Bureau. When Zhan went to the bureau to collect his new registration license, he was met by a cadre of Bitmain executives seeking to block his move. Tensions escalated into a physical brawl, as reported by Chinese daily Caixin and a video circulating on WeChat. Story continues Filecoin Delivers… a Package Filecoin is mailing out hard drives of climate data, world literature or the human genome to kick-start its file-storage network. In a program called Filecoin Discover, the Filecoin Foundation will deliver these tomes to future miners physically, on eight-terabyte hard drives, with instructions on how to link the devices to the Filecoin system to go live this year. Related: The Men Who Stare at Charts Fund of Funds Bixin, one of the earliest bitcoin miner operators and wallet startups, is dedicating 6,600 bitcoin, worth $66 million, to a new fund of funds. The company will target global quantitative trading funds whose strategies are based on arbitrage, bitcoin futures contracts and trend analysis. Domination Derivative A new derivative from Bitfinex allows investors to take a position on bitcoin’s overall share of the cryptocurrency market. The BTCDOM contract would allow investors to place a perpetual swap (a future without expiry date) based on bitcoin’s dominant value versus the value of other cryptocurrencies. Contours of Finance HDBank has tapped blockchain network Contour to digitize and streamline trade finance. Contour uses R3’s Corda blockchain tech for the issuance and settlement of trade contracts, a process still done with pen and paper by some firms. Shifting Trade Finance? Tradeshift, the digital trade finance platform that uses blockchain to make payments instant and transparent, has proposed a scheme to the government of Denmark that may free billions of dollars from supply chains. The plan offers lines of credit – backed up by the Danish government – to big companies to pay their suppliers instantly, as supply chains around the world calcify during the COVID-19 crisis. ATM Boost Coinstar, the coin counting kiosk maker hosting 3,500 Coinme bitcoin ATMs, is looking to double its bitcoin-capable supermarket locations. Placed in grocery stores and other businesses allowed to remain open during the COVID-19 shutdowns, Coinme reports a 40% bump in transaction volume since February. Mass’ Adoption Class Action The organizer of the canceled Massive Adoption crypto conference, Jacob Kostecki, is being sued over allegations that ticket refunds are too slow. The putative class action lawsuit was filed by a would-be attendee alleging fraud, breach of contract, conversion and unjust enrichment. Storied crypto lawyer David Silver is handling the case pro bono, while Kostecki claims refunds will be paid out by July 31, after announcing delays. ‘Massive Fraud’ The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued a Miami resident and two Israeli nationals Thursday over two “massive fraudulent solicitation schemes,” one of which focused on cryptocurrency services. Exemption Legislation A key lawmaker in the California Assembly has proposed exempting “digital assets” that are “presumptively not an investment contract” from the state’s definition of corporate securities. Exactly how to treat digital assets under securities law has been a resoundingly inconclusive, and sometimes contradictory, debate in the U.S. Series A Swiss crypto broker Bitcoin Suisse is raising a $280 million. ( The Block ) Keybase Kayfabe? Zoom, the popular-by-necessity video conferencing service, has acquired crypto key directory Keybase in a bid to bring end-to-end encryption to its paying customers. The acquisition comes at a time when Zoom has been criticized for privacy and security issues, and is part of Zoom’s 90-day push to make the platform more secure. Meanwhile, many Bitcoiners and cryptographers (Decrypt) are not happy with the acquisition. Next Stop Ahead Another Eth 2.0 testnet, Schlesi, is live, bringing the network one step closer to its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Eth 2.0. Named after a rail line stop in Berlin, the testnet is the first multi-client testnet for Eth 2.0’s beacon chain. CoinDesk: COVID Response #NYBWGives CoinDesk has joined Gitcoin, The Giving Block and Ethereal Summit to support charities helping communities in difficult times. We’re raising $100,000 and giving you a voice through the quadratic funding model. CoinDesk is matching $25,000 of funds raised. Learn how it works and how to donate. Market Intel Open Interest Open contracts on bitcoin options rose to record highs above $1 billion on Thursday as the cryptocurrency’s price rose into five figures, surpassing the previous all-time high of $970 million registered on Feb. 14, according to crypto derivatives research firm Skew. The surge in open interest looks to have been caused by increased demand for put options, or bearish bets. CoinDesk Monthly Review: April 2020 CoinDesk Research’s monthly review of crypto markets overviews returns, volatility and correlations of bitcoin, ether and other crypto assets – all in a macro context. Plus, we track growth in stablecoins and look at what past halvings can tell us about the upcoming one. The report is free to download . CoinDesk Podcast Network Could a new currency challenger the dollar’s supremacy in the international system? Airing May 8, episode 2 of The Breakdown: Money Reimagined examines a set of challengers — from Libra to the Chinese DCEP — seeking to reshape the global monetary order in their image. The Breakdown: Money Reimagined is a podcast crossover micro series exploring the battle for the future of money in the context of a post COVID-19 world. The four-part podcast features over a dozen voices including Consensus: Distributed speakers Niall Ferguson, Nic Carter and Michael Casey. New episodes air Fridays on the CoinDesk Podcast Network . Subscribe here . Heading Into the Halving On this episode of The Breakdown, NLW looks at nine reasons why Bitcoin has never been stronger going into the halving. Who Won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories First Mover: Search Interest in Bitcoin’s Halving Reaches Fever Pitch as Price Hits $10K Market Wrap: Bitcoin at $9.9K as Halving Chatter Increases View comments || Hong Kong’s First Regulator-Approved Bitcoin Fund Targets $100M Raise: Hong Kong’s securities regulator has approved the jurisdiction’s first-ever bitcoin index fund designed for institutional investors.
Arrano Capital, the blockchain investment arm of asset management firm Venture Smart Asia, has now met the licensing requirements from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) allowing it to begin dealing in cryptocurrency, according to areport by Bloombergon Sunday. Within the first 12 months, Arrano is hoping to surpass $100 million in total assets under management through a fund trackingbitcoinprices.
The fund marks the first of its kind to have passed regulatory approval on the basis that it solely targets institutional investors. To market to the general public, the fund would have to become an “authorized fund”under Hong Kong rules. Arrano getting the green light potentially paves the way for similar funds to begin filing for licenses in the blockchain-friendly region.
Related:Bitcoin Volatility at 3-Month Low as Market Awaits Big Price Move
Avaneesh Acquilla, chief investment officer at Arrano Capital, said that while the firm had received approvals for a bitcoin fund, he expected opportunities for other products in the future.
“It shows there are clear guidelines for managers of cryptocurrency funds in Hong Kong,” Acquilla told CoinDesk. “While the process is lengthy and detailed as you would expect, we have shown that it is possible to meet these standards.”
See also:Hong Kong to Consider Additional FATF-Style Regulations for Crypto Exchanges
“Our next steps are to launch this fund successfully and comply with all of the relevant regulations,” he said.
Related:Crypto Long & Short: The Battle of the Yields
Anindex fundis a type of mutual fund that was first championed by business magnate Jack Bogle. This type of fund offers a portfolio developed to match or track the components of a financial market index such as the S&P 500. That differs from an exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is an investment fund operating on a stock exchange that provides a stake in assets such as bonds and stocks.
Arrano has a second product planned for launch later in 2020 that would be an actively managed fund dealing with a basket of digital assets, according to Bloomberg.
• Bram Cohen: ‘Getting Rich Is a Terrible Metric of Success’
• Market Wrap: Crypto Mining Stock Hut 8 Jumps on Unusually High Trading Volume || Bitcoin and Gold: Evaluating Hard-Cap Currencies in Times of Financial Crisis: How would a bitcoin economy react to coronavirus? For now, we don’t know. However, we can turn to a proxy for insight:gold.
Bitcoin’s(BTC) “digital gold” narrative has stuck well, namely because of the cryptocurrency’s low issuance supply schedule and a hard cap of21 million bitcoins. In turn, theory on how a gold-based economy would react to an external shock such as the current global pandemic lends itself into a look at a future bitcoin economy.
AsCoinDesk reported Monday, both bitcoin and gold rose on news of the U.S. Federal Reserve extending an indeterminate amount of aid to the private market. From a supply perspective, both assets sit still while the Fed feverishly tries to outpace COVID-19.
Related:Stocks, Bitcoin Rally on Prospects for US Senate Stimulus Bill
“The Federal Reserve will continue to purchase Treasury securities and agency mortgage-backed securities in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions,” the central banksaidMonday.
With such a policy’s incumbent inflation concerns – where infinite supply depresses the value of the U.S. dollar – what would an alternative world look like? What would the macroeconomic story be in a world where bitcoin or gold was dominant as a means of exchange?
For one, the value of a gold-based money would not artificially inflate, Mark Thornton, Austrian economist at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, told CoinDesk. (However, mainstream economists hold concerns that central bankers would have far fewer levers to pull in times of financial collapse.)
Like any market, gold’s value is determined jointly by supply and demand but has natural limits to the amount supplied in a given year. On average, the amount of gold mined per year hovers around 2 percent of gold’s total known supply.
Related:BitMEX Open Interest Collapses After Controversial Long Squeeze
Indeed, the price of gold has gone up in recent years mostly because gold is priced in dollar terms, Thornton said. As the amount of dollars on the market increases, so does gold’s price.
Additionally, gold – a safe-haven asset – acts as a hedge on inflation in financial crisis environments such as now. In the long run, bitcoin proponents such as Messari co-founder Dan McArdle believe BTC’s conservative features will bring it long-term value similar to that of gold.
For Austrian economists like Thornton, gold’s value comes down to economic theory first posited in “Principles of Economics” (1871) by Austrian school founder Carl Menger. To briefly summarize, Menger said everyone determines value subjectively while a society creates a price one can buy or sell on the open market.
Gold’s value is readily demonstrated by its continued use as a store of value, particularly during recessions or financial crises.
“The supply schedule for gold is relatively stable. The quantity of gold supplied is a response to the demand for gold and its price,” Thornton said.
But how would a gold-based economy differ from our current economy? A stable medium of exchange would force people to be more responsible with the money they have, Roy Sebag, co-founder of precious metal custodian Goldmoney, told CoinDesk in an email.
This responsibility would lead to two outcomes: A stable money supply would make it difficult to stack up large corporate debts, limiting the dangers of a 2008-style financial crisis. But it would also help distribute wealth across the economy more efficiently than current systems do, Sebag said.
First, Sebag said a fiat-based system that is known to inflate the currency to protect against business failings leads to companies taking out too much debt. (Think of commercial airlinesbuying back stockin heady times as opposed to investing in their services, what some might consider a moral hazard.) Sebag says his point can be readily seen on Capitol Hill today – where Congress is weighing a multitrillion-dollar stimulus package with protections for firmssuch as Boeing.
“Under a gold monetary standard, leveraging a balance sheet in any circumstance is a risky proposition,” Sebag said.
Instead, failures would be allowed to happen – but they would not become this colossal in the first place. “Failure happens often and resilience becomes the integral ingredient in defining prosperity,” Sebag said of what a gold-based system would look like.
See also:Bitcoin, Gold Spike as Fed Unveils Unlimited Coronavirus Stimulus Package
Second, if people were able to plan financially on long time horizons, then retirees would not be put in a precarious position every time the economy blows the top. Sebag goes as far as to claim the elderly would boost the economy during a recession as opposed to being crushed by it.
Indeed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost over 30 percent since its peak in February 2019. Many people’sretirement plans are underwater.
A gold economy, Sebag said, would allow people to plan for the future with a key metric: the interest rate.
Historically, Sebag said the natural interest rate – meaning the cost of future money when not set by a government – sat around 5 percent. Compare this to the rate-by-decree coming out of the Federal Reserve and periodic percentage drops: It’s hard to plan for the future when you don’t know what your assets will be worth in six months.
A bitcoin economy is laughably far off from a mainstream perspective – even more so than a gold-based economy. Bitcoin’s market cap sits below $200 billion while the Dow hit as high as$8 trillion in December 2019. Gold’s current market cap is around $9 trillion.
Yet, a savings-based money like gold or bitcoin becomes more attractive as the Fed and Washington lawmakers push toward fiscal extremes.
“In a gold-based economy without interest rate manipulation, taxes and so forth, people would have much more savings and far less debt. But now, with the Fed and paper money inflation, we have very little savings and gargantuan debt,” Thornton said.
• Bitcoin Halving, Explained
• Bitcoin Marches on $7K as Traditional Markets Cheer Fed’s QE ‘Bazooka’ || More than 77% of ETH not locked in smart contracts hasn’t been moved in six months: More than three-quarters of the ETH in so-called externally owned accounts hasn't moved in six months, despite wild price swings during that period, according to on-chain market analysis firm Glassnode. Glassnode data shows that investors in ETH are exhibiting strong “HODLing” behaviors, a reference to the term that bitcoin enthusiasts use to describe the act staying invested whether the market goes up, down, or sideways. And while 77.7% of the outstanding supply hasn't moved in half a year, 57.6% hasn't changed hands in a year, and 31.6% has remained unmoved for a full two years. Bitcoin holders are showing similar patterns. Currently, 42.8% of bitcoin's supply remains unmoved for at least two years, which marks a 10.4% increase from last year. [caption id="attachment_63640" align="alignnone" width="2734"] Data Source: Glassnode[/caption] © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || BREAKING: $55m liquidated as Bitcoin enjoys bullish breakout: Bitcoin has officially broken out above the $8,000 level of resistance with a stunning 7.86% rally over the past 24-hours. At the time of writing the worlds largest cryptocurrency is trading at around $8,350 with a potential upside price target emerging at $8,830. A grand total of $55 million in short positions have now been liquidated on derivatives exchange BitMEX, according DataMish . Bitcoin is now trading back above the daily 200 moving average for the first time since early March to indicate a clear shift in sentiment and optimism leading up to the block reward halving. With the halving being less than two weeks away traders are clearly attempting to enter the market before supply is suppressed. The halving will see rewards for miners slashed from 12.5BTC per block to 6.25BTC per block in an event that has historically been very bullish for Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. The previous halving commenced in 2016 and what followed was the most extreme bull market witnessed in decades, with Bitcoin surging to $20,000 while the likes of Ethereum rose from under $10 to $1,400. In order for Bitcoin to continue rallying to the $8,830 target it needs to close this evenings daily candle above the daily 200MA and the $8,200 level of support. However, with the sheer amount of short positions still open on margin exchanges Bitcoin could well experience a short squeeze, which could see price leapfrog the $8,830 level before testing $9,050. If in the rare event Bitcoin suffers a correction before this evenings daily candle close, it will likely re-test the $7,800 level which is now a level of support after being a point of resistance over the past week. From a macro perspective the next key test for Bitcoin will be the diagonal trendline dating back to the 2017 all-time high of $20,000, with it currently coming in at around $9,650. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || Chinese Government Advisers Propose Regional Stablecoin for 4 Asian Countries: Top Chinese political advisers have proposed a regional digital currency that would be backed by four major Asian currencies including the Japanese yen, Korean won, Hong Kong dollar and the yuan. The proposal unveiled Thursday describes the currency as a stablecoin, a term for cryptocurrencies designed to hold their value and backed by a reserve currency, although it does not explicitly mention crypto or blockchains. The Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) would lead the proposed effort. The basket of underlying collateral would follow the special drawing rights (SDR) model of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where each countrys currency is assigned a different weight based on its economy. Related: Internal Struggle at Bitcoin Mining Giant Bitmain Escalates to Physical Confrontation As such, the proposal resembles the original vision for libra , before that Facebook-spawned project watered down its plans and pivoted to developing digital versions of individual fiat currencies. (The Libra Association recently welcomed Singapore investment company Temasek as its first state-owned entity member .) The proposed stablecoin would help facilitate trade among the four countries, which is key to economic recovery in the region after coronavirus, its proponents said. It would do so by improving cross-border settlement and clearing services with a new payment network and digital wallet for enterprises. Read more: Chinese City Known for Bitcoin Mining Seeks Blockchain Firms to Burn Excess Hydropower Neil Shen, founding and managing partner of Sequoia China and a member of Chinas upper house, presented the proposal to Chinese legislators during the Two Sessions, the countrys largest annual political gathering. Related: Crypto Exchange OSL to Establish Digital Asset Powerhouse in Asia, US Regions Nine other advisers who are also upper house members, including Kennedy Wong, a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, former chief secretary of Hong Kong Henry Tang and Hong Kong-based Chinese billionaire Songqiao Zhang, co-signed the proposal. Story continues Shen attended the first session of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (PCC) on Thursday. The PCC is essentially an advisory upper house where a range of organizations and independent members help the government make national-level decisions. This meeting will be followed by plenary sessions of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) starting Friday and lasting for about two weeks. Proposals out of the PCC do not tend to have the same level of influence as the more concrete bills discussed in the NPC because the bills will yield significant changes in laws and regulations. However, in this case the proposal might have some sticking power. California-based Sequoia Capital, Sequoia Chinas parent, is one of the few big-name VC firms that have ventured into crypto. It invested in $10 million in one of the largest global crypto exchanges by volume, Huobi Group, when it was based in China in 2014. (Huobi Group is now based in Singapore.) It also invested in Nervos and Conflux via private token sales. Both these startups have collaborated with Chinas state-owned entities to develop blockchain technologies. The stablecoin proposal also suggests creating a regulatory sandbox and scaling up the system in Hong Kong over time to improve cross-border payment services between the four countries. Read more: Meet Red Date, the Little-Known Tech Firm Behind Chinas Big Blockchain Vision Led and supervised by the PBOC, companies from private sectors would launch the stablecoin and develop the project with the latest financial technologies. Enterprise users would be able to store the coins in a digital wallet and deposit cash at a custodian as reserves to back their stablecoins, according to the proposal. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and PBOC can create a framework to regulate the stablecoins cross-border transactions, manage risks and discourage money laundering, the proposal said. The stablecoin could be launched ahead of Chinas national digital currency and pave the way for its rollout by testing use cases to identify potential risks and technical problems. If launched, the stablecoin could be seamlessly connected with the digital yuan, the proposal said. The proposal stresses Hong Kong is one of the most important financial gateways that connect mainland China to the other Asian countries, with over 70% of cross-border renminbi payment processed in the city. Hong Kong could be the most favorable jurisdiction for such a regional stablecoin. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission created a licensing system to regulate virtual assets transactions and trading platforms in November. Among the first 12 entities awarded with the license are Tencents WeBank; Alibabas fintech arm Ant Financial; Infinium Limited, a joint venture that includes Tencent, Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (ICBC) and other two Hong Kong-based institutional investors; and SC Digital Solutions Limited, whose 65 percent stake is owned by Standard & Chartered Bank. Read more: Starbucks, McDonalds Among 19 Firms to Test Chinas Digital Yuan: Report On the other end, the PBOC and the top Chinese financial watchdog, the China Securities and Regulatory Commission (CSRC), recently put forward a slew of new measures to reform the financial system in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and encourage blockchain applications for improving international financial services in this area. In 2017, the Chinese government came up with an initiative to further integrate the Guangdong province with Hong Kong and Macau in a bid to build stronger financial connections between these cities and the mainland. The initiative encourages banks in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) to have a regional network and operate in a more interconnected financial system. Related Stories Interest in Gold-Backed Token Trading Grows Amid Supply Disruptions Money Reimagined: COVID-19s Lessons in Innovation || Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin - American Wrap: 4/14/2020: Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC/USD Hugging A Critical Trend Line Bitcoin price is trading in positive territory, up 0.85% in the second half of the session. BTC/USD is flirting with the lower acting trend line of a possible bear flag. Vulnerabilities remain tilted to the downside given the price is trading under $7000. Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH/USD At Risk Of A Daily Bear Flag Breach Ethereum price is trading in the green by 1.15% in the session on Tuesday. ETH/USD has been moving within consolidation mode over the last few sessions. The price to move into a definitive trend needs to break down $200 to the upside, or $150 to the downside. Litecoin Price Forecast: LTC/USD Failure To Regain Has Proven To Be Punishing Litecoin price is trading in positive territory by 0.40 % in the session on Tuesday. LTC/USD subject to deeper falling following a rejection at $50, next major support eyed at $40. Price action has been narrowing within recent trading, ahead of a possible incoming breakout. Image sourced from Pixabay See more from Benzinga Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin - American Wrap: 4/13/20 Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin - American Wrap: 4/9/2020 Bitcoin, Ethereum & Ripple - American Wrap: 4/8/2020 © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || The Klein Law Firm Reminds Investors of Class Actions on Behalf of Shareholders of BDX, CCI and CAN: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2020 /The Klein Law Firm announces that class action complaints have been filed on behalf of shareholders of the following companies. There is no cost to participate in the suit.If you suffered a loss, you have until the lead plaintiff deadline to request that the court appoint you as lead plaintiff.
Becton Dickinson & Company (BDX)Class Period:November 5, 2019 to February 5, 2020Lead Plaintiff Deadline:April 27, 2020
The complaint alleges that throughout the class period Becton Dickinson & Company made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) certain of Becton’s Alaris infusion pumps experienced software errors and alarm prioritization issues; (2) as a result, the Company was investing in remediation efforts to address these product issues, rather than a software upgrade to “make enhancements;” (3) the Company was reasonably likely to face regulatory delays in connection with the software remediation; (4) as a result of the foregoing, Becton was reasonably likely to recall certain of its Alaris infusion pumps; and (5) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Learn about your recoverable losses in BDX:http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/becton-dickinson-company-loss-submission-form?id=6137&from=1
Crown Castle International Corp. (CCI)Class Period:February 26, 2018 to February 26, 2020Lead Plaintiff Deadline:April 27, 2020
During the class period, Crown Castle International Corp. allegedly made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: 1) Crown Castle’s internal control over financial reporting and disclosures controls and procedures were ineffective and materially weak; (2) Crown Castle's financial accounting and reporting was not in accordance with GAAP; (3) Crown Castle’s net income, adjusted EBITDA, and AFFO were inflated; (4) Crown Castle would need to restate its financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, and unaudited financial information for the quarterly and year to-date periods in the year ended December 31, 2018 and for the first three quarters in the year ended December 31, 2019; and (5) as a result, Defendants’ statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Learn about your recoverable losses in CCI:http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/crown-castle-international-corp-loss-submission-form?id=6137&from=1
Canaan Inc. (CAN)Class Period:publicly traded securities of Canaan, including its American Depository Shares pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's registration statement and related prospectus issued in connection with the Company's November 20, 2019 initial public offering.Lead Plaintiff Deadline:May 4, 2020
The complaint alleges Canaan Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the purported "strategic cooperation" was actually a transaction with a related party; (2) the company's financial health was worse than what was actually reported; (3) the company had recently removed numerous distributors from its website just prior to the initial public offering, many of which were small or suspicious businesses; and (4) several of the Company's largest Chinese clients in prior years were clients who were not in the Bitcoin mining industry and, thus, would likely not be repeat customers.
Learn about your recoverable losses in CAN:http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/canaan-inc-loss-submission-form?id=6137&from=1
Your ability to share in any recovery doesn’t require that you serve as a lead plaintiff. If you suffered a loss during the class period and wish to obtain additional information, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or visit the webpages provided.
J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CONTACT:J. Klein, Esq.Empire State Building350 Fifth Avenue59th FloorNew York, NY 10118jk@kleinstocklaw.comTelephone: (212) 616-4899Fax: (347) 558-9665www.kleinstocklaw.com
SOURCE:The Klein Law Firm
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/586391/The-Klein-Law-Firm-Reminds-Investors-of-Class-Actions-on-Behalf-of-Shareholders-of-BDX-CCI-and-CAN || Bitcoin SVs First Halving Crimps Profits for BSV Miners: Bitcoin SV, the network that split off from the Bitcoin Cash blockchain in late 2018, has cut its miners block reward in half for the first time. Miners on the network produced the 630,000th block around 00:50 UTC time on Friday, which, by design, triggered the halving event that reduced mining rewards from 12.5 BSV to 6.25 per block. BSV is now trading at $214 as of press time, for a market capitalization of $3.9 billion, making the network the markets sixth largest cryptocurrency. Its down 5.4 percent over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesks price index. Related: Top Cryptos Edge Up as Derivatives Data Suggests Newfound Risk Aversion Among Traders The halving means the daily output for newly mined BSV is now around 900 units, which, at BSVs current price, means the pie of block rewards miners can compete over totals about $200,000 a day. The total computing power racing on Bitcoin SV has declined by some 25 percent since a recent high around four exahashes per second (EH/s) in early February, following BSVs price plunge from $370 to $110 within a month. The price had bounced back to over $200 over the past several weeks. The halving event came just a day after the same milestone for Bitcoin Cash, which broke off the Bitcoin network following a heated community disagreement in 2017. Miners on the Bitcoin SV network may face the same profitability issue as those on Bitcoin Cash. Following Bitcoin Cashs halving Wednesday, the hashing power on the network has dropped from around 3.5 EH/s to 2.5 EH/s. It took miners about 100 minutes to mine the first block after the Wednesday halving, while the average block production time is designed to be 10 minutes. Related: Bitcoin Cash Undergoes Halving Event, Casting Shadow on Miner Profitability This week marked the first halvings for the Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV networks since their births in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Bitcoin (BTC), the worlds largest cryptocurrency by market cap with currently 105 EH/s of computing power, is around 35 days away from its programmed halving, which will be the third in its history and one of the most anticipated events of 2020. Story continues See also: Bitcoins Halving, Explained Related Stories Todays Halving May Be Non-Event for Bitcoin Cash Prices Bitcoin Cash Approaches Milestone With First Halving Expected Wednesday || Bitcoin Cash Approaches Milestone With First Halving Expected Wednesday: UPDATE (April 8, 14:45 UTC): The bitcoin cash halving took place at 12:20 UTC Wednesday, full story here . Bitcoin cash (BCH), the cryptocurrency that broke off from bitcoin (BTC) due to a heated community disagreement in 2017, is about to hit a blockchain milestone. At block 630,000, expected to occur Wednesday morning Eastern time, the number of BCH coins created roughly every 10 minutes will fall by half, from 12.5 to 6.25. This will be the first halving for BCH in a sort of spectator sport some on Reddit say they will be watching as it unfolds on the blockchain. Related: Bitcoin Cash Undergoes Halving Event, Casting Shadow on Miner Profitability The event is a foreshadowing of the same process happening on a larger scale on the BTC blockchain next month. BCHs market cap is worth about a twenty-fifth of BTCs. See also: Bitcoin Halving, Explained And if thats not enough halvings for you, bitcoin SV (BSV), the cryptocurrency that forked off from BCH after another bitter battle, will be halving just a day or so later. The halving is seen as monumental since it highlights that the supply of the coin is fixed, a characteristic that differentiates BTC and its doppelgangers from most national currencies. Plus, it is arguably an important variable that led to bitcoin price increases in the past. Related: Todays Halving May Be Non-Event for Bitcoin Cash Prices As such, one Reddit user said they bought beers to celebrate [the event] with family. The halving is happening earlier in the year for BCH and BSV partly because BCH temporarily had a different algorithm dictating how quickly the mining difficulty would adjust, which for a time sped up the block creation process. Chance of attack This slightly earlier date might have an unintended consequence. BSV developer Brad Jasper said that in the short term this weeks halvings will be bad for the respective cryptocurrencies. He expects miners to temporarily leave for greener pastures. The main source of income for miners is the block rewards, which the halving will suddenly cut in half, making the chains less lucrative to mine. Meanwhile, BTCs block rewards dont halve for another month or so. Story continues When BSV/BCH halve, they will both lose hash power, likely to BTC, Jasper said. In the long term, he argued, BSV will prevail due to its utility as a network that prioritizes transaction growth. Norway-based Arcane Research agreed with the part about the loss of computing power in a report released last week, but went further. If hash power declines, Arcane said, the two splinter cryptocurrencies will be more vulnerable to 51 percent attacks, in which malicious actors gain control of the network. But Jasper said he expects the situation will quickly change once BTC takes its turn and halves next month, since it will no longer be more profitable to mine than its namesake progeny. That said, not everyone is convinced the halving milestone will lead to anything exciting or out of the ordinary. Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver, known in the early days as Bitcoin Jesus for his evangelism before defecting to the BCH camp, said BCHs halving will be a non-event given BTCs halving history. The last two were non-events, and I expect this one to be the same as the last two, he said. Related Stories Crypto Long & Short: Is Bitcoin More Like Gold or Equities? Miner Perspectives on Bitcoin Halving 2020, Part 1 of a New Podcast Series
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 9182.58, 9209.29, 8790.37, 8906.93, 8835.05, 9181.02, 9525.75, 9439.12, 9700.41, 9461.06
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2016-01-28]
BTC Price: 380.29, BTC RSI: 41.48
Gold Price: 1115.60, Gold RSI: 59.91
Oil Price: 33.22, Oil RSI: 50.26
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin industry consolidates: Why Kraken bought Coinsetter: For the past two years, the most popular type of new bitcoin company has been exchanges, where investors can buy and trade bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Now two exchanges are already rolling up, in the first major bitcoin industry acquisition of 2016.
Kraken, which is based in San Francisco but sees most of its trading activity in Euros, has bought Coinsetter, a smaller New York-based exchange, for an undisclosed amount. Coinsetter will shut down on Jan. 26 and its customers will be converted to Kraken. According to data from TradeBlock, the average daily transaction volume on Kraken last year was around $1.3 million.
The deal comes amid a price collapse and high negativity around bitcoin's future. Mike Hearn, a prominent bitcoin developer, wrote a poston Mediumlast week announcing his opinion that the bitcoin "experiment" has failed. "I will no longer be taking part in bitcoin development and have sold all my coins," he wrote. "The network is on the brink of technical collapse. The mechanisms that should have prevented this outcome have broken down, and as a result there’s no longer much reason to think Bitcoin can actually be better than the existing financial system."
The core of Hearn's argument is that the speed of transactions has slown; a contentious issue in the bitcoin community right now is whether and when to raise the size limit on "blocks," the term for a bundle of bitcoin transactions. Every single transaction is recorded and processed as part of a block on the bitcoin blockchain, a public, decentralized ledger. If this all sounds like a foreign language to you, don't worry: All you need to understand is that the bad optics of a prominent bitcoin flag-waver leaving the industry in a huff was enough to send the price plummeting. After Hearn posted his piece on Jan. 14, the price of the digital currency fell from $430 down to a low of $358 two days later. It now hovers around $380, according to Winkdex.
Viewed in this context, consolidation in the industry may look troubling. But Coinsetter CEO Jaron Lukasiewicz isn't concerned. "I’m bullish on bitcoin right now and believe we’ll see the price hit four-digits again," he tells Yahoo Finance. Perhaps that's easy for him to say: Coinsetter will shut down, and Lukasiewicz is moving on, likely following Hearn to the exit. ("For my next venture I am focused on starting or leading a team whose products are improving society... I’m not tied to any particular industry beyond that," he says.) The sale comes less than a year after Coinsettermade its own acquisitionof the Canadian-based bitcoin exchange Cavirtex—a deal that likely helped make Coinsetter an acquisition target itself.Benefiting from volatility
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell is less starry-eyed about the industry right now. "I think the market has not grown as fast as everyone anticipated," he says. "And the price has gone in the opposite direction of what people hoped. I think we’ll continue to see market consolidation. When the price is going up, new people are coming in, more media is covering it, it’s good news all around. When the price is going down, the public perception is bad, and everyone says bitcoin is crashing. The price is important in that aspect."
For a long time, many bitcoin believers insisted that the price isn't important. As long as it is relatively stable, they reasoned, startups can keep innovating and building useful applications on top of the blockchain. But for bitcoin exchanges, price matters: Most make their money from transaction fees, so they do best when there’s either a lot of volatility, or the price is high. When the price is stableandlow, exchanges suffer.
Leaving New York
Kraken, founded in 2011, is like a foreign exchange for digital currencies. Its customers are mostly professional traders executing margin trades and other advanced orders. It is not a site where beginners would go to casually dip a toe into the bitcoin market. Coinsetter, founded in 2012, offers Kraken the chance to instantly expand its customer base in Canada (from Cavirtex) and the U.S.
Except in New York. Kraken was one of the companies tocut off service in the statelast summer after the New York Department of Financial Services released the final version of the BitLicense, a regulatory framework for digital currency companies in New York that holds customers' funds. Many bitcoin entrepreneurs complained the framework was too strict and limiting, so rather than play ball, they left.
Coinsetter didn't leave New York. But under new management, it will now. "We’re going to shut down New York again right after the acquisition," says Powell. "So the Coinsetter New York clients will be out of an exchange there, unfortunately. Coinsetter did put in a BitLicense application, but when you have a change of control, the application is void, so we won’t be serving New York and we have no plans to apply for a BitLicense in the future."
In a sense, Powell is simply sticking to his guns, just like Hearn—except that the latter believes bitcoin has already failed, while the former believes it risks failure if there is over-regulation. Indeed, apart from the debate over block size, the industry's bigger battle will be over regulation. Many in the business are anxiously waiting to see whether other states will follow New York's lead and create their own form of a BitLicense. And while some companies stayed in New York and applied for a BitLicense (at high cost: Lukasiewicz says Coinsetter spent $50,000 to apply for one), others stayed in New York but did not apply, and continue to operate in uncertainty.
That concerns Powell. "There’s still not really regulatory clarity, and the banks still aren’t getting on board. They’re all about the blockchain these days, but they’re still not giving bitcoin exchanges bank accounts. So there are huge challenges with getting new exchanges started." He's right about the blockchain being a buzzword for big financial institutions: Everyone from JPMorgan (JPM) to the Nasdaq have talked up their interest in the blockchain while distancing themselves from the cryptocurrency that fuels it.
For now, Kraken gets bigger. It can compete more with the leading exchanges like BitInstant, Bitstamp, Coinbase and itBit, as well as brand new exchange platforms launched last year, including Abra, Align Commerce, and Gemini, an exchange launched by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, of Facebook fame.
"The issue for everybody in bitcoin right now," Powell says, "is if you started out a few years ago, say, in 2011, you thought that five years from now, it’s going to be flying cars, bitcoin everywhere, fiat currency will cease to exist. Clearly that didn’t happen, and bitcoin isn’t $10,000 a coin. I think a lot of companies created a structure that depended on a high price of bitcoin. When the price went from $1,000 to $200, they could no longer afford to finance their operation."
If the price drops further, expect to see more consolidation. And with so many different exchanges out there, it's inevitable more will roll up.
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Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.Read more:
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Why Apple, Uber are betting on Super Bowl sponsorship || New Study Shows Bitcoin Still Has A Long Way To Go: Bitcoin has gained notoriety quickly over the past few years, as more people become familiar with cryptocurrencies. While the majority of the public is still skeptical regarding the safety and security of the currency, bitcoin's user base has been growing. However, although bitcoin enthusiasts say the payment system has made major gains over the past few years, a new study shows the cryptocurrency is still widely misunderstood, even by those who use it. Limited Understanding A peer-reviewed study conducted by Janne Lindqvist of Rutgers Wireless Information Network Laboratory showed both users and non-users of the cryptocurrency have only a basic understanding of how bitcoin works and how safe it is to use. Related Link: Interest In Bitcoin Mining Returns For those who have yet to try bitcoin, the study indicated they worried about adopting the currency and saw setting up an account as too difficult. Users Misinformed Surprisingly, the study also showed that many of those who use bitcoin regularly also found the system difficult to understand. Not only were bitcoin users misinformed about the level of security bitcoin transactions provide, but they also struggled to wrap their minds around how bitcoin transactions are carried out. Government Backing Important Another factor from the study that garners attention was that both users and non-users were keen for further government intervention for Bitcoin. While users typically expressed anti-government views and said less regulation was important to them, they still said that backing from the government would make the bitcoin system more secure. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Under Armour's Partnership With IBM Could Revive Both Brands Can Bank Stocks Recover? A New Way To Advertise © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Meet Pine A64, a 64-bit quad-core supercomputer that costs just $15: As recently as a few short years ago, the notion of a fully functional “supercomputer” the size of a smartphone would have been thought ridiculous. And even if such a device did exist, it would have undoubtedly been priced well out of the reach of most users. Fast-forward to 2015 and we’ve seen incredible progress made in the single-board computer space. There is a full-fledged Windows 10 PC called the Kangaroo that’s the size of a phablet and costs just $99, and of course the Raspberry Pi was introduced at a shockingly low price point. Now, the company behind the Raspberry Pi pushed boundaries even further with the $5 Raspberry Pi Zero . But Raspberry Pi products aren’t as much about power as they are about breaking down barriers for entrepreneurs and engineers. This left an opening in the market for a new type of ultra-low cost computer that takes the spirit of the Raspberry Pi and injects it with a shot of adrenaline. Beginning today, a new single-board computer called Pine A64 will look to answer the call. MUST SEE: Remarkable new sensor chip pulls power out of the air so it never needs to be charged The new Pine A64 is a tiny little computer with great big ambitions. The expandable single-board device runs either Linux or Android and features impressive specs that outshine comparable products by a substantial margin. Highlights include a 1.2GHz quad-core ARM processor, a Mali 400 MP2 GPU, 512MB of DDR3 RAM, a microSDXC slot and support for 4K ultra high-definition video. More specs follow below. 64 Bit Quad Core ARM Cortex A53 1.2 Ghz CPU Dual core Mali 400 MP2 GPU 512MB DDR3 SDRAM MicroSD slot supports up to 256GB expansion 10/100 Mb Ethernet port (2) USB 2.0 hosts 4K high-definition video playback 4K x 2K HDMI port and multi-channel audio output Bluetooth 4.0 with 802.11BGN connectivity optional 3.5mm Stereo Output mini-jack with microphone support Built-in 3.7V Lithium Battery Charging Circuit Hardware security enables trustzone security system, Digital Rights Management (DRM), information encryption/decryption, secure boot, secure JTAG and secure efuse Story continues An upgraded Pine A64+ version bumps the device up to 1GB of DDR3 RAM and adds a 5-megapixel camera port, a MIPI video port and a touch panel port. “PINE64 set out to create a simple, smart and affordable computer that gives people access toward making their next big idea come to life,” PINE64 co-founder Johnson Jeng said. “We provide a powerful 64 Bit Quad Core single-board computer at an exceptional price and remain compatible with multiple open source software platforms to build a community of creativity and innovation.” Now, for the bad news — though it’s not as bad as similar announcements have been. The Pine A64 and Pine A64+ are part of a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, so you can’t actually purchase one right now. The good news, however, is that the campaign has a low finding goal of $31,416 that will undoubtedly be reached quickly. Better yet, both Pine models are ready for primetime and they will begin shipping to backers in about two months. Not in six months and not in a year, but in February. Pine A64 costs just $15 while the upgraded Pine A64+ model costs $19. More information can be found on the company’s Kickstarter page , and a video featuring Apple employee No. 12 Daniel Kottke is embedded below along with a spec grid that compares the Pine A64 and A64+ to the Raspberry Pi-2B and Pi-1A+. Related stories Verizon exec in charge of FiOS TV confesses that she cut the cord Bitcoin creator revealed to be Australian genius Craig Wright; subsequently has house raided by police 12 Days of Amazon Deals: Half off a 14-inch Core i5 laptop More from BGR: Apple’s secrets: How Apple’s legal fight with Samsung revealed a gold mine of top-secret information This article was originally published on BGR.com || Lead developer quits bitcoin saying it 'has failed': By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin slid by 10 percent on Friday after one of its lead developers, Mike Hearn, said in a blogpost that he was ending his involvement with the cryptocurrency and selling all of his remaining holdings because it had "failed". Hearn, one of five senior developers who has spent more than five years working on the web-based currency, said he would no longer be taking part in development. "Despite knowing that bitcoin could fail all along, the now inescapable conclusion that it has failed still saddens me greatly," Hearn said in his post on blog-publishing platform Medium. Along with Gavin Andresen, who was chosen by bitcoin's elusive creator Satoshi Nakamoto as his successor when he stepped aside in 2011, Hearn has been locked for months in a battle with the other lead developers over whether the "blocks" in which bitcoin transactions are processed should be enlarged. Each block currently has a capacity of one megabyte, which Hearn says is "an entirely artificial capacity cap", and allows a maximum of just three payments to be processed per second. In August, Hearn and Andresen released a rival version of the current software, called Bitcoin XT, which would increase the block size to 8 megabytes, allowing up to 24 transactions to be processed every second. While that is still a fraction of the 20,000 or so that Visa can process, it would increase every year, so that bitcoin could continue to grow. But the new software has not been adopted by the "mining" computers that secure the network, the majority of which are in China, according to Hearn. Hearn says the bitcoin network is about to run out of capacity as the volume of transactions increases. And when that happens, the network will become unreliable, with payments unable to be processed and vulnerable to fraud. "If an IT system runs out of capacity like that then all kinds of things go wrong – all hell breaks loose," he said in an interview with Reuters in late December. Story continues Hearn reckons the bitcoin community has "failed" in its governance of the crytocurrency's code. "What was meant to be a new, decentralised form of money that lacked 'systemically important institutions' and 'too big to fail' has become something even worse: a system completely controlled by just a handful of people," he wrote. SUDDEN DEPARTURE Just months ago, in August, Hearn told Reuters that whether or not Bitcoin XT was adopted, the crypocurrency would live on. "If we thought it might be the end of bitcoin, we wouldn't do it," he said then. Bitcoin was trading at around $390 on the itBit exchange (BTC=ITBT) by 2000 GMT, down from $430 before Hearn's blog post was published. In his December interview, Hearn said that when people realised that the bitcoin network was at breaking point, the price would fall. "The current price of bitcoin is supported almost entirely by people speculating on its future, in the assumption that this could be the money of tomorrow," he said. "So if the network starts to collapse, then a lot of people are going to look at it and say: well maybe we've miscalculated (its) future value." Hearn is now working for the R3CEV consortium of banks working on using the blockchain technology that underpins bitcoin in financial markets. Stephan Tual, the former chief operating officer of blockchain firm Ethereum, who now works at blockchain-based app developer Slock.it, also reckons bitcoin's future looks shaky. "Bitcoin is outdated technology - almost prehistoric by crypto standards," he said. "It's because of petty quarrels such as these that it hasn't been able to evolve in five years." Others were more upbeat. "I'm not ready to declare that Bitcoin has failed," wrote U.S. venture capitalist Fred Wilson. "Sometimes it takes a crisis to get everyone in a room... So if we are going to have a crisis, let's get on with it. No better time than the present." (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Ruth Pitchford) || SEC Targets Connecticut Bitcoin Companies: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged two Connecticut-based Bitcoin mining companies and their founder with running a Ponzi scheme that defrauds investors.
Homero Joshua Garza allegedly committed the fraud through two companies, one called GAW Miners and the other ZenMiner, by purporting to offer shares of a digital Bitcoin mining operation, according to the SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Connecticut.
The complaint describes “mining” for Bitcoin or other virtual currencies as applying computer power “to try to solve complex equations that verify a group of transactions in that virtual currency.” The first computer or collection of computers to solve an equation is awarded new units of that virtual currency.
Garza allegedly lied to investors about his companies’ ability to mine for Bitcoin. In a statement, the SEC said GAW Miners and ZenMiner in fact didn’t own enough computing power for the mining they promised to conduct, “so most investors paid for a share of computing power that never existed.”
In classic Ponzi scheme form, returns paid to some investors came from proceeds generated from sales to other investors, according to the SEC.
“As alleged in our complaint, Garza and his companies cloaked their scheme in technological sophistication and jargon, but the fraud was simple at its core: they sold what they did not own, misrepresented what they were selling, and robbed one investor to pay another,” said Paul G. Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office.
The SEC’s complaint charges that from August 2014 to December 2014, Garza and his companies sold $20 million worth of purported shares in a digital mining contract they called a Hashlet.
Investors were misled to believe they would share in returns earned by the Bitcoin mining activities when in reality Garza’s companies “directed little or no computing power toward any mining activity,” according to the SEC.
Garza and his companies allegedly sold far more computing power than they actually owned and paid out daily returns collected from other investors rather than from currency derived from “mining” for currencies. Most Hashlet investors never recovered the full amount of their investments, and few made a profit, the SEC said.
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• The 10 Biggest Strikes in American History || Ledger Fights For Bitcoin's Staying Power At CES 2016: The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is a chance for electronics and technology firms to debut their latest offerings and future prospects. Everything from self-driving cars to mind-blowing virtual reality sets have made their debut at CES, and each year the show tends to set the tone for what kind of tech will be big in the coming year.
This year, bitcoin startupLedgeris keeping the cryptocurrency in the spotlight by hosting the only bitcoin startup booth at the event.
Physical Bitcoin Storage
Ledger created a hardware wallet product in 2015 that provides customers with a safe and secure way to store and use their bitcoins. Ledger takes some of the worry out of using bitcoin by giving users a physical way to store bitcoins – a lightweight smart card. They can then use a USB to make secure payments, and the company offers a simple backup system that provides users with a microchip and pin code encrypted system in case they lose their card.
Related Link:Can The Bitcoin Foundation Last?
This year, Ledger is planning to exhibit new offerings at CES including a new technology that will strengthen the security of online authentication by reducing the reliance on passwords.
Bitcoin's Year
Ledger's presence at CES suggests that although bitcoin had a rough year in 2015, the cryptocurrency isn't dead yet. Concerns about privacy and security have increased skepticism about cryptocurrencies, making it difficult for bitcoin firms to push mainstream approval. However, many believe that as security improves and more and more vendors open up to the possibility of bitcoin transactions, the public will get on board.
Image Credit: Public Domain
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Global Arena Holding Demonstrates Continued Growth: NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Dec 2, 2015) - Global Arena Holding, Inc. (OTC PINK:GAHC), (the "Company") announced today that it has released its quarterly report for the period ending September 30, 2015. During this quarter the Company's subsidiary, Global Election Services, Inc. ("GES"), continued to show strong revenue growth while the Company has taken first steps toward acquiring Blockchain Technologies Corporation.
Read the full 10Q:http://biz.yahoo.com/e/151123/gahc10-q.html
For the nine months ended September 30, 2014, the Company recognized sales revenue of approximately $619,633, contributing to total sales of $887,016. The increase in recognized revenue -- $565,646 compared to revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 -- is principally due to the new business services of GES, which provides comprehensive technology-enabled election services primarily for organized labor associations. Overall however, the Company recorded a loss.
The Company CEO, John Matthews, said; "The losses in the third quarter are mainly due to the development of the Company through its subsidiaries. GES is currently the only operating company and it alone, at this time at least, cannot possibly support the current infrastructure. Higher than normal cost however, are attributed to professional fees concerning the due diligence and acquisition review of Blockchain Technologies Corporation."
Mr. Matthews continued; "Going forward, the elections company, GES, is on a pace to grow by over 50% and with the acquisition of Blockchain Technologies Corporation ("BTC"), it is our belief we will generate income from BTC's elections blockchain software, and that will give us the opportunity to increase profits further. The Company also will benefit from revenue generated from BTC when it provides technology to GES, which GES currently pays to 3rd party providers."
The Company is still in the process of completing its acquisition of Blockchain Technologies Corporation, which will bring with it several revenue producing companies and high potential patents. The losses this quarter are viewed as a temporary setback.
About Global Arena HoldingThe Company trades on the OTC Pink Sheets under the ticker symbol GAHC. The Company has been publicly traded since 2011 and holds a number of interests, including Global Elections Services, Inc., GAHI Acquisition Corp and Blockchain Technologies Corporation Inc. The Company focuses on acquiring technologies, patents and companies having the ability to leverage the blockchain crypto technology.
For more information visit:http://globalarenaholding.com
Twitter:www.twitter.com/GlobalArenaGAHCFacebook:www.facebook.com/GlobalArenaHoldingGAHCLinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/pub/global-arena-holding/107/86a/a7Google+:http://tinyurl.com/GlobalArenaHolding
Safe Harbor StatementThe Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements related to the future anticipated direction of the industry, plans for future expansion, various business development activities, planned or required capital expenditures, future funding sources, anticipated sales growth, and potential contracts. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the company. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those relating to development and expansion activities, dependence on existing management, financing activities, domestic and global economic conditions, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. || 5 Tech Trends To Watch In 2016: Tech is an ever-changing landscape that has provided investors and venture capitalists with an unending supply of "next big things." Over the past decade, Internet use has completely upended the way most companies do business and built an entirely new industry based on connecting people with each other. Now, with the tech space overflowing with new startups and great ideas, many investors are wondering where to place their bets in the year to come. Here's a look at five tech trends to watch in 2016. 1. The Internet Of Things Connected devices are expected to become a huge part of the future in the coming year as more companies work to give appliances, automobiles and even lightbulbs an Internet connection. The idea of connecting several aspects of life and being able to control them with the click of a button has grown in popularity, leading many to look into services like Hive, a system that remotely controls a home's heating system. On a larger scale, some cities are beginning to plan major overhauls that will allow residents to track things like real-time traffic and pollution levels and give planners the ability to regulate energy usage by installing remotely controlled lightbulbs and monitoring building conditions. Related Link: More Connections Means More Security Where To Look There are a wide variety of companies participating in the shift toward a more connected world. One firm that has been at the forefront of connected technology is International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM ). The firm recently an IoT "starter pack" that allows users to take readings from the environment using sensors attached to the device. The kit can be used on a small scale, for homeowners, or in a much larger capacity by a city planner. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO ) is another interesting play, as the company has also begun working on smart city planning involvement. The company has already to provide automated solutions that connect important city functions in major places like Barcelona and Hamburg. Story continues 2. Wearables Wearable technology took off in 2015 when Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) entered the space with the highly anticipated Apple Watch. Competing products like Jawbone's UP and FitBit's activity trackers also saw a rise in popularity as more consumers began to focus on living a healthier, active life. However, just because this year was a big one for the wearables market doesn't mean the opportunity to jump on board is over. Many believe that wearable technology is still in its infancy and that new and improved devices will help the trend expand even further. At the moment, the idea that a smartwatch can do things like direct a wearer to the correct grocery aisle is novel, but many believe that the technology will expand to do even more impressive things in the future. Related Link: Research And Markets: Wearables Generating The Next Wave Of Personal Finance Experiences Where To Look The obvious pick for wearable devices is Apple, as the company has established itself as a leader in new consumer technology. The Apple Watch arguably put wearable devices on the map this year, and many believe that new versions due out in the coming months will attract even more fanfare. However, for investors looking even further into the future, companies like SAMSUNG ELECT LTD(F) (OTC: SSNLF ) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC ) may be good bets. Samsung has a new line of circuit boards that are about the size of postage stamps, making them ideal for use in things like fitness trackers. The company is expected to use the boards in its own line of products, as well as selling them on to other firms interested in using them in wearables or connected appliances. Intel similarly a bite-size computer chip that the company believes will make an impact on the wearables market. The firm says that watches are only the beginning of the trend and that its computer chips could be used in clothing designed to track the wearer's biometrics. 3. Big Data It should come as no surprise that big data will remain a huge part of corporate strategy in the coming year. The advent of cloud computing has given companies the ability to pull together and analyze huge data sets in order to run their business more effectively. Everything from comparing best practices to analyzing medical conditions has benefitted from improvements in data analysis, and that practice is only expected to become more commonplace in the coming year. A conducted by the analyst firm Gartner showed that over 75 percent of companies are planning to invest in big data over the next two years. Gartner researchers said the research's findings illustrated big data research itself is becoming the norm among most companies as they work to improve things like customer experiences and cut down on costs. Related Link: Harte Hanks Launches Data Refiner Platform Where To Look When it comes to big data, companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) have a massive advantage, because the volume of customers using their service to shop, watch movies and listen to music has created a valuable store of data allowing for more accurate targeted marketing. However other companies like International Business Machines and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ) also offer interesting investment opportunities, as those firms offer services that allow companies to make better use of their data collection by mining and analyzing customer data. So far, IBM appears to be a leader in this industry, as the firm offers developers and businesses a popular suite of products to help them manage big data. 4. 3D Printing 3D printing is a controversial tech trend that some say has been over-hyped during the past few years. While that may be true, 3D printing technology has come a long way recently, and many believe that 2016 could be its breakout year. The technology has proven most useful in specific capabilities, such as providing replacement parts for machinery or helping engineers create scalable models. However, new use-cases for 3D printing have started to crop up, leading many to believe that the industry will continue growing in the New Year. NASA has said that 3D printing technology could prove useful on missions into space; the devices have already been used to print tools for astronauts aboard the international space station. 3D printing technology has also changed to allow for printing , something that could revolutionize medical testing. Related Link: Add 3D Printing To Your Portfolio With These Stocks Where To Look Investors who are interested in tapping into the 3D printing space often look to firms like Stratasys, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS ) or 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE: DDD ). Stratasys has been a market leader in the 3D printing space, as the company has already sold and installed thousands of devices that generate a steady revenue from replacement sales. 3D Systems has a much smaller reach, but the firm offers a wider variety of printers that are able to cater to several different industries something that could give the firm a leg up as more and more businesses see a need for 3D printing technologies. 5. Cybersecurity With the pace of technological innovation rapidly increasing, the need for security has risen dramatically. A spate of high-profile hacking attacks and data leaks over the past year has raised awareness among both consumers and CEOs of the importance of a comprehensive security program. Consumers are using the Internet for everything from banking transactions to controlling their heating system, and the growing number of connections means threats to companies' databases is rising as well. Related Link: Adding Some Volatility To The Cybersecurity ETF Trade Where To Look When it comes to investing in cybersecurity, there is a plethora of options. For investors looking to benefit from increasing interest in cybersecurity on the whole, an ETF like PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (NYSE: HACK ) could be a good play. The fund tracks a range of different companies and gives investors exposure to the industry as a whole. For a more targeted route, some investors are looking into companies like NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ: NXPI ). NXP is the company responsible for the security behind Apple Pay, making it a valuable investment for those who see interest mobile payment ballooning over the next year. Image Credit: See more from Benzinga 7 Of The World's Most Famous Corporate Rivalries 5 Things To Consider When Preparing For A Santa Claus Rally Bitcoin Seeks To Right Music-Industry Wrongs © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Trade Options? Here's How To Get Involved In Bitcoin: By now, Bitcoin needs no introduction. The digital asset has become the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, and people are already getting used to using it and trading it every day.
But, are there other ways to capitalize from the fluctuations of the currency? An innovative way to trade the popular cryptocurrency uses binary options.
The Playbook
Do you think the Bitcoin will continue to surge? Or will it lose value going forward?
Whatever your thoughts on the issue are, binary options might offer an interesting way to play the events with relatively low collateral.
Related Link:Think Energy Has More Downside? Here Are Two Ways To Play It
What Are Binary Options?
Investing via binary options is just that: playing a binary event. “Binary options are limited risk contracts based on a simple yes/no market proposition like will the markets go up by the end of the trading week,” binary options trading site Nadex .
How To Trade Bitcoin With Binary Options
Via binary options, traders can partake in the popular Bitcoin market with “limited risk, short-term contracts in a transparent, regulated marketplace.”
At Nadex, investors can find unique daily and weekly Bitcoin binary option contracts, based off the Tera Bitcoin Price Index.
Below is an example of how to trade Bitcoin using binary options.
A standard Bitcoin Binary Option may look something like: Bitcoin > 440 (3:00PM)
This means that this contact suggests the underlying price of Bitcoin will be above $440 at 3:00 p.m. If you think the answer is yes, buying the binary option might be the way to go. If you think the answer is no, you would sell the contract.
Investors should note that the price at which they would buy or sell the contracts is not the actual price of Bitcoin, but rather a value between zero and 100.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.
Image Credit:
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Interest In Bitcoin Mining Returns: While markets around the world suffered significant turbulence this week, bitcoinclimbed6 percent.
The cryptocurrency is well known for its wild swings in valuation, but many say the digital currency is back on a more stable path and could prove a worthwhile investment in the New Year. In 2015, bitcoin fell as low, as $183 as confidence in the cryptocurrency's staying power waned. However, on Thursday, bitcoin was trading at $429, a significant increase.
Mining Returns
With bitcoin on the upswing, bitcoin mining has begun togain popularityonce again, according to Bloomberg.
Related Link:Mike Tyson Dives Deeper Into Bitcoin
When cryptocurrencies were first introduced, miners set up their computers to solve complex problems and be rewarded with the release of new coins. As the value of bitcoin went up, so did the profitability of bitcoin mining. However, last year as bitcoin prices plummeted, the number of miners significantly declined as the cost to buy hardware and pay electric bills to run the machines outweighed the rewards.
Now that bitcoin has made its way higher, mining efforts are increasing – especially among those who bought the necessary hardware last year, but haven't been able to make use of it.
A Risky Business
While mining is gaining popularity once again, many caution that bitcoin's price isn't the only factor that drives profitability for miners. This year, bitcoin's software will reduce the number of coins that miners receive for mining activities by half, something that could have an impact on the time it takes to recoup investment costs.
Not only that, but bitcoin's price is far from stable. In past years, bitcoin's wild swings in value have proven that it is difficult to predict whether the cryptocurrency will be able to continue trading at current levels, making investing in mining equipment a bit of a gamble.
Image Credit: Public Domain
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
LIVE: Profit = $763.30 (9.08 %). BUY B20.41 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $449.64 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || In the last hour, 10 people won 1.00 BTC playing Bitcoin lottery at http://10xbtc.com , the easiest BTC lottery, 160BTC Jackpot || €140,00 Tesla Bought for #Bitcoin in Finland: The most expensive Bitcoin sale involving a… http://short.4bc.co/Qp- pic.twitter.com/c52usZJsQx || Be judicious, buy your bitcoins at https://Bittylicious.com/refer/2465 £304.00 per BTC. (BPI +3.9%) #buy #bitcoin #banktrans || $413.00 at 14:15 UTC [24h Range: $396.50 - $422.98 Volume: 19339 BTC] via #btcusdpic.twitter.com/zqnAmtBAaf || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 13 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $80.23 #bitcoin #btc || Aktueller #Bitcoin Preis: 357.00 Euro: via #coinpreis
#BitcoinPrice #BTC #EURpic.twitter.com/Z7SSQ0XgVT || Goedkoopste Nederlandse aanbieder op dit moment is Clevercoin (http://www.bitcoinweb.nl/kopen-clevercoin …) - 408.00 Euro/bitcoin - http://www.bitcoinweb.nl/prijzen-bitcoins-vergelijken/ … || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$458.64/$458.96 #Bitstamp
$454.00/$454.75 #BTCe
⇢$-4.96/$-3.89
$459.99/$460.00 #Coinbase
⇢$1.03/$1.36 || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 12 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $265.16 #bitcoin #btc
|
Trend: no change || Prices: 379.47, 378.26, 368.77, 373.06, 374.45, 369.95, 389.59, 386.55, 376.52, 376.62
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2021-01-04]
BTC Price: 31971.91, BTC RSI: 81.80
Gold Price: 1944.70, Gold RSI: 69.76
Oil Price: 47.62, Oil RSI: 57.32
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Here's How Much Investing $1,000 In Bitcoin On Jan. 1, 2020 Would Be Worth Now: Bitcoin and its strong performance has been one of the biggest investing stories of 2020. Investors continue to pour more money into cryptocurrency. Here’s how well bitcoin performed in 2020.
Bitcoin Performance:Bitcoinhas surged in price and hit all-time highs in December.
Investors who put $1,000 in bitcoin on Jan. 1, 2020, would have been able to purchase .13966 bitcoin based on astarting priceof $7,160.
Bitcoin traded at $23,605 on Dec. 23, which would make that .13966 Bitcoin worth $3,296.67. That represents a return of 230% on the original theoretical investment.
The SPDR S&P 500(NYSEARCA: SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 and is one of the most popular ETFs, is up 15% in 2020.
The performance of bitcoin in 2020 has outpaced the broader market and popular large caps likeApple Inc(NASDAQ:AAPL) andAmazon.com(NASDAQ:AMZN), which have year-to-date gains of 80% and 75%, respectively.
Shares ofTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) are up over 660% in 2020, beating the performance of bitcoin.
Lolli, which rewards consumers with bitcoin for shopping, tweeted that putting a $1,200 stimulus check into bitcoin would be worth $4,146 as of Dec. 22.
Related Link:8 Stocks To Play Bitcoin’s Resurgence
Stock Performance:Many of the stocks associated with bitcoin have surged in 2020, including miners and cryptocurrency trading platforms.
TheGrayscale Bitcoin Trust(OTC:GBTC), which offers investors exposure to bitcoin, is up 271% in 2020 and has seen large inflows.
MicroStrategy Incorporated(NASDAQ:MSTR) has made headlines in 2020 forputting its cashinto bitcoin and also raising money to buy additional bitcoin. The company has spent over $1.1 billion in 2020 on bitcoin and now owns 70,470 bitcoin.
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© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Simplex Launches Banking Solution for Global Businesses: Cryptocurrency fintech Simplex has announced the launch of an online crypto banking solution called Simplex Banking. The new financial tool aims to expand the ability of global businesses to operate in the cryptocurrency space by providing digital bank accounts licensed in the European Union.
The new solution bySimplexcreates a unique personal IBAN (International Bank Account Number) for each account, representing the same level of regulatory security one would find in a physical banking institution.
The move is expected to help Simplex onboard businesses and sole traders from across the European market, while the Asian market, which remains a hotbed of cryptocurrency activity, is also highly sought after.
The Simplex Banking account offers a free Visa debit card for cryptocurrency users, provides support for more than 45 cryptocurrencies, and incurs no monthly management fees. Simplex also promises no maximum limits on purchases, and guarantees no chargeback fees. Its new product is likely to prove popular with businesses that ship globally, as it will support low-cost currency exchange, and the ability to send and receive funds using a range of digital payment options.
Simplex CEO Nimrod Lehavi said the product launch was the culmination of efforts which have seen the firm push to break new ground since it commenced operations in 2014. Lehavi said:
“Simplex has forged new methods of enabling mainstream adoption of crypto assets, through the seamless and safe purchase of cryptocurrencies with credit and debit cards. Simplex Banking is the natural expansion of our offering, fiting the growing needs of the market, namely to easily buy and sell crypto assets, safely, with no maximum limits and a range of payment options.”
Analysis of banking trends in 2020revealed the number of Americans who primarily operate an online bank account jumped 67% from January into July alone. That number may well have been boosted by the panic incurred by the coronavirus crisis, however the fact remains that 6% of Americans now do all of their banking online.
The tidal shift to the online realm is evidenced by such statistics, and is accelerated greatly within the sub-realm of cryptocurrency and blockchain. Yet as users shun traditional finance in favour of crypto, the established finance giants are refusing to give up ground so easily.
Online payments giant PayPal (PYPL) announcedin Octoberthat it would enter the cryptocurrency market by allowing the purchase and sale of digital currencies for users of its service. PayPal also provides a cryptocurrency storage service for Bitcoin, as well as other leading digital currencies Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.
Simplex is now emerging as a neobank alternative that can compete with the likes of Monzo, Neteller, and PayPal. Through its network of exchange and lending partners, Simplex is able to onboard users using SEPA and SWIFT as well as off-ramping through them. Simplex Banking will also allow JCB, CUP, and Yandex as payment methods in the near future. The service, which has been running in beta for several weeks, has processed more than €1M in deposits.
Disclosure: None. Insider Monkey News Department isn’t involved in the production of this article. || US Company Now Lets Travelers Pay for Passports With Bitcoin: Peninsula Visa, a firm providing passport and visa services in the U.S., says it now accepts payments in bitcoin.
• Peninsulasaid Wednesdaythe payments will be processed through Coinbase Commerce, the merchant payments arm of the cryptocurrency exchange.
• Not all services are included; currently, customers can usebitcointo fund passport renewals, name changes and second passports.
• Other passport and visa services will be included in the program over the next year, the firm said.
• “Never before has anyone been able to pay for a U.S. passport using a digital currency,” said Evan James, chief operating officer at Peninsula Visa.
• With the coronavirus pushing the world to be increasingly digital, bringing in the new payment options now “feels like the right move at the right time,” he added.
Also read:Coinbase’s Retail Payments Wing Crosses $200M in Transactions
• US Company Now Lets Travelers Pay for Passports With Bitcoin
• US Company Now Lets Travelers Pay for Passports With Bitcoin
• US Company Now Lets Travelers Pay for Passports With Bitcoin
• US Company Now Lets Travelers Pay for Passports With Bitcoin || Bitcoin Is Exploding But Still Losing Out To A Smaller Cryptocurrency: While Bitcoin is in the limelight for crossing the psychologically-important $18,000 mark, another coin has outpaced the weekly gains made by the apex cryptocurrency. What Happened: Yearn Finance (YFI), a decentralized finance (DeFi) coin, gained 15.93% in the 7-day period leading up to press time beating Bitcoins gains of 14.48%. Yearn Finance, launched in February, is an aggregator service for investors and allows DeFi investing and yield farming. YFI gained 4.76% in a 24-hour period reaching $21,513.89, nearly rivaling the 5.77% gains made by Bitcoin. The DeFi cryptocurrency had reached $41,382.98 on Sept. 14 before plunging as low as $9,014.91 on Nov. 6. YFI has appreciated nearly 139% since then till press time. A trader, who goes by the pseudonym Benjamin Blunts, said before the coins $40,000 rally that it would reach the near $50,000 mark. The current market cap of YFI is nearly $650.21 million. Why It Matters: YFIs surge was led by a perfect storm as strong technicals, new products, yield farming, and growth in the popularity of DeFi liquidity pools buoyed the cryptocurrency, Cointelegraph reported. There are 30,000 YFI tokens in circulation and Yearns creator Andre Cronje did not set aside any for himself. However, more YFI can be minted, according to CoinDesk. I think the no inflation meme is here to stay, according to Tarun Chitra, a member of Yearns multisig an equivalent to the board of directors. Tarun told CoinDesk there are other ways for the system to monetize. Price Action: YFI traded 4.76% higher at $21,513.89 at press time while Bitcoin traded 5.77% higher at $17,599.77. Related Link: Sushi-Inspired Cryptocurrency Surged 331% In 1 Week Of Launch Then, The Founder Cashed Out See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Elon Musk Doles Out Advice To Maisie Williams On Whether She Should 'Go Long On Bitcoin' As Bitcoin Nears K, A Citibank Analyst Projects 0K Levels Next Year © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || First Mover: Wells Fargo Bitcoin Briefing Could Signal Bull Run Intact: Bitcoin was lower for a second day, dropping below $19,000 after bulls failed to push prices past the psychological $20,000 threshold. “The overly confident market has been dampened,” the Norwegian crypto-market analysis firm Arcane Research wrote Tuesday in a report. In traditional markets , European shares slid, led by travel-related companies, and U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open as investors worried over the impact of rising coronavirus case numbers. The British pound weakened for a third day as optimism over a Brexit breakthrough faded, according to Bloomberg News. Gold was little changed at $1,863 an ounce. Market moves Related: Bitcoin Dissidents: Those Who Need It Most One theme comes up repeatedly in conversations with crypto insiders: just how fast the industry is moving. Even jaded pros are sometimes astonished (and annoyed) at how much new information they have to process each day. Contrast that dynamic with the pace of progress in the U.S. stock market, where lately economic stimulus seems to be the only real thread in the news. There are reports of proposed stimulus bills from Congress , speculation over who might benefit most from stimulus and analysis on whether the stimulus is already priced in . Even last week’s disappointing report on U.S. jobs growth served to drive up stock prices, based on the topsy-turvy logic the prospects for more economic stimulus had increased . Bitcoin prices have stagnated around $19,000 since surging last week to a new all-time high, yet the industry developments show no signs of slowing. Monday alone brought news of the cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex looking to list tokenized versions of stocks like Apple, Amazon and Tesla and an announcement by the digital-asset fund Arca of new custodial support for a tokenized U.S. Treasury bond fund. On the regulatory front, G7 finance ministers during a closed-door virtual session reportedly discussed the need to implement new rules for digital currencies , perhaps looking to slow things down. Story continues There has certainly been no slackening in the pace of newcomers from traditional finance nudging into the crypto space or simply commenting on the bitcoin craze . Related: Blockchain Bites: Square's Green Bitcoin Pledge, $15B AUM in Crypto Funds On Monday, a unit of Wells Fargo, the giant (and, at least for the past several years, beleaguered ) U.S. bank, published a seven-page report devoting a full page to bitcoin . “Cryptocurrency investing is a bit like living in the early days of the 1850s gold rush,” according to the report from the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “As we roll into 2021, we’ll be discussing the digital-asset space more – its upside and downside.” That’s an explicit indication that even more attention is coming the way of cryptocurrencies, not less, as the calendar year rolls over. But it turns out that bitcoin itself isn’t moving particularly quickly, at least by the historical standards of the underlying blockchain network. And that might be a bullish indicator. On Monday, First Mover dug into one cryptocurrency fund’s analysis of whether bitcoin has climbed too far, too fast , or if the rally is just getting going. (ICYMI: Projected growth in the blockchain network suggests a price of $51,611 to $118,544 in five years , as valued under Metcalfe’s Law.) Another firm, Coin Metrics, which specializes in blockchain data analysis, noted in a recent report that it tracks a measure known as “1-year active supply.” This is the proportion of total bitcoin supply transferred over the blockchain network over the past year. “As BTC price rises, an increasing amount of dormant supply typically starts to become active as long-term holders sell or move their BTC,” Coin Metrics wrote, using the trading symbol for bitcoin. “Conversely, when BTC price is low for extended periods of time, 1-year active supply percent tends to drop as investors hold through crypto winters.” Recently, the 1-year active supply percentage appears to have ticked up slightly, climbing from a low of 36.5% reached in early September. But the metric is still below 40%, and well off the 59% reached in early 2018, in the wake of bitcoin’s last bull run to nearly $20,000. That might indicate there’s little appetite among bitcoin holders to take profits just yet. And it means that newcomers might have to pay up if they want to get in. – Bradley Keoun Bitcoin watch Bitcoin is on the offer this Thursday morning alongside losses in the European stock markets. The top cryptocurrency is trading well below $19,000, representing more than a 2% drop on the day, having faced multiple rejections near $19,400 in the past 48 hours. Risk sentiment has soured with fading prospects of the U.K.-European Union trade deal; major European indices are down 0.3% and futures tied to the S&P 500 are pointing to a negative open. Bitcoin’s repeated failure to keep gains above $19,000 and evidence of investors liquidating at current levels is forcing some analysts to reassess bullish positioning. “We are leaning bearish here and beginning to unwind some long exposure in bitcoin and DeFi selections,” said Patrick Heusser, a senior cryptocurrency trader at Zurich-based Crypto Broker AG. “The reasoning is on some technicals and how the spot market is structured, with large orders at around the lifetime high.” The pullback could gather steam if risk aversion in global stock markets worsen, giving a lift to the safe-haven U.S. dollar. That’s because the cryptocurrency’s price moves have roughly mimicked those of global equity markets, while moving in the opposite direction from the dollar index, since the March crash. The 40% rally seen in November came alongside impressive gains in global equities and a sell-off in the U.S. dollar. As such, it is too early to say that bitcoin has become resilient to a potential sell-off in equities – or a rebound in the dollar. The global macro trade of sell-dollars-and-buy-everything-denominated-in dollars is still very much active. If the dollar bounces due to stock market sell-off or any other factor, the cryptocurrency could suffer a notable price pullback. Support is seen at $18,500 (Dec. 5 low) followed by $18,000 (psychological hurdle), and $16,200 (50-day SMA). Resistance is located at $19,400 (Sunday-Monday high), $19,920 (record high). – Omkar Godbole What’s hot MicroStrategy plans to sell up to $400M in a convertible senior notes sale to fund more bitcoin allocations ( CoinDesk ) How one bitcoin options trader turned $638K into $4.4M in 5 weeks ( CoinDesk ) Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters says creation and adoption of digital currencies is “absolutely inevitable” ( CNBC ) G7 officials stress need to regulate digital currencies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says in statement ( CoinDesk ) Crypto exchange Bittrex lists tokenized Apple, Amazon, Tesla stocks for trading ( CoinDesk ) Switzerland’s SIX stock exchange joins venture opening up digital assets to Swiss banks ( CoinDesk ) Institutional investors put $429M into cryptocurrency funds and products during week ended Dec. 7, second highest on record, pushing sector’s AUM to record $15B ( Reuters ) Arca reaches deal with Anchorage, Gemini, Komainu, Ledger and TokenSoft to get support for tokenized U.S. Treasury-bond fund ArCoin, marking “first time a registered digital security can be widely stored (managed, self-managed, third-party managed and self-custody) by multiple digital custody providers” ( Cision ) Decentralized computing platform Blockstack gets Stacks token declassified as a security, making it tradable in U.S. ( CoinDesk ) MobileCoin, cryptocurrency project advised by Signal founder, goes live with trading on FTX exchange ( CoinDesk ) Analogs The latest on the economy and traditional finance Business coronavirus liability-shield compromise remains elusive in relief-bill talks ( Politico ) Europe seeks to boost pandemic-damaged economy by spending ( WSJ ) Juiciest stock market gains may already be priced in, with valuations at lofty levels, especially since “shareholders of airlines, shopping-mall owners and travel companies will be using a big chunk of future profits to pay for the debt needed to survive 2020, columnist James Mackintosh writes ( WSJ ) Shares of Chinese companies on U.S. blacklist fall as index eviction looms ( WSJ ) Demand for corporate bonds drives inflation-adjusted yields to zero ( WSJ ) Tweet of the day Related Stories First Mover: Wells Fargo Bitcoin Briefing Could Signal Bull Run Intact First Mover: Wells Fargo Bitcoin Briefing Could Signal Bull Run Intact || The Crypto Daily – The Movers and Shakers – January 1st, 2021: Bitcoin , BTC to USD, rose by 0.18% on Thursday. Following a 5.74% rally on Wednesday, Bitcoin ended the day at $28,938.5. It was a bullish start to the day. Bitcoin rose to an early morning intraday high and a new swing hi $29,286.0 before hitting reverse. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $29,467, Bitcoin slid to an early afternoon intraday low $27,557.0. The pullback saw Bitcoin fall through the first major support level at $27,802 before finding support. Late in the day, Bitcoin briefly revisited $29,150 levels before falling back to end the day at sub-$29,000 levels. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, supported by the latest breakthrough to $29,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $13,659 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was another mixed day on Thursday. Polkadot surged 27.85% to lead the way, with Ripple’s XRP (+3.82%) also joining Bitcoin in the green. It was a bearish day for the rest of the majors, however. Litecoin led the way down, sliding by 4.37%. Binance Coin (-1.78%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-2.14%), Crypto.com Coin (-1.54%), and Ethereum (-2.02%) also struggled. Cardano’s ADA (-1.03%) and Chainlink (-0.07%) saw relatively modest losses on the day. In the current week, the crypto total market cap fell to a Tuesday low $678.76bn before rising to an early Friday high $776.82bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $770.69bn. Bitcoin’s dominance fell to a Monday low 69.13% before rising to a Thursday high 71.55%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 71.01. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 1.38% to $29,388.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin fall to an early morning low $28,716.0 before rising to a new swing hi $29,488.0. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was another mixed start to the day. Bitcoin Cash SV and Polkadot were down by 0.50% and by 3.53% to buck the trend early on. Story continues It was a bullish start for the rest of the majors. At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was up by 6.39% to lead the way. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to avoid a fall through the pivot level at $28,594 to bring the first major resistance level at $29,639 back into play. Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $29,488.0. Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $30,000 would likely cap any upside. In the event of another extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could test resistance at $30,500 before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $30,322. Failure to avoid a fall through the $28,594 pivot would bring the first major support level at $27,902 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$27,500 levels. The second major support level sits at $26,865. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Quiet Last Day of The Year NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Closing Price Reversal Top May Be Indicating Momentum Shift AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Nearest Support .7649, Next Upside Target .7812 GBP/USD Weekly Price Forecast – The British Pound Looking to Break Out Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Rise but fall 50% for the Year Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Quiet Heading Into 2021 || Kookmin Bank Bets Big on Crypto with New Partnerships: Kookmin Bank (KB), the largest of South Korea's four main banks, just became the latest banking giant to make its foray into the rapidly developing cryptocurrency space, with an investment into Korea Digital Asset (KODA) — a new digital asset management company. According to Cho Jin-Seok, Kookmin Bank’s Head of IT Technology Innovation Center, the new join-venture will allow KB to launch its digital asset custody services and more in less than a year. Beta Service to Launch This year The new collaboration comes in combination with several other major crypto firms, including #Hashed , the leading crypto fund and accelerator in South Korea, and Haechi Labs, a Seoul-based blockchain wallet development firm. Both #Hashed and Haechi Labs also made strategic contributions to KODA. As per Korean news outlet DDaily , Kookmin Bank is expected to be the first banking entity in South Korea to launch its own digital asset custody service, which is made possible thanks to its joint venture with KODA. Although the bank plans to begin by launching crypto custody, anti-money laundering (AML), and OTC trading services early next year, it also intends to target crypto deposit, lending, and payments services shortly thereafter. The bank is set to begin rolling out crypto custody-related services for institutional investors as soon as possible, while a beta service for corporate users is set to be unveiled this month. Image: #Hashed CEO Simon Kim with representatives of KB Kookmin Bank The move comes shortly after KB formed a strategic partnership with #Hashed. As part of the collaboration, the two firms are set to "advance the emerging market for digital assets in South Korea," and build out the technology stack that will help the solutions to make digital assets more accessible. During his presentation titled 'Digital Assets and DeFi from the Financial Industry' at 'THE CONFERENCE 2020' Cho Jin-Seok also highlighted a potential interest in moving into the emerging world of decentralized finance (DeFi), stating: “I think that if the existing traditional financial sector in the institutional sector covers the DeFi service, which is insufficient, the risks of DeFi can be covered. Story continues KB Made Early Moves The adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology by the banking and enterprise sector has long been considered one of the biggest roadblocks to the widespread usage of cryptocurrencies. But KB has been one of the most active banks in Asia on this front. In January, Kookmin Bank applied for a trademark called KBDAC (Kookmin Bank Digital Asset Custody). The trademark, which is still in consideration, covers over 20 areas relating the cryptocurrency industry, including the trading of popular digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as well as virtual settlement services against fiat currency. "By creating an ecosystem of the digital asset market, we will discover innovative services with market participants and create growth opportunities together," said a spokesperson for the bank. The cryptocurrency market has witnessed a dramatic recovery after a shock crash that also rocked the stock market in March this year. Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ), Ethereum ( ETH-USD ), and XRP ( XRP-USD ) have all gained between 160% and 350% against the dollar year-to-date (YTD), eclipsing the gains seen by even the best performing stock indices, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) and NASDAQ Composite ( ^IXIC ). This renewed interest has seen banks the world around reconsider their stance on digital assets, while around 80% of central banks are now actively working on or exploring the possibilities of their own central bank digital currency (CBDC). Disclosure: No positions. This Op-Ed is written by Reuben Jackson . Insider Monkey News Department isn’t involved in the production of this article. || Bitcoin price tanks from near all-time high: Bitcointanked Thursday as its price came within striking distance of an all-time high.
The price of bitcoin was trading at $17,185, down $794, or 4.42%, at 7:15 a.m. ET. The cryptocurrency hit an overnight low of $16,581.20.
Thursday's selloff comes after the cryptocurrency during the prior session touched a high of nearly $19,391, just 0.54% below its all-time closing peak of 19,497.
“Volatility is really baked into the cake when it comes to bitcoin,” said Mati Greenspan, founder of Quantum Economics, a Tel Aviv-based project for helping people understand financial markets. “These type of sizable corrections have occurred quite frequently in all of her major bull runs. It's the markets way of shaking out traders with weak hands and/or too much leverage.”
BITCOIN NO MATCH FOR GOLD IN CORONAVIRUS WORLD
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization at more than $321 billion, has had a strong 2020, gaining 160% through Wednesday.
The cryptocurrency’s price has benefitted, along with other risk assets, from monetary and fiscal stimulus that has been deployed all over the world to combat the economic damage caused by lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.
“We remain bullish as ever and still feel that a fresh all time high is possible before Christmas,” Greenspan said.
BITCOIN RALLY CATCHES WALL STREET, HOLLYWOOD'S ATTENTION
The allure of bitcoin’s price surge has caught the attention ofHollywood starsand previously skeptical Wall Street investors.
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller earlier this monthtold CNBCthat he bought bitcoin due to its potential as a “store of value.”
Also getting in on the bitcoin frenzy was “Game of Thrones” star Maisie Williams, who took to Twitter for her investing advice. She bought the cryptocurrency despite more poll respondents telling her not to do so.
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While bitcoin seems to be gaining popularity with the masses, there are still plenty of skeptics, including Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund with $98.9 billion in assets.
He recently argued the cryptocurrency’s volatility means it is not a store of value and that it has little correlation with the prices of goods, meaning owning it “doesn’t protect” buying power, among other things.
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• Target Adds Private Bathrooms to Quell Transgender Debate || Amiti Uttarwar: Building Bitcoin’s Future: Amiti Uttarwar opened Bitcoin’s code and froze.
She was no stranger to programming languages. Studying information systems at Carnegie Mellon, she spent the first few years after graduation as full-stack developer for Silicon Valley startups. She was proficient in a half-dozen coding languages and had worked for five tech companies in her nascent career. She was working for Coinbase at the time.
This article is part of CoinDesk’sMost Influential 2020– a list of impactful people in crypto chosen by readers and staff. The NFT of the art, byOsinachi, is available for auction atThe Nifty Gateway, with 50% of the sale going to charity.
Related:Hayden Adams: King of the DeFi Degens
But she had never read code like this.
“At first I was in disbelief,” she told CoinDesk. “It’s an insanely intimidating project.”
On Peter McCormack’s “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, she likened her baptism into Bitcoin Core – Bitcoin’s primary software version – as more of an introduction to Babel than a revelation.
“Is this Arabaic? What do I do here? I was endlessly opening files going, ‘cool, cool, cool,’” she said, describing her first experience with Bitcoin Core.
Related:Balaji Srinivasan: The Man Who Called COVID
She doesn’t remember what led her to dip her toes into Bitcoin Core – or, as the backpacking Uttarwar would likely analogize, take the first step from the trailhead. But she does recall thinking whatever trail Bitcoin took her down would be a short trek, not a multi-year exploration.
“At the time it just seemed another small thing I was learning about. I had no idea that it would blow up into my career and my passion,” she said.
Four grants, hundreds of Github commits and aForbes “30 Under 30” profilelater, she was surely wrong about that. The first known woman to contribute to Bitcoin Core, she’s also the first woman to receive funding to work on Bitcoin Core full time. And she’s spending this opportunity to do more than improve Bitcoin’s code – she’s also mentoring the young, promising minds of Bitcoin’s next generation of developers.
Her meteoric success as one of Bitcoin Core’s first fully funded developers – and as one of its brightest new minds for development and mentorship – earned her a spot in CoinDesk’s Most Influential list for 2020.
Amiti Uttarwar, 28, was born to Indian-American immigrants into the burgeoning, buzzing techno-metropolis of 1990s Silicon Valley, California. After elementary school and high school she attended The Harker School, a renowned college prep school founded in San Jose in 1893.
For college, she would study information systems at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, spending her summers interning for a handful of tech startups. Returning home from Pennsylvania after receiving her degree, Uttarwar’s graduation threw her into Silicon Valley’s electric, break-it-until-you-make-it startup scene.
She began her career as a full-stack developer, a term for a general-purpose position, which meant she “did what needed to be done” (and is a catch-all title Uttarwar “doesn’t really like”). Cutting her teeth at Wanelo, a commerce app marketed toward Generation Z patrons, she would move on to Simbi, an invite-only marketplace for freelancers where payment is made in time and skills, not money.
A bit bohemian and a bit experimental with its approach to invoicing, Simbi was more in tune with Uttarwar’s own values than Wanelo, but she still wasn’t fully absorbed in her work.
This was during 2017, a time when Bitcoin was tearing through all time highs and “suddenly everyone in San Francisco was working in ‘the blockchain scene,’” she said in a Forbesinterviewthis summer. Eventually her own interest was piqued. Her first point of contact was a TED talk on blockchain and then (naturally) the Bitcoin white paper, authored by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Having entered Bitcoin’s orbit, it wasn’t long before she was sucked in.
I realized I couldn’t go back to a normal job.
“I was never the type of person to do professional work outside of my job. I was the type of person who was like, ‘I have my job, and I’m happy that it ends.’
“In my free time I spend time in the mountains or play guitar [which are] more balancing activities. Falling down this rabbit whole was the first time I found myself devoting my free time to something so close to my work.”
She began watching as many technical videos on Bitcoin as she could. Commuting home from work, she would sit on the BART – San Francisco’s transit system – with her eyes glued to her smartphone, another TED talk or explainer video dancing in technicolor on the screen.
Her days became programmatic, precise. Not unlike Bitcoin itself, her every move was dictated by mathematical exactness. Every ticking second was planned, optimized and executed intentionally. Rise, eat, work, learn, sleep, repeat.
“I got ultra cerebral about optimizing my life,” she told CoinDesk with a laugh.
What was driving Uttarwar further down the rabbit hole was unlike any motivation she had encountered so far in her young career as a developer.
“I was shocked at how much energy I had. I could spend an entire day at work and still want to look at Bitcoin code,” she expressed, saying how her social calendar soon became filled up with meetups at Stanford and Berkeley Bitcoin and blockchain clubs.
This was at the same time as the 2016-2017 initial coin offering (ICO) boom and Uttarwar was “reading a lot of white papers, some of which were bulls**t,” she commented wryly. It was in these academic environments that she was exposed to the “more legitimate projects” and to the “fundamentals” underpinning Bitcoin.
From here, her curiosity was aroused even more and her focus became “How can I get closer?”
The answer came from a lesson in perseverance.
Uttarwar applied for a job at Coinbase, one of the hottest startups in a blooming crypto industry, shortly after she was not accepted into a 2018 residency at Chaincode Labs, a summer program in New York where promising Bitcoin developers research and develop with guidance from Chaincode’s engineers.
While there, she was involved in a number of projects, including, in her words, the “definitely stressful … high-stakes” job of helping with a mammoth $1 billion transfer of Coinbase funds from an old “cold wallet” (an offline storage technique) to a new one.
All the while, she continued to research and learn until eventually her passion would outgrow her paycheck. On a pivotal night for her career, she met Bitcoin Core developer and educator John Newbery at a developers dinner.
She had laughed off the notion that she could work on Bitcoin Core full time, but Newbery wasn’t joking.
“John Newberry created an opportunity, broke it down for me into related achievable steps. Once on-boarded, I was able meet new people, reach out, discuss ideas. Having that initial boost of confidence and some guidance for where to channel my initial efforts was enough to get me started and going.”
Once she started, she “seized the opportunity obsessively,” she said.
She received permission from her supervisor to take a sabbatical for a spot in Chaincode Lab’s coveted Bitcoin residency.
No need for a third time. After being rejected the first go around, Uttarwar made the cut for Chaincode’s 2019 residency.
At last, Amiti Uttarwar was finally getting closer. And after a summer laboring in the cryptic bowels of Bitcoin’s code, she returned to Coinbase when the residency was finished and knew her calling was working on Bitcoin in an open-source environment.
“I realized I couldn’t go back to a normal job. I realized that this is what I want to spend all my time doing right now,” she said.
She quit Coinbase in September of 2019 and threw herself into Bitcoin Core once again. It wasn’t long before she found a benefactor in Xapo, a crypto wallet and banking services company.
Today, she’s still a free agent, and she’s still attracting funding. OKCoin and BitMEX jointly granted her$150,000 this yearto continue her work on transaction relay privacy and automated testing procedures for code development.
Uttarwar is one of the fortunate few of Bitcoin Core’s top echelon of coders who have received grants for their work. For the majority of Bitcoin’s short history, developers have worked on its open-source software on a volunteer basis. It hasn’t been until recent years that core developers have been paid to maintain and improve Bitcoin’s code.
2020 has been a watershed year for open-source Bitcoin development grants. The Human Rights Foundation has funded Chris Belcher, Gloria Zhao and others, and has secured more funding for 2021 from donors like Gemini. Other exchanges such as BitMEX and OKCoin have consistently funded developers since 2018. Square Crypto, the research and development arm of Jack Dorsey’s Square, has funded more than half a dozen developers. Other Bitcoin companies, including Blockstream and Chaincode Labs, have been funding Bitcoin development since the early days.
Developers with access to funding, however, are definitely in the minority. Plenty of others work on Bitcoin Core or other Bitcoin software without hope of remuneration. Even the lucky ones who are funded are making less than they might if they worked for a tech company.
Uttarwar, who is taking a “big pay cut” by working on Bitcoin, said there’s “no strong financial incentive” to undertake the laborious and inglorious work of Core development.
The drive to do it, then, is the same thing that kept Uttarwar up at night researching when she still had her 9-to-5 job: raw passion.
Perhaps this is why, as she says, “The hardest hurdle to overcome is the emotional one.”
“Core development requires a solid understanding of the self and sustaining your intention which requires a lot of emotional regulation,” she continued.
For those working on core full time, it’s “easy to get overwhelmed” and burned out. Bitcoin’s code is complex and making changes is a long, painstaking process.
Take Uttarwar’s projects, for example. One of these, a privacy improvement for how nodes relay transactions, has been more than a year in the making, all while working on another project for automating code tests.
Bitcoin Core contributors take their time with changes to ensure that any updates to the software are backward compatible – or, to ensure that older versions and new versions can still function with one another.
Because user optionality is always at the forefront of the design process, changes are made slowly, methodically and through a rigorous peer review process.
When you spend months – or years – working meticulously on code that is then picked over for some months more by the most brilliant minds in Bitcoin’s development, it’s easy to see how it can get personal.
“It’s this really meritocratic community that’s discourse oriented. But at the same time, this thing is emotional. Code is tangible, but contributing is still nebulous. You have to match up ‘what is valuable’ with ‘what is achievableby me.’ It’s a deeply complex program, and you have to have the emotional bandwidth to believe you can see it through. It’s easy to be timid and it’s easy to be arrogant.”
To recuperate from such a draining process, Uttarwar says spending time in natural settings helps her reenergize.
So when she’s not coding, she’s trail hiking or off-trail hiking – she likens the latter to Bitcoin Core development. Unlike hiking on a trail, you have to chart a path for yourself and simultaneously execute that path.
This freedom, to work on whatever you want, is a privilege. But it’s also “existential,” Uttarwar said – like approaching a 14,000-foot mountain or a 100-mile hiking trail.
“It’s insane to look at Mt. Whitney [the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S.] and say, ‘Let’s go to the top of that!’ It takes time, practice and persistence.”
Uttarwar embodies the steadfast attitude needed to tackle such monumental tasks, both in her professional and her personal life. A few years ago she was afraid of the cold; now, she’s picked up ice climbing. At that fateful dinner with John Newbery, she wrote off her ability to contribute to Core; now, she’s working on Bitcoin full time with her third and fourth grants. She even has her own school of mentees now who, like her in those earlier days under Newbery, are searching for guidance through Satoshi’s labyrinth.
She challenges her mentees to find ways they can “joyfully contribute” to Core, aligning their development goals with their aptitude and interest.
Lest these young developers regress into burnout, striking this balance is important to retain talent.
When CoinDesk asked if anyone can do what she does, Uttarwar, ever the humble optimist, said that “if the will is there, it can be done.” But she reminded us there’s more work to be done than just technical. There’s educational work and the “social layer” that requires attention.
“I can’t imagine working on anything else. It feels like I’m just getting started,” she said of her career as a Bitcoin developer and mentor.
And it’s a good thing she’s sticking around. Her enthusiasm and infectious smile flush the daunting, mechanic world of Bitcoin’s code with warmth and affability. She inspires us to get to work, and reminds us why we have a reason to have a positive outlook while doing it.
“I think that with Bitcoin we have this huge opportunity to redefine wealth,” she said. “That goes beyond what a protocol can do; that’s about how a society adopts a tool. I think there’s this opportunity to make it better.
“A global money is inevitable. And Bitcoin is the most interesting experiment in global money because it is inclusive by design. It’s important for bitcoin to exist as an alternative. We’re already seeing people around the world who opt for this alternative when the traditional systems fail them, so I hope to strengthen it.”
• Amiti Uttarwar: Building Bitcoin’s Future
• Amiti Uttarwar: Building Bitcoin’s Future || Why a $631B Asset Manager Just Changed Its Mind on Bitcoin: In a research note intended for clients, investing giant AllianceBernstein says it changed its mind on bitcoin’s role in asset allocation.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.com,Nexo.ioand this week’s special product launch,Allnodes.
Related:First Mover: Short Shrift for XRP Token's 169% Price Surge as Traders Obsess Over Bitcoin
Download this episode
• Libra is now “Diem”
• Christine Lagarde comes down on private stablecoins
• Dow closes its best month in 33 years
Yesterday, CoinDesk received access to a private client research report from AllianceBernstein, a global investment giant with more than $631 billion in assets.
In this episode of the Breakdown, NLW reads excerpts from the memo and discusses:
• Why, in discussing supply, it conflatesbitcoinand other cryptos but still finds limited supply “for all practical purposes”
• Why prevailing macro political conditions – particularly the growth of government’s role in business and individual lives – shifted the investment firm’s calculus
• Why its greatest long-term concern is government banning something that is actively hindering the application of monetary policy
See also:Investment Giant AllianceBernstein Now Says Bitcoin Has Role in Investors’ Portfolios
Related:XRP Led November's Crypto Bull Run With 169% Gain
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• Why a $631B Asset Manager Just Changed Its Mind on Bitcoin
• Why a $631B Asset Manager Just Changed Its Mind on Bitcoin
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 33992.43, 36824.36, 39371.04, 40797.61, 40254.55, 38356.44, 35566.66, 33922.96, 37316.36, 39187.33
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
HIVE Blockchain Provides June 2022 Production Update: This news release constitutes a “designated news release” for the purposes of the Company’s prospectus supplement dated February 2, 2021 to its amended and restated short form base shelf prospectus dated January 4, 2022.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V:HIVE) (Nasdaq:HIVE) (FSE:HBFA.F) (the “Company” or “HIVE”) is pleased to announce the production figures from the Company’s global Bitcoin and Ethereum mining operations for the month of June 2022, with a BTC HODL balance of 3,239 Bitcoin and 7,667 Ethereum as of July 6, 2022.
June 2022 Production Figures
HIVE is pleased to announce its June 2022 production figures and mining capacity:
• 278.5 BTC Produced
• 2.17 Exahash of Bitcoin mining capacity at beginning of June
• Increased to 2.24 Exahash of Bitcoin mining capacity during the month of June, and 2.0 Exahash at the end of June some miners were temporarily taken offline and are the process of being swapped out for higher efficiency miners and layout optimization
• 2,542 ETH Produced*
• 6.26 Terahash of Ethereum mining capacity at beginning of June
• 6.0 Terahash of Ethereum mining capacity at end of June, some miners were taken offline temporarily for layout optimization due to higher summer temperatures
*The Company’s production of ETH from GPU mining (including selective optimizations of GPU hashrate) has yielded a total ETH production of 2,542 ETH
Frank Holmes, Executive Chairman of HIVE stated “HIVE is experienced in managing the recent volatility since we were the first digital asset mining company to go public in 2017 and have experienced both price surges and massive downdrafts or “crypto winters” before and have strived to maintain a strong balance sheet of Bitcoin and Ethereum which is completely unlevered. The Company maintains its business as a cash flow positive enterprise, without any significant debt (aside from a long-term real estate mortgage from Canadian bank with less than 4% interest), and no equipment financing on any of our ASIC and GPU fleet. In June we produced an average of 14.0 Bitcoin Equivalent per day, comprised of approximately 9.0 BTC per day and our Ethereum production. We are pleased to note that as of today, we are producing approximately 9.4 BTC a day in addition to approximately 90 Ethereum per day. We are seeing the ‘Great Unwind’ of highly leveraged Proof of Stake fin-tech companies that represented themselves as modern crypto lending platforms. This unwind is causing selling pressure in the crypto markets at large. We see how the abuse of leverage without regulation, which is endemic in Proof of Stake projects, causes volatility. We believe imprudent ‘crypto cowboys’ have created a situation akin to the Long Term Capital Management LP (LCTM) crisis of 1998, yet this time without a Federal Reserve to bail them out.”
It reminds of 2017 during the ICO craze when tokens were being launched only to crash and burn in 2018 and the last crypto winter ended Feb 2019. These cycles are filled with new innovation and aggressive players. We are cautious, seeking out opportunities and remain firm in our belief that Bitcoin and Ethereum will survive to thrive again after all the over-leveraged players are forced out of business.
Aydin Kilic, President & COO of HIVE noted “We continue to strive for operational excellence, ensuring that as we scale our hashrate as a company we also optimize our uptime, to ensure ideal Bitcoin and Ethereum output figures.” Mr. Kilic continued, “We also would like to provide an update on the BTC and ETH equivalency, where one can equate value of the coins produced daily. As such the ETH that HIVE produced during the month of June, equated on a daily basis, is approximately equal a monthly total of 142.3 BTC, which we refer to as Bitcoin equivalent or BTC equivalent. This is in addition to the 278.5 BTC produced from our Bitcoin mining operations during June, for a total of 420.8 Bitcoin equivalent.”
The Company’s total Bitcoin equivalent production in June 2022 was:
• 420.8 BTC Equivalent Produced
• 14.0 BTC Equivalent produced per day on average
• 3.2 Exahash of BTC Equivalent Hashrate (BTC hashrate plus equivalent ETH Hashrate) as of June 30), although the Company’s BTC equivalent hashrate peaked at 3.5 Exahash during the month, towards the end of the month some miners were taken offline for layout optimization
Coin Strategy
Over the past year we have been strategically selling some of our ETH holdings to fund the expansion of our BTC footprint, and brought our ETH position which was once at over 25,000 ETH to its current position of 7,667 ETH. We sold most of our ETH at much higher prices and made the wise choice to avoid lending-out our ETH to earn a yield because many of these lending schemes have gone bankrupt. During these challenging times in the market cycle that we are experiencing, we remain committed to our expansion plans. These plans will be funded through the selling of our current production of BTC and ETH, while striving to maintain our BTC inventory levels. Darcy Daubaras, CFO of HIVE stated, “We are able to undertake this strategy and maintain coin inventory levels as a result of keeping a strong balance sheet position and never having entered into any agreements whereby our coin holdings have been staked, put up as collateral, or otherwise put at risk of being called by another party to cover a position due to the current decline in the price of crypto currency.” Mr. Daubaras continued, “This conservatism has put us in a favourable position to be able to continue our strategic growth in a controlled and manageable manner.”
Network Mining Difficulty
The Bitcoin network difficulty increased 1% during the month of June, although corrected by -2% towards the end of the month, thus ending the month 1% lower than the beginning of the month. The Ethereum network difficulty, both increased and decreased by margins of approximately 4% during the month of June. Although the average difficulty was consistent with levels seen at the end of May. These factors impact our gross profit margins.
About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. went public in 2017 as the first cryptocurrency mining company with a green energy and ESG strategy.
HIVE is a growth-oriented technology stock in the emergent blockchain industry. As a company whose shares trade on a major stock exchange, we are building a bridge between the digital currency and blockchain sector and traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art, green energy-powered data centre facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland, where we source only green energy to mine on the cloud both Ethereum and Bitcoin. Since the beginning of 2021, HIVE has held in secure storage the majority of its ETH and BTC coin mining rewards. Our shares provide investors with exposure to the operating margins of digital currency mining, as well as a portfolio of cryptocurrencies such as ETH and BTC. Because HIVE also owns hard assets such as data centers and advanced multi-use servers, we believe our shares offer investors an attractive way to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency space.
We encourage you to visit HIVE’s YouTube channelhereto learn more about HIVE.
For more information and to register to HIVE’s mailing list, please visitwww.HIVEblockchain.com. Follow@HIVEblockchain on Twitterand subscribe toHIVE’s YouTube channel.
On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.“Frank Holmes”Executive Chairman
For further information please contact:Frank HolmesTel: (604) 664-1078
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release
Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. “Forward-looking information” in this news release includes, but is not limited to, business goals and objectives of the Company; and other forward-looking information concerning the intentions, plans and future actions of the parties to the transactions described herein and the terms thereon.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the volatility of the digital currency market; the Company’s ability to successfully mine digital currency; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory as required, or at all; a material decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Company’s operations; the volatility of digital currency prices; continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s performance as supply chains are disrupted and prevent the Company from carrying out its expansion plans or operating its assets; and other related risks as more fully set out in the registration statement ofCompany and other documents disclosed under theCompany’s filings atwww.sec.gov/EDGARandwww.sedar.com.
The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions about the Company’s objectives, goals or future plans, the timing thereof and related matters. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. || FOREX-Euro just off two-decade low, volatility highest since March 2020: * Euro just off its two decade low * Rising risk appetite support the single currency * Swiss Franc hovering around 7-year high vs euro * Aussie dollar up on commodity prices rebound * Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Adds comments, background) By Stefano Rebaudo July 7 (Reuters) - A pullback in the dollar offered the euro some respite, allowing it to edge away from two-decade lows reached this week after surging energy prices fanned recession fears. Risky assets, including the euro, managed gradual gains on Thursday as investors grappled with the risks of a recession and a potential pause in interest rate hikes. European Central Bank minutes about its June policy meeting failed to affect the forex market. Meanwhile, implied volatility remained near its highest levels since late March 2020 at 11.2%, reflecting a nervous market while investors look at the parity between the single currency and the dollar. "Parity is within reach, and one can expect the market to want to see it now," said Moritz Paysen currency and rates advisor at Berenberg. The euro rose 0.1% to 1.0194 after hitting a two-decade low at 1.01615 on Wednesday. According to George Saravelos, global head of forex research at Deutsche Bank, "if Europe and the U.S. slip-slide into a recession in Q3 while the Fed is still hiking rates, these levels (0.95-0.97 in EUR/USD) could well be reached." "The two key catalysts to mark a turn in the USD embedded in our forecasts are a signal that the Fed is entering a protracted pause in its tightening cycle and/or a clear peak in European energy tensions via an end to Ukraine hostilities," he said. The dollar index - which measures the value of the currency against six counterparts - slipped 0.2% to 106.86, pulling away from Wednesday's peak of 107.27, a level not seen since late 2002. Commodity-linked currencies strengthened as copper prices climbed. Some investors returned to the market on Thursday after heightened recession fears sent the red metal to its lowest level in nearly 20 months. Story continues A Bloomberg News story, citing unnamed sources, said China mulled $220 billion stimulus with unprecedented bond sale. "We saw a pretty muted reaction to the headline about China's stimulus plan, even for offshore yuan," said Roberto Mialich, forex strategist at Unicredit. "We remain cautious about growth in China while we see commodity-linked currencies recovering today along with commodity prices," he added. The offshore Chinese yuan was up 0.1% against the dollar to 6.705. The Australian dollar rose 0.8% to 0.6841 against the U.S. dollar after recently hitting its lowest since June 2020 at 0.6762. The Swiss Franc eased from its seven-year high, down 0.2% at 0.9909. Earlier this week, inflation staying above the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) 0-2% target range for the fifth month fuelled talk that the central bank could soon tighten its policy again. Last month it hiked its policy rate for the first time in 15 years. The SNB has signalled it is prepared to see the Swiss franc strengthen to choke off imported inflation. Sterling was unchanged after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would resign. It was up 0.5% at $1.1977. Analysts said the pound was mostly moving on broader economic concerns about a global recession, rather than Britain's political turmoil. Bitcoin fell 0.7% and was last trading at $20,402. Ether fell 0.8% to 1,176. (Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Tomasz Janowski) || Celsius Pays Off Last DeFi Loan, Reclaims Nearly $200M of Wrapped Bitcoin From Compound: Celsius Network, the embattled crypto lender that is facing liquidity troubles, fully paid off its remaining debt to the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Compound, freeing up nearly $200 million of pledged collateral. The firm paid down $50 million to Compound early Wednesday and reclaimed 10,000 wrapped bitcoin ( wBTC ), a bitcoin-replica token retrofitted for the Ethereum blockchain. The wBTC stake is worth about $195 million at current prices. Data on the blockchain transaction tracer Etherscan shows that a wallet linked to Celsius transferred 50 million DAI tokens – MakerDAO's dollar-pegged stablecoin – to Compound in two instances . After the down payments, Compound released 6,900, then 3,100 wBTC tokens to Celsius that had been locked up on the protocol as collateral. After that, Celsius transferred 10,000 wBTC to the same unlabeled wallet address where the firm's 416,000 stETH stake – some $435 million at current prices – ended up the day before. The maneuver followed a similar treasury-management tactic that Celsius used recently to fully pay off and close its loans from the DeFi lending protocols Aave and Maker. The loans on these protocols are overcollateralized, meaning the borrower has to lock up more digital assets in value than the loan's value. Paying off overcollateralized loans is theoretically a net positive for Celsius's liquidity because the move unlocks more assets in value than what is needed to pay down the loans. Celsius is among the crypto lenders crippled by the recent liquidity crisis among crypto firms. The Department of Financial Regulation in Vermont, a U.S. state, alleged the lender is "deeply insolvent." The firm suspended withdrawals, cut jobs and hired restructuring advisers. However, Celsius has been making good on its debt to DeFi protocols. Since the start of July it has paid back $223 million to Maker, $235 million to Aave and $258 million to Compound. As a result, it reclaimed more than a billion dollars worth of its crypto assets, mostly in wBTC and a type of ether ( ETH ) derivative token called stETH , which had been stuck on the protocols as collateral. Story continues After paying down the Maker loan, blockchain data showed that the firm sent almost $500 million wBTC previously reclaimed as collateral to the crypto exchange FTX. Celsius paid off its remaining $50 million debt to Compound in two instances, which released 10,000 wBTC, $195 million of worth at current prices. (Nansen) UPDATE (July 13, 21:13 UTC) : Added 4th graf with information about the firm's latest wBTC transaction and 10th graf about previous wBTC transfer to FTX. || US Mortgage Rates Jump on US Inflation Numbers: In the week ending July 15, mortgage rates bounced back from a two-week slump. 30-year fixed rates jumped by 21 basis points, partially reversing a 40-basis point tumble from the previous week to end the week at 5.51%. Year-on-year, 30-year fixed rates were up by 263 basis points and by 57 basis points since the November 2018 peak of 4.94%. Economic Data from the Week US inflation figures contributed to the upswing in mortgage rates. In June, the US annual rate of inflation accelerated from 8.6% to 9.1%. Economists had forecast a rate of 8.8%. The pickup in inflationary pressures, together with the nonfarm payroll figures, led to the talk of a 100-basis point rate hike later in the month. However, fears of an economic recession limited the rise in mortgage rates that failed to reverse losses from the week prior. Freddie Mac Rates The weekly average rates for new mortgages, as of July 15, 2022, were quoted by Freddie Mac to be : 30-year fixed rates jumped by 21 basis points to 5.51%. This time last year, rates stood at 2.88%. The average fee held steady at 0.8 points. 15-year fixed rates surged by 22 basis points to 4.67% in the week. Rates were up by 245 basis points from 2.22% a year ago. The average fee remained unchanged at 0.8 points. 5-year fixed rates increased by 16 basis points to 4.35%. Rates were up by 188 basis points from 2.47% a year ago. The average fee decreased from 0.4 points to 0.2 points. According to Freddie Mac, Mortgage volatility persisted as economic growth slowed due to fiscal and monetary policy. With rates at their highest in over a decade, house prices at elevated levels, and inflation hitting consumers, affordability remained the main issue for homebuyers. Mortgage Bankers’ Association Rates For the week ending July 8, 2022, the rates were : Average interest rates for 30-year fixed with conforming loan balances remained unchanged at 5.74%. Points fell from 0.65 to 0.59 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. Average 30-year fixed mortgage rates backed by FHA fell from 5.60% to 5.49%. Points increased from 0.89 to 1.08 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. Average 30-year rates for jumbo loan balances decreased from 5.28% to 5.25%. Points decreased from 0.44 to 0.38 (incl. origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. Story continues Weekly figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell by 1.7% in the week ending July 8. The Index decreased by 5.4% in the week prior. The Refinance Index increased by 2% and was 80% lower than the same week one year ago. In the previous week, the Index slid by 8%. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased from 29.6% to 30.8%. In the previous week, the refinance share declined from 30.3% to 29.6%. According to the MBA, While mortgage rates were relatively steady, applications fell for a second week in a row. High mortgage rates and the weaker economic outlook weighed on applications. Average purchase loan sizes were in decline, weighed by the prospect of slower home price growth and weaker purchase activity at the upper end of the market. For the week ahead It is a quiet week ahead on the US economic calendar. Housing sector numbers are due out in the first half of the week. Weak housing sector data could weigh on mortgage rates, with little else for the markets to consider. On the monetary policy front, the Fed entered the blackout period on Saturday to sideline monetary policy chatter until the July policy decision. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Tremors from earthquake felt in San Salvador – Reuters witness US Mortgage Rates Jump on US Inflation Numbers Bitcoin (BTC) Fear & Greed Index on the Border of the “Fear” Zone Biden disputes Saudi account of Khashoggi murder discussion China’s monetary policy has ample room to meet challenges – state media XRP Price Prediction: EMAs Signal an XRP Breakout to Target $0.37 || Block slides as drop in bitcoin revenue dents 2nd-quarter earnings for the Cash App parent: Block founder and CEO Jack Dorsey. Marco Bello/Getty Images Block shares fell Friday after the company said it took a $36 million impairment charge related to its bitcoin investment. Bitcoin fell nearly 60% in Q2, struggling during the so-called crypto winter for digital assets. Bitcoin revenue generated at Cash App fell by 34% from a year ago. Block shares fell Friday after the payments processing company took a second-quarter impairment charge related to bitcoin's crash during the so-called crypto winter for digital assets. Shares fell 5.1% to $85.13 as Friday trade got underway. The stock this year through Thursday had lost around 44%, and had dropped by 67% over the past 12 months. Block recorded a $36 million impairment charge "due to the observed market price of bitcoin decreasing below the carrying value during the period," which ended June 30, the company said late Thursday . It had no impairment charges in the first quarter ended March 31. Bitcoin's price tumbled by nearly 60% between the end of March and the end of June, wrapping up the second quarter at roughly $20,320. The cryptocurrency on Friday traded above $23,000. Bitcoin has been knocked back from an all-time high above $68,000 set in November 2021, contributing to the plunge in the crypto market's value from its height above $3 trillion to $1.1 trillion. Falling stock prices, regulatory concerns and bankruptcies at some crypto firms have weighed on the market. Block's Cash App, which allows users to invest in bitcoin and stocks, generated bitcoin revenue of $1.79 billion, down by 34% from the year-ago period. "The year over year decrease in bitcoin revenue and gross profit was driven primarily by a decline in consumer demand and the price of bitcoin, related in part to broader uncertainty around crypto assets," more than offsetting the benefit of bitcoin's price volatility, said Block, which is run by founder Jack Dorsey. Total net revenue at Block fell by 6% to $4.4 billion but beat the $4.33 billion consensus estimate from FactSet. Excluding bitcoin revenue, Block said total net revenue rose by 34%, or $662.2 million. Adjusted earnings of $0.18 a share were higher than the $0.16 a share anticipated by analysts. Read the original article on Business Insider || Crypto community split on Treasury’s Tornado Cash sanctions: Recent U.S. sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash have sparked a debate within the crypto community on whether the ban compromises users’ ability to operate anonymously. Earlier this week, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Tornado Cash for helping hackers launder over $7 billion worth of virtual currency. The agency said the mixer service allowed cyber criminal groups, including North Korean-backed hackers, to use its platform to launder the proceeds of cyber crimes. The Treasury’s decision has the crypto community split — proponents of the service argue that the sanctions violate their right to privacy, while critics say the ban is a way to discourage criminals from using the platform to hide and launder illicit funds. “In an effort to punish hackers and cybercriminals, Treasury just made a clumsy attempt to sanction Tornado Cash, an open source protocol,” wrote Lia Holland , the campaigns and communications director at Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group. Cryptocurrency mixers like Tornado Cash have become popular in recent years as crypto investors turned to the service to make their transactions anonymous and harder to trace by mixing their funds with others on the blockchain. Holland explained that regular transactions recorded on the blockchain are permanent, public and easily traceable, which made investors turn to mixers for better privacy. “Anonymity is not a crime, and there are many legitimate reasons to seek anonymity in financial transactions,” Holland said. For instance, she said using mixers could protect the identity of activists in authoritarian countries where exposing their financial information could get them imprisoned or executed. Holland added that the Treasury should focus on pursuing cyber criminals instead of sanctioning the tool they use to launder illicit proceeds. “This is a rough equivalent to sanctioning the email protocol in the early days of the internet, with the justification that email is often used to facilitate phishing attacks,” she said. Story continues Jake Chervinsky, head of policy at the Blockchain Association, recently said on Twitter that the sanctions may have opened a Pandora’s box, alluding to the potential for similar bans in the future. “There’s good reason why sanctions have always applied to entities, not technology,” Chervinsky said. “Treating Tornado Cash as an ‘entity’ makes little sense.” Meanwhile, critics of crypto mixers say they simply shouldn’t exist because they harbor criminal activity that often goes undetected and is harder to trace. “I look at [the sanctions] as a way to prevent some of those incentives for people to commit these types of crimes against enterprises,” said Bryan Daugherty, a certified cryptocurrency investigator and the public policy director at the Bitcoin Association. Daugherty added that crypto mixers are often used by criminal groups to obfuscate illicit funds and doesn’t see why non-criminal users would want to run the risk of using the same platform other than being anonymous. By using mixers, “you will run the risk of contaminating your legally-gained coins with somebody else’s illegally-gained coins,” Daugherty said. He added that it’s important to distinguish between privacy and anonymity in this context. He argued that investors should be able to operate with privacy on the blockchain where the public cannot identify, trace or access any users’ financial information, except for law enforcement if it has probable cause to do so. In the case of anonymity, the identity is completely hidden, which makes it harder even for the government to trace the transaction, Daugherty said. “You’re just incentivizing crime by being able to create anonymity,” he added. However, he did acknowledge that developers should improve privacy on the blockchain but not to the extent of allowing users to be anonymous like they have been on Tornado Cash and other crypto mixers. In Monday’s announcement, the Treasury Department said that the Lazarus Group, a state-sponsored hacking group tied to North Korea, used Tornado Cash to steal more than $455 million in cryptocurrency, the largest known virtual currency theft to date. The U.S. sanctioned the group in 2019. The agency also disclosed that Tornado Cash was used to launder more than $96 million of illicit cyber funds originating from the Harmony bridge heist , and at least $7.8 million from the Nomad crypto theft . “Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, earlier this week. A senior administration official said during a background call to reporters that the sanctions against Tornado Cash are the latest action the U.S. has taken to crack down on North Korea’s ongoing illicit use of cryptocurrency. Treasury sanctioned another crypto mixer, Blender.io, in May, alleging that it was used to launder money from hackers backed by North Korea’s government. A recent report from Chainalysis, a blockchain data firm, found that the use of crypto mixers reached an all-time high in 2022, with state-sponsored actors and cybercriminals making up a large portion of users. In 2022, illicit addresses account for 23 percent of funds sent to mixers, up from 12 percent in 2021, the report found. “Overall, if we label cybercriminal organizations with known nation state affiliations, we can see that these groups make up a significant and growing share of all illicit cryptocurrency sent to mixers,” the report said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Reverses Course, Pushes Higher, $21K Is ‘Point of Control’: Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded on Wednesday, advancing 1.7% to above $23,300, ending a streak of five consecutive negative days.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has surpassed its 50-period exponential moving average (EMA) of $23,214.50, and is within earshot of its 10-period EMA as it crossed above the 50-period EMA as well.
This article originally appeared inMarket Wrap, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter diving into what happened in today's crypto markets.Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
Prices going above a moving average and moving average crossovers are seen as bullish signals.
BTC prices held firm despite a bit of industry turmoil, as solana (SOL) wallets were exploited in amultimillion-dollar hack. It appears that the negativity around the exploit has been contained to just SOL, as the token’spricefell 3% on Wednesday.
In traditional markets, the S&P 500 rose 1.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.4% and 2.6%. Traditional markets are being pushed higher by an unexpected increase in July services PMI, as well as by a strong earnings report from vaccine marker Moderna.
On the altcoin front,avalanche (AVAX) rose by 4%, andpolkadot (DOT)increased by 3%.
●Bitcoin (BTC): $23,434+1.9%
●Ether (ETH): $1,651+0.5%
●S&P 500 daily close: 4,162.44+1.7%
●Gold: $1,782 per troy ounce+0.6%
●Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.75%+0.007
Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found atcoindesk.com/indices.
Bitcoin pushed higher albeit on lower-than-average trading volume. Volume last exceeded its 20-period moving average on July 29. The importance of trading volume is connected to evaluating the “strength” or conviction or both behind a price move. Higher volume often indicates more confidence in what direction an asset's price is headed.
BTC appears to have entered an uptrend after it hit lows on July 13. An extension of the trendline implies a move higher to $25,000, though that shouldn’t be interpreted as a price target in isolation. As mentioned above, BTC prices have moved above both their 10- and 50-period moving averages, while the moving averages themselves appear to be poised to “cross.”
Meanwhile, the Visible Range Volume Profile tool provides insight into where volume has clustered, specific to individual price points. This tool illustrates trading activity over a period of time and across specific price levels, while highlighting “points of control.”
The point of control, which is illustrated by the red line in the chart below, represents price levels where a substantial amount of price agreement exists. That in turn is often interpreted as showing levels of support or resistance. BTC is showing the largest amount of price agreement at about $21,000, with the next high volume node at $30,000.
BTC’s relative strength index (RSI) advanced slightly to 59, and is often used as a proxy for price momentum. There is also a visible uptrend in RSI since it hit a bottom in June.
On-chain data indicates a decline in the put-call ratio for BTC below 0. The put-call ratio shows the volume of puts divided by the volume of calls traded in options contracts over the most recent 24 hours.
Because puts represent the option to sell bitcoin, and BTC calls represent the option to buy, a decline below zero implies that more calls than puts are being purchased. More calls being purchased is viewed as a bullish sign.
Despite what appears to be growing sentiment that the Federal Reserve may slow the pace of rate increases this year, San Francisco Fed President Mary DalystatedTuesday that inflation is “nowhere near” almost done, and that she was “puzzled” by bond market activity that implies that rates will be reduced.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans offeredsimilar thoughts,indicating that he would be on board for a large rate hike at the Fed's meeting in September.
Evans, however, appears to hold that view only if inflation wasn't improving. He also indicated that 50 basis points would be a “reasonable assessment.”
• Solana's SOL Token Holds Price Support Despite Hack:Early Wednesday, an unknown attackerdrainedat least $5 million of SOL and other tokens from Solana digital wallets. However,SOLheld on to a critical support level.Read more here.
• Chileans Take Refuge in Stablecoins Amid Economic Turmoil:Residents are turning tostablecoinsto protect their assets from recent record inflation and the increasing devaluation of the peso. Local crypto exchanges have seen a 50% increase in stablecoin transactions in the last three months.Read more here.
• Susan Miller Breaks Into NFTs: The astrologer’s zodiac-themed non-fungible token (NFT) collection and token-gated Discord channel is her first venture into Web3. The collection of 12,000 digital profile picture (PFP) collectibles will be released on the Polygon blockchain on Wednesday.Read more here.
• Listen 🎧 :Today’s "CoinDesk Markets Daily" podcast discusses the latest market movements.
• Hackers Return $9M to Nomad Bridge After $190M Exploit:The popular Ethereum to Moonbeam bridge is working with law enforcement and data analytics firms.
• Want to Strike Terror in Crypto Markets in 2022? Just Say You’re Suspending Withdrawals:Voyager's and Celsius’ bankruptcies were preceded by announcements that they were barring customers from getting their money.
• Riot Blockchain Mined 28% Less Bitcoin in July as Heat Wave Cut Power Supply:Lower energy consumption helped the miner generate $9.5 million in power credits.
• Goerli Is Coming: Ethereum’s Last Rehearsal Before the Merge:The Prater upgrade, the first component of the upcoming Goerli testnet merge, is happening this week.
• Binance Taps Co-Founder Yi He to Head $7.5B Venture Arm:Binance Labs announced a new $500 million fund in June to invest in Web3 and blockchain projects.
• Bank of America Says Blockchains Have Intrinsic Value, Citing Transaction Fees:The bank's report, however, noted that the fees on the Bitcoin and Ethereum chains have fallen this year.
• Alchemy Integrates Astar Network to Support Web3 Developers in Polkadot Ecosystem:The dapp-staking feature will encourage developers to build on the chain to earn rewards in its native token.
• CFTC Would Become Primary Crypto Regulator Under New Senate Committee Plan:The bill that is set to proposed would create a definition of "digital commodity."
• Banking Platform Galoy Raises $4M for Bitcoin-Backed Synthetic Dollar:Stablesats lets people use Lightning for everyday payments without exposure to short-term volatility.
• B2B Payments Startup Paystand Acquires Mexican Peer Yaydoo:While the companies will operate independently, there is hope for cross-selling opportunities.
[{"Asset": "Polkadot", "Ticker": "DOT", "Returns": "+4.7%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Polygon", "Ticker": "MATIC", "Returns": "+3.3%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Cosmos", "Ticker": "ATOM", "Returns": "+3.2%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}]
[{"Asset": "Solana", "Ticker": "SOL", "Returns": "\u22123.0%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Terra", "Ticker": "LUNA", "Returns": "\u22122.9%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Gala", "Ticker": "GALA", "Returns": "\u22120.1%", "DACS Sector": "Entertainment"}]
Sector classifications are provided via theDigital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. TheCoinDesk 20is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges. || First Mover Asia: Bitcoin Above $23K in Weekend Trading; an Edgy Environment at Seoul's Blockchain Megaweek: Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:
Prices:Bitcoin holds steady above $23K in weekend trading; most other major cryptos rise.
Insights:South Korea is the site of blockchain megaweek conferences. The atmosphere is excited but edgy because of recent events in the blockchain space.
●Bitcoin (BTC): $23,235+1.2%
●Ether (ETH): $1,706+0.7%
●S&P 500 daily close: 4,145.19−0.2%
●Gold: $1,790 per troy ounce+1.0%
●Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.84%+0.2
Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found atcoindesk.com/indices.
Bitcoin Holds Above $23K
By James Rubin
Bitcoin held its footing above $23,000 throughout the weekend as investors seemed mostly recovered from Friday's surprisingly strong jobs report.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was recently trading at about $23,300, up slightly over the last 24 hours and roughly where it started the weekend. Bitcoin fell below $23,000 early Friday following the U.S. Labor Department report – which doubled most analysts' expectations for July job growth – before regaining its previous perch above the threshold. The additional jobs countered previous indicators suggesting the economy was slowing enough to allow the U.S. central bank to soon scale back steep interest rate increases that many investors believe will cast the economy into a recession and send riskier assets spiraling.
Bitcoin has lost more than 50% of its value since the start of the year, plummeting with stocks. Investors fretted about the dual threats of inflation and economic contraction. Digital assets have rallied along with stocks over the past three weeks, however, amid hopeful signs, and held fast the past three days.
"If bitcoin can hold onto the $23,000 level, that could be very promising for the medium-term outlook," Oanda Senior Market Analyst Americas Edward Moya wrote in an email, adding optimistically. "Bitcoin has been stabilizing here and could see further bullish momentum on the break of the $25,000 level.
Ether, the second-largest crypto by market cap, was recently trading hands at approximately $1,700, up roughly a percentage point and about where it stood when the weekend began. Other major cryptos were mixed, with THETA and ATOM rising over 7% and 6%, respectively at one point, but FIL dropping more than 5%.
Cryptos tracked major equity markets on Friday, which dropped following the jobs numbers before regaining ground in the afternoon to finish flat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.5% on Friday while the S&P 500, which has a strong technology component, was down 0.2%. Both indexes nevertheless advanced for a third consecutive week, buoyed not only by signs of slowing growth but upbeat forecasts by a number of global technology and financial services brands.
The 528,000 added jobs in July was more than double the consensus among analysts who study labor markets, and a clear sign that this one part of the economy remains strong.
"The economic stats have suddenly taken on a bit brighter hue," Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi tweeted on Sunday. "The July jobs report shows the economy’s resilience and why we are neither in recession nor is a near-term recession inevitable."
Zandi added that these trends would "become clearer" with the release of July's consumer price index data on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, crypto markets digested a mix of good and bad news. On Monday, an exploit of cross-chain messaging protocol Nomadallowed$200 million to be siphoned off the platform.
But markets were encouraged by the latest initiatives involving large institutional investors. Asset manager Brevan Howard completed the largest crypto hedge fund launch ever, with more than$1 billion in assets under management, and BlackRock (BLK)formeda partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) to make crypto directly available to institutional investors.Coinbase's sharesclosed 10% higher on Thursday and jumped an additional 4.6% on Friday.
"Traditional finance firms continue their crypto push," Arcane Research noted in its Friday newsletter.
Investors will be eyeing Coinbase's second-quarter earnings report on Tuesday. Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Blockchain (RIOT) will also be announcing earnings early in the week.
[{"Asset": "Loopring", "Ticker": "LRC", "Returns": "+10.1%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Cosmos", "Ticker": "ATOM", "Returns": "+6.9%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Chainlink", "Ticker": "LINK", "Returns": "+6.3%", "DACS Sector": "Computing"}]
[{"Asset": "Terra", "Ticker": "LUNA", "Returns": "\u22120.7%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Polygon", "Ticker": "MATIC", "Returns": "\u22120.1%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}]
Insights
An Edgy Blockchain Megaweek in South Korea
By Sam Reynolds
SEOUL, S. Korea — It’s blockchain megaweek in Seoul, with the BUIDL Asia, Eth Seoul and Korea Blockchain Week conferences stacked back-to-back over a 10-day period.
This being the first set of conferences in Asia post-coronavirus, there should be a certain energy in the air. There’s an excitement about the return of in-person conferences to the continent – masks and all – but the ghost of the Terra blockchain’s spectacular crash still looms large.
Prosecutors are on a warpath in Korea,raiding exchangesand the home ofTerra’s founderwhilebanning some current and former stafffrom leaving the country.
On stage at BUIDL Asia, the T word was not quite verboten but almost: CoinDesk heard that speakers were told not to mention Terra on stage. Of course, theStreisand effectwas in full force and the word was used again and again to drive home a point.
But that’s not the first time there was a certain nervousness around the word.
Months ago, when LUNA was smoldering, CoinDesk reported that Korean VC Fund Hashed had taken a$3.5 billion hiton Terra’s LUNA token.
Almost immediately after the article was published, a public relations representative for Terraform Labs got in touch with CoinDesk – not to dispute the veracity of the story – theHashed founderlater confirmed the amount in an early August interview with Bloomberg – but rather to ask that language be toned down regarding Hashed’s participation in Terra’s funding rounds. Law enforcement was looking at anyone that touched the fundraise with the country’s largest magnifying glass.
Of course the question on everyone’s mind is, will someone get served a subpoena during Korea Blockchain week? So far there have been no reports of process servers gracing BUIDL Asia and Eth Seoul with their presence, but these were small events for what’s to come.
It was just last year when Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwonconfirmed he was served with a subpoenaat Messari’s Mainnet crypto conference by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Stay tuned.
Korea Blockchain Week
ETHToronto
Marathon Digital Earnings
In case you missed it, here is the most recent episode of"First Mover"onCoinDesk TV:
BlackRock and Coinbase Partner to Give Institutional Investors Greater Access to Crypto; Bank of England Rate Hike
"First Mover" examined the latest news affecting crypto markets. The Bank of England has raised interest rates by 50 basis points, its largest hike since 1995. In a bright spot amid challenging times for Coinbase, BlackRock plans to offer crypto to institutional investors through Coinbase Prime. Charles Allen, BTCS CEO, joined markets discussion. Also, Alex Zinder had a business update from Ledger Enterprises and Frances Coppola broke down proposals from the Bank of International Settlements.
North Korea's Lazarus Hackers Blamed in deBridge Finance Cyberattack:Company co-founder Alex Smirnov warns all Web3 teams that the campaign is likely widespread.
Data Provider DeFiLlama De-emphasizes Double-Counted Crypto Deposits After Saber Revelation:The website “toggled off” double-counting after CoinDesk uncovered one Solana developer’s effort to fool the all-important metric for popularity in decentralized finance.
What the Merge Means for Ethereum Miners:There is speculation about ether miners moving to Ethereum Classic once proof-of-work is gone from the main chain, but mining pools remain split on where they will turn in a post-Merge world.
DeFi Protocol Voltz Could Bring 150% Interest Rate on Ether Deposits:As the Ethereum blockchain's Merge approaches, traders and venues are seeing the event as an opportunity to pocket fat yields – possibly signaling a renewed appetite for risk in crypto just months after its big market crash.
Master of Anons: How a Crypto Developer Faked a DeFi Ecosystem:The Macalinao brothers used a web of bogus identities to create the illusion of a dev community, juicing value on the Saber protocol and Solana blockchain. Now they're moving to Aptos.
Other voices:There’s always another nightmarish crypto hack around the corner(TechCrunch)
"The staggering case highlights at least two serious specific vulnerabilities in the DeFi and crypto ecosystems, and some much larger thorny questions. First, it reignites the perpetual issue of anonymous developers in the crypto space. Bitcoin founding developer Satoshi Nakamoto remains pseudonymous, and there are many good reasons blockchain devs may wish to protect their real names." (CoinDesk columnist David Z. Morris) ... "While the Russian invasion and [COVID-19] pandemic could take a dark turn, pushing inflation higher again, more likely is the worst of these supply shocks are behind us. Inflation will recede." (Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi) || South Korea Restores Military Drills Once Reduced to Help Trump: (Bloomberg) -- South Korea will bring back joint military exercises with the US that had been scaled down or halted since about four years ago under former President Donald Trump to facilitate his nuclear negotiations with North Korea. Most Read from Bloomberg Russian Odesa Missile Strike Tests Day-Old Grain Export Deal Three Arrows Founders Break Silence Over Collapse of Crypto Hedge Fund Teslas Bitcoin Dump Leaves Accounting Mystery in Its Wake Student Loan Borrowers Arent Waiting for Bidens Promised Relief WHO Chief Overrules Panel to Declare Monkeypox Global Emergency The government of President Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative who took office in May on pledges of bolstering military ties with the US and taking a tough line with Pyongyang, will resume combined field training drills with American troops, the Defense Ministry in Seoul said in a policy report Friday. The two will also restore exercises that include training with aircraft carrier groups and amphibious vehicles. The sides will return to practicing war scenarios in person, replacing training over the past three years that used computerized command-and-control simulations, it said. The allied forces will conduct 11 joint field exercises in August and September, including a large-scale drill at the Korea Combat Training Center, and change the name of the annual drill from Ulchi Freedom Guardian to Ulchi Freedom Shield, the military said. Yoon warned Friday that North Korea could soon ratchet up tensions with its seventh nuclear test, after firing off ballistic missiles at a record pace this year. Any display of the weapons in leader Kim Jong Uns nuclear arsenal would serve as a reminder of the pressing security problems posed by Pyongyang that have simmered as Bidens administration focused on Russias invasion of Ukraine. We believe North Korea is prepared to conduct a nuclear test any moment they decide to do so, Yoon said, adding he has discussed the matter with the US. Story continues Satellite imagery indicated that refurbishment work and preparations at Tunnel No. 3 at Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility, where North Korea has conducted all six of its nuclear tests, are complete and ready for another detonation of a nuclear device, the Beyond Parallel website said in mid-June. The moves from Seoul comes less than a week before the 69th anniversary of the July 27 signing of the armistice agreement that ended fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War. The US still has about 28,500 troops in South Korea and military leaders from the two countries have said drills are essential to prepare for any provocations by North Korea. The north positions large portions of its million-man military near the border drawn up when the cease fire took hold. Trumps three meetings with Kim from 2018 led to no concrete steps to wind down Pyongyangs nuclear program, which only grew in strength and size as the in-person diplomacy eventually fizzled. The former US president had repeatedly expressed frustration with the open-ended troop deployment, saying after a meeting with Kim in June 2018 that he would like to bring them back home but thats not part of the equation right now. North Korea has sought for decades to leverage the prospect of talks to scale back US-South Korean military drills, something which Trump controversially agreed to during his summits with Kim. Drills were canceled in the first half of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and computer simulation exercises were carried out in August 2020 and March 2021, raising concerns about the alliances readiness to respond in a crisis. Since most US troops are stationed in South Korea for about a year, drills are typically the only time for most of them to do real-world, widespread training with their allies. Soldiers and equipment from bases in the US and Japan at times were integrated into the operations, while a US aircraft group has sailed offshore for many incarnations. The Biden administration appears ready to step up military cooperation. About a month before Yoon took office, the US Navy dispatched an aircraft carrier group to waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan for the first time since 2017. North Korea has publicly ignored Bidens calls to return to the bargaining table. For decades, it derided the drills as a preparation for invasion and nuclear war. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek The $260 Swatch-Omega MoonSwatch Is Reviving the Budget Brand Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers The US Has Lost Its Way on Computer Chips Ghosts of 2012 Haunt Europe as Rate Hikes Begin Sam Bankman-Fried Turns $2 Trillion Crypto Rout Into Buying Opportunity ©2022 Bloomberg L.P. || What are the Twitter whistleblower’s allegations against company?: He is one of the world’s most famous hackers and leading cybersecurity experts. Now Peiter “Mudge” Zatko has become a whistleblower and submitted a string of allegations of repeated security violations by his former employer: Twitter . Mr Zatko, 51, was the company’s head of security from November 2020 to January 2022. He was allegedly fired by CEO Parag Agrawal after he flagged the issues and began cooperating in a formal investigation with Twitter’s compliance officer. Now he has given his findings to US regulatory agencies, which in turn have been shared with members of the US Congress. In the document, Mr Zatko makes a string of allegations against Twitter, accusing the company’s top executives of violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act and Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. He claims that the company has not been honest about privacy issues and data security and has been subject to major breaches by foreign governments. It comes just weeks before Elon Musk’s legal showdown with Twitter as he tries to extricate himself from a $44bn deal to buy the company. The entrepreneur has alleged that Twitter has not been honest about the number of fake or bot accounts on the platform. Mr Zatko says in his documentation that the company has been “lying about bots” to Mr Musk and that an accurate account of those accounts would negatively impact the bonuses paid to senior executives. Peiter Zatko (Reuters) Mr Zatko’s allegations were sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, and the civil and antitrust divisions of the Justice Department, according to CNN. In a statement to The Independent , a Twitter spokesperson said that Mr Zatko had been fired by the company for “ineffective leadership and poor performance.” “What we’ve seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context,” the statement says. Story continues “Mr. Zatko’s allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its shareholders. Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be. “ These are the most serious allegations made against Twitter. Twitter allowed agents of foreign governments to access data Mr Zatko claims that Twitter’s security issues were a matter of national security and that they hired two people he believes were agents of India’s government. He alleges that the employees had “direct unsupervised access” to the company’s internal information. In the documents, he says that the US government told the company in 2022 that at least one of their employees was working for a foreign intelligence agency. He also says that before he became CEO, Mr Agrawal had supported Twitter’s expansion in Russia, despite the censorship and surveillance in the country. Twitter does not accurately count bots and fake accounts This is one of the main issues in Mr Musk’s decision to walk away from his $44bn deal to buy the platform. Twitter has claimed that just five per cent of its accounts are fake or bots, something that Mr Musk has claimed is inaccurate. Mr Zatko claims that Twitter has been “lying” to the Tesla CEO about bots and that the real number is far higher than they have acknowledged. He claims that the number comes from a sampling of a subset of accounts, known as “monetizable daily active users,” or mDAUs. Twitter uses this data to let advertisers know how many people are looking at their ads, and it is designed to exclude bots. He claims that top executives’ bonuses are linked to mDAUs and the real number of bots becoming public would “hurt the image and valuation of the company”. Twitter’s poor internal security Mr Zatko alleges that the company is “decades” behind companies like Google and Facebook in security protocols, and that while he was at the company it suffered a major security breach every single week. He claims that too many Twitter employees have unnecessary access to internal systems and the company is vulnerable to phishing schemes by hackers. In 2020, a teenager posed as a member of the company’s IT team and got access to credentials that allowed him to hack into the accounts of Barack Obama and Joe Biden to scale more than $100,000 in Bitcoin from users. He also says that during the January 6 riots, he tried to limit access for employees to internal systems but was told that too many employees had irrevocable access and it could not be done. The silence of Jack Dorsey Mr Zatko claims that former CEO Jack Dorsey suffered a “drastic loss of focus” in 2021, was only sporadically in meetings and was rumored to remain silent for “days or weeks”. Mr Dorsey has said he has practiced Vipassana meditation, an ancient Buddhist meditation technique that can involve 10 days of silence. He says in the disclosure that while in the job he received “little to no actual support for his task of fundamentally changing the risky behaviors of over 8,000 employees and the entire corporate culture.” He also claims he was asked to downplay the extent of Twitter’s issues to the company’s board. Fired for raising concerns Mr Zatko says that he had a difficult relationship with Mr Agrawal, who previously oversaw security at the company. He alleges that at Mr Agrawal’s first board meeting as CEO in 2021, Mr Zatko was concerned that Mr Agrawal would downplay the company’s issues and wrote to him that his presentation contained “numerous and some significant, misrepresentations.” The following month, Mr Zatko says he emailed Mr Agrawal and told him that his presentation documents to the Risk Committee had been “at worst fraudulent.” Mr Agrawal wrote back to him to say that the company had launched an investigation into his claim, and asked him to write a report to support his allegation. Mr Zatko says that he was fired less than two weeks later before he had a chance to file the report. The CEO publicly stated that the decision to remove him was based on “an assessment of how the organization was being led and the impact on top priority work.”
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 19986.71, 19812.37, 18837.67, 19290.32, 19329.83, 21381.15, 21680.54, 21769.26, 22370.45, 20296.71
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-07-31]
BTC Price: 11323.47, BTC RSI: 84.94
Gold Price: 1962.80, Gold RSI: 81.21
Oil Price: 40.27, Oil RSI: 51.61
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
IOVlabs Joins Linux Foundations Hyperledger to Accelerate Enterprise and Government Adoption of Blockchain: GIBRALTAR / ACCESSWIRE / June 11 2020 / IOVlabs, the parent company of Bitcoin-powered smart contract platform RSK and its RSK Infrastructure Framework (RIF), has joined the Linux Foundation and Hyperledger. An open source collaboration to advance blockchain technologies, Hyperledger is a Linux Foundation project with more than 250 members, including companies such as Citi, JP Morgan, Telefonica and IBM. Joining the Hyperledger community paves the way for IOVlabs to utilize Hyperledger Besu technology, alongside its own RIF-based technologies, to develop enterprise and government-oriented projects. Besu is an enterprise-friendly Ethereum client for public and private permissioned networks. "We are thrilled to become part of the Linux Foundation, one of the leading organizations in the promotion of open source software and ecosystems," said IOVlabs CEO Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar. "All of the software used within the RSK network and developed by IOV Labs is open sourced, and our ethos closely aligns with that of Linux. Our membership in the Linux Foundation and Hyperledger will accelerate adoption of open blockchain standards that foster financial freedom, transparency, and trust." Brian Behlendorf, executive director at Hyperledger, added: "IOVlabs' ambition to establish a fairer and more inclusive financial system lends itself to a number of compelling use cases for blockchain. It's gratifying to envision Hyperledger's open source, community-built technologies as a foundation for that mission. We welcome IOVlab's commitment to creating open, decentralized platforms and the support of its global team in continuing to grow the Hyperledger ecosystem." IOVlabs has developed a number of blockchain-based solutions for enterprises including Gasnet , a blockchain network focused on Argentina's natural gas distribution ecosystem, and a proof of concept for the country's central bank. Now, it plans to expand its offerings through the partnership with the Linux Foundation and the deployment of Hyperledger Besu. Story continues About IOVlabs IOVlabs develops the blockchain technologies needed for a new global financial ecosystem; one that fosters opportunity, transparency, and trust. The organization currently develops the RSK Smart Contract Network , RIF , and Taringa! Platforms. The RSK Network is one of the more secure smart contract platforms in the world, designed to leverage Bitcoin's unparalleled hash power while extending its capabilities. RIF's suite of open and decentralized infrastructure protocols enable faster, easier and scalable development of distributed applications (dApps) within a unified environment. Taringa is Latin America's largest Spanish speaking social network with 30 million users and 1,000 active online communities. Contact: Dan Edelstein pr@marketacross.com +972-545-464-238 SOURCE: IOV Labs View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/593620/IOVlabs-Joins-Linux-Foundations-Hyperledger-to-Accelerate-Enterprise-and-Government-Adoption-of-Blockchain || Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleads guilty in fraud case involving a cryptocurrency called AML Bitcoin: Lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff faces possible prison time yet again, this time in a case related to cryptocurrency and lobbying disclosure. Abramoff has pled guilty to charges pursued by San Francisco's U.S. Attorney, which could result in a jail sentence as long as five years. Abramoff separately settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a case related to an unregistered digital securities offer. Bloomberg first reported the case brought by San Francisco U.S. Attorney David Anderson. Anderson disclosed that Abramoff agreed to plead guilty to charges of criminal conspiracy at a press conference. According to an SEC statement , the office charged Abramoff with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and lobbying disclosure violations. The SEC separately charged Abramoff in a case related to a cryptocurrency known as AML Bitcoin. Abramoff, the NAC Foundation and its CEO, Roland Marcus Andrade, face allegations of conducting an unregistered security offering of AML BitCoin. Abramoff allegedly assisted the NAC Foundation in falsely portraying the token as an improved version of bitcoin with supposedly additional anti-money laundering and other compliance measures integrated into the coin. The SEC claimed that none of these capabilities existed at the time investors bought the tokens. Abramoff has agreed to a $50,000 disgorgement of the commissions he made with $5,501 in interest. He also agreed to a settlement that includes "permanent and conduct-based injunctions." The case against Andrade continues, and Bloomberg reported that Andrade will plead not guilty, citing Anderson. Abramoff previously served more than three years in prison for his involvement in a high-profile corruption case in the early 2000s, when he was sentenced to six years for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion. © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Bitcoin’s Price Correlation With S&P 500 Hits Record Highs: Ever since its inception, bitcoin has been dubbed “digital gold,” given it is durable, fungible, divisible and scarce like the precious metal.
However, while gold has a strongtrack recordof rallying in times of stress in the global equity markets, bitcoin is yet to build a similar reputation as a safe-haven asset.
In fact, in recent months, the cryptocurrency has been increasingly correlated with the S&P 500, Wall Street’s equity index and benchmark for global stock markets. Now, data suggests that relationship is stronger than ever, likely denting its appeal as digital gold.
Related:First Mover: As Bitcoiners Watch Dollar, Deutsche Sees Trump Win Hurting Reserve Status
The one-month bitcoin-S&P 500 realized correlation rose to a record high of 66.2% on June 30 and stood at 65.8% on Thursday, according to crypto derivatives research firmSkew, which began tracking the data in April 2018.
“While bitcoin and S&P 500 correlation is always a very good indicator of market movement, it never really maintains a consistent position. Bitcoin behaves more like a highly leveraged position and follows the market trends in a more volatile, dramatic up and down swings,” said Wayne Chen, CEO and director of Interlapse Technologies, a fintech firm.
The one-month metric oscillated largely in the range of -30% to 50% for 12 months before rising to record highs above 60% on June 30. The data indeed shows that bitcoin’s correlation with the S&P 500 is somewhat inconsistent.
The one-year correlation has also risen to lifetime highs above 37%, according to Skew. One should note, though, that readings between 30% to 50% imply a relatively weak correlation between variables.
Related:Bitcoin Rises in Line With Stocks After Dip Below $9K
“Bitcoin, by all accounts, is still a risk asset. Despite those who may tout its fundamental similarities to gold, it has not yet proven to be a sufficient hedge or a flight to safety in times of risk-off sentiment,” said Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack, a provider of cryptocurrency trackers and index funds.
Risk assetsare the those with fortunes tied to the state of the global economy. For instance, prices of stocks and industrial metals like copper tend to rise when the global economic growth rate is expected to pick up pace and falter during an economic slowdown.
Bitcoin has more or less behaved like a risk asset this year. The cryptocurrency’s price fell from $10,000 to $3,867 in the first half of March, as global equities cratered on coronavirus fears. It then rose back toward $10,000 in the following two months as the S&P 500 saw its fastest bear market recovery on record.
However, being treated as a risk asset may be a blessing in disguise for bitcoin.
“Given that the correlation between BTC and equities is still so high, our expectation is that this is only bullish for bitcoin price in the short term, as global markets benefit from an unprecedented amount of monetary stimulus,” said Dibb.
Indeed, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and other major central banks are injecting massive amounts of fiat liquidity into their respective economies to counter the COVID-19 slowdown. As of last week, Fed’s balance sheet size was $7.01 trillion – up 67% from $4.24 trillion in early March,according todata provided by the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
While bitcoin is struggling to establish itself as a haven asset, some investors remain undeterred.
“HODLers” or long-term holders of bitcoin, as gauged by the number of addresses storing bitcoin for at least 12 months, rose to a lifetime high of 20.3 million in June. That surpassed the previous high of 19.52 million reached in May, as perIntoTheBlock, a blockchain intelligence company.
“With the halving just recently complete, many holders believe that Bitcoin’s median price should be a lot higher than the current value. This creates more of a hodl type of behaviour until the market starts building steam again,” said Chen.
The metric set a new record high for the 12th straight month in June. Notably, the number of holders is up 22% year-on-year, even though bitcoin’s price is down 25% over the same period.
At press time, the cryptocurrency is trading at $9,110, having dipped to lows near $8,930 during the U.S. trading hours on Thursday.
Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
• Bitcoin’s Price Correlation With S&P 500 Hits Record Highs
• Bitcoin’s Price Correlation With S&P 500 Hits Record Highs || ‘Inherently Borderless’: Acting OCC Chief Talks Crypto, State Licenses and DeFi: The possibility of mass adoption, or at least mass awareness, of crypto was on the agenda today with the integration of a crypto payment option for vending machines in Australia and New Zealand and the announcement of a coming feature film looking at the Winklevoss twins’ involvement with crypto. Elsewhere, Chainalysis added tracking for two privacy coins while the U.S. Marshalls hunt for a contractor to help manage the cryptocurrency it seizes in operations against criminals. Here’s the story: You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Top shelf Mass Market Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will help produce a film based on the best-selling book that featured their entrance into the world of bitcoin . Elsewhere, digital payments startup Centrapay has been integrated into about 1,200 vending machines selling Coca-Cola in Australia and New Zealand. ( Decrypt ) Conversely, cryptocurrency-focused media startup BlockTV has shut down operations due to the economic strains of the COVID-19 crisis, according to two former employees. Following an initial round of layoffs in March, and a lackluster token sale in November, all remaining members of the 35-person Tel Aviv-based firm have been laid off. DeFi Growth ConsenSys launched the Codefi Compliance software suite to provide compliance and analytics for exchanges and DeFi projects across a range of different regulatory buckets, such as counter-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering. The tool can track 280,000 tokens, including those based on the ERC-20 or ERC-721 standard. That is as the value of tokens locked in DeFi smart contracts has surpassed $2 billion this weekend , Decrypt reports. Going Public? Mining hardware manufacturer Ebang, which previously filed for a $100 million initial public offering, could use a financial boost. An in-depth analysis of the firm, which has gone from $300 million in Q1 revenues to essentially $0 in Q2, looks at Ebang’s IPO prospectus, revenue write-downs and competitive position relative to market leaders Bitmain and MicroBT. Meanwhile, shares of the cryptocurrency retail broker Voyager Digital, listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, have seen triple the year-to-date returns of bitcoin. “Crypto stocks straddle cutting-edge digital-asset technology and traditional Wall Street markets,” CoinDesk’s First Mover team writes. Unlike investing in private companies like Binance and Coinbase, where disclosures on the companies’ underlying financial health are harder to find, public companies are more easily vetted. You can get First Mover in your mailbox here. Story continues Integrations Infrastructure-as-a-service firm Bison Trails has added support for NEAR Protocol to help host the base-layer protocol’s 150 validator nodes. The NEAR Foundation recently announced a successful $21.6 million NEAR token sale, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Liechtenstein-based Bank Frick now supports payments processing in USDC stablecoin, its first stablecoin addition, and says it’s slightly faster than the classic SWIFT procedure. ( The Block ) Related: Blockchain Bites: ‘Bitcoin Billionaires’ and Buying a Coke With Crypto Law Enforcement Chainalysis is now able to track privacy coins zcash and dash with its Reactor and Know Your Transaction (KYT) products. The firm said that it can partially trace over 99% of zcash transactions and perform “successful investigations” on PrivateSend dash transactions. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marshals Service is on the hunt for a contractor to help manage the cryptocurrency it seizes in operations against criminals. Addressing Concerns Brave, a privacy browser, was called out this weekend when users noticed that typing in the name of the leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, resulted in an auto-complete that ended in a referral link, creating the appearance that Brave is tracking visits to the exchange’s website. Brave launched with the idea to reinvent online advertising, where users would receive ads without being followed around the web. Brave founder Brendan Eich said the issue will be remedied, but also suggested the need for Brave to run a profitable business. Meanwhile, Bail Bloc, a service that passively generates Monero to distribute to bail funds, has seen a 20% increase in its hashrate as protests continue to roil across the country. Market intel Forking Off Bitcoin’s forks, including bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin gold (BTG) and bitcoin sv (BSV), have outperformed bitcoin itself this year. Individually, bitcoin sv and bitcoin gold have outperformed bitcoin by 61 and 37 percentage points, respectively, since the start of 2020. Cryptocurrencies with low and middle market capitalizations like these bitcoin forks “tend to outperform bitcoin during marketwide bull runs,” said Aditya Das, market analyst at research firm Brave New Coin, and are largely correlated with bitcoin. Easing Volatility Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility has fallen to 40%, the lowest level since March 6, while 60-day volatility declined to 52.18%, its lowest since March 11. The decline in volatility may be associated with the lack of clear directional bias in the market. Bitcoin rallied by over 150% in the two months leading up to the May 11 mining reward halving. Since then, however, the buyers have repeatedly failed to establish a foothold above $10,000. At the same time, downside has been restricted to around $8,600. Options Increase Bitcoin options trading is growing faster than the futures and swaps market, according to data from Skew. Though bitcoin options are roughly 35% that of futures and swaps, a historical trend signals a rate of growth in options that exceeds growth in that of bitcoin futures and swaps. In traditional financial markets, options open interest and trading volumes are “generally a multiple of futures,” said Su Zhu, co-founder of cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. Opinion What Fintech Can Learn From Elon Musk and SpaceX Lex Sokolin, a CoinDesk columnist and Global Fintech co-head at ConsenSys, thinks SpaceX’s recent successful launch carrying two NASA astronauts contains useful lessons for the emergent technologies of fintech. “What Elon Musk knows, and what many fintechs naturally understand, is brand and story matters,” he writes. But perhaps most importantly, Musk delivers, rather than merely participating in “innovation theater,” or the phenomenon of “hyping up the same old thing with a new interface.” CoinDesk podcast network Why War Reporting Is the Right Mental Model for Today’s Media, Feat. Jake Hanrahan The founder of Popular Front joins NLW for a discussion about global protests, why the traditional media business model is failing and Hanrahan’s decision to build an independent journalism project. Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: Why UN and Federal Reserve Experts Think CBDCs Could Kill Commercial Banking First Mover: Bloomberg’s Pie-in-the-Sky Bitcoin Call Looks Directionally Defensible || Here's How Much Investing $1,000 In Bitcoin 5 Years Ago Would Be Worth Today: Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have proved to be some of the most volatile assets over the years, keeping many veteran investors skeptical. Yet, believers who have been holding ("or hodling," as the cryptocurrency community refers to it) the decentralized virtual currency since early or even mid-stages have seen handsome gains.
Bitcoin's Surge And Dip
A majority of mainstream investors had their first enthusiastic encounter with Bitcoin during themassive bull runof late 2017 that saw the cryptocurrency's market price storm past $20,000.
The subsequentmarket correctionwas just as enthusiastically dubbed the burst of the bubble. Does that mean that the people who invested ahead of the bull run, but didn't divest at the time suffered major losses?
Five years from Monday, Bitcoin closed at $263.07 on June 29, 2015, meaning a $1,000 investment at the time would have gotten an investor 3.801 BTC.
Two and a half years later, on December 17, the leading cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $20,089. This means the $1,000 invested in 2015 would be worth about $76,363.71, giving a whopping 7636% returns for those who divested at the time.
Today, the same $1,000 spent to purchase 3.801 BTC in June 2015 is worth $34,936.89 -- not as absurd as the December 2017 height, but still a considerable gain of 3493%.
How Does It Compare With Stocks?
This compares with a 45.3% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index over the same time period. S&P 500 is up nearly 48.4% over the course of the five years, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index has nearly doubled, adding 99.1%.
Among some of the major stocks,Tesla Inc.(NASDAQ:TSLA) has added 285.2%,Amazon.com Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) is up 523.5%, andApple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) has added 190.5%.
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Mining Device Maker Ebang's Shares Drop 10% On Day One Trading At Nasdaq
• Bitcoin Surges Past ,000 As Protests Rage In US
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || What It’s Really Like to Live on Bitcoin in the Middle East: Syrian developerGhass Mohas been living off freelance bitcoin gigs from Kurdistan, Iraq, for nearly two years.
“I get paid inbitcoinfor doing work on open-source projects related to the cryptocurrency industry,” Mo said. “The first programmer I met wasAmir Taaki. … I learned a lot from him and he was supporting me.”
It’s impossible to say how many people are like Mo, inspired by a chance meeting with a bitcoiner to embark on an educational journey toward financial sovereignty. These cases are often isolated, at least in the developing world. Yet, they are increasingly familiar to people who work with digital nomads. They are showing bitcoin can work as intended, as a global currency without borders.
Related:Market Wrap: Do-Nothing Markets Stay Steady as Bitcoin Sticks to $9,200
Read more:Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East
Mo left Syria in his early 20s because of the civil war and became an unbanked migrant worker to support his family. This may sound bleak but Mo has a lot in common with the other developers he now works with online.
He is a quiet man, a self-taught developer who rarely leaves his chosen Batcave except for shopping and rare outings. Mo has a perpetual five o’clock shadow and a minimalist home office setup, with just a few laptops, a monitor and always a cup of Arabic coffee. He’s never met most of the people he works with online, nor does he know of any local bitcoin meetups. He spends his evenings reading aboutRustand studying at home with books like “Mastering Bitcoin.”
“The ongoing war in Syria and lack of stability affected me,” he said. “Sometimes I spend months trying to finish an online course, translating every single word [from English]. … The people [I know] interested in this field of study could be counted on one hand.”
Related:Bitcoin Volatility Metrics Are Like November 2018 All Over Again
Like many other freelance developersearning bitcoinacross the Middle East, Mo liquidates his bitcoin through a local exchange to pay for daily expenses. A local grad student who founded theKurdcoinexchange, Abdurrahman Bapir, has been operating ahawala-adjacent business for customers like Mo since 2017.
Hawala is atraditional money networkused to send value across the Islamic world for hundreds of years, long before bitcoin. Thanks to partnerships with long-standing hawala businesses, bitcoin has merely become another option offered by such money changers. This is very accessible to local people with a wide range of computer skills and access.
“Facebook is our primary source for discovery for new clients. Word of mouth is the second,” said Bapir. “We also sell hardware wallets ourselves. We recently started this service, we’ve sold 10 in Iraq, and it’s increasing.”
Read more:How Bitcoin Fits Into Lebanon’s Banking Crisis
Mo and users like him can message the Kurdcoin accounts on social media, including Telegram, Twitter or Instagram. The exchange is supported by a staff of 10 people. Clients can pay online with bitcoin and pick up their cash at almost any localhawalabusiness from Syria to Kurdish Iran. Mo also uses bitcoin to send money to his family.
It was a great feeling when I realized I could buy food and other stuff using bitcoin.
“After the lockdown, due to the coronavirus, the borders between Iraqi Kurdistan and Rojava [Syria] have been closed,” Mo said. “Sometimes there are difficulties in transferring money and the fees increase several times.”
Local demand is much higher now, Bapir said, for the bitcoin that freelancers like Mo bring to the local market.
“We’ve had some months where we did $10 million in volume and months with $500,000,” Bapir said of Kurdcoin’s volumes.
Plus, business is up compared to the token-boom peak of late 2017.
“There are many, many new customers coming,” Bapir said. “There are 10-20 new leads for our exchange every day … some months we’ll have 1,000 prospective clients.”
Token fans have long since abandoned the unaffiliatedtoken salethat once shared the exchange’s name. Many people weren’t as lucky as Mo, to learn about bitcoin from a trusted mentor. Those who learned from token “scams,” Bapir said, are now returning to his platform for bitcoin.
Read more:Despite Bitcoin Price Dips, Crypto Is a Safe Haven in the Middle East
Bapir said he’s working with a team of lawyers and 10 advisers from abroad to try to establish a regulated way to conduct business in Kurdistan. Much like the American cannabis industry operates in agray zonebetween state and federal laws, the Kurdish bitcoin industry operates despite vague restrictions issued by theCentral Bank of Iraq. In the meantime, established hawala businesses handle the know-your-customer (KYC) process.
It’s been lucky that bitcoiners like Mo remain regular customers during the pandemic.
Before the coronavirus crisis, Bapir said more than half of his clients were from the southern, Arab regions of Iraq. They came to Northern Iraq (Kurdistan) to buy or sell bitcoin. Now, with travel restricted, such business is done online. Multi-currency remittances have picked up due to the lockdown and bothIranianandSyriancurrencies collapsing.
“From the West of Iran, the Kurdish part, some people were also thinking of opening a Kurdish exchange,” Bapir said about growing demand for bitcoin. “Banking here is underdeveloped in Iraq, probably one in 20 people has a bank account they actually use. … Almost all of our daily transactions are in cash. You buy a house with cash.”
This cash economy suits unbanked migrants like Mo, who still manages to get enough freelance work to support himself and live comfortably in Iraq. Although electricity and WiFi access is reliable in Iraq, a vast improvement over Syria, he’s still unable to run or use local data centers.
“I rely on providers abroad,” Mo said. “I’ve had to work several part-time jobs as a graphic designer and web developer to provide financial support for my family. … I’ve finished 10 online courses atEdx, four atUdemyand read more than 10 books about programming and bitcoin.”
He said learning about bitcoin dramatically changed his life over the past two years.
“It was a great feeling when I realized I could buy food and other stuff using bitcoin,” he added.
• What It’s Really Like to Live on Bitcoin in the Middle East
• What It’s Really Like to Live on Bitcoin in the Middle East || Number of Bitcoin ‘Whales’ Has Risen by 2% Since Halving: Bitcoin’s price rally has stalled since the cryptocurrency underwent its third halving on May 11, but investor confidence in the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects remains strong, data shows. The halving event on May 11 saw the mining reward per block on bitcoin’s blockchain cut from 12.5 BTC to 6.25. The event was expected by many to accelerate the price uptrend from the low of $3,867 seen in March. So far, though, the leading cryptocurrency by market value has failed to pick up a strong bid and continues to trade below $10,000 – a level seen two days ahead of the halving. Even so, larger investors, often called whales, continue to accumulate coins, as seen below. As of Tuesday, the number of bitcoin whales, as represented by the tally of unique entities holding at least 1,000 coins, was 1,840. That’s up nearly 2% from the level of 1,811 observed on May 1, according to data from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode . The metric clocked a recent high of 1,844 on Monday, a level last seen in November 2017. The steady accumulation since the halving suggests investor confidence in the long-term bullish narrative surrounding bitcoin. Most analysts expect the cryptocurrency to rise sharply over the next 12 months on the back of the unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus delivered by authorities across the globe in the past three months. Bloomberg analysts said they expect bitcoin to challenge the record high of $20,000 by the end of 2020 on increased institutional participation. For the whale metric, an entity refers to a cluster of addresses that are controlled by the same network entity and are estimated through Glassnode’s proprietary clustering algorithms. Related: Number of Bitcoin ‘Whales’ Has Risen by 2% Since Halving See also: Bitcoin Whale Addresses Hit Highest Number Since August 2019 Glassnode considers it a more reliable indicator of investor participation – the number of individuals or businesses using the network – compared to the traditional approach, which considers the number of addresses on the network as a proxy to the number of users/holders. Story continues The latter method is weak because a single user can hold coins in multiple addresses, the firm says. The same is true for exchange addresses, which hold coins belonging to more than one individual. What’s next for bitcoin? Bitcoin’s current period in the doldrums could end with a bullish breakout above $10,000, given the steady accumulation by investors and other factors. “We are bullish in the medium term with a target of $12,000, said Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack, a provider of cryptocurrency trackers and index funds. Dibb, however, believes the move to $12,000 would be preceded by a few weeks of erratic trading. That possibility shouldn’t be ruled out, as bitcoin’s correlation with the equity markets has strengthened over the past week. The cryptocurrency fell sharply twice in the last week as stocks slipped over renewed coronavirus concerns. “Bitcoin is currently trading as a ‘risk asset’ and will likely be subject to continued volatility as further US economic data is released in the coming days,” said Dibb. While the immediate bull target is the psychological level of $10,000, support is seen at $8,900 (Monday’s low). A violation there would expose the next support lined up at $8,000. Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing . Related Stories Ex-Bitcoin Dev Settles Defamation Suit Over Sex Assault Claims Market Wrap: Stocks Rally on Possible Stimulus but Bitcoin Is Flat at $9.5K || Blockchain Bites: China’s BSN Integrations and Satoshi’s Newfound Wealth: Crypto firms are cooking up ways to become “Travel Rule” compliant, Satoshi’s stash got a little bigger and one of Ethereum Classic’s top supporters is walking away from the project. You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Top shelf Travel Rule BitGo, Coinbase and other top exchanges are expected to release a white paper next month detailing a type of “bulletin board” meant to help exchanges comply with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) “Travel Rule.” Participants would share addresses on the board and, if another member claims an address, the two entities could then share data P2P to keep personal information out of the reach of hackers. Gemini, Kraken, and Bittrex may also be participating in the Travel Rule working group, according to The Block. Separately, blockchain security firm CoolBitX and on-chain analytics company Elliptic are working together on another “Travel Rule” solution. Related: First Mover: This DeFi-Ready Token Is Teaching Crypto Traders to Cherish Inflation Satoshi’s Billions Whale Alert found on-chain evidence that Bitcoin’s creator mined approximately 1,125,150 BTC (~$10.9 billion) as the network was getting off the ground. This is up from the 1 million BTC Sergio Demian Lerner initially attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto in 2013, by examining the “extra nonce” patterns thought to be caused by Nakamoto’s mining rig. In a Medium post, researchers describe how Satoshi continued mining with the same rig until at least May 2010, capturing 22,503 of the first 54,316 block rewards. FYI YFI, the governance token for Yearn.Finance, is the latest DeFi project to capture the attention of yield farmers. The token’s creator Andre Cronje hasn’t set aside any of the tokens for himself and called it “a completely valueless 0 supply token,” in a Medium post. That all tokens are set aside for liquidity providers may have influenced a price run up to $2,374, though the project’s name (an unflattering acronym) and what appears to be a backdoor that could allow Cronje to print an infinite amount of YFI, have raised eyebrows. As of 13:00 UTC today, the price has collapsed to $821.07. Hard Fork Away One of Ethereum Classic’s largest power providers has voted to abandon the project after an upcoming hard fork. OpenEthereum is the latest client to walk, citing concerns with the blockchain’s immutability, according to a GitHub vote Thursday. Of the 615 current Ethereum Classic nodes listed by ETC Nodes, 425 won’t update in the future as developers make changes via hard forks. OpenEthereum has chosen to shut down support for the original Ethereum mainnet to conserve developer energy for its Ethereum client, formerly known as Parity-Ethereum. Story continues Real-Time Alerts CipherTrace, a blockchain analytics software firm, has deployed a predictive risk-scoring system that the company says provides real-time alerts on suspect crypto transactions for its exchange, investor and investigator clients. The tool will assign risk based on the on-chain histories of transacted funds, the Silicon Valley firm said. Inbound cryptos with unseemly ties (from sanctioned countries or a fraud campaign, for example) would get a “high risk” score under the system. Quick bites Argentine telecom hackers opted for monero Samsung added Decentraland support on its mobile wallet app XRP investor Will Meade claimed he worked at Goldman Sachs. Goldman says there’s no record of his employment ( Decrypt ) DeFi got a robo-advisor ( The Block ) Dr. Seuss comes to the blockchain thanks to the maker of Cryptokitties ( TechCrunch ) The big read Related: First Mover: Bitcoin Shows Signs of Life but Ether (and Crew) Steal the Limelight China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) took a great leap forward by integrating with six public blockchains. Beginning Aug 10, Tezos, NEO, Nervos, EOS, IRISnet and Ethereum developers will be able to build dapps and run nodes drawing on bandwidth from BSN’s data centers. The BSN is a toolbox for open source developers to build blockchain applications. Sometimes called the “digital belt and road initiative,” the BSN is an oxymoronic experiment in nation state-led decentralized tech development. “This is part of China’s plan to be the one and only infrastructure provider for blockchain firms around the world,” CoinDesk’s David Pan reports. Evidence of President Xi Jinping’s commitment to “seize” the blockchain opportunity, the BSN reveals lingering contradictions in China’s approach to open source crypto projects. “The Chinese government and regulators are very cautious about decentralized public chains and try not to get involved in anything related to a public blockchain,” Hongfei Da, founder of NEO, said. “It is interesting to see BSN, which has a clear commercial purpose and is backed by entities with government background, is supporting such projects.” Market intel Correlation Data Point Bitcoin jumped from $9,190 to $9,360 in early morning trading, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index, after European Union leaders announced a €750 billion post-pandemic fiscal stimulus plan. This is another data point showing correlation between Bitcoin and traditional equities, as some major European equity indices are up at least 1.5% each, while Germany’s DAX index has nearly erased losses incurred during the coronavirus-led market tumble. ETH’s Real Value? Ether’s total market capitalization stands at about $26 billion, if you’re not taking into account all of the digital assets built atop the Ethereum blockchain. The combined value of ERC-20-standard tokens – which include stablecoins like tether, altcoins like Chainlink’s LINK and DeFi darlings like Kyber’s KNC – is around $26 billion, according to the data provider Messari. Including all these assets, the Ethereum ecosystem’s market cap is around $50 billion – closer to bitcoin’s $170 billion than if ether were considered alone. “The comparison shows how the rapid pace of development this year on Ethereum has brought the blockchain’s ecosystem closer to challenging Bitcoin. The value gap narrowed over the past month as bitcoin’s price stagnated, while demand for stablecoins and a flurry of activity in DeFi has ignited the value of Ethereum and the tokens that depend on it,” CoinDesk’s First Mover reports. You can get the full analysis in your inbox by subscribing here. Ethereum at five Five years Five years ago, an unlikely project went live. It called itself “the world computer” and it promised to transform not just cryptocurrencies as we knew it, but the very idea of what could be done with cryptography and consensus. Ethereum had arrived. From its technical aspirations to unicorns and memes, Ethereum is a culture on its own. It has spawned blockchain uses — from digital cats to yield farming — previously unimagined. Ethereum is at a crossroads. But it must complete an ambitious and fraught retooling of its foundations — the long awaited move to Ethereum 2.0 — to keep up with the market’s demands. CoinDesk is marking the milestone with Ethereum at Five: a cross-platform series comprising a series of special coverage, a pop-up newsletter and live-streamed discussions. New issues and sessions launch daily from July 27-31. Register for CoinDesk Live and our pop-up newsletter. Opinion Surprise Attack? Brenna Smith, an open source researcher and contributor for the investigative website Bellingcat, thinks no one should be surprised that Twitter was hacked last week, least of all Twitter. For years, celebrity impersonations and crypto scams have run rampant on the platform, without any meaningful redress. “Essentially since Bitcoin’s inception, cyber criminals and scammers have capitalized on the currency to funnel proceeds from emails scams, fake websites, and propositions on chat forums. Then, they began leveraging major social media platforms and impersonating celebrities. Mainstream social media platforms and celebrities provide two critical ingredients to a lucrative hack: a large audience and a semblance of credibility,” she writes. Podcast Singularity or Bust The latest episode of The Breakdown looks at GPT-3, “the latest artificial intelligence tool to have you questioning the veracity of what you see online. ” NWL gives an overview of the new language tool and asks whether we should be terrified. Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: China’s BSN Integrations and Satoshi’s Newfound Wealth Blockchain Bites: China’s BSN Integrations and Satoshi’s Newfound Wealth View comments || Israeli Firm Develops Tech Allowing Crypto Users to Retrieve Funds Sent in Error: Blockchain startup Kirobo says its technology can prevent the loss of cryptocurrency caused by human error when sending what are normally irreversible transactions between wallets. The firms Retrievable Transfer feature works by building a new layer onto existing blockchain protocols. Users then have the ability to cancel a transaction sent to an incorrect cryptocurrency wallet address, the Israeli company said in a press release Tuesday. Our aim is to make blockchain transactions as simple and as secure as online banking, said Kirobo CEO Asaf Naim. Related: Many Bitcoin Developers Are Choosing to Use Pseudonyms For Good Reason See also: Maker of Coldcard Bitcoin Wallet Rolls Out an Extra-Strength USB Condom The companys logic layer functions by providing a unique transaction code that must be entered by the recipient in order to receive funds from the sender. Until the recipient has entered the correct code, the sender may retrieve the funds at any time. Loss of funds can and does occur when a sender includes an error in the long string of alphanumeric characters that make up cryptocurrency addresses. Kirobo cited a survey that found that 18% of respondents said they had lost funds through such sending errors. A way to make transactions less risky could help encourage new users of cryptocurrency.. Related: US Homeland Security's Tech Scouts Reissue Call for Blockchain Startups By removing the fear from crypto transactions, Kirobo will facilitate the adoption of cryptocurrency as a whole, said Adam Levi, DAOstack CTO and adviser to Kirobo. The startup said it does not hold or store a users private keys, with the unique code simply governing whether or not the transaction would be finalized. The feature can also operate offline should Kirobos servers go down. See also: Many Bitcoin Developers Are Choosing to Use Pseudonyms For Good Reason Story continues Kirobos platform has received support from Israels Innovation Authority, the arm of the government charged with fostering industrial research and development. The firm has also been audited by cybersecurity firm Scorpiones Group, according to the press release. Kirobos Retrievable Transfer feature is now available for bitcoin transfers on wallets from France-headquartered firm Ledger, while support in other wallets is expected to roll out over coming months. Related Stories Israeli Firm Develops Tech Allowing Crypto Users to Retrieve Funds Sent in Error Israeli Firm Develops Tech Allowing Crypto Users to Retrieve Funds Sent in Error || Bitcoin’s mining difficulty hits a new all-time high: The bitcoin mining difficulty jumped 9.89% on Monday, pushing the total rate to above 17 trillion for the first time.
The difficulty rate, which benchmarks how difficult it is to mine a block and is adjusted approximately every two weeks, hit 17.34 trillion after its latest adjustment. The total network hashrate currently sits at around 124 EH/s.
Positively related to the total network hashrate, the bitcoin difficulty has had a turbulent year thus far. At the beginning of the year, it was impacted by delays in mining machine shipments due to COVID-19. In May, the Bitcoin subsidy halving — when the block reward dropped from 12.5 BTC per block to 6.25 BTC — left a temporary dent on the total network hashrate.
However, since early June, the difficulty rate has been slowly rising, along with an increase in total hashrate. BTC.comprojectsthat the next difficulty adjustment will push the figure above 19 trillion.
[caption id="attachment_71375" align="alignnone" width="2772"]
Sources: The Block Research[/caption]
© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 11759.59, 11053.61, 11246.35, 11205.89, 11747.02, 11779.77, 11601.47, 11754.05, 11675.74, 11878.11
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2022-06-28]
BTC Price: 20280.63, BTC RSI: 32.10
Gold Price: 1817.50, Gold RSI: 41.68
Oil Price: 111.76, Oil RSI: 49.16
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Block: On Track to Build an ‘Ecosystem of Ecosystems’: Last week,Block (SQ)held its investor day, a bit of a rare occurrence for the digital payments giant. The last such event took place 5 years ago, and many things have changed since.
In fact, referring to Block as a payments company might not suffice anymore, at least according to CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey has a bigger vision for Block, one which Deutsche Bank’sBryan Keanehighlights as an intention to build an "’ecosystem of ecosystems’ that will create a positive feedback loop as the business scales.”
And it is doing so by expanding its TAM (total addressable market). The company believes it holds just a 3% penetration rate in a market it values at ~$190 billion.
This is the market Cash App and Seller operate in, with both ecosystems providing “multiple vectors of growth,” according to Keane. Other initiatives such as music streaming service Tidal and Dorsey’s intention to advance various Bitcoin-related projects offer further room for growth.
Much has already been made of the Cash App’s stellar success. Since its introduction 5 years ago, with a “compelling monetization engine driven by cross sell and inflows,” the P2P model has become a viral success and “developed a scaled consumer ecosystem.” In the US, SQ sees a ~$70 billion gross profit opportunity for Cash App.
But the success is not solely reserved for Cash. Built on a mix of hardware such as card readers and terminals along with software such as eComm APIs and Square Payroll in addition to “industry-specific tools” like Square for Retail, Restaurants and Appointments, SQ has developed into a “fully integrated commerce system.” And it will utilize all these tools and services to make further inroads into the “significant addressable market.” Not to mention, there’s also Afterpay, the buy now, pay later platform which SQ has acquired to provide the missing link between its Cash App and Square ecosystems.
All this focus on growth is set against the need to take care of margins, a balancing act Keane thinks the company has the nous to pull off.
“Ultimately, we see SQ altering its pace of investments depending on current economic and market conditions and given the current environment, we believe SQ will be prudently controlling spend to expand margins while still investing in long-term growth (we see potential margin upside near-term given high structural margins and fixed cost efficiency,” the analyst summed up.
In line with his optimistic approach, Keane gives SQ shares a Buy rating and his $155 price target suggests an impressive 104% potential upside for the coming year. (To watch Keane’s track record,click here)
It looks like most on the Street are on the same page here. Of the 37 analyst reviews on file, 6 stay on the sidelines, but all the rest are positive, making the consensus view a Strong Buy. The forecast calls for one-year gains of ~97%, considering the average price target clocks in at $149.12. (See Block stock forecast on TipRanks)
To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment. || FCA willing to regulate crypto but cost concerns remain: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said it stands ready to regulate thecryptomarket in the UK but has doubts over who will end up paying for the higher costs of this additional regulation.
The chair of the FCA, Charles Randell, said in a speech at Queen Mary University of London that the FCA's success in regulating speculative crypto is going to be judged and questions need to be answered.
“Should people be encouraged to believe that these are investments, when they have no underlying value? When the price of Bitcoin can readily halve within six months, as it has done recently, and some other speculative crypto tokens have gone to zero?
“Should a couple with retirement savings of £250,000, ($311,684) which would buy them an annuity of perhaps £6,000 at age 65, be treated as 'high net worth' and encouraged or permitted to speculate on crypto or other high-risk products with these savings?
“Should people without any significant savings or financial experience be encouraged or permitted to buy speculative crypto at all?”
Read more:Crypto: Tether hole widens as it loses another billion in a day
The chair of the financial watchdog hinted at policymakers, stating that “these fundamental questions need to be properly and openly debated and answered well before responsibility passes to the FCA, rather than afterwards.”
Randell also asked the question of who will pay for the extra costs of regulating crypto.
“Regulating crypto also means deciding how the FCA will raise the money to pay for the very significant costs of this additional regulation, including the question of whether the financial services industry as a whole should be exposed to the costs of failing crypto firms through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
“I think it shouldn’t, and that consumers should have to acknowledge that fact before an adviser helps them to buy crypto.”
The expansion of the FCA’s scope to include crypto firms has increased its fees by £8m. In its fee proposal document released in April, the regulator said the fee will go towards the costs of developing IT systems and recruiting extra staff for the project.
Read more:Crypto losses can be ‘banked’ with HMRC to cut tax bill
Although the FCA is not responsible for regulating how crypto firms conduct their business with consumers, they have recently been brought under the regulator’s supervision under the money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.
The regulator recently issued a statement reminding consumers that it has not been given regulatory oversight over direct investments in cryptoassets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In addition, the FCA pointed out that investments in cryptoassets and NFTs are not protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and investors should be prepared to lose all the money they invest. || Bitcoin Rises as Cost-Cutting and Layoffs Reverberate Through Crypto Industry: By David Wagner, with Marco Oehrl and Daniel Shvartsman
Investing.com - Just as it suffered the risk-off trade earlier this week, Bitcoin rose in Friday trading on the back of a renewed risk on appetite. In early Friday morning trading, the leading cryptocurrency is up 1.6% to $30,447 as of 04:45 am ET (0845 GMT).
This came after a sharp rise for stock markets in Europe and the United States on Thursday, with the NASDAQ Composite leading the way, ending the day up 2.69%.
However, the trend of BTC/USD seems fragile, and the crypto-currency could at any time resume the downward path and fall back below $30,000. It's notable that the leading bitcoin alternative ETH/USD, for example, was not following suit, down 0.9% to $1809.
That's especially true since risk appetite could be short-lived, as risks of a recession persist even with yesterday's market rise.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk wasthe latestto intimate a major layoff plan, saying he wants to cut about 10% of the Tesla workforce in an email seen by Reuters. This comes after JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimonwarnedof an "economic hurricane" on Wednesday night, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)loweredits earnings and sales forecasts for the current quarter.
The crypto sector has also felt the impact of the current economic gloom, with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) announcing in ablog postby chief human resources officer L.J. Brock that it would "extend its hiring pause for new and replacement positions for the foreseeable future and cancel a number of accepted offers," suggesting that the company is preparing for a crypto winter.
The move came just hours after crypto-currency exchange and custodian Gemini, the brainchild of billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss,announcedthe layoff of 10% of their workforce, or about 100 employees.
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South Korean government becomes an early investor in the Metaverse || Elizabeth Warren Echoes Labor Dept. Concerns About Fidelity’s Plan for Bitcoin in 401(k) Retirement Plans: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined the Labor Department in expressing concerns about Fidelity Investment'splan to offer bitcoin(BTC) in its 401(k) retirement plans.
• In ajoint letter with Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Warren asked Fidelity "about the appropriateness" of its plans.
• Echoing the theLabor Department's concernsabout bitcoin's volatility, the two described investing in crypto as "a risky and speculative gamble."
• "We are concerned that Fidelity would take these risks with millions of Americans' retirement savings," they said.
• They asked Fidelity to say how it assesses risks of volatility, fraud, theft and the evolving regulatory environment and how it plans to address them.
• Warren has previously expressed skepticism about the crypto industry. In March, she introduced a bill toblock cryptocurrencyfirms from conducting business with sanctioned companies. There isbroad consensusin the blockchain industry that crypto is not used to work around sanctions.
• She has alsoquestioned mining firms over their energy usageand is a proponent of the U.S.developing a central bank digital currency(CBDC), seen by some as a challenge and means of restricting private cryptocurrencies andstablecoins.
Read more:MicroStrategy to Offer Workers Bitcoin Options in 401(k) Accounts via Fidelity || Spice Girl Mel B Had Only $1,300 In Her Bank Account At One Point, But Here's How She Bounced Back With A $6M Net Worth: Mel B first rose to fame as one-fifth of the popular 1990s girl group, The Spice Girls. With their infectious dance sound and message of “Girl Power,” Scary Spice — as Melanie Janine Brown was then known — was part of a new wave of feminism that paired femininity with strength. And the messaging paid off: the Spice Girls became a part of the list of best-selling girl groups of all time, according to reports . Unfortunately, Mel B didn’t always invest her money wisely. Between her lavish lifestyle, bad business investments, and more, the singer and songwriter eventually found herself nearly destitute and struggling to survive. But, as the old saying goes, tough times don’t last forever — tough people do. Let’s take a look at how Mel B nearly lost it all — then bounced back better than ever. Editorial note: The net worth listed in this piece is a speculative estimate drawn from a variety of online sources. Mel B: Her Net Worth At The Height Of Her Spice Girls Fame According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mel B had a $30 million net worth at the height of her career. Today, she has a $6 million net worth. How She Lost It All Even though Mel B was a millionaire many times over, divorce and bad business investments left her with just about $1,000 in her bank account at one point. In 2017, People reported that the former “Scary Spice” had been ordered to pay more than $40,000 a month in child support to her ex-husband, Stephen Belafonte. What’s more, AfroTech previously reported that Mel B was also facing IRS trouble to the tune of $2.5 million. “Fortunately, though, News24 reported that she was back on her feet after the Spice Girls reunion tour, which gave her the ability to catch up on all her bills — including the tax bill,” we also reported. The Bounceback Mel B’s success story is proof that it’s not how hard you fall, but how hard you get back up. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the singer was banking $240,000 per episode of “America’s Got Talent,” so she certainly made her money back there. Story continues As previously mentioned, she also went on a reunion tour with The Spice Girls, putting more than $1 million back in her pocket. With her very public desire to get paid in Bitcoin showing promise, too, Mel B is well on her way to redemption. “The former Spice Girl made history when, according to Coindesk, she became the first British artist in history to get paid in Bitcoin. She partnered with the now-defunct Cloud Hashing to accept the then-revolutionary cryptocurrency for her new single,” AfroTech previously reported. “I love how new technology makes our lives easier, and to me that’s exciting. Bitcoin unites my fans around the world using one currency. They can just pay using bitcoins!” she said in a statement at the time. || First Mover Asia: Bitcoin Jumps Above $31K; Ether Gas Fees Drop: Don't miss CoinDesk'sConsensus 2022, the must-attend crypto & blockchain festival experience of the year in Austin, TX this June 9-12.
Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:
Prices:A day after bitcoin completed its record ninth-straight weekly decline, the largest cryptocurrency's price jumped by the most since early March.
Insights:Ethereum's gas fees are at a record low, Sam Reynolds reports.
Catch the latest episodes ofCoinDesk TVfor insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis. Andsign up for First Mover, our daily newsletter putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context.
Bitcoin (BTC):$31,646 +8.4%
Ether (ETH):$1,990 +11%
[{"Asset": "Cardano", "Ticker": "ADA", "Returns": "+17.8%", "DACS Sector": "Smart Contract Platform"}, {"Asset": "Internet Computer", "Ticker": "ICP", "Returns": "+15.7%", "DACS Sector": "Computing"}, {"Asset": "Chainlink", "Ticker": "LINK", "Returns": "+12.2%", "DACS Sector": "Computing"}]
There are no losers in CoinDesk 20 today.
Bitcoin posts biggest daily price rise in two months, as crypto markets rally broadly
Traditional markets were mostly closed in the U.S. on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, but bitcoin (BTC) didn't rest.
The largest cryptocurrency by market value jumped more than 7%to about $31,500, in its biggest gain since March 9.
The sudden burst higher came as bitcoin had just completed arecord nine-week losing streakthat took the price down to around $29,400 from $37,600.
Now, crypto analysts are starting to ask if the market isfinding a bottomafter the latest downdraft.
According to the blockchain analysis firm Glassnode, the recent selling pressure might be easing up. "The price action appeared to have bottomed for the time being," Glassnode wrote Monday in itsUncharted newsletter.
Almost all major cryptocurrencies were in the green on Monday, with Cardano'sADAgaining some 17% and leading theCoinDesk 20.
(Most traditional markets were closed in the U.S. on Monday for an official holiday.)
As motorists complain about gas fees being too (expletive deleted) high, crypto traders are dealing with the opposite: Ethereum's gas fees are at a record low, Sam Reynolds reports.
The average transaction fee is around $3.70 now,according to on-chain data. When the year began that number was between $38 and $52 depending on the chain congestion at the time.
As such,gas-heavy transactionslike selling a non-fungible token (NFT) on OpenSea or completing a Uniswap transaction are at all-time lows.
Traders seem to be spooked by the fallout of Terra and have been hesitant about jumping back into the market. On-chain data shows that throughout May there were massive spikes in gas consumption on key dates related to Terra’s decline, and subsequent spikes in activity on Uniswap as traders repositioned to shield themselves from market volatility.
The problem is, they aren’t getting back into the market: Gas is low, Uniswap is (comparatively) idle, and the price of ether continues to trend downward. Ether’s price is recovering, but demand is weak because there aren’t as many active traders at the moment.
While the prices of Solana'sSOLand Avalanche'sAVAXhave begun to recover, the number ofdaily active usershas not. Both of these chains were built in an era of high Ethereum gas fees, so it could be that low gas isn’t driving a rush to their doors. But it's more likely there’s no reason to do anything at all until things stabilize.
One knock-on effect from all of this will be how soon the Ethereum Merge happens. Because without high gas fees, there will be less a sense of urgency in migrating to proof of stake, and with thatcomes controlled, more predictable fees. Whatwas once expectedin June has been pushed off to “the fall” (autumn) andprediction marketsare putting that date between October and the end of the year. Let’s see if gas fees stay low and this is delayed again.
Japan Jobs, Industrial Production, Retail Sales: 3:50 p.m. HKT/SGT (7:30 a.m. UTC)
China Manufacturing PMI 5 p.m HKT/SGT(9 a.m. UTC)
U.S. Consumer Confidence Index: 10 p.m. HKT/SGT (2 p.m. UTC )
In case you missed it, here is the most recent episode of"First Mover"onCoinDesk TV:
Crypto Markets Not Moving Much but Stepn Is; Co-Founder Explains the Play-to-Earn Game:
Bitcoin still stuck in a range and ether remains down after the top cryptocurrencies both lost pivotal support levels. Why is sentiment still so weak for the broader crypto markets? Urs Bernegger of SEBA Bank joins "First Mover" to share his crypto markets outlook. Plus, StepN Co-Founder Yawn Rong explains the popular "move-to-earn" game.
Terra’s Mirror Protocol Allegedly Suffers New Exploit:Community users are raising the alarm about a possible bug in the LUNC pricing oracles.
Letters to Layer 2: We Still Know Nothing About the Metaverse: Will the metaverse be expensive to use? Will there be more than one? Who, ultimately, is responsible for building it? CoinDesk's Daniel Kuhn explores the questions.
Bitcoin Shows Signs of Bottoming Out After 9 Weeks of Losses: The $29,500 level is acting as major support for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
India 'Fairly Ready' With Crypto Consultation Paper, Govt. Official Says: India has not yet finalized crypto-specific legislation.
Letters to Layer 2: We Still Know Nothing About the Metaverse: Will the metaverse be expensive to use? Will there be more than one? Who, ultimately, is responsible for building it?
Today's crypto explainer:What Is Avalanche? A Look at the Popular ‘Ethereum-Killer’ Blockchain || Bitcoin, other crypto expected to consolidate more after Fed meeting: For the last year cryptocurrencies have traded increasingly like equities, making the U.S. central banks monetary policy one of the most important drivers of the crypto markets performance. But crypto analysts and traders arent expecting market-shaking moves to follow the Federal Reserve's policy-making meeting Wednesday, largely because the market has anticipated a rate hike of 50 basis points for a month. Nonetheless, if Fed Chair Jerome Powells tone turns more hawkish or dovish than expected, there could be notable movement in crypto prices. A more aggressive stance could push crypto lower. Theres been falling momentum in retail and institutional interest around crypto since the beginning of the year, Edward Moya, senior market analyst with Oanda, told Yahoo Finance. Bitcoin and other risky assets will probably continue to consolidate until markets show more confidence that weve reached peak Fed hawkishness. Business Trends Graphs and charts 3d image (Vertigo3d via Getty Images) John Kramer, a crypto trader with GSR, doesnt anticipate Bitcoin to break its 30-day trading range, but what he's watching is comments about the Feds inevitable balance sheet runoff. Until March, the central bank was buying U.S. Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities to help boost financial markets. For the past month, Bitcoin has traded within a range of $46,000 and $37,000 per coin, sitting Tuesday afternoon at $37,732, or 45% off its all-time peak in early November 2021. I would be shocked to see the crypto market drop substantially by the close of the stock market Wednesday. Longer term, there is also strong buyer support for Bitcoin at the $30,000 and $28,000 level. It would have to take something really spooky, a significant change of course to shake people out at those levels, Kramer said, adding that he expected to see some intraday relief rally. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the Senate Banking Committee hearing titled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress", in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022. Tom Williams/Pool via REUTERS (POOL New / reuters) Mike McGlone, a senior commodity strategist with Bloomberg Intelligence, agreed that all risk assets could see a rally Wednesday, but Bitcoins performance will mostly be trader noise," similar to stocks. Story continues Looking further, McGlone said he anticipated Bitcoin to continue to decline with other risk assets such as the stocks, but ultimately in this cycle he expects Bitcoin to come out ahead. The bottom line is that one of the most rapidly growing assets in recent years are cryptocurrencies so they have the most to lose, despite that Bitcoin has been showing divergent strength, he said, noting Bitcoins year-to-date drawdown compared with the Nasdaq. As of Tuesday afternoon, both the Nasdaq Composite and Bitcoin have sold off 20.6% for the year. YF Plus David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers . For more information about cryptocurrency, check out: Dogecoin, what is it? How to buy it Ethereum: What is it and how do you invest in it? The top 21 crypto leaders to watch in the back half of 2021 Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Instagram , YouTube , Facebook , Flipboard , and LinkedIn || 7 High-Yield Dividend Stocks for All the Income Lovers: With the market rattled from various negative events colliding, its time to get whatever you can from the market with high-yield dividend stocks to buy. Essentially, waiting for growth-centric names to provide robust capital gains might be a fools errand in this ecosystem. Instead, your attention should be directed to businesses that have the earnings to support passive income. To be fair, after the ridiculous performances that the equities sector pulled off in 2020 and 2021, the idea of shifting to high-yield dividend stocks to buy might be a tad disappointing. Though passive income is always a plus, its a lot sexier to see your portfolio rise by 100% or 200%. I get that. At the same time, the convergence of inflation, geopolitical tensions and eroding consumer sentiment is enough to warrant a pivot. 7 Retirement Stocks to Buy for a Bear Market For instance, should the economy fall into a recession as many analysts fear, those companies that provide steady yield tend to perform better than organizations geared strictly for growth. In this case, were going to explore balanced high-yield dividend stocks; that is, businesses that give you solid income with relevant revenue streams. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Ticker Company Current Price PSX Phillips 66 $90.51 MMM 3M Company $129.84 LYB LyondellBasell Industries N.V. $89.73 NWE NorthWestern Corporation $54.58 PM Philip Morris International Inc. $97.95 OKE Oneok, Inc. $53.39 EPR EPR Properties $45.05 High-Yield Dividend Stocks: Phillips 66 (PSX) Phillips 66 (PSX) gas station in the daytime Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com While the hydrocarbon sector continues to be the bane of security analysts who have long called for removing dependencies on belligerent nations, the overriding reality is that fossil fuels lever tremendous energy density . Basically, with a gallon of gasoline, modern combustion-engine technology enables a two-ton SUV to travel 20 or 30 miles down the freeway. Story continues Until that is no longer the case, its a reasonable bet that Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX ) is one of the best high-yield dividend stocks to buy. Focused mainly on the midstream and downstream aspects of the oil industry, Phillips 66 is an essential player in our transportation infrastructure. Even with growing demand for clean and sustainable energy alternatives , such a transition will take time. Like it or not, PSX is relevant not a decade nor even a year from now but today. Backed by a strong performance in the first quarter of 2022 a highlight being $582 million in net income PSX is poised to be one of the sustainable high-yield dividend stocks to buy. 3M (MMM) 3M (MMM) logo on top of a corporate building Source: JPstock / Shutterstock.com A common theme when you assess high-yield dividend stocks to buy the reasonable names, not the junk fly-by-night operations is that they tend to be boring. Case in point is applied sciences and industrial giant 3M (NYSE: MMM ). Acquiring a rather glaring spotlight in 2020 because of its manufacturing of N95 respirators amid the coronavirus pandemic, 3M has gone relatively quiet. Unfortunately, its low profile hasnt prevented MMM stock from suffering a 24% year-to-date loss. However, with the company leveraging a massive global footprint were talking over 60,000 products cutting across various industries and applications 3M is unlikely to be irrelevant anytime soon. In fairness, sometimes being a jack of all trades can be less ideal business wise. Still, 3M is one of the more undervalued names among high-yield dividend stocks to buy according to a basket of valuation metrics . As well, the company features consistently strong free cash flow, making it an interesting name on discount. LyondellBasell (LYB) A LyondellBasell production plant in Wesseling, Germany is seen at dusk. Source: Flagmania / Shutterstock.com As one of the worlds largest companies in the plastics, chemicals and refining sectors, LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB ) is involved in a variety of applications, ranging from advanced polymer solutions to crude oil processing to industrial technologies. With hands in so many pertinent areas, LyondellBasell stands poised to weather a potential economic storm. Interestingly, because the company is so relevant, LYB stock down only 1% YTD. Still, the trailing five days has been a rough one for the chemicals specialist, shedding 8% of market value. Despite the carnage, investors with a long-term outlook should consider adding shares to their portfolio. As with 3M above, LyondellBasell is undervalued; actually, significantly so compared to the competition. For example, LYBs forward price-earnings ratio of 6x is more favorable than its rivals, where the sector median is 15x forward earnings. LYB isnt exactly the most exciting name among high-yield dividend stocks but it should steer you right during this storm. High-Yield Dividend Stocks: NorthWestern Corp (NWE) Utilities stocks: a stock image of light fixtures; one lightbulb is lit up Source: Shutterstock Whenever the theme of protection against economic headwinds come up, I like bringing up utility companies. If youve followed my work for some time, you probably know what Im going to say next: bad things happen when people flip the switch and the light doesnt turn on. Its just a sociological reality that crimes tend to increase when the power is out. Still, Im mentioning NorthWestern Corp (NASDAQ: NWE ) on this list of high-yield dividend stocks to buy for the positives. Primarily, in an environment where the purchasing power of the dollar keeps declining, households are expected to cut discretionary spending. Youre not going to cut utilities unless circumstances have gone dire. Second, its regional focus on Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska could be an advantage as many millennials tired of the metropolitan lifestyle are headed to the northwestern states . Should work from home become a permanent dynamic for full disclosure, I dont think so NWE could be quite a treasure among high-yield dividend stocks to buy. Philip Morris (PM) Philip Morris factory offices in Lithuania. PM stock. Source: Vytautas Kielaitis / Shutterstock With millennials and Generation Z focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) ideas, being incredibly cynical, especially with big tobacco firms is a major no-no. Then again, you dont need to disclose your holdings to the world (unless you are required to for your profession). As uncouth as the topic may be, Philip Morris (NYSE: PM ) is a relevant name among high-yield dividend stocks to buy. According to a study out of Germanys Institute of Labor Economics, the propensity to become a smoker increases significantly during an economic downturn. You can dive into the specifics if youre curious by clicking the aforementioned link. However, the finding isnt particularly surprising, given that cigarettes alleviate stress or should I say, perceived to alleviate stress. In addition, Philip Morris is heavily involved in the smoke-free products category. Of interest is that its IQOS platform is small and discreet, which matches the current trends among e-cigarette/vaping connoisseurs. While its not the most pleasant among high-yield dividend stocks to buy, PM gets the job done. Oneok (OKE) Oneok company logo icon on website Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com Billed as a leading midstream service provider connecting prolific supply basins with key market centers, Oneok (NYSE: OKE ) specializes in the processing, storage and transportation of natural gas. Of course, with the special military operation in eastern Europe and its ongoing destabilization, natural gas has become a geopolitical football. Still, in the interim, this dynamic should benefit companies like Oneok. One of the intriguing circumstances, though, is that this midstream firm hasnt enjoyed the upside performance of its peers. On a YTD basis, OKE is down by 9%. At the same time, it does bring up the prospect that Oneok could be a great longer-term buy. In Q1 2022, the company rang up revenue of $5.44 billion, up over 70% against the year-ago quarter. On net income, the improvement was only marginal but still, at $391 million, it exceeded Q1 2021s tally by $5 million. With the global energy equation become increasingly tricky, OKE seems a solid bet among high-yield dividend stocks. High-Yield Dividend Stocks: EPR Properties (EPR) Real estate investment trust REIT on an office desk. Source: Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Shutterstock For the last entry for high-yield dividend stocks to buy, Im going to dive into the speculative side of the spectrum with EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR ). According to its website, EPR is the leading experiential real estate investment trust, specializing in select enduring experiential properties in the real estate industry. What exactly does that mean? Basically, EPR is focused on properties such as theme parks, vacation resorts and cineplexes, among other high-traffic establishments. While the stock is volatile its dropped nearly 15% in the trailing five days the underlying business happens to be aligned with contemporary travel trends. Despite the suffocating impact of inflation, Americans are still very eager to go out and make new memories with friends and family. Therefore, EPR caters to this demand for experiences. Still, youve got to be careful. With a dividend yield of 7.3%, its the highest on this list but it could be that way for a reason: among analysts, its a low-confidence affair. On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace $200 Oil Sooner Than You Think Buy This Now Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2
Says Buy THIS Early Bitcoin Millionaire Reveals His Next Big Crypto Trade On Air It doesnt matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. The post 7 High-Yield Dividend Stocks for All the Income Lovers appeared first on InvestorPlace . || U.S. SEC chair Gensler says investors should beware of crypto returns that seem "too good to be true": By Katanga Johnson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gary Gensler said on Tuesday that investors should beware promised returns from crypto lending platforms and products that seem "too good to be true." The Wall Street watchdog's comments come a day after the world's largest cryptocurrency fell 15% on Monday, its sharpest one-day drop since March 2020. Bitcoin, which steadied on Tuesday, had earlier hit a new 18-month low as major crypto lender Celsius Network's freezing of withdrawals and the prospect of sharp U.S. interest rate rises shook the volatile asset class. "We've seen again that lending platforms are operating a little like banks. They're saying to investors 'Give us your crypto. We'll give you a big return 7% or 4.5% return.' How does somebody offer (such large percentage of returns) in the market today and not give a lot of disclosure?" Gensler said during an industry event. "I caution the public. If it seems too good to be true, it just may well be too good to be true." New Jersey-based Celsius, which has around $11.8 billion in assets, offers interest-bearing products to customers who deposit cryptocurrencies with its platform. It then lends out cryptocurrencies to earn a return. Focus on crypto markets has intensified again this week amid more volatility that has long-alarmed watchdogs. Companies exposed to cryptocurrencies have previously warned that declines in token prices could have ripple effects, including by triggering margin calls. Gensler has repeatedly touted that in his view, typical crypto trading platforms, which can have dozens of tokens on it, may well meet the definition of "securities," and should be traded and regulated as such. (Reporting by Katanga Johnson in WashingtonEditing by Chizu Nomiyama) || Gold has let us down so far but the price will rise soon – and so will this miner: gold One of the surprises of this sudden period of high inflation is that the gold price has not shot up. Gold is, after all, the traditional safe haven in such times. But even if investors remain lukewarm about its inflation-busting credentials there are good reasons to expect its price to rise in the coming years. Simply put, supply is all but certain to fall and demand is likely to rise. The extra demand will come from the central banks of certain countries around the world that have seen how Russia’s dollar holdings have been subject to sanctions and decide to invest instead in an asset that they can keep in their own vaults and has no “counterparty”. This is the view of James de Uphaugh of Edinburgh investment trust, which has a stake in Newmont , the New York-listed gold miner. Supply, meanwhile, is under pressure. “The main reason is that gold is getting harder to find,” says de Uphaugh. “If you want to develop a new gold mine it’s not obvious where to go.” All the places where gold can be taken from the ground easily have long been exhausted. Whereas once it could be found on the surface, now ever deeper mines are required. Mining companies have also lost their appetite for “prospecting” – searching for entirely new sources – and instead now concentrate on getting all the gold they can out of existing mines, de Uphaugh says. “Searching for new mines is the glamorous side of the business and the previous generation of mining executives, their heads no doubt full of images from cowboy films, did just that. They sought to make their company the biggest by spending fortunes on seeking new sources or by buying rivals. This, of course, came at the expense of profitability.” When that bubble burst a decade or so ago, those executives were fired and their replacements took a more hard-headed approach focused on profitability and cutting risk and debt. “Gold miners are now run by people with discipline, who are not gung ho but run their business in a systematised way. They have stricter financial criteria for going ahead with new projects,” de Uphaugh says. While this is making mining more profitable, it does mean that fewer new sources of supply are being found. “Production from existing gold mines is forecast to halve in the next 10 years,” he says. Even under the most optimistic estimates of supply from potential new sources, global output falls by a third between now and 2029. Newmont is also making its operations more efficient. Gold mining has been slower to be automated than the extraction of other minerals found further below the surface but the company has introduced autonomous haulage at its Boddington mine in Australia and is in partnership with Caterpillar to create the industry’s first fully autonomous, electric, zero-carbon mining system. Story continues It expects its cost of extraction to fall from about $1,040 an ounce last year to about $950 by 2026. While this forecast is based on the assumption that inflation is brought under control within a couple of years, the company is taking steps to insulate itself from rising prices by, for example, installing solar panels for its mines’ energy needs. This is especially effective because gold mines are normally found in empty areas that enjoy lots of sun. De Uphaugh adds: “Newmont currently has a free cash flow yield of 5pc, a large proportion of which should go back to shareholders. It pays a base dividend of $1 a share and tops it up whenever the gold price is more than $1,200. Over time its costs should fall so free cash flow should increase. But I also don’t expect the gold price to stay flat because production is falling. “Gold is also an insurance policy against strange things happening in the economy – shares in gold miners are among the few stocks to do well in periods of stagflation. Recently people have wondered whether gold’s status as a store of value would be usurped by cryptocurrencies but it has a 2,000-year record and has weathered whatever circumstances could throw at it. Bitcoin has only been around in a period of mass money printing.” In view of this column’s belief that the dollar is another safe haven, dollar-denominated shares in a company that produces a scarce, dollar-denominated commodity look a good bet. Questor says: buy Ticker: NYSE: NEM Share price at close: $65.17 Read the latest Questor column on telegraph.co.uk every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5am. Read Questor’s rules of investment before you follow our tips. View comments
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 20104.02, 19784.73, 19269.37, 19242.26, 19297.08, 20231.26, 20190.12, 20548.25, 21637.59, 21731.12
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2019-07-22]
BTC Price: 10343.11, BTC RSI: 47.39
Gold Price: 1425.30, Gold RSI: 68.02
Oil Price: 56.22, Oil RSI: 45.12
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Egypt Lifts Ban, Will Allow Licensed Cryptocurrency Companies: Egypt appears to be loosening its restrictions on cryptocurrency. A source speaking to the Middle East News Agency described a proposed bill to ban the creation, trading, or promotion of cryptocurrencies without a license. Previously Egypt banned all cryptocurrency under Islamic law. Shawki Allam, the current Grand Mufti of Egypt, issued that ban in early 2018 , stating the technology could undermine the legal system via tax evasion, money laundering, and other fraudulent activities. The Grand Mufti was also concerned with cryptos volatility and scams. Associated Press Rules Crypto Isnt a Substitute for Cryptocurrency However, as the market has expanded and neighboring countries have begun exploring the technology , the government is softening its stance. The bill, according to the Egypt Independent , would give the board of directors of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) the right to regulate cryptocurrencies and require, multiple potentially expensive licenses to do business. The report reads: The new law provides legal authority for the electronic authentication of bank transactions, electronic payment orders, and transfer orders as well as for the electronic settlement of checks and the issuance and circulation of electronic checks and electronic discount orders, provided that Board of Directors of CBE issue rules and procedures regulating all the aforementioned actions. Bitcoin Price Jumps to 4-Month High Above $4,900 Egypt has discussed cryptocurrency legalization for years before this move. The draft bill isnt yet available for public reading. Image via Shutterstock Related Stories How the Coming Constantinople Hard Fork Could Stir Up Ether Markets Makers MKR Crypto Outperforms in February with 37% Gains View comments || Bitcoin Extends Modest Recovery as Most Cryptos Drop: Investing.com - Bitcoin extended gains on Thursday in a brief recovery from a recent rout. With no relevant news affecting prices, bearish sentiment in the largest digital asset was on hold as cryptocurrencies overall continued their correction. Bitcoin gained 0.3% to $7,701.5 on the Investing.com Index as of 11:18 AM ET (15:18 GMT). The prior session saw the beginning of a modest recovery after a more than 10% correction from the 2019 high of $9,045.9 reached a week ago. Although individual rivals sawed mixed moves, cryptocurrencies renewed their correction. Beginning the week with a total market cap of $276.88 billion, cryptocurrencies saw their market cap drop $11.77 billion through Tuesday. A brief recovery on Wednesday to $250.31 billion was short lived with total market cap down to $246.25 billion at the time of writing on Thursday. The overall decline came despite gains in other of Bitcoins major rivals. XRP rose 1.0% to $0.39669, Ethereum advanced 0.9% to $243.03, while Litecoin traded up 1.2% to $102.848. In recent crypto-currency news Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will announce a coin-related project sometime this month, CNBC reported on Wednesday. The Financial Times reported last week that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is in talks with the company about the project. The CFTC itself received a new chairman on Wednesday. Heath Tarbart, former Acting Under Secretary for International Affairs and member of the Financial Stability Board, was confirmed by the Senate to replace J. Christopher Giancarlo. The switch will take place next month as Tarbart wraps up his responsibilities at the U.S. Treasury Department. Related Articles Crypto Market Outlook Downgraded to Uncertain in New SFOX Volatility Report 3 Top Executives Depart Online Lending Fintech Startup SoFi Exclusive: Microsoft Registers Blockchain and AI Platform for Agriculture in Brazil || Here's Why Bitcoin and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Are Soaring Today: Leading cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC-USD) has doneextremelywell in 2019, a sharp contrast to its performance in 2018. So far this year, bitcoin has more than tripled, and the price has jumped by 17% over the past 24 hours alone.
As would be expected, theGrayscale Bitcoin Trust(NASDAQOTH: GBTC)is also higher as a result. The trust, which primarily owns bitcoins and allows investors to indirectly own the virtual currency, was up by nearly 16% as of 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
Image source: Getty Images.
Interestingly, there's no big news item today (or yesterday for that matter) that's fueling this rally. This seems to be a continuation of renewed investor interest in bitcoin, followingFacebook's(NASDAQ: FB)announcement of its own virtual currency.
The social media giant's cryptocurrency project, which has several notable partners includingUber,Mastercard,Visa, andPayPal, adds legitimacy to the idea of virtual currencies. But it isn't a direct threat to bitcoin since it will be a so-called "stable coin," pegged to the U.S. dollar.
One interesting observation is that while most cryptocurrencies are rising as well, their gains are not nearly as impressive as bitcoin's. Ethereum is up by 12% today, but other leading cryptocurrencies, such as Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin, are all up by single-digit percentages. So, though it's certainly fair to say that bitcoin is skyrocketing higher, this is not a broad-based cryptocurrency rally like the one we saw in late 2017.
More From The Motley Fool
• Crypto, Blockchain & Bitcoin Articles
Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Matthew Frankel, CFPhas no position in any of the stocks or cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook, MA, PYPL, and V. The Motley Fool recommends UBER. The Motley Fool has no position in any cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Betting On The Blockchain With BLCN: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
Bitcoin, the largest digital currency, is coming off an epic rally in May and while the king of crypto currencies has given back some of those gains this month, some blockchain-related exchange traded funds are performing well. That includes theReality Shares Nasdaq NextGen Economy ETF (BLCN) .
BLCN tracks the Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain Economy Index. That index “is designed to measure the returns of companies that are committing material resources to developing, researching, supporting, innovating or utilizing blockchain technology for their use or for use by others,”according to Reality Shares.
For now, there are dichotomies surrounding the blockchain thesis, though for investors willing to take on some risk, the blockchain story remains compelling.
“Blockchain is the least mature of the six transformative technologies tracked by Digital Orbit,” said IHS Markitin a recent note. “Complex and largely confined in application to the financial sector, Blockchain together with 5G had the lowest scores in readiness, one of Digital Orbit's two key measures. The low scores meant that both Blockchain and 5G were considered least likely for adoption by industry.”
Blockchain Adoption Across Industries
Blockchain, the underlying technology that forms the basis for cryptocurrencies, has plenty of other real world uses. Blockchain itself has been a hot topic withcompanies like investment firm UBSlooking to implement the transactional technology in the financial sector. Other industries are expected to be major adopters of blockchain.
“In healthcare, for example, Blockchain has the potential to resolve many long-standing issues, including the creation of a common health information database accessible to doctors and providers alike, regardless of the electronic medical system used,” according to Markit . “ In the power and energy sector, Blockchain can provide a more efficient marketplace and reduce the chances of fraud in energy trading and process optimization. Blockchain can also enable automated management of the power grid, helping to protect against fraud in grid edge transactions.”
Reality Shares also offers theReality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy China ETF (BCNA) , an avenue to tap China's booming blockchain market. BCNA tracks the Reality Shares Nasdaq Blockchain China Index and screens Chinese companies for possible investments if they commit material resources to developing and implementing blockchain technology.
“The business value in 2018 of Blockchain across all industry verticals was estimated by IHS Markit to be worth $5 billion, of which 72% derived from the financial sector,” notes Markit.
For more blockchain ETF news,click here.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Forged documents and multi-billion dollar fortunes: Craig Wright faces tough questions in court: Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who claims to be the inventor of bitcoin, faced tough cross examination during a U.S. District Court hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on June 28, where he claimed he couldn’t produce a list of early Bitcoin addresses holding an enormous, potentially multi-billion dollar fortune.
Wright was summoned to Florida as part of the civil suit, to explain why he failed to give up the addresses of Satoshi’s lost bitcoins, which he says he may never be able to access. The session took place on June 28, but the court transcript was madepublictoday.
The estate of Wright’s late business partner, Dave Kleiman, alleges that the addresses hold a $10 billion fortune, which it claims Wright stole. While both parties believe that Wright is the inventor of Bitcoin—indeed, their assertions depend on it—Wright’s deposition introduced a number of jarring details.
The primary thrust of Wright’s argument was that he couldn’t access the coins because they were held in a blind trust protected by a labyrinthine encryption mechanism, and tangled in a web of complex legal agreements drafted by a succession of lawyers. He also said he didn’t want to access the coins, because they would implicate him as Satoshi Nakamoto—which might be viewed as strange, given that Wright is so heavily invested in the claim that he hassueddoubters for libel.
During the hearing, the plaintiffs’ counsel put Wright through his paces, suggesting the computer scientist had forged a number of documents that he had presented to the court as evidence. For instance, several emails supposedly dating to 2011 and 2012, bore “metadata” placing them far more recently. And a font copyrighted in 2015 appeared on an another email supposedly dispatched in 2011.
But Wright denied any meddling, and said that the server from which the documents originated had been “compromised.” He testified that the documents submitted were bastardized “PDFs” and not legitimate copies of the relevant correspondence—a “provably false” attempt to frame him by the plaintiff and, apparently, others who had outed him as Satoshi.
“When someone has modified a file on a compromised server that was hacked, and is known to be hacked,” he said, “then all sorts of funny things happen.”
Later, the plaintiff’s attorney challenged Wright on a company he had claimed to have purchased as a beneficiary of the blind trust. “Well, let me get this straight,” said the counsel for the plaintiff. “A company you didn’t buy until 2014 is listed as a beneficiary of a trust document you claimed was formed in 2012?’
“No,” said Wright. “You have put documents I don’t recognize.”
“Documents you produced in discovery?”
“Yes, from other machines in my organization.”
Before this, Wright had been asked if any of the documents he had produced were authentic in the first place, to which he repeatedly stated that they had indeed been in his “possession,” but were not necessarily authentic themselves.
The counsel was more direct at points. “Dr. Wright, are these documents forgeries?” he asked. “Um, I don’t know,” said Wright.
Wright claims he invented Bitcoin, and says Dave Kleiman, who died in 2013, helped him. But last year, Kleiman’s estate alleged that Wright had fraudulently transferred some one million of the bitcoins he and Kleiman had mined together (now worth some $10 billion) to himself.
Wright says that he doesn’t owe Kleiman’s estate anything, and that he is unable to access the coins because they are held in a blind trust controlled by third parties he is not aware of, and that the keys to the funds themselves are unknown.
Nevertheless, in late June, the court summoned him to Florida to determine whether his failure to comply with orders to produce the coins amounted to contempt.
In court, Wright expressed regret over his supposed invention, which he says has been blighted by crime. He said he had originally wanted to “destroy” the enormous fortune, and had only entrusted the keys to Kleiman after much convincing. “Dave talked me out of destroying it utterly,” he said. “If I had my way, I would have put a hammer through the hard drive that held those.”
He said he rued inventing bitcoin because it has been linked to criminal activities, including drug dealing and money laundering. He described his own “fork” of Bitcoin, Bitcoin SV, as being compliant with law enforcement. (SV wasreportedlyused to process child pornography last year.)
At several points, Wright offered jarring, uncommon characterizations of the Bitcoin protocol. He described the technology foremost as a “Mandela network,” and claimed the phrase “public address”—the term most commonly used to describe where Bitcoins are sent—was a misnomer, though the case depends on his producing a number of such “public addresses.”
“There are no public addresses at all in Bitcoin,” he said.
He said the primary reason he can’t access the coins is that he lacks certain “key slices” that were held by Kleiman and due to pass onto Wright next year. But if they don’t pass on, he said, he may never be able to access the coins.
Several times when the counsel questioned why the number of these “key slices” required to access the trust appeared to vary, Wright said the counsel was confusing the trust with another set of Bitcoins, held in the “Liberty reserve”—a now defunct digital currency exchange that doesn’t appear to have dealt in Bitcoin.
At one point Wright threw a document, and was chastised by the judge, who threatened him with “handcuffs.” Wright later apologised. “I’m very sorry, Your honor. I lose control sometimes,” he said. “My wife is a psychologist, and she’s working with me.”
Wright is involved in several other lawsuits with people who claim he is not the inventor of Bitcoin, among them podcasterPeter McCormack. Some observerssuggestthe Florida hearing, if it raises sufficient doubt over those claims, could be enough to have those cases thrown out. || Binance Launches Platform ‘2.0’ as Margin Trading Goes Live: The top crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, has launched version 2.0 of its platform – a move that officially adds margin trading for its customers. The firm revealed that margin trading was on the way in late May, and said that the service would feature up to 20x leverage soon after. In an announcement Thursday, Binance indicated that leverage (the amount that can be borrowed against a user’s crypto collateral) is just 3x, however. Related: Canada’s Crypto Exchanges Must Now Register as MSBs, Report Transactions Over $10K “Your Margin Wallet balance determines the amount of funds you can borrow, following a fixed rate of 3:1 (3x). So if you have 1 BTC, you can borrow 2 more,” the firm said in a tutorial . It also set out that to use the service, traders must have passed a know-your-customer ID check and must have two-factor authentication set up as an extra layer of security. Margin trading is available in pairs including bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), XRP, Binance coin (BNB), Tron (TRX) and tether (USDT) initially, but can be funded with all supported coins on Binance. Fees are 0.02 percent on all except BNB, which invites 0.01 percent. “Though the current cryptocurrency market and legacy platforms for margin trading poses greater risks and benefits at the same time, we are confident that its development coupled with more knowledge on proper risk management will help realize greater benefits in the long run,” said Binance co-founder Yi He. Related: Exchange Behemoth Binance Opens Singapore Branch As for the version 2.0 of its platform, the exchange said that, as well as a “newly optimized interface,” it also features an advanced trading engine aimed to improve order matching. It further allows users to move funds from their margin wallet to their primary Binance wallet with no transaction fees. Addressing the addition of margin trading, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said: “This is another step in providing an inclusive cryptocurrency trading platform catering to the needs of both advanced institutional traders and retail traders under the same roof. We are providing a new tool in the financial services and cryptocurrency markets to help amplify trading results of successful trades.” Story continues CZ image courtesy of Binance Related Stories Binance Cuts Time Needed for BTC, ETH Deposits and Withdrawals Polish Crypto Exchange Bitmarket Suddenly Shuts Down || Ivy League Universities Set to Boost the Crypto Industry With an Injection of Institutional Investment: Despite the crypto volatility, the widely publicized regulatory concerns and a lack of liquidity in the cryptocurrency market, reports show that university endowments worldwide are dipping their toes into cryptocurrencies.
Recently,a survey conducted by a trade publicationin partnership with two other startups showed that up to 94% of the 150 endowments surveyed had an investment in crypto-related projects. More than 80% of those surveyed were United States-based institutions, with the rest of the respondents coming from the United Kingdom and Canada.
What is most exciting about the survey is that a whopping 54% of respondents said that they “directly invested in cryptocurrencies though the assets themselves.”
The other 46% said they gained their exposure through products offered by crypto funds.
On Oct. 10, 2018, another report published bya technology news siteindicated that multiple prestigious and Ivy League universities in the U.S. had made investments in cryptocurrency funds. Although the report cited an anonymous source, it revealed that “Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of North Carolina” had all invested capital in the crypto space.
Furthermore, Yale University (another Ivy League school) was revealed to have dabbled in the crypto space with an investment that helped Paradigm (a digital currency fund)raise $400 million.
With nearly $30 billion in its endowment fund, Yale is believed to be the second-largest endowment afterHarvard's $39.2 billion endowment.
Even though most universities are financed by the government, educational institutions also get much of their income from the courses they teach. But, unbeknownst to most, these institutions also operate lucrative money machines in the form of endowment funds; that aim to provide supplementary income.
Endowment fundscome from donations that are given to colleges and universities for the purpose of investment. The institution holds the principal of the investment in perpetuity while making annual payments of about 4-5% to the university’s annual expenditures.
With a dual goal of growing the principal as well as generating income, endowment funds have become accustomed to a strict set of guidelines. These guidelines are designed to dictate the allocation of funds. For a long time, the overall principle for most endowment funds was to yield returns while taking the least amount of risk.
That was the norm until theappointment of David Swensenover Yale’s endowment in 1985. By reducing the endowment’s commitment to U.S. stocks and bonds from 75% in 1988 to 14% in 2008, Swensen successfully managed to grow Yale’s endowment from a little over $1 billion to its current worth that is just a few points shy of the $30 billion mark.
Swensen’s success over the years sparked a revolution in the university endowments space, prompting a move from traditional stocks and bonds to the so-called “alternative assets” (investments that include natural resources, private equity and real estate). Following Swensen’s success, other endowments — such asHarvard’s — were also able to generatehuge returns over the years.
The two decades leading to the financial crisis of 2008 have presented endowments good alternative assets. Subsequently, we can assume that endowment managers like Swensen have acknowledged that what worked in the past may not work in the future. Therefore, endowments have started devising new investment strategies in an effort to stay afloat.
Although respondents form the survey conducted by Golden Custodian acknowledge the risks that the cryptocurrency market is currently facing, only 7% of the respondents anticipate an annual decrease in the funds they have invested.
Endowments are showing strong bullish signals by factoring in crypto-related investments into their allocation, without a thought of stepping away anytime soon.
In fact, on April 11th, Bloombergreportedthat Havard University’s endowment, in conjunction with other investors, has invested a cumulative of about $98.5 million into Blockstack’s token sale.
Blockstack is a crypto-based company that is seeking $50 million through its digital-token offering. The funds are set to go into enabling Blockstack to support the development of its own decentralized computing network.
According to theSEC filing for the Reg A+ offeringfrom Blockstack, Harvard’s endowment allocation amount sits between $5 million and $10 million. These are funds invested directly into the startup’s token sale, meaning the Ivy League’s endowment is holding some of Blockstack’s tokens.
Another university endowment investment in 2019 is the University of Michigan (UoM). With a $119 million endowment, this university isreportedly planningto increase its stake in an Andreessen Horowitz-managed crypto fund.
In June last year, the University of Michigan’s endowment invested $3 million to the fund. Although details about the amount were not revealed, UoM’s endowment confirmed its dedication to inject additional investment into the Andreessen Horowitz’s (also called a16z) fund dedicated to crypto.
Following the move by UoM’s endowment fund, most onlookers like David Nage (a former family office investor) believe that the rationale that drives the University of Michigan’s interest in crypto is too bullish for the ecosystem.In a posted tweet, Nage mentioned:
“University of Michigan’s Endowment invested in a16z crypto back last year but has approved follow on investment recently. The rationale listed below I find interesting and bullish for the ecosystem.”
From Nage’s point of view, the huge interest in crypto-based ventures by significant endowments has validated retail investors to stay bullish despite the market experiencing the most extended bear phase.
In fact, people arebeginning to wonderwhether the huge interest in crypto by endowments is healthy. WithBloomberg’s Galaxy Crypto Indexhitting its most overbought mark since last year, experts have started to warn that crypto prices are about to collapse once again.
As it stands, Swensen’s model of investing has become the investment yardstick for endowments to follow, but only a few schools have managed to pull off what Yale's endowment has accomplished.
According to astudyconducted with a sample of over 28,000 endowment funds in the U.S., “Major endowments in the United States are [actually] underperforming.” Study says:
“The median annual return for the entire endowment sample was 3.75 percent or 1.14 percent below the 10-year treasury bond return."
The researchers acknowledge significant exceptions such as Yale, but they still support the conclusion that college endowments are better off buying treasuries instead.
Contrary to expert opinion, however, isAnthony Pompliano, the founder of crypto fund Morgan Creek, who believes that “there’s a belief in the institutional world that if the industry will be around for a long time, it will be very valuable.” He further pointed out:
“The smart money is not distracted by price [volatility] but looks at the long-term trends, and believes they’re betting on innovation as a great way to deliver risk-mitigated returns.’’
The reality of investing in crypto is that it forces endowment investment officers to adapt to a whole new set of issues. After all, crypto bets are very different from taking equity stakes in regular startups.
While speaking toCNBC last year, Bill Barhydt, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Abra, said:
“People are excited about it but afraid of being the first, or having to explain themselves. That’s the fear vs. greed of institutional investing. There’s a herd mentality there as much as there is in retail investing.”
Indeed, compared to regular retail investors, institutional investors are not completely different. While individual retail investors will conduct due diligence before investing, these institutional investors are usually backed by large organizations that require robust conduct in each of their investments, plus a deeper level of due diligence.
That is why most onlookersbelievethat the confidence in crypto as shown by the world’s leading endowments might lead toincreased high-profile institutional investment in the cryptocurrencies worldby other institutional investors, as was the case in 2017. The only difference is that this time, it will be better controlled.
Already, the new interest in the digital coin space by endowments has brought with it a wind of moderate comeback across the crypto market. So far, ether and bitcoin have gained over66%and73%respectively this month alone, and XRP — the third-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap — has rallied by48%.
Caption: One month performance of the crypto market. Source: coin360.com
Apart from jumping onto the crypto bandwagon, universities and colleges have grown in their appreciation and understanding of blockchain technology as well. From MIT to Cornell and even Stanford, blockchain courses are growing in popularity everyday. All over campuses, blockchain technology is touted as the next revolution that is set to be as huge as the internet.
But, while it is easy for universities to offers courses on blockchain and crypto, whathas caught many by surpriseis the fact that universities are willing to put their money where their mouth is. Nothing is as powerful as showing your support for an emerging technology than with your wallet.
Granted, the investment arm of any university is typically independent of the academics, the move by endowment investors like Swensen, however, is a strong signal that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are here to stay.
• Bitcoin Hits Highest Price Point in Over a Year, Pushing Toward $9,000
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• UK Watchdog Reports $34 Million Lost in Crypto and Forex Scams Last Year || Crypto Dad Confirms Facebook ‘Conversations’ Over GlobalCoin Digital Currency: Facebook is accelerating plans over its 'GlobalCoin' digital currency. | Source: Reuters/AP; Edited by CCN By CCN : Facebook’s plans to launch the GlobalCoin cryptocurrency are moving full-steam ahead. According to the Financial Times , the social media giant has already initiated talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The outgoing chairman of the CFTC, Chris Giancarlo, told the publication that the derivatives regulator and Facebook were in the ‘very early stages of conversations’. Per Giancarlo, this is with a view of understanding whether Global Coin falls under the regulatory purview of the CFTC. However, Facebook has yet to submit a formal application to the body: We’re very interested in understanding it better. We can only act on an application, we don’t have anything in front of us. ‘Crypto Dad’ Pens Heartfelt Open Letter Ahead of CFTC Exit https://t.co/2WULJ3cPsD — CCN.com (@CCNMarkets) May 15, 2019 GlobalCoin – futures or cash-based markets? The CFTC head further said that it is currently too early to determine whether GlobalCoin would be limited to cash-based markets. If so, Facebook’s coin would not fall under the regulatory purview of the CFTC. This would be in contrast to Bitcoin whose trading is mostly done via futures. Reports of Facebook launching GlobalCoin next year emerged nearly a fortnight ago. Newsflash: Facebook’s Shady Bitcoin Killer Crypto ‘GlobalCoin’ is Coming 2020 https://t.co/cZl5ay5uZs — CCN.com (@CCNMarkets) May 24, 2019 Read the full story on CCN.com . || Crypto Markets Show Signs of Recovery, While Oil Prices Slump: Friday, May 31 — cryptocurrencies are on the rise again after seeing a slight correction yesterday, May 30, with EOS ( EOS ) being the only coin among the top-20 cryptocurrencies to register double-digit gains. COIN360 Market visualization by Coin360 The leading digital currency bitcoin ( BTC ) is up slightly over 3% on the day, and is trading at $8,573 at press time. On its weekly chart, bitcoin saw its lowest price point at $7,924 on May 26, while its highest price point of $8,994 was on May 30. BTC Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Meanwhile, only 1.3% of economic transactions for bitcoin came from merchants in the first four months of 2019, according to recent research from United States -based blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis. The second largest coin by market capitalization, ether ( ETH ), is up by 4.86% in the last 24 hours, and is trading at $268.75 at press time. Ernst & Young’s head of innovation, Paul Brody stated earlier today that 83% of decentralized applications ( DApps ) on the Ethereum network are “not in the most productive uses.” Brody noted that 14% of Ethereum-based DApps are used at cryptocurrency exchanges , while most of them are used for gambling and gaming, accounting for 44% and 13% of DApps, respectively. ETH Ethereum 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap Ripple ( XRP ) has seen a 3.58% increase in its price over the day to trade at around $0.438 at press time. The altcoin started the week at the $0.383 price point. XRP XRP 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap EOS has shown over 15% growth on the day, and is trading at around $8.58 at press time. At the beginning of the day, EOS was trading at $7.32, dipping to as low as $7.28. EOS EOS 7-day price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap The remaining coins on CoinMarketCap’s top-20 list have registered gains between modest 0.13% and 10%, with none of the coins in the red. Total market capitalization of all digital currencies is over $272 billion at press time, up around $25 billion from its intraweek low of around $247 billion on May 26. Story continues Total market capitalization Total market capitalization 7-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap As CNBC reported earlier today, oil prices slumped, with Brent crude futures falling $2.40, or 3.59%, to $64.47 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures decreasing 5.5% to $53.50 per barrel. The drop purportedly follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to increase tariffs unless Mexico stopped people from illegally crossing into the United States. The plan would impose a 5% tariff on Mexican imports starting on June 10 and increase monthly, up to 25% on Oct. 1. Related Articles: Bitcoin Continues to See Negative Corrections After Breaking $9,000, US Stocks Tumble Crypto Markets Turning Green, Oil Prices Tumble Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Bitcoin SV, Stellar, Tron: Price Analysis June 3 Bitcoin Price Approaches $8,600 as Top Cryptos See Slight Gains || Bitcoin dives below $9,500: The madness of Bitcoins recent few weeks took another twist today as the worlds most popular cryptocurrency crashed through the $10,000 barrier. Less than three weeks since its outstretched fingernails scratched the underside of $14,000 amid the ear-splitting cries of $20k here we come, BTC has taken a dive to $9,500 and once again found itself at the wrong side of the psychological $10,000 line. Like a stumbling drunk taking an undignified fall flat on its face on the pub doorstep, there were few warning signs of any mishaps other than simply consuming too many glasses of false triumph. Revolver The first heavy round came last week when Donald Trump grabbed his Twitter revolver and fired off every shot from the hip as he branded Bitcoin highly volatile and based on thin air. https://coinrivet.com/donald-trump-attacks-bitcoin/ Curiously, crypto fans the world over took the 45 th President of the United States of Americas out-of-the-blue mugging as a badge of honour. Bitcoins value barely moved. If anything, it reacted positively to the news. More alarmingly, however, came Tethers outrageous scandal which appeared to have printed some $5bn Tether tokens and put the crypto markets on the brink of apoplexy. https://coinrivet.com/bitcoin-suffers-wild-weekend-after-yet-another-tether-scandal/ Bitcoins value began to rise instantly until half an hour later when Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino dramatically announced the $5bn had been an unfortunate mis-click. The very thought that it could be possible for anyone in such an organisation to make that kind of monumental and unbelievable miscalculation would have sent any other market crashing, followed by tearful employees of various institutions taking to the streets clutching the contents of their desks in a small cardboard boxes. Incredibly, the almost invincible armour of BTC held out once more and the market volume began to build seemingly oblivious to a couple obvious wounds in the flanks and ride out another damaging storm. Story continues Help! But then came Wells Fargo. Yet another arrow in the back for Bitcoin which continued to hold its ground, but the trickles of blood were beginning to show a weakness with no sign of help. The killer blow then, perhaps, was delivered by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as he turned his sword on Facebooks Libra project. Mirroring his presidents deep concerns about cryptocurrency, he labelled crypto a national security issue. It may be coincidence, but shortly after the 56-year-old former hedge fund manager twisted the knife Bitcoin fell to its knees a place where it remains falling below $9,500. Where this digital gladiator goes from here is anyones guess. The post Bitcoin dives below $9,500 appeared first on Coin Rivet .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Net long with my dick out #BTC #bitcoin $btc || LTC takes the lead! Just received LTC worth .06 BTC! || Corona, Budweiser Owner’s Investment Arm Backs Blockchain ID Startup https://t.co/lcDBrjSREA | Bitcoin 🌏📢😎🤑💵 | #bitcointe #cryptocurrency || 🚨 Crypto alert:
[VIA-BTC] Bizarre Activity alert (15m) https://t.co/5sgBUaL9M4 || @BTCTN 7 Chief Indicators Attesting The Bitcoin Bull- Market is All Set To Get Back with Power.
Experts like Tone Vays perhaps be calling for the withdrawal but seven main measures are set that are yelling for the comeback of Bitcoin-Bull-Market….read more
https://t.co/adhseYKaAK || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || $EPAZ's Bitcoin Sharing & Blockchain Social Media App Webbeeo Is In Alpha Testing Phase https://www.owltmarket || Shut up and take my money! How dare you say that? Even child knows this ICO is right next to the success! It's gonna be legendary! Don't miss this ICO-project! #Shato || @RunningLow @JoelKatz Also, anybody who has money can do the same for any cryptocurrency. You could make the same argument for early bitcoin investors, for example.
|
Trend: up || Prices: 9900.77, 9811.93, 9911.84, 9870.30, 9477.68, 9552.86, 9519.15, 9607.42, 10085.63, 10399.67
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis]
Not fully available.
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Ether Futures Volume on FTX Hit Record Highs: Hong Kong-based crypto derivatives exchange FTX saw record volumes in ether (ETH) futures on Wednesday amid a sell-off in the cryptocurrencys price. Daily trading volume on the nine-month-old exchange jumped to a lifetime high of $245 million, marking a 51 percent increase from Tuesdays volume of $162 million, according to Skew Markets. The previous record high of $189 million was reached on Feb. 20. While volumes on FTX spiked, the cryptocurrencys price fell by 10 percent from $251 to $215 to hit the lowest level since Feb. 8. Related: Chinese Crypto and Blockchain Firms Grapple With Coronavirus Outbreak Trading activity has been rising since early January and has witnessed spectacular growth over the last four weeks, as seen below. Throughout the second half of 2019, futures registered daily volume of more than $25 million only seven times. The situation changed in mid-January with the futures witnessing a daily volume of more than $45 million for three consecutive days. Daily volume rose from $12 million on Jan. 27 to $245 million on Feb. 26, a staggering 1,784 percent increase. Volume growth has been accompanied by a sharp rise in the open interest. Related: As Fed Contemplates Coronavirus-Prompted Easing, Bitcoin Traders Bet on Halving Open interest, or the number of futures contracts outstanding on the exchange, rose from $8.4 million to a record high of $81 million in the five weeks to Feb. 20. Open positions stood at $72 million on Wednesday. Activity on FTX seems to have been boosted by ethers solid price rally. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value traded near $125 in early January and rose to a seven-month high of $289 on Feb. 19, according to CoinDesks Ether Price Index. At press time, ether was trading at $228, representing a 77 percent gain on a year-to-date basis. Other exchanges are also reporting a solid growth in the ether futures trading volumes. BitMEX, one of the largest derivatives exchanges, traded $1.4 billion volume on Feb. 13, the highest since July 15, 2019, according to Skew Markets. Total daily volumes across nine exchanges rose to $5.2 billion on Wednesday, the highest since May 2019. Daily volumes have topped $5 billion four times so far this month. FTX accounted for 4.7 percent of the total volume of $5.2 billion registered on Wednesday. Meanwhile, BitMEX contributed 18 percent of the total volume. While FTX remains an underdog, it is slowly eating into BitMEXs trading volume, as noted by trader John Dummet. Total derivative volume traded by FTX as a percentage of BitMEX volume recently rose above 40 percent, marking a big rise from 10 percent noted at the start of the year. Story continues It remains to be seen whether FTX is able to keep the momentum going. Nonetheless, the overall derivatives space could continue to grow as the market volatility and uncertainty is expected to remain high ahead of bitcoins reward halving due in May. Related Stories Ex-Employee Steals User Data From Derivatives Exchange Digitex Ethereums DAOs Continue to Gain Momentum View comments || US Treasury Department Blacklists 20 Bitcoin Addresses Tied to Alleged North Korean Hackers: The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has added 20 newbitcoin(BTC) addresses associated with two individuals to its list of sanctioned individuals.
According to an updateto OFAC’s “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDN) list, Jiadong Li and Yinyin Tian are accused of being linked to the Lazarus Group, a cybercrime grouppossibly affiliatedwith the North Korean government.
The group has been accused of stealing more thanhalf a billion dollarsin crypto as far back as 2018, when cybersecurity vendor Group-IB claimed it had targeted 14 different exchange in two years. Monday’s action specifically stems from the hack of an unnamed exchange in April 2018, according toa press releaseby the Treasury Department.
Related:Iranian General Advocates Crypto Use for Skirting Sanctions: Report
According toa grand jury indictmentunsealed Monday and flagged by George Washington University’sSeamus Hughes, the two are charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and operating an unlicensed money transmission business.
A separatein rem forfeituredocument unsealed Monday shows the U.S. government is trying to seize the crypto held in 113 different addresses, alleging that the two defendants (who are explicitly named on page 21) laundered “a bulk of the stolen BTC.”
According to the forfeiture document, a total of $234 million in crypto was actually stolen, including bitcoin,ether(ETH),zcash(ZEC),dogecoin(DOGE),XRP(XRP),litecoin(LTC) andethereum classic(ETC).
Most of the proceeds from the hack were laundered through the use of “peel chains,” a term the U.S. government is using to describe the act of sending crypto from one address to another, with some portion of the funds moving to a different address than the bulk in each transaction.
Related:Iran Concerns May Be Driving Trump Administration’s Talk of New Crypto Rules
The litecoin was not properly laundered, and appears to remainat the addressit was sent to.
The defendants sold some of the crypto to U.S. customers and used a U.S.-based exchange for some transactions, according to the forfeiture document. A South Korean exchange is also implicated in the document.
A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)press releaseadded further information, saying some of the laundered funds allegedly helped North Korean actors continue hacking campaigns against other financial industry participants. The release also alleged that North Korean co-conspirators are connected to “the theft of approximately $48.5 million” in crypto from a South Korean exchange.
While the DOJ does not name the exchange which was hacked, South Korea-based Upbit reportedthe loss of roughly $49 millionin ether on Nov. 27, 2019.
The agency listed 12 addresses associated with Jiadong Li:
• XBT1EfMVkxQQuZfBdocpJu6RUsCJvenQWbQyE
• XBT17UVSMegvrzfobKC82dHXpZLtLcqzW9stF
• XBT39eboeqYNFe2VoLC3mUGx4dh6GNhLB3D2q
• XBT39fhoB2DohisGBbHvvfmkdPdShT75CNHdX
• XBT3E6rY4dSCDW6y2bzJNwrjvTtdmMQjB6yeh
• XBT3EeR8FbcPbkcGj77D6ttneJxmsr3Nu7KGV
• XBT3HQRveQzPifZorZLDXHernc5zjoZax8U9f
• XBT3JXKQ81JzBqVbB8VHdV9Jtd7auWokkdPgY
• XBT3KHfXU24Bt3YD5Ef4J7uNp2buCuhrxfGen
• XBT3LbDu1rUXHNyiz4i8eb3KwkSSBMf7C583D
• XBT3MN8nYo1tt5hLxMwMbxDkXWd7Xu522hb9P
• XBT3N6WeZ6i34taX8Ditser6LKWBcXmt2XXL4
OFAC listed eight addresses affiliated with Yinyin Tian:
• XBT134r8iHv69xdT6p5qVKTsHrcUEuBVZAYak
• XBT15YK647qtoZQDzNrvY6HJL6QwXduLHfT28
• XBT1PfwHNxUnkpfkK9MKjMqzR3Xq3KCtq9u17
• XBT14kqryJUxM3a7aEi117KX9hoLUw592WsMR
• XBT1F2Gdug9ib9NQMhKMGGJczzMk5SuENoqrp
• XBT3F2sZ4jbhvDKQdGbHYPC6ZxFXEau2m5Lqj
• XBT1AXUTu9y3H8w4wYx4BjyFWgRhZKDhmcMrn
• XBT1Hn9ErTCPRP6j5UDBeuXPGuq5RtRjFJxJQ
While thousands of bitcoin appear to have flowed through the listed addresses, the majority appeared to hold no bitcoin as of press time.
Monday’s move is the third time OFAC has listed cryptocurrency addresses on its sanctions list. In 2018, the agencytied bitcoin addresses to a pair of Iranian nationalsit accused of facilitating financial transactions related to ransomware. Last year, the agency also listeda litecoin address and additional bitcoin addressesaffiliated with three Chinese nationals it charged with violating money laundering and drug smuggling laws.
According to the Treasury Department’s press release, “North Korea’s malicious cyber activity is a key revenue generator” for the nation. The country uses peer-to-peer marketplaces and exchanges with “negligible” know-your-customer controls, and crypto stolen by the nation can be used in a variety of ways.
“Given the illicit finance risk that cryptocurrency and other digital assets pose, in June 2019 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) amended its standards to require all countries to regulate and supervise such service providers, including exchangers, and to mitigate against such risks when engaging in cryptocurrency transactions,” the press release said. “The United States is particularly concerned about platforms that provide anonymous payment and storage functionality without transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, or customer due diligence, among other obligations.”
OFAC also deleted a number of Russian entities linked to the Independent Petroleum Company from its sanctions list in Monday’s action.
UPDATE (Marc 2, 22:45 UTC):This article has been updated with additional information, including the U.S. government’s forfeiture claim against 113 crypto addresses and the U.S. Department of Justice’s press release.
• North Korea Is Expanding Its Monero Mining Operations, Says Report
• USA v. Virgil Griffith: What We Know (and Don’t) in the Bombshell Crypto Sanctions Case || Vermont Turns to Home-Grown Blockchain Company to Track Hemp With Ethereum: Vermont regulators will track hemp production on the ethereum mainnet in partnership with cannabis supply chain blockchain startup Trace.
The five-year deal,announced Mondayby Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM), is a production-ready solution for every level of the hemp trade, said Trace CEO Josh Decatur. Beginning in March, farmers and processors will begin putting all associated crop data into the Trace system, which runs on ethereum.
It is one of the first times a state regulatory agency has decided to run with the ethereum mainnet, Decatur told CoinDesk in a phone call. The two-year-old company, based in Vermont’s capital Montpelier, has built an app users can share details through, and gas fees for conducting transactions are passed onto the users – in this case, the state government.
Related:Options Market Sees More Risk in Ether Than Bitcoin in Coming Months
“Everyone is deriving value from innate blockchain tech – namely the security that comes with public permissionless blockchain technology,” he said.
Vermont’s regulators said this is the first full-scale government registration and licensing system that pairs blockchain with the nascent hemp industry. Hemp was legalized nationally in the 2018 Farm Bill, but Vermont’s program runs under the 2014 edition.
A cannabis strain used in the textiles industry, hemp represents a small but growing slice of Vermont’s agriculture sector. The Green Mountain State had just 1,000 registered hemp farmers in 2019 with nearly 9,000 acres of farmland, as well as 300 processors, according Stephanie Smith, VAAFM’s Hemp Program manager.
“It’s important to understand what’s being grown, where it’s being grown and where it’s going after being harvested,” she said.
Related:ConsenSys Project Launches ‘Proof-of-Use’ Network to Discourage Speculation
The mini-boom foreshadowed VAAFM’s call for a hemp registration system. Trace, whose CEO has roots in the Northern California grow scene, beat out the competition. Being based in Vermont didn’t hurt either.
“We spent the last couple of years finding innovative ways to hone a product that could meet the tracking and data requirements of a state agency,” Decatur said.
His Vermont-based team had been building “seed-to-shelf” tools for other sectors of the cannabis supply chain, such as cannabidiol (CBD) products. The company builtpatented software, an app and a web portal to document where, when and to whom a plant and its derivative products move.
Trace’s solution relies on the ethereum network. At 15 transactions per second, the network is hardly a salve for industrial users moving massive amounts of data. But that doesn’t matter for the low-frequency hemp lot farmers who, Decatur said, only send three to four transactions per year.
“The use case that we’ve applied the tech to fits into the performance restrictions of ethereum,” he said.
Trace’s registration system should be live by the end of March, according to Smith, in time for the start of the outdoor growing season in June.
• JPMorgan May Merge Its Blockchain Project With Ethereum Studio ConsenSys: Report
• Plasma Became Optimism and It Might Just Save Ethereum || Bitcoin, Ethereum & Litecoin - American Wrap: 2/24/2020: Bitcoin Price Analysis: The wave pattern suggests further weakness
Bitcoin is having a down day on Monday.
The digital gold is trading over 3% lower on a bad day for cryptocurrencies.
The chart below shows the Elliott Wave count on the 4-Hour chart.
We could now be in the 3rd wave lower which is normally the longest but never the shortest wave down in the wave formation.
Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD bullish pennant subject to a breakout
Ethereum price is trading in the red by 2.10% in the session on Monday.
ETH/USD price action is moving within a narrowing pennant structure, room for the bulls to capitalize.
Critical support should be noted via the $250-40 price range, propping up ETH.
Litecoin Price Analysis: LTC/USD finds some support at 74.00
Litecoin has found some support after having a torrid start to the session on Monday.
There could be some resistance at 75.00 and 80.00 beyond that.
The volume has also picked up during this latest small buying spree.
Image Sourced from Pixabay
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© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || ICE Snaps Up Loyalty Program Provider Bridge2 to Boost Bakkts Consumer Play: Bakkt is getting bigger. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the bitcoin warehouses parent company, announced Wednesday it had agreed to acquire Bridge2 Solutions, a loyalty solution provider for both merchants and consumers. Bakkt, in turn, will use its funds from its ongoing Series B fundraising round to acquire Bridge2 and apply its tools to its consumer app. In a statement, Bakkt CEO Mike Blandina wrote, With the launch of the Bakkt app, we will, for the first time, offer consumers a robust platform to consolidate and use all of their digital assets, from crypto to loyalty points to in game tokens, in one user-friendly wallet. Related: Iowa Caucus App Fiasco Shows Need for Open Source Transparency Bakkt will take advantage of Bridge2s current relationships with banks and merchants, as well as its Loyalty Pay solution to launch products, he said. The company revealed its intention to build a mobile consumer app in October, when Blandina, then the chief product officer, wrote in a blog post that Bakkt was hoping to make it easy for consumers to discover and unlock the value of digital assets, as well as facilitate transactions and tracking. Merchants gain access to a broader set of customers with expanded spending power, Blandina wrote at the time. The app is likely to support more than just bitcoin, though a specific list of supported assets or other virtual forms of value have not yet been released. Related: Options Growth Will Ignite Innovation in the Bitcoin Market But Not in the Way You Think Bakkt previously announced it was targeting a launch date in the first half of 2020. Bakkt launched last year as an institutional-focused bitcoin warehouse, offering futures and options contracts in conjunction with parent company ICE. Its former CEO, Kelly Loeffler, was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, leading to Blandinas and COO Adam Whites elevations to the CEO and president roles, respectively. Related Stories Crypto News Roundup for Jan. 30, 2020 Literally No One Is Trading Bakkts Bitcoin Options || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – 19/01/20: Bitcoin rose by 0.18% on Saturday. Following on from a 1.79% gain on Friday, Bitcoin ended the day at $8,891.6.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning intraday high $8,965.0 before hitting reverse.
Falling short of the first major resistance level at $9,025.53, Bitcoin fell to a mid-morning intraday low $8,791.1.
Steering clear of the first major support level at $8,699.73, Bitcoin recovered to an afternoon high $8,952.3 before easing back.
Holding onto $8,800 levels was key late on.
The near-term bearish trend, formed at late June’s swing hi $13,764.0, remained firmly intact, in spite of the recent upward momentum.
For the bulls, Bitcoin would need to break out from $11,000 levels to form a near-term bullish trend.
Across the rest of the top 10 cryptos, it was a mixed day for the majors.
Bitcoin Cash SV continued to see red on Saturday, sliding by 13.52% to lead the way down.
Binance Coin (-1.39%), Bitcoin Cash ABC (-8.34%), EOS (-2.32%), Litecoin (-2.61%), and Monero’s XMR (-2.14%) also saw red.
Ethereum (+2.67%), Ripple’s XRP (+2.02%), Stellar’s Lumen (+1.27%), and Tron’s TRX (+1.06%) joined Bitcoin in the green.
While it was a mixed bag on Saturday, it’s been a bullish week for the crypto majors, Monday through Saturday.
Bitcoin Cash SV led the way, rallying by 51.95%, with Stellar’s Lumen and Bitcoin Cash ABC up by 25.13% and by 24.89% respectively.
Whilst the rest of the majors saw more modest gains, it was double-digit gains across the board.
Through the current week, the crypto total market cap rallied from a Monday low $215.38 to a Saturday current week high $248.04bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $243.85bn.
Bitcoin’s dominance moved back to 66% levels following the mixed day on Saturday. Trading volumes continued to ease back from $177bn levels hit earlier in the week. At the time of writing, 24-hr volumes stood at $125.39bn.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.1% to $8,900.1. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin fall to an early morning low $8,870.1 before striking a high $8,901.4.
Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
Elsewhere, it was yet another mixed start to the day for the crypto top 10.
Binance Coin (-0.05%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-0.59%), EOS (-0.01%), Monero’s XMR (-0.49), Stellar’s Lumen (-0.07%), and Tron’s TRX (-0.34%) saw red early.
It was a bullish start for the rest, with Litecoin up by 1.03% to lead the way.
Bitcoin would need to steer clear of sub-$8,880 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $8,974.03.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break back through Saturday’s high $8,965.0.
Barring a broad-based extended crypto rally on the day, the first major resistance and Friday’s high $9,000 would likely continue to cap any upside.
In the event of a breakout, the second major resistance level at $9,056.47 would likely come into play.
Failure to steer clear of sub-$8,880 levels could see Bitcoin hit reverse.
A fall back through the morning low $8,870.1 would bring the first major support level at $8,800.13 into play.
Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $8,708.67.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• US Stocks: Boosted by Trade Deal, Better Economic Data, Solid Bank Earnings || Bitcoin Startup Casa Names New CEO as Node Service Goes Open-Source: Bitcoin startup Casa is charging into 2020 with a new look – by winding down its hardware product and shuffling its front office.
CEO Jeremy Welch is stepping down from the role with current head of product Nick Neuman taking the helm. CTO Jameson Lopp will remain in his current position but will join the board along with Neuman.
Welch’s decision to step away from his position was linked to personal matters and not the firm’s product decisions, Welch and Neuman said.
Related:Few Banks Will Touch Crypto Firms, but Silvergate Wants to Touch Bitcoin Itself
Meanwhile, Casa is getting rid of its node; well, at least its physical implementation.
Neuman told CoinDesk in an interview the firm will ditch itspurple-and-white hardware productin favor of bolstering its subscription service. Welch told CoinDesk in October the company had shipped more than 2,000 devices to buyers in over 65 countries.
Casa Node will now be run on open-source software available on most any computer which can be paired with a $10 monthly subscription to its key service. As Neuman said, it’s equivalent to bitcoin key management for the cost of a Netflix subscription.
When asked about possible revenue concerns – given that the lowest Casa Node package currently runs for just under $400 – Neuman said the firm is looking to capitalize on a strong 2019. For Casa, that means learning from its customers.
Related:Coinbase Custody Goes International With New Entity in Ireland
“A lot of people weren’t coming to us for the cost. They were coming to us for the security, the peace of mind,” Neuman said. “We don’t expect this to materially affect our revenue as a company.”
As for other Casa Node features, Neuman said the firm is close to integrating withColdcard, a bitcoin-only wallet. Generational bitcoin payment plans via inheritance services and different service accounts similar to a checking and savings account are also in the lineup, he said.
“Our main focus is around the success that we’ve seen so far and the growth that we expect to continue to see through this year,” Neuman said.
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• Swiss Banks Enter the Age of Bitcoin || Matrixport released Dual Currency-USD with the Annualized Yield as High as 100%.: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 20, 2020 / At the end of 2019, the Matrixport App was officially launched, and it was the first Dual Currency product that supports BTC investment. Dual Currency Investment is the first-of-its-kind digital asset management product released by Matrixport. The calculation method is determined by the "Linked Price", and it is guaranteed that one of the two digital assets will always generate profit. Recently, Matrixport released Dual Currency-USDⓢ with the annualized yield as high as 100%. As its name implies, it is a Dual Currency investment that supports USD stable currency (USDT/USDC) payment. Compared with Dual Currency-BTC, investors will feel more comfortable with the Dual Currency-USDⓢ, because they don't need to bear the fluctuation risk of BTC as the investment currency is USD stable currency. When the investment is at expiry, investors can collect more USDC or get cheaper BTC.（ https://shence.matrixtechfin.com:8406/t/y ） According to Matrixport's official product parameters: Linked Price: 8,000; Expiry Date: 25-Jan-2020; Yield: 5%; Investment Currency: USDC On 9-Jan-2020, the user bought 10,000 USDC notional of the above product. On 25-Jan-2020, if BTC/USD Settlement Price is above 8,000 USD, The user gets 5% return on USDC, which is 10,000*(1+5%) USDC, which is 10,500 USDC. If BTC/USD Settlement Price is at or above 8,000 USD, the user gets 10,000/8,000*(1+5%) BTC, which is 1.3125 BTC. Basically, the User will definitely get 5% yield on the expiry date - the only uncertainty is whether to receive BTC or USDC, depending on where BTC/USD is on the expiry date. Dual Currency-USDⓢ currently supports two types of USD stable currency payment, USDT or USDC. Please be noted that when an investor uses USDT for investment, it will be valued in equivalent USDC. For example, if the current exchange rate of USDT is 0.99 USDC when the investor pays 1000 USDT to buy Dual Currency - USDⓢ, the actual investment amount will be 990 USDC. The reason for using this calculation method is that the exchange rate of USDC is more stable and secure, and thus USDC could improve the asset security for the investors and platforms. Story continues About Matrixport Founded in February 2019, Matrixport is a financial service company spun off from the world's leading ASIC chip (mining computers) producer Bitmain Technologies. With its rich industry resources and leading technology capabilities, it strives to offer its clients innovative products. Thanks to the leader position that Bitmain enjoys in the mining hardware market, Matrixport has a very established clientele since its very beginning. Although being a start-up, Matrixport already has more than 160 employees worldwide with the majority of them working for the technical side and the rest having a strong financial industry background (with past experience at Deutsche Bank, Citi, Merrill Lynch, etc.). It can be said with confidence that the company's knowhow on everything crypto, blockchain, and financial products is solid and proven. With all these favorable conditions, the whole Matrixport product development team works hard and intensively on designing new exciting offerings to satisfy a rapidly growing market. CONTACT: Media Relations Matrixport https://www.matrixport.com marketing@matrixport.com 4000121766 SOURCE: Matrixport View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/573557/Matrixport-released-Dual-Currency-USD-with-the-Annualized-Yield-as-High-as-100 || How safe is a Bitcoin casino?: The number of Bitcoin casinos has rocketed in recent years as gamblers recognise the advantages of using Bitcoin over traditional currencies. Yet anyone thinking of visiting a Bitcoin casino for the first time will rightly have concerns about safety. Gambling itself is a risky business, and there have been several high-profile hacks and thefts in the cryptocurrency market. Despite this, gambling with Bitcoin isn’t necessarily as perilous as you might think. It could even be argued it’s more secure than gambling with fiat currency. Why use a Bitcoin casino? Gambling with Bitcoin instead of conventional currencies brings a whole host of advantages. One of the biggest benefits is the speed at which you can access your winnings. Making a withdrawal in a traditional currency can take around a week to complete because of the bureaucracy involved. A Bitcoin withdrawal, on the other hand, can be completed within minutes because there is no need for transactions to be approved by a third party. Another perk is low fees. Since there is no third-party approval process, users can send and receive Bitcoin instantly for a negligible cost. This is in stark contrast to traditional online casinos, where transfer fees can be high. Some people also like the privacy that a Bitcoin casino offers. You can deposit, withdraw, and play in complete anonymity. Security Although hacks and thefts are common in the cryptocurrency market, it’s worth pointing out these are largely confined to crypto exchanges. There has yet to be a major theft at a Bitcoin casino. In fact, Bitcoin casinos could be seen as safer than traditional casinos because of Bitcoin’s cryptographic nature. Bitcoin transactions are encrypted and verified several times at different points on the network. The private keys used in transfers are extremely lengthy, making them very hard to decode and, arguably, safer than using a credit card. Spotting rogue casinos Having said all that, there are good and bad Bitcoin casinos out there – just as there are good and bad traditional casinos. Story continues There are currently three Bitcoin casinos on the ‘blacklist’ at Casino.org: Euro Play Casino, Grand Reef, and Balzac Casino. They are deemed unsafe because of issues such as unsavoury business practices, unresolved customer problems, loose gameplay in free mode, slow payment time, and no information on licenses. Given the plethora of Bitcoin casinos available, it’s worth doing your due diligence to ensure you pick one you feel completely comfortable with. The first thing to look out for is proper accreditation and certification. In the UK, that means checking the Bitcoin casino has a licence from the UK Gambling Commission. Most safe and licenced Bitcoin gambling operators in the UK would also partner with official responsible gambling organisations, such as GamCare or Gamblers Anonymous. Other steps to take include reading reviews and ratings from independent review sites, reviewing the welcome bonus carefully, ensuring games are powered by reputable software providers, and looking for a casino with a large variety of games. You might also want to go with a casino that offers a system called ‘provably fair’. This is a tool that enables you to verify each roll result and ensure you’re not being cheated by the casino. Getting started Once you’ve found a Bitcoin casino you trust, you’ll need to set up a Bitcoin wallet to store your Bitcoin funds. Wallets come in three forms: online, software (offline), and hardware. It’s pretty much universally accepted that hardware wallets are the most secure form of wallet while online wallets are easier to use. Once you’ve got your wallet set up, you can make your deposit by entering the online casino address in your wallet. The funds will appear in your casino balance within minutes, and you can then start playing. Conclusion In theory, a Bitcoin casino isn’t any less safe than a traditional online casino – and in many ways, it could actually be more secure. The most important thing to check is that the site is reputable – this is especially vital given the anonymous, irreversible nature of Bitcoin. Fortunately, there are lots of independent review sites that can help you to assess each casino’s legitimacy. With the perks that Bitcoin gambling offers – anonymity, speedy deposits and withdrawals, low fees, and provably fair gaming – it’s easy to see why Bitcoin casinos are catching on fast. The post How safe is a Bitcoin casino? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Latest Bitcoin price and analysis (BTC to USD): Bitcoin struggled to break out above $10,000 overnight despite an influx of trade volume across all major exchanges. However, the recent golden cross will likely provide Bitcoin with the momentum to trigger a major breakout over a typically volatile weekend. The 50 exponential moving average crossed the 200 EMA to the upside for the first time since April 2019, which is a clear indication that Bitcoin is in a bullish trend. A break above $10,000 would confirm this leading up to May’s halving event, which will see block rewards for miners slashed from 12.5 BTC per block to 6.25 BTC per block. From an economic standpoint miners will now be incestivised to hold on to the extra Bitcoin being mined leading up to the halving, thus reducing supply amid mounting demand. This, coupled with Bitcoin forming its first higher high since last May, demonstrates just how bullish the world’s largest cryptocurrency is currently. The higher high is incredibly significant as it snaps the trend of four consecutive lower highs since June’s $14,000 high, with Bitcoin facing rejections at $13,200, $12,300, $10,900 and $9,650. There has also been a rally in a number of the top altcoins, which is typical of a cryptocurrency bull market. Historically, traders have profited from volatile altcoin investments with a trade back to the Bitcoin trading pair, thus effectively buying back Bitcoin with the profits. This has often caused a subsequent surge in the price of BTC, which is what will likely happen this weekend as altcoins begin to sell off. Pricing Current live BTC pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest Bitcoin price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents: US Dollar – BTCtoUSD British Pound Sterling – BTCtoGBP Japanese Yen – BTCtoJPY Euro – BTCtoEUR Australian Dollar – BTCtoAUD Russian Rouble – BTCtoRUB Story continues About Bitcoin In August 2008, the domain name bitcoin.org was registered. On 31st October 2008, a paper was published called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. This was authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. To date, no one knows who this person, or people, are. The paper outlined a method of using a P2P network for electronic transactions without “relying on trust”. On January 3 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence. Nakamoto mined block number “0” (or the “genesis block”), which had a reward of 50 Bitcoins. More Bitcoin news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Here’s an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. The post Latest Bitcoin price and analysis (BTC to USD) appeared first on Coin Rivet .
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 5392.31, 5014.48, 5225.63, 5238.44, 6191.19, 6198.78, 6185.07, 5830.25, 6416.31, 6734.80
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Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
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[Technical Analysis for 2018-03-23]
BTC Price: 8879.62, BTC RSI: 45.36
Gold Price: 1349.30, Gold RSI: 62.19
Oil Price: 65.88, Oil RSI: 64.15
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Weak iPhone X Sales Won't Derail Apple Inc. OLED Display Adoption: Nikkei Asian Review, a publication that has accurately reported information aboutApple(NASDAQ: AAPL)iPhone production changes in the past, said in a recent report that the company is planning to cut production of its latest iPhone, the iPhone X, by half in the quarter beginning in January.
The production cuts, it reported, are apparently driven by weaker-than-expected demand for the iPhone X in "key markets such as Europe, the U.S. and China."
Image source: Apple.
The iPhone X is unique within Apple's iPhone lineup in part because it uses a display technology known as an organic light emitting diode, or OLED. OLED offers picture quality and speed benefits over the liquid crystal display (LCD) technology used in all other iPhones, but comes at a higher cost.
PerNikkei Asian Review,"the lackluster sales [of the iPhone X] could result in a delay to the company's plans to introduce OLED screens in other [iPhone] models."
The report also says that "Apple is believed to have started considering an increase to [the] proportion of liquid crystal display iPhone models by reducing production of the OLED-screen models scheduled for release this year."
While I think there is likely to be some truth to the latter assertion, I don't think that supposedly poor iPhone X sales will ultimately delay the introduction of new iPhone models with OLED displays. Here's why.
For some context, Apple is expected to launch three new iPhones later this year. One, acost-sensitive devicetargeted at the mass market, is expected to use a 6.1-inch LCD while the other two are expected to use 5.85-inch and 6.46-inch OLED displays, respectively.
I don't think the sales performance of the iPhone X is going to lead Apple to, at the last minute, change the configurations of the devices that it releases later this year. Two premium models with OLED displays and one mass-market model with an LCD makes quite a lot of sense.
Image source: Apple.
What I think the purportedly disappointing sales performance of the iPhone X could do is lead Apple to change its expectations around the sales mix of its upcoming trio of iPhones.
Indeed, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a respected Apple analyst, thinks that 50% of the shipments of the new iPhones that Apple plans to introduce in the fall will be made up of the 6.1-inch LCD iPhones. This leaves the new iPhone X and its larger counterpart splitting the remaining 50% of new iPhone shipments.
On top of that, Apple is likely to continue selling its older iPhone modelsexcept for the current iPhone Xduring the coming product cycle. All of those devices use LCDs, so it would seem that Apple will continue to sell more iPhones with LCDs than it will iPhones with OLEDs in the coming year and a half.
It's not surprising, then, for Apple to revise up its estimates of LCD-equipped iPhone shipments for the coming cycle and, correspondingly, revise down its estimates of OLED-equipped iPhone shipments during that same time.
In other words, Apple is likely merely adjusting its component procurement and device production plans based on how the current iPhone product cycle is going.
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Ashraf Eassahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Dividend Stocks That Should Pay You the Rest of Your Life: The foundation for a lifetime of investing success can be embarrassingly simple: Buy the best-quality dividend-paying stocks you can find, reinvest the dividends, and hold them for decades. This unleashes the power of compounding and can generate enormous wealth over the long term.
The first step, finding quality income payers, can be the toughest part. In an effort to lend a hand, we asked three Motley Fool investors to choose dividend paying companies that they believed could stand the test of time. They offered convincing arguments forStarbucks Corporation(NASDAQ: SBUX),TOTAL SA(NYSE: TOT), andThe Boeing Company(NYSE: BA).
Image source: Getty Images.
Danny Vena(Starbucks):With all the things that change in life, one thing is fairly consistent -- that morning cup o' Joe. Fads come and go, but most people just can't imagine starting the day without a steaming hot cup of coffee. No company has tapped into that love of the caffeinated beverage better than Starbucks.
The company created a windfall for early investors, having generated an incredible 16,000% return since its debut in 1992, raking up annualized growth of over 26%.
The company has a global reach of more than 28,000 locations in 76 countries. While U.S. customers may be accustomed to seeing a Starbucks on every corner, that isn't the case in the rest of the world. Starbucks sees China as its next big growth driver, and in 2018 it plans to add 600 new stores to the 3,000 existing locations. The company believes that number can grow to 5,000 by 2020.
Even incorporating those expectations, Starbucks expects more mundane future growth overall, with annual revenue increases in the high single digits, annual earnings per share of 12% or more, and same-store sales growth in a range of 3% to 5%.
Image source: Starbucks.
Starbucks' dividend currently yields about 2%, but the company has consistently increased the payout every year since it began in 2010, from a split-adjusted quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share to its current level of $0.30, a whopping 500% increase. With a healthy payout ratio of 35%, Starbucks has plenty of opportunity to fund increases.
With Starbucks fueling the world's caffeine addiction, I expect that 18 years from now, the company could join the exclusive ranks ofDividend Aristocrats-- that rare breed of companies that have increased their dividend payouts for 25 consecutive years.
Maxx Chatsko(Total SA):The largest oil companies in the world are a pretty good bet if you're searching for dividend stocks that should pay you the rest of your life. I know, I know. There's a lot of gloom-and-doom discussion about the end of fossil fuels and the impacts of climate change, but like it or not, crude oil and natural gas are likely to retain an important role in global affairs for the next several decades at least.
Of course, renewable energy will continue to see incredible growth in the coming decades. That's why French energy giant Total, which has invested heavily in everything from solar panel manufacturing to next-generation renewable fuel production technologies, is an intriguing dividend stock.
As with most supermajors, Total oozes with cash flow. In 2017 it pumped out $22.3 billion in operating cash flow. Thanks to a more focused portfolio of operating assets and reduced capital expenditures compared with previous years, the company added a whopping $8.6 billion in cash to the coffers after accounting for all financing and investing activities. That allows it to pay a 5% dividend right now -- and there's not a whole lot that could jeopardize the payout.
Image source: Total S.A.
Total is currently executing a three-part strategy:
• First, refocusing on oil projects with low breakeven pricing, which will provide the bulk of cash generation and allow it to invest in long-term growth projects.
• Second, expanding its presence in the natural gas value chain. That will center on liquefied natural gas (LNG), for which the company is the second largest player on the planet, and which will generate $3 billion in operating cash flow by 2020.
• Third, taking the long view and growing profitable no- or low-carbon businesses with a large focus on solar energy, as evidenced by its majority ownership of leading solar-panel manufacturerSunPower.
Long story short, Total is an oil supermajor playing the long game few other publicly traded companies even dare to play. It's a dividend stock that should pay you the rest of your life.
Rich Smith(Boeing):The rest of your life could be an awfully long time, but -- and pardon my bluntness here -- I rather suspect that no matter how young may be, you're still going to expire before Boeing does.
Founded in 1916, Boeing has been around for more than a century already, and barring the invention of a teleportation machine, I think it's probably going to be around for another century or more. Why? Well for one thing, there aren't a lot of competing aircraft makers out there that could conceivably compete Boeing out of business.
There's Airbus, of course. But with an operating profit margin less than one-third of what Boeing makes, Airbus is kind of a shambles.
Image source: Boeing.
Russia'sUnited Aircraft Corporation? China'sCOMAC? The one's making margins half what Boeing pulls down. The other hasnegativeprofits (according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence). And both of those firms combined don't do 10% the revenues that Boeing collects in a year.
No, folks, Boeing is here, and it's here to stay. And with a payout ratio of only 42%, Boeing's 2% dividend yield, already richer than most stocks on the S&P 500 pay, looks here to stay, too -- for at least as long as you or I will be around to collect it.
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Danny Venaowns shares of Starbucks.Maxx Chatskohas no position in any of the stocks mentioned.Rich Smithhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Starbucks. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Bitcoin Price Forecast February 2, 2018, Technical Analysis: Bitcoin marketsfell significantly during the trading session on Thursday, breaking significantly below the $10,000 level, and it now looks likely to reach towards the $9000 level, perhaps by the time you read this article. Volume has been heavy, and I think a lot of stop losses have just been crushed. This is the 50% Fibonacci retracement level falling apart, and that is an opportunity to start shorting yet again. The $8000 level underneath is massive support, as it is a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level. Ultimately, I think that rallies are to be sold, and I find it very difficult to imagine this market breaking out to the upside and going higher. For the most part, I believe that Bitcoin is done for a while.
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Bitcoin fell against the ¥1.1 million level, on heavy volume. Ultimately, I think that we will continue to see sellers jump in this market, pushing it down to the 1 million level. If we break down below there, it’s likely that the market. To the ¥800,000 level next. There is high-volume on this move, and if Bitcoin cannot hold its value in Japan, it cannot hold it anywhere else. I believe that breaking down below the ¥1 million level is a significant occurrence, and I think at this point Bitcoin is going to be in a bit of a freefall for the next couple of days.
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• Crude Oil Price Update – New Higher Swing Bottom Formed at $63.67 || Venezuela Launches Pre-Sale of Its Controversial Oil-Backed Cryptocurrency: Venezuela’s government on Tuesday opened the pre-sale of its contentious petro cryptocurrency, making 82.4 million of the blockade-busting virtual coins available for purchase.
The Bitcoin-esque petro (the code for which is “PTR”) is part of a drive to overcome the U.S.’s economic blockade against Venezuela and rescue the national economy. President NicolasMaduro announced itback in December, and the U.S. Treasury haswarned investorsto steer clear of it.
Venezuela’s official currency, the bolívar fuerte, is in freefall. Earlier this month, it saw a99.6% devaluation—the latest in several under the governments of Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
“Petro is born and we are going to have a total success for the welfare of Venezuela,” Maduro said on Tuesday.
According toa reportby the Caracas-based news agency Telesur, people will at first only be able to buy the petro using “hard currencies” and other cryptocurrencies, although it will later be possible to sell petros for local currency.
“Our responsibility is to put (the Petro) in the best hands and then a secondary market will appear,” said Carlos Vargas, who’s charge of the project.
One of the big selling points of cryptocurrencies is—generally—that they are free from the control of any state or central bank. That’s obviously not the case here.
The Venezuelan government has said that each petro coin will be backed by a barrel of the country’s oil. Maduro has also claimed that 100 million petros will be made available at a value of more than $6 billion.
The country’s opposition-led congress has said this is an illegal“forward sale of Venezuelan oil”that is ripe for corruption. If and when Maduro leaves office, the cryptocurrency will be nullified, lawmakers warned.
Some outside observers are also sceptical about the scheme. “Venezuela has been known for misappropriation of assets in the past and the central bank has just created hyperinflation so I imagine there’ll be trust and transparency issues,” Longview Economics director Harry Colvin toldCNBC. || SegWit is Coming to Coinbase and Bitfinex’s Bitcoin Exchanges: Today, two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency investment platforms,CoinbaseandBitfinex, both announced that they were adopting support for Segregated Witness (SegWit) protocols for bitcoin (BTC) traded on their exchanges.
In itsannouncement, Bitfinex stated, “The SegWit implementation means Bitfinex users can benefit from lower BTC withdrawal fees (approximately 15 percent) and improved processing times on transactions across the Bitcoin network.” The exchange didmake clear that the support for bitcoin deposits and withdrawals using pay-to-script-hash (P2SH) SegWit addresses were the only ones thus far slated for bitcoin and not applicable to bitcoin cash (BCH).
Coinbase, on the other hand,tweetedthat it had finished testing for SegWit for Bitcoin. It will phase in the launch, with the goal of “targeting a 100% launch to all customers by mid next week.” Coinbaseaffirmedits plan for a 2018 SegWit implementation on December 15, 2017 and seemingly delivered on the SegWit statements itmadeon February 13, 2018.
Reasonsfor the support of using SegWit addresses are clear.Prior to the activation of the Segregated Witness soft fork in August 2017, there were concerns about thescalabilityandmalleabilityof Bitcoin due to the size limit of the blocks and a potential manipulation of the transaction ID. These concerns had been a source of debatefor yearsuntil the “soft fork” allowed for protocol upgrades to the software.
While many hard and soft walletsalready adopted support for SegWit protocols, the move by both companies is huge given the volume of bitcoin traded on each platform. At the time of this writing, both Bitfinex and Coinbase’s exchange, GDAX, accounted fornearlyone tenth of global bitcoin trades over the previous 24 hours. This number underestimates the impact on BTC trading volume as it does not include Coinbase’s wallet platform. Both Bitfinex and GDAX arerankedas top 10 exchanges in the world by trading volume, at 5th and 8th, respectively.
The positive news for both exchanges comes at a time of mounting pressure from the public. Coinbase hasfacedcommunity backlash on higher Bitcoin transaction fees, customers’ inability to withdraw funds to PayPal accounts and credit cards being disabled as a payment method for U.S. customers.
Bitfinex’s announcement comes on the heels of atumultuousend to 2017 and a rough start to 2018, inclusive of new account registration issues, a CFTC subpoena and firing of auditor Friedman LLP.
With the announcements of SegWit adoption for Bitcoin, it seems that Coinbase has addressed a major issue for its consumer base, and Bitfinex has been able to release some much-needed positive news for its customers amidst its recent controversies.
For more information on Segregated Witness, check out ourearlier articleson Bitcoin Magazine.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || ChemoCentryx (CCXI) Q4 2017 Earnings Conference Call Transcript: Logo of jester cap with thought bubble with words 'Fool Transcripts' below it Image source: The Motley Fool. ChemoCentryx (NASDAQ: CCXI) Q4 2017 Earnings Conference Call March 9, 2018 8:30 a.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks: Operator Ladies and gentlemen, please stand by your conference call will begin momentarily. Again thank you for your patience and please stand by.Good morning, and welcome to the ChemoCentryx Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2017 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator's Instructions] As a reminder, this conference call will be recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Steve Klass, Vice President with Burns McClellan. Mr. Klass, please go ahead. Steve Klass -- Vice President, Investor Relations Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the ChemoCentryx Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2017 Financial Results Conference Call. Earlier this morning, the company issued a press release providing an overview of its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017. This press release, along with a few slides that you may find helpful while you listen to this call, are available on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.chemocentryx.com. Joining me on the call today is Dr. Thomas Schall, president and chief executive officer of ChemoCentryx, who will review the company's recent business and clinical progress. Following his comments, Susan Kanaya, executive vice president and chief financial and administrative officer of ChemoCentryx, will provide an overview of the company's financial highlights for the fourth quarter and full year 2017 before turning the call back over to Tom for closing remarks. During today's call, we will be making certain forward-looking statements. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Story continues Forward-looking statements are based on current information, assumptions, and expectations that are subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These risks are described in the company's filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's annual report on Form 10-K to be filed on March 12, 2018. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and ChemoCentryx disclaims any obligation to update such statements. In addition, this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of this live broadcast, March 9, 2018. ChemoCentryx undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this live conference call. I will now turn the call over to Tom Schall. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Thank you, Steve, and good morning to everyone listening. Thank you for joining us on our fourth quarter and full year 2017 conference call. 2017 was a watershed year for ChemoCentryx. It was a year of excellent execution, both in short-term tactics and long-range plan, a year in which we shaped the next stage of our destiny with remarkable progress. Let us briefly summarize five key accomplishments, as those of you following can see in Slide 3. First, we took on the challenge of conducting what is, by any standards, a very large, randomized controlled clinical trial in an orphan disease indication. This trial, the ADVOCATE trial of Avacopan in patients suffering from ANCA-associated vasculitis, for an orphan indication, is outsized by any historical standard. We set ourselves the ambitious goal of 300 patients in two arms and completing this trial with unprecedented rapidity for ANCA vasculitis. In order to do this, we activated 200 sites around the world, and our momentum has been steady and inexorably accelerated so that we are now at approximately 75% of total enrollment. Second, we launched two other clinical trials, ultimately to support registration in diseases where there is currently no approved therapy. Namely, these are C3 glomerulopathy or C3G, a second use of avacopan; and a trial of our next valuable unique kidney asset, the CCR2 inhibitor, CCX140, in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or FSGS. Third, we submitted an application for Conditional Marketing Authorization or a CMA application in the European Union. And the European Medicines Agency validated that application, that is, accepted the dossier for full review. The application reveals the maturity of our avacopan program for ANCAassociated vasculitis, that is, beyond the clinical data to date, the maturity in terms of such things as manufacturing, toxicology and the exacting standards required for a mature, comprehensive product application. Of course, approval is a high hurdle, but even getting to this point shows the sophistication of our program and teases up well for future submissions to the FDA for -- and applications for full marketing authorization in Europe. Fourth, the European Medicines Agency acceptance of our CNA (sic) [ CMA ] application has been very valuable to our commercial partner outside the U.S., Vifor Pharma, since it potentially brings forward revenues in Europe by two years. Vifor Pharma paid us $50 million for achieving this milestone. So despite all of our activity on multiple clinical trials, 2017 was a year in which we took in more money than we spent. Looking ahead, we have access to sufficient cash to get us through top-line data in the ADVOCATE trial and registration applications for that trial in the U.S. and Europe. Fifth and last, in January, we reported updated and very promising 18-month overall survival data in patients with locally advanced/metastatic pancreatic cancer using our drug, CCX872. Any of these 5 achievements alone would have made for a good year. Together, they represent a dramatic leap forward in our plan to become a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. Our fourth quarter was stellar. We doubled the enrollment in the ADVOCATE trial since I reported our third quarter financial results on November 7, adding over 100 additional patients into the study. We launched the trials of avacopan in C3G and CCX140 in FSGS. We bolstered the strength of our balance sheet by up to additional $100 million with the $50 million milestone payment that resulted from the European Medicines Agency validation of our CMA application, as well as establishing a credit facility for another potential $50 million. In 2018, we will continue to assertively execute on our plan. Today, let's talk -- let's discuss and analyze briefly the 5 points of success as they will provide the engine of momentum for value creation in 2018 and beyond. First, the global Phase III ADVOCATE pivotal trial for avacopan in the treatment of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic auto-antibody-associated or ANCA vasculitis. Those of you following the slides can see our latest progress on Slide four, where, as I mentioned earlier, we are approaching 75% of full enrollment in this trial. Specifically, we have activated our full target of 200 sites around the world, and we have enrolled 220 patients to date. We are well on track to achieve our goal of completing enrollment in a few months. We are extremely pleased with how enrollment is progressing as well as with the overall conduct of the trial. We have a large majority of our target of 300 patients, suffering from an orphan disease, enrolled across the world in a couple of hundred sites. Why is this impressive? Because orphan diseases, by their very nature, are typically very difficult to enroll in randomized controlled clinical trials of any substantial scale. This is typically one of the elemental hurdles to advancing innovative medicines in orphan diseases. We believe that the ADVOCATE trial is the largest clinical trial of this nature attempted in the history of ANCA vasculitis. And we further believe that we are on pace to achieve one of the fastest-ever recruitment rates in a randomized controlled trial in this important disease. The enthusiastic welcome that physicians and patients alike are giving the ADVOCATE trial may well also be an indication of a huge pent-up need for modern drugs like avacopan exemplifies. There, we speculate that this itself is a promising sign for what may happen if avacopan is approved and made available to patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. And a note about the avacopan mechanism of action, in fact, its fundamental differentiation from other drug candidates in clinical development in what might be called the complement cascade intervention space since I know many of you are aficionados of this exciting and rapidly growing field of opportunity. Eminent clinical scientists, such as, for example, Prof. Ralph Kettritz in Europe, among others, in the nephrology and rheumatology communities, have pointed out some important features. There are two distinct C5a complement receptors. The activating pro-inflammatory destructive receptor known as the C5aR, also known as the CD88 marker, this is the specific target of avacopan. This mediates damaging effects such as necrotizing crescentic glomerulosclerosis, for example, as that seen in ANCA vasculitis. This has been shown time and again in model systems. In addition, however, there is an anti-inflammatory C5a-like receptor, the so-called C5L2, which provides protection from the damaging actions of C5a in such glomerulosclerosis models. Importantly, in written commentary, Prof. Kettritz concludes the opposing actions of these two receptors indicates that neutralization of C5a itself would not be an appropriate therapeutic approach as it would eliminate the protective effects of C5L2 in addition to the deleterious effects of C5aR. All of this is by way -- all of this, rather, is by way of saying that avacopan is unique, unique because it is the first and indeed it is the only drug candidate to selectively target and block only the C5a receptor, CD88, as noted by Prof. Kettritz, in the complement cascade. And you can see some details about the schematic of the complement cascade on Slide 5. Avacopan blocks only the C5aR or CD88 and the destructive inflammatory actions that, that receptor drives while leaving untouched the beneficial actions of C5L2. Other modalities, such as, for example, those targeting C5a directly, simply cannot make that mechanistic claim. So in brief, the ChemoCentryx approach is differentiated from other approaches in the complement inhibition field in the following very important ways, with some distinct advantages. Avacopan is an orally available inhibitor of C5aR, not an injectable or infusible. Avacopan is a small molecule, not an antibody, which is likely -- an antibody which might likely become immunogenic over time, particularly that is a chimeric antibody, a so-called mouse-human hybrid, that is not fully humanized. By specifically targeting the C5aR, we are not blocking the other C5a-activated pathways through C5L2, leaving the rest of the patient's immune system functioning normally. The importance of this selectivity will, I believe, become ever more apparent to patients and clinical practitioners as it has already become abundantly apparent to experimental pharmacologists. In short, our overarching principle is, precise targeting leads to precision medicine. In a disease such as ANCA vasculitis, which has been treated the same way for nearly a half century, avacopan has promising potential to help patients get treated much more effectively, to get better faster, stay healthy and avoid not only the physical but also psychological side effects that come with the current standard of care regimen of high chronic doses of steroids combined with immunosuppressants. With avacopan, we aim for the elimination of the use of chronic steroids in ANCA vasculitis treatment, thus rendering many of the safety and quality of life issues related to current therapy obsolete. Our aim with avacopan is to enable patients, once again, to live their lives to the full, spared from both the ravages of the debilitating disease itself and without the noxious effects of current standard of care used in an attempt to control that disease. In January, we announced that the European Medicines Agency had accepted for review our registration dossier in support of a Conditional Marketing Authorization for avacopan in the treatment of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. This acceptance for review, technically known as validation, triggered a milestone payment of $50 million from our partner Vifor Pharma. Together with the $50 million growth capital facility that we recently entered into, we entered 2018 strengthened by up to $100 million in new capital commitments, as you can see from Slide 6. Importantly, we believe that we now have sufficient funds available to advance avacopan well through top-line data from our Phase III ADVOCATE trial and toward registration filings in the U.S. and the EU. While I am delighted by the excellent progress we made in 2017 in our clinical trials, I am equally delighted by our ability to secure the non-dilutive financing that allows us to continue full speed ahead in our mission to bring precise medicines to patients. While the ADVOCATE Phase III trial is a major focus for us, it is just the beginning, as you can see from our pipeline on Slide 7. We are also moving ahead with clinical trials, which are designed ultimately to support registration in diseases for which there are currently no FDA-approved treatments. We are enrolling a clinical trial of avacopan in patients with C3G, a rare disorder that often affects younger patients, requiring dialysis and, all too often, kidney transplant. There is simply no effective treatment today for C3G. Immunosuppressive drugs are minimally beneficial, and even kidney transplants frequently fail for after transplantation, the new kidney will succumb to the same disease. Ours is a multicenter, 1-year trial involving avacopan in a cohort of 22 patients as well as a control group of 22 patients, as you can see from the schematic on Slide 8. The control arm will receive placebo until they switch to avacopan following a renal biopsy at six months. The primary endpoint of the trial is the percentage change in the C3 histological index after 6 months of treatment. While avacopan continues to advance in two late-stage clinical trials, we are launching trials of a second drug in our kidney franchise, CCX140, in two subpopulations of the orphan kidney disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or FSGS, a disease for which, again, there is no approved treatment, as you can see on Slide nine. CCX140 is an inhibitor of the chemokine receptor known as CCR2. We have a great deal of clinical experience with CCX140, having already successfully completed a 1-year Phase II study in chronic kidney disease in patients with active diabetes. In that study, CCX140 treatment durably and significantly lowered proteinuria while being very well tolerated in patients over its 1-year dosing period. The most dramatic decrease in proteinuria, a sign of improved kidney function, was found in patients with the highest levels of protein in their urine. This is very significant because those data provide the underpinnings of our current studies in FSGS where proteinuria lowering may constitute the actual registration endpoints in certain FSGS patients. One trial that we are launching involves primary FSGS patients who are non-nephrotic, that is, whose disease is often idiopathic and, in most cases, believed to be caused by certain gene mutations. And the other trial is primary FSGS patients with nephrotic syndrome where patients present with a very high level of proteinuria, often over three grams of protein in the urine per day. In this nephrotic syndrome patient population, we believe a significant decrease in proteinuria from baseline can constitute an accelerated approval endpoint. Switching to pancreatic cancer. We reported in January promising updated data from the ongoing clinical trial of our second CCR2 inhibitor, CCX872, in patients with advanced metastatic pancreatic cancer. These results reported at the 2018 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposia. The findings demonstrated improved patient survival could result by selectively inhibiting CCR2 with CCX872. This selective blocking of CCR2 resulted in the immunosuppressing cells that CCR2 maintains in the tumor environment to be less obvious in that environment. Thus, this new approach aims to mobilize the body's own potential for a powerful antitumor immune response. This is particularly important because other therapies such as checkpoint inhibitors do not seem to work well alone in pancreatic cancer. The mechanism of CCX872 potentially makes the checkpoint inhibitor approach more effective. As you can see on Slide 10, the data showed overall survival in all patients randomized at 29% at 18 months, with CCX872 and FOLFIRINOX combination therapy. This is a dramatic advance over previously published overall survival rates of 18.6% using FOLFIRINOX alone to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer. Interestingly, better overall survival following treatment with CCX872 was associated with lower peripheral blood monocyte counts, consistent with the model that myeloid-derived suppressor cells, controlled by CCR2, are being diminished in the tumor microenvironment with CCX872 therapy. We plan now to advance CCX872 in combination with other therapies. In summary, Q4 provided a good ending to a year of impressive execution on our program, as summarized in Slide seven. In short, the avacopan trial is well on its way to full enrollment. Our Conditional Marketing Authorization was validated for review. We have initiated registration-supporting trials for avacopan in C3G and CCX140 in FSGS. We ended the year with a healthy cash position, and indeed, we were cash flow positive for the year. And our CCR2 inhibitor, CCX872, demonstrated very promising results in terms of overall survival of patients with locally advanced/metastatic pancreatic cancer. In addition to all of these advanced programs, we are constantly striving to look for new indirect -- indications that could offer a better life for patients and create value for our shareholders. One such indication outside of renal disease is the debilitating and deforming skin disease, hidradenitis suppurativa, which you can see explained in brief on Slide 12. In 2018, we intend to launch our clinical development program for the use of avacopan in patients suffering from this condition. As we move closer to potential commercialization of avacopan in the United States, I'm pleased to say we recently hired Bill Fairey to lead the company's commercial strategy as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Bill brings extensive experience in commercialization, marketing and operations from his 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry and most recent position as President of Actelion Pharmaceuticals U.S., where he led sales, marketing, medical access and regulatory activities. Bill joined us at a pivotal time in our evolution and will lead the commercialization of our drug candidates, the last step as we become a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. Over the course of 2018, you can expect to see progress on a number of fronts, as summarized in Slide 13: completion of patients' enrollment in the Phase III pivotal ADVOCATE trial, which we expect around the middle of this year; progress in our other registration-supporting trials, avacopan for C3G and our two FSGS studies with CCX140; initiation of clinical studies with avacopan in hidradenitis suppurativa; potential regulatory updates; and continued clinical progress with new pipeline candidates. I will now turn the call back over to Susan to give you an overview of our strong financial picture, with the main points from our fourth quarter and fiscal year-end results. Susan? Susan Kanaya -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Thank you, Tom. Our fourth quarter and full year 2017 financial results were included in our press release today and are summarized on Slide 14. Revenue was $56.3 million for the fourth quarter and $82.5 million for the full year ended December 31, 2017, compared to $4.9 million and $11.9 million in the same periods in 2016. The $50 million CMA validation milestone from our Vifor Pharma -- partner Vifor Pharma accounted for the majority of the 2017 reported revenue. Research and development expenses were $12.9 million for the fourth quarter 2017, up from $9.3 million for the same quarter in 2016. For 2017 as a whole, R&D expenses rose to $49.5 million from $38 million 2016, primarily due to higher expenses associated with activities related to the avacopan Phase III ADVOCATE trial in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis and start-up expenses related to the Phase II clinical trials in FSGS and C3G. General and administrative expenses were $4.1 million for the fourth quarter, up from $3.6 million we recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016. Full year 2017 G&A expenses increased to $16.5 million from $14.7 million in 2016, primarily due to higher intellectual property-related expenses and accounting fees related to preparation for Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, partially offset by lower travel expenses. We recorded net income for the fourth quarter of $39.7 million compared to net loss of $7.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. And our full year net income of $17.9 million compares favorably to our 2016 net loss of $40 million. Total shares outstanding at December 31, 2017, were approximately 48.8 million shares. We ended the year with $195.2 million in pro forma cash, investments, and receivables, including remaining upfront commitments and milestone payments. As Tom mentioned earlier, in early January, we further strengthened our balance sheet with a growth capital financing agreement of up to $50 million with Hercules Capital. We expect to utilize cash and investments in the range of $65 million to $75 million in 2018. Tom? Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Thank you, Susan. To summarize, 2017 was a year of impressive execution for ChemoCentryx as we demonstrated our ability to run a landmark clinical trial across multiple sites around the globe, involving hundreds of patients in an orphan disease. We look forward to completing enrollment of ADVOCATE in the middle of this year and to working with the European Medicines Agency as they continue their review of our application for a Conditional Marketing Authorization in Europe. We believe the unique selective targeting of the C5a receptor by avacopan will prove to be an immense clinical and commercial differentiator. We are advancing avacopan and CCX140 in registration-supporting trials in two other renal disease indications. We have a healthy balance sheet to fund our clinical activities and take us toward our potential registration filings in the U.S. and the EU. Our early stage pipeline remains rich with promise, as the updated pancreatic cancer survival data showed and as we intend to demonstrate with clinical studies of avacopan in hidradenitis suppurativa. We will keep you updated on our clinical progress in this and other areas. My colleagues and I at ChemoCentryx pledge to work unstintingly to continue to create value for patients and shareholders alike. And today, we send a simple message: we believe the future of our enterprise has never been brighter. With that, I will now turn the call back over to the operator, and we look forward to your questions. Operator? Questions and Answers Operator [Operator's Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Anupam Rama with JPMorgan. Your line is now open. Tessa Romero -- JPMorgan Chase Hi, guys. This is Tessa on for Anupam this morning. Thanks so much for the update here and for taking some time to describe sort of the 4Q and what happened this year. Wondering if you could maybe expand a bit on the motivation to pursue HS. Is there something in the competitive landscape? And how do you think avacopan could be particularly differentiated clinically here? And then sort of related to this, how should we be thinking about the target population you're going after? Is this an HS post-Humira or as a -- more of a front-line therapy? And then secondly, if I could ask just how you're thinking about enrollment and data timelines. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Thank you, Tessa. Those are all excellent questions. Essentially, we had a lot of interest and incoming demand, if you will, even from the clinical investigative community in the HS world. As you may well know, there is only one currently approved therapy for HS, and that's Humira, you mentioned that. Humira, while it works and certainly has some -- certainly is thought to have modest effects among the clinical experts and the patient populations in HS. So there is a high demand for additional therapies. By the way, even with the modest effects that Humira seems to have, it approaches $1.5 billion in sales in HS last year. So there is certainly opportunity there, both clinically and commercially. So with this demand and incoming interest from the clinical community, we did investigate what's going on in the HS world. And not that much is going on, but one very interesting feature was some early validation of C5a being involved in this debilitating and disfiguring disease, with a chimeric antibody approach in some limited number of patients that has been presented. Now that was very interesting to us. It makes perfect sense because HS is a neutrophil-driven disease. Neutrophils are driven by activators in the body, but the most potent -- one of the most potent endogenous activators is the complement fragment C5a. So all of that added up very nicely. Now note both Humira is an antibody with, again, efficacy, though widely regarded as modest efficacy. The clinical proof-of-concept data that we saw in HS patients where the rate of efficacy seemed to be even 30 points better than Humira data was within antibody, a chimeric antibody. Again, that's a mouse-human hybrid, likely to be immunogenic. As far as we can tell, that agent required onceweekly infusions and, importantly, also short-circuits the effects of C5L2, a pathway regarded as beneficial for biology of C5a. So we thought this is a very interesting potential opportunity for an orally active small molecule that targets specifically the destructive pro-inflammatory neutrophil driver, C5a receptor. So all of it came together very nicely, the mechanism, the need and the potential to work in that landscape. As far as the approach, I think it's widely believed in the community, given the modest benefits that Humira seems to accrue to patients, again, notwithstanding its enormous commercial success in that area, that we could and, indeed, we intend to test the ability of avacopan to work simply on its own as a potential front-line therapy. Now HS, generally, is maybe not an orphan indication, but it is very interesting that Orphan Drug Designation has indeed been designated for moderate to severe HS, and that was given for the adalimumab approach, Humira. And so I think that our target population would at first, initially at least, be skewed toward the moderate to severe. And we'll have more details to talk about as we launch that -- those studies a little bit later on this year, Tessa. Tessa Romero -- JPMorgan Chase Great. Thanks so much, Tom. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Thank you. Operator Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Eric Schmidt with Cowen and Company. Your line is now open. Eric Schmidt -- Cowen & Co. Hello, good morning, and thanks for taking my question. Tom, on your discussion of avacopan in the pivotal trial, you mentioned you thought the conduct of that trial was quite strong. Just kind of curious as to what you're referring to, whether you have some indication of the compliance or dropout rates or that sort of thing. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Yes, Eric. Thank you. Very good question. So as we and our team go around the world talking with investigators in the sites, overall, I think there's a huge degree of enthusiasm for the trial. You are absolutely right. Though I didn't quote a dropout rate, the dropout rate is quite a bit lower than we anticipated for a trial of this size and this length. I think substantially lower. And so I hesitate today to talk about that number, but it is in the single-digit percentages. So quite low. And that, I think, bodes well for the trial and the readouts. It is also -- it won't surprise anyone to know that like all Phase III trials, we have an independent data monitoring committee with 220 people already in this trial and a large leading edge of that having been in the trial for almost a year. That DMC has met more than once obviously, and the trial is proceeding essentially with no change in conduct. So one can infer from that, we are not unblinded to the safety data like the DMC, but one can infer from their lack of recommendation to make any changes that the drug seems to be well tolerated to date. So all of those and some other factors less tangible, to me, add up to a very satisfying conduct of trial to date. Eric Schmidt -- Cowen & Co. A couple other questions on the pipeline, I noticed that IgA nephropathy is no longer on your slide. I think we're supposed to see some early Phase II data at one point there. Has that program been discontinued? And then in aHUS, what are your plans now for starting the next trial? I thought that might be a nearterm event. Thanks. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Yes. So Eric, thank you for both those questions. In fact, just a minor correction. We did present data from a Phase IIa proof-of-concept trial in IgA nephropathy last year at a couple of major conferences. And we -- at that time, it seemed that the regulatory guidance was vague about what the path forward was in IgA nephropathy. We thought our data, again, from a fairly small number of patients, 7, but as you know, the numbers do tend to be very small in IgAN, certainly in the early trials. But our data looked really interesting and quite compelling in terms of four of those seven individuals had really quite marked reductions in proteinuria over the 12 weeks of dosing. In fact, if one is to read the guidance from other sponsors in IgAN, four of those seven went below a level that suggests that the FDA found it to be quite interesting in other studies. It's a complicated landscape with IgAN. So I'm not sure what we might do next there, but we are reevaluating our options. And certainly, we intend to have more discussion with regulators directly to see what the landscape looks like in IgAN and the potential for a protein-lowering registration endpoint. So I'll have more to say about that soon. AHUS, you're quite correct. We are, in fact, dosing patients actively right now with aHUS. It's not -- it is under our compassionate use protocol. So we'll have more to say about those results, I think, in the coming quarter or so. But it won't surprise you, of course, the aHUS patient population is very hard to come by. So the number of patients that we have access to is regrettably not great. And we're struggling with that as our other sponsors. So we'll be clarifying the picture around aHUS and our approach to that as we go forward. And I hope to be able to present some of the findings from our ongoing compassionate use patients in the not distant future. Eric Schmidt -- Cowen & Co. Thanks. Appreciate the updates. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Thank you, Eric. Operator Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mike Englander with JMP Securities. Your line is now open. Mike Englander -- JMP Securities Hi, guys. Thanks for taking the question. Just wanted to ask about the future development plans of CCX872 in pancreatic given the nice overall survival data you guys have seen. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Yes. Thanks, Mike. We'd really, really love to be able to now move forward 872 in appropriate combinations with other therapies given the data that we have from the clinical setting as well as some very compelling pharmacological model data, again, revealing that the diminution of the myeloid-derived suppressor cells, thought to be derived from CCR2 precursors or even directly driven by CCR2 in the microenvironment of the tumor, when they are diminished, they seem to open up the immunogenic profile of the tumor in a greater fashion. We'll be publishing some of that pharmacological data, one hopes, this year. So what we'd like to do is go forward appropriately with checkpoint inhibitors. That landscape, as you know, is not uncrowded, but we're navigating that landscape. And we hope to be able to describe our forward plans with that soon. People are still in that study, in fact, and they are -- we may have some more data to talk about that study later this year. The one that we already reported, the 18-month overall survival, but we'll see. Mike Englander -- JMP Securities Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Certainly. Operator I'm showing no further questions in queue at this time. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dr. Thomas Schall for closing remarks. Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Thank you, operator. Thank you, everyone, for joining our call today. We look forward to updating you as we execute on our plans. We will also be at the Cowen Healthcare Conference next week, and I hope to see many of you there. So with that, you may now disconnect, and I wish you all a very good day. Operator Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes today's program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day. Duration: 43 minutes Call Participants: Steve Klass -- Vice President, Investor Relations Thomas Schall -- Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman Susan Kanaya -- Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Tessa Romero -- JPMorgan Chase Eric Schmidt -- Cowen & Co. Mike Englander -- JMP Securities More CCXI analysis This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || United Airlines Doubles Down on Its Dubious Growth Strategy: Over the past decade, U.S. legacy carriers United Continental (NYSE: UAL) , Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) , and American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) have gone from being perennial money losers to reliable profit machines. A shared commitment to keeping capacity in check was critical to the industry's renaissance. However, under its new management team, United Continental has thrown that playbook out the window. After boosting capacity 3.5% in 2017 -- well ahead of GDP growth -- United plans to grow even faster over the next three years. This growth plan is already causing United's pre-tax margin to deteriorate. In the long run, the damage could be even worse if United's aggressive growth in smaller cities triggers a fare war with American and Delta. The crux of United's strategy The core insights behind United Continental's growth strategy are relatively straightforward. The profitability of a hub-and-spoke airline depends significantly on how many connecting itinerary options it can provide. This means that having large hubs -- and building efficient schedules to maximize the number of available connections -- is critical to success. A United Airlines plane on a runway United Continental wants to boost the productivity of its hubs. Image source: United Airlines. Delta Air Lines' massive hub in Atlanta is the ideal example of how a hub should work. Delta operates roughly 1,000 peak-day departures there, serving more than 200 destinations. No matter where you need to go, there's a good chance you can get there with a connection through Atlanta. United Airlines' mid-continent hubs in Chicago, Denver, and Houston are undersized, by comparison. United operates just 545 daily departures in Chicago, its largest hub. United's growth strategy calls for adding flights at all three mid-continent hubs -- and to a lesser extent, at its coastal hubs. The focus will be on flying to more small cities, where fares tend to be higher due to minimal competition from budget carriers. However, this plan is far riskier than United Continental's management is willing to admit. Story continues Will pilots bail out management? The first major risk is that United Continental will be stuck operating its new small-city routes with 50-seat jets indefinitely. Whereas Delta and American have scaled back their use of these planes in recent years, United plans to increase its fleet of small regional aircraft by 31 planes during 2018. United Continental's leadership recognizes that relying on 50-seat jets is unsustainable. They have higher unit costs than 76-seat regional jets, and customers hate flying on them. However, United's pilot contract limits its use of the vastly more profitable 76-seat jets. A United Airlines 76-seat regional jet parked on the tarmac United Airlines' pilot contract limits the carrier's use of 76-seat jets. Image source: United Airlines. United Continental President Scott Kirby seems to be awfully confident that the pilots will agree to relax this "scope clause" in upcoming contract negotiations without demanding much in return. That would be unprecedented. United's existing pilot deal allows the carrier to add 70 more large regional jets to its fleet if it simultaneously adds 88 100-120 seat planes to be flown by mainline pilots. (This mirrors a deal struck by Delta's pilots a while back.) As long as Kirby sticks by his insistence that United Airlines can't operate these smaller mainline planes economically, the pilots aren't likely to let the carrier add more large regional jets. This could leave United at a permanent disadvantage in its new small-city markets. Will Delta and American let United catch up? Just looking at coastal international gateway hubs, United Continental has a higher profit margin than either of its rivals. Its margin disadvantage stems solely from its mid-continent connecting hubs being less efficient, according to management. Unfortunately, catching up won't be nearly as straightforward as management has implied. First, United's hubs will never be as dominant as those of American and Delta. In Chicago -- United's No. 1 hub in terms of daily departures -- the carrier competes directly with a sizable American Airlines hub. In Houston, United operates an average of 482 daily departures, competing with American's nearby Dallas-Fort Worth hub, which has 762 daily departures. United's only regionally dominant hub is in Denver. But with 375 daily departures, it doesn't come close to the scale of the largest American Airlines and Delta Air Lines hubs. A Delta Air Lines plane parked on the tarmac Delta has superior hubs compared to United Airlines. Image source: Delta Air Lines. Second, United Continental's plan assumes that American Airlines and Delta Air Lines will cut capacity in markets where United is growing. Otherwise, the big uptick in capacity from United's arrival would cause fares to plunge. However, given that this is a zero-sum game -- United has been forthright that it hopes to regain market share from its competitors -- it would be more logical for Delta and American to maintain, or even increase, their capacity in small cities. This would allow them to either protect unit revenue (by offering more frequent flights), or reduce unit costs (by using larger planes). 2018 is just the start During 2018, much of United Continental's capacity growth will come on international routes and flights to Hawaii. This should reduce the risk of a domestic market-share battle with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. However, if United goes ahead with its growth plans for 2019 and 2020, its rivals are likely to respond in kind. That could lead to further margin contraction for all three legacy carriers. But United Continental is starting with the lowest profit margin, so it would be the worst-off of the bunch. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of Delta Air Lines. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || General Electric and Northrop Grumman Will Put a Drone on Every Boat: Out of a "battle force" of 282 warships, the United States Navy boasts just 11 aircraft carriers and a couple dozenmini-aircraft carriers-- LPD-, LHD-, and LSD-class amphibious assault vessels featuring at least some "flat top" space on their decks from which to launch tiltrotor transports and F-35B hover-jets.
That still leaves 85% of the Navy's battle force without enough room on deck to carry much more than a helicopter for air support. But what if there were a way to turn essentially every non-submarine warship in the Navy into an ad hoc aircraft carrier?
There maybea way -- and its name is TERN, short for "Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node."
Image source:General Electric.
In ornithological fields, a "tern" is a small bird generally residing in wetlands near the sea. In the Navy as well, TERN is evolving into a water-bird of sorts. When initially proposed by DARPA -- the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- in 2015, TERN was envisioned as a mechanical means of launching and recovering standard medium-sized drones from various small warships. As the TERN project evolved, however, DARPA ultimately concluded it might be best to design an entirely new drone -- one capable of taking off from and landing on essentially any warship.
That's wherethe TERN programis now -- a project run byNorthrop Grumman(NYSE: NOC)to design a "tailsitting, flying-wing aircraft with a twin contra-rotating, nose-mounted propulsion system," able to launch from and land on a warship deck "like a helicopter," but transition to "wing-borne flight" like an airplane when on-mission.
To facilitate the drone's helicopter-like launches and landings, TERN will be powered by aGeneral Electric(NYSE: GE)T700 engine -- a modified version of the engine GE sells to the Army to power its Black Hawk helicopters. In January, General Electric participated in test flights of TERN's power system in the California desert. In future months, additional ground tests and flight tests of the engine, integrated into a TERN prototype, will take place -- followed by at-sea test flights, launches, and landings.
Once fully developed and certified, Northrop's TERN is likely to take the shape of an equilateral triangular measuring 40 feet on a side, and topped by two 10-foot counter-rotating rotors, both driven by General Electric's engine. One of the larger drones in the U.S. military arsenal, TERN will be able to carry as much as 600 pounds of ordnance -- sufficient for six Hellfire missiles, for example -- and have enough endurance to carry out strike missions as far away as 600 miles from base.
Artist's conceptions of the craft (see above) show TERN overflying U.S. warships carrying a quartet of Hellfire missiles on its wings. These suggest that from the outset, Northrop is designing TERN to be not just a "reconnaissance" craft, as initially envisioned, but an armed drone that will provide any warship large enough to carry it with an airborne strike capability. As such, TERN can arguably fill a gap left by the Navy's contentious decision to focus on aerial refueling capabilities when designing its much higher profileMQ-25A Stingray drone.
It could also become a real boon to Northrop Grumman's stock. As I explained back in 2016,how big a dealTERN is for Northrop depends largely on how ambitiously the Navy intends to roll out the TERN program. The program has already generated $110 million in R&D dollars for Northrop, but whether those millions turn into billions in the future -- and howmanybillions -- depends on how many TERNs the Navy ultimately buys per ship.
Assuming it flies as promised, and costs not much more than the $17.8 million that DARPA allocated for development of a second prototype in 2016, I expect TERN to prove immensely popular with the Navy. $17.8 million would be roughly the cost of a Seahawk helicopter for the Navy, andhalf the cost of the Army's Apache attack helicopters, making it possible to turn any warship into an aircraft carrier -- on a budget.
The more ships TERN lands on, the bigger the profits for Northrop.
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[{"Revenue": "Net income (loss)", "$1.17 billion": "($21 million)", "$1.02 billion": "$13 million", "14.7%": "N/A*"}, {"Revenue": "Diluted earnings (loss) per share", "$1.17 billion": "($0.08)", "$1.02 billion": "$0.13", "14.7%": "N/A"}]
Data source: Intuit.*Difference to great for a meaningful comparison.
• Intuit's top-line performance was paced by the small business and self-employed segment, which includes QuickBooks Online (QBO), as well as payroll and payment processing services. The segment reported year-over-year quarterly revenue growth of 19%, to $736 million.
• Additions of QBO subscribers continued to play the dominant role in Intuit's quarterly growth. The company added 275,000 QBO customers, a 51% leap over the comparable-year quarter. Intuit's total QBO subscriber count exceeded 2.8 million globally at quarter-end.
• As has been the case in recent quarters, non-U.S. subscriptions grew at a higher rate than the overall base. These subscriptions surged 69% from the 2017 quarter and now total 630,000. On a sequential basis, Intuit added 80,000 new international "subs" from theprior three months.
• Another subset of QBO, QuickBooks Self-Employed, also exhibited burgeoning growth. With 490,000 total subscribers, the service has nearly tripled its base against last year's quarter-end tally of 180,000. QuickBooks Self-Employed grew by 65,000 subs over the past three months.
• Intuit's revenue may have landed even higher, but the IRS delayed the opening of tax season by one week compared with last year, to Jan. 29. Thus, some tax season revenue will shift into the third quarter.
• The consumer group segment, which includes TurboTax software sales, expanded revenue by 12% to $334 million. In its first tax season update, released alongside earnings, Intuit reported that TurboTax-filed returns grew 2% at the outset of the season. In addition, the volume of TurboTax units sold improved by 1%, to 18.6 million.
• While the company reported positive operating income of $20 million, it recorded an income tax provision of $40 million during the quarter to comply with recently enacted tax legislation in the U.S., resulting in a diluted earnings-per-share loss of $0.08.
• Intuit announced a quarterly dividend increase of 15% to $0.39 per share, which will yield 0.90% on an annualized basis at the current share price.
• The company completed three acquisitions in the quarter, totaling $412 million. TSheets.com, Exactor, Inc., and Applatix, Inc., each produce applications for use within the QBO ecosystem.
QuickBooks Self-Employed caters to small business owners. Image source: Getty Images.
During the company'searnings conference call, CEO Brad Smith touched on various new product offerings and cross-marketing opportunities within the current tax season. Smith's comments illuminate differentiators that Intuit is employing to maintain TurboTax's competitive advantages and indicate how the company is leveraging its ecosystem to increase annual revenue per customer:
Product innovation is the key to our strategy. ... We improved the TurboTax customer experience again this year by further automating data entry, improving the onboarding experience, and simplifying the help functions by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning. TurboTax Self-Employed is a part of our line-up again this season, targeting approximately 4 million self-employed who use TurboTax. TurboTax Self-Employed also comes with a 12-month subscription to QuickBooks Self-Employed so these customers can benefit from tracking their financials throughout the year.
Earlier this month, Intuit issued revised guidance as a result of the current U.S. tax law changes. The organization left much of its full-year outlook unchanged. Revenue is still projected to grow by 9%-11%, landing in a range of $5.64 billion to $5.74 billion. And operating income is still expected to expand 6%-10%, to a band of between $1.485 billion and $1.535 billion. However, as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Intuit will apply a lower effective tax rate to income, and thus, diluted earnings per share are now expected to land between $4.20 and $4.30, against an earlier estimate of $4.00 to $4.10, representing a growth rate in EPS of 13% to 16% over 2017.
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Asit Sharmahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Intuit. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Bottom Confirmed? Bitcoin at 20-Day High Near $11K: The bitcoin price has rallied 84 percent from recent lows, suggesting a bottom is in place, although a long-term bull revival is still not certain, according to the price charts Over the weekend, CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) rose to $11,279.18, its highest level since Jan. 29. As of writing, the BPI is seen at $10,800 - up 1.59 percent in the last 24 hours. However, a bout of profit taking seems to have pushed the cryptocurrency back below $11,000. While the "V"-shaped rally from the Feb. 6 low of $5,947.40 certainly paints a bullish picture, investors are still divided on whether BTC has found a long-term bottom below $6,000. Bitcoin seems to have bottomed out below $6,000 as indicated by bullish doji reversal, but the weekly indicators are still less clear about the long-term prospects for the bulls, as discussed below. Weekly chart Last week's green candle marked a positive follow-through to previous week's long-tailed doji candle and confirmed a bullish doji reversal. So, it appears a bottom has been made at $5,873. That said, the position of the relative strength index (RSI) indicates the job is still half done. As discussed last week , during the bull run (2015-2017), at no point were the bears strong enough to push the RSI below the support zone of 55.00-53.00. However, the RSI did drop below the support zone during the recent sell-off, signaling a bear market. Further, it still remains below resistance zone of 53.00-55.00 (former support). Hence, a long-term bullish reversal is still not confirmed. Also, a look at the short-duration chart indicates a key Fibonacci level has come into play. Bitcoin prices on Coinbase's GDAX exchange created a red candle (down day) yesterday at $11,228.25, which is the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the sell-off from $19,891.99 to $5,873. Daily chart The ascending trendline (drawn from the Jul. 17 low and Sep. 15 low) is still intact. The chart also shows a 50-day moving average (MA) and 100-day MA bearish crossover (short-term average cuts long-term average from above). The 5-day MA and 10-day MA are curled up in favor of the bulls. Story continues View A move of the weekly RSI above 53.00 would confirm the long-term bull reversal and open the doors for a re-test of record highs. However, on the way higher, bitcoin prices could face resistance at $17,174 (Jan. 6 high). Meanwhile, a drop below $9,017.41 (Jan. 17 low) would add credence to the bearish weekly RSI, and the bearish 50-day MA and 100-day MA crossover, and could yield a deeper sell-off towards $7,000. Disclosure : CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Coinbase Chart on mobile image via Shutterstock Related Stories Bitcoin Pizza Day 2: History Repeats With Lightning Buy Bitcoin Eyes $10K, But Price Outlook Favors Bears Will Lightning Help or Hurt Bitcoin Privacy? Strip Clubs, Lambos and Code: A Tale of Two Bitcoins
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
Hello Andreas antonopoulos, if it’s you behind the screen I would like to ask a question. What do you think about the actual events surrounding bitcoin? Where do you think that this will lead? Will governments, banks have success in blocking the growth of bitcoin? Thanks || Bitcoin Breaches $6000 as Cryptocurrency Exodus Accelerates http://bit.ly/2BGp1Ma || BTC Price: 8710.30$,
BTC Today High : 8769.00$,
BTC All Time High : 19903.44$
ETH Price: 681.51$ #bitcoin #BTC $BTC #ETH $ETH #cryptopic.twitter.com/VWwezDruov || How about you guys control #HighFrequencyTrading and not allow big banks to reroute orders of the average investor into their own #DarkPool to trade against and make a profit!
#SEC and government has not done much to protect #investors
At least #Bitcoin $BTC is decentralized! https://twitter.com/bearsdan34/status/960905923656069120 … || El precio del Bitcoin: 7,318.00€ #bitcoin #elpreciodelbtc #criptomonedas || I only love bitcoin and my momma I'm sorry... god's plan || Bitcoin Dips Below $7k Amidst News of China’s Full Ban of Cryptocurrency Exchanges https://www.krupte.com/2018/02/05/bitcoin-dips-below-7k-amidst-news-of-chinas-full-ban-of-cryptocurrency-exchanges/ …pic.twitter.com/CudDQeivpp || #BTC Average: 11529.26$
#Bitfinex - 11489.00$
#Poloniex - 11510.48$
#Bitstamp - 11455.00$
#Coinbase - 11390.00$
#Binance - 11499.00$
#CEXio - 11907.60$
#Kraken - 11400.40$
#Cryptopia - 11533.50$
#Bittrex - 11530.00$
#GateCoin - 11577.60$
#Bitcoin #Exchanges #Price || Cotizaciones al 25/02/2018 03:00 AM
Bitcoin (BTC): 54.001.994
Ethereum (ETH): 4.663.710
Litecoin (LTC): 1.138.621
Monero (XMR): 1.513.087
Dash (DASH): 3.275.723
ZCash (ZEC): 2.152.601 || Feb 20, 2018 16:00:00 UTC | 11,515.40$ | 9,327.30€ | 8,234.20£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/Qbj05L5FqH
|
Trend: down || Prices: 8668.12, 8495.78, 8209.40, 7833.04, 7954.48, 7165.70, 6890.52, 6973.53, 6844.23, 7083.80
|
Analyze the provided historical prices, technical indicators, news, and social media sentiment from the last 60 days. Based on this context, predict the overall trend (up, down, or no change) and the specific daily closing prices for Bitcoin for the next 10 days.
|
[Technical Analysis for 2020-10-06]
BTC Price: 10604.41, BTC RSI: 46.78
Gold Price: 1901.10, Gold RSI: 47.37
Oil Price: 40.67, Oil RSI: 53.12
[Random Sample of News (last 60 days)]
Bitcoin Starts Shrugging Off BitMEX Bombshell, Recoups Nearly Half of 4% Price Dip: Bitcoin traders have begun recovering from Thursday’s bombshellindictmentsfrom the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice against BitMEX and the exchange’s co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, and Business Development Lead Greg Dwyer.
• Bitcoin(BTC) initially dropped 4% from roughly $10,800 on BitMEX futures on the news, a relatively modest move for typically volatile cryptocurrency markets. Early last month, for example, BTC made three consecutive 7%-8% dips Sept. 2-3 after trading above $11,000 for the first time this year.
• “There was some expected negative price action following the dissipation of the BitMEX lawsuit, but the market has seemingly settled a few percent down from where it was beforehand,” said Sam Trabucco, quantitative trader at Alameda Research.
• Alternate cryptocurrencies (altcoins) followed BTC’s lead Thursday afternoon with the decentralized finance sector of altcoins dropping less than 3% over the past 24 hours, according toMessari.
• Thursday is historically the most volatile day of the week, according to cryptocurrency research firmMarkets Science. But “it’s not yet clear whether the market as a whole decides the impact we’ve already seen is sufficient,” said Trabucco.
• At last check, BTC has retraced almost half of the intraday dip as buyers pushed the price from $10,450 to $10,580 on BitMEX.
• The market’s immediate reaction Thursday may only be the precursor to more volatility, however, Trabucco told CoinDesk. “We’ll see how the markets that are currently mostly asleep react. I’d expect increased potential for volatility as more people are able to react.”
• If Thursday’s minor dip cascades into a larger sell-off, “It’s going to be a buying opportunity,” said Steve Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager Digital, a publicly listed cryptocurrency exchange. “Whatever gets liquidated, will get liquidated, and the markets will reposition and start growing again.”
• As traders react to the news, BitMEX assured its customers that “the BitMEX platform is operating entirely as normal and all funds are safe,” according to a message published to its announcements channel on Telegram.
• The Seychelles-based business, known for pioneering perpetual swap futures in cryptocurrency markets, ranks fourth by 24-hour volume and second by open interest, according toSkew.
• Bitcoin Starts Shrugging Off BitMEX Bombshell, Recoups Nearly Half of 4% Price Dip
• Bitcoin Starts Shrugging Off BitMEX Bombshell, Recoups Nearly Half of 4% Price Dip
• Bitcoin Starts Shrugging Off BitMEX Bombshell, Recoups Nearly Half of 4% Price Dip
• Bitcoin Starts Shrugging Off BitMEX Bombshell, Recoups Nearly Half of 4% Price Dip || Bitcoin, gold bounce following bullion’s biggest single-day decline in 7 years: Gold recovered some losses Wednesday morning after posting its worst day in seven years just a day earlier.
Bullion was up more than 1.59% at $1,941 an ounce at the time of writing. That's a turnaround after it shed more than 5% during Tuesday's trade—itslargest single-day dropsince 2013. Analysts tied the precipitous fall of the precious metal to gold being overbought as itralliedabove historic levels earlier this month, as well as rising U.S. yields.
"The rise in US yields delivered a sledgehammer blow to precious metal markets on Tuesday, withgoldfalling 5% and silver taking a massive 15% hit," wrote Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe. "The rally over the summer has come as US real yields have gone negative and continued to decline so the sudden spike over the last couple of days triggered a rush for the exits in what has become an incredibly overcrowded trade."
Indeed, not even a spike in PPI offered relief for bullion. On Tuesday, the Department of Labor said that the producer price index, which measures inflation for producers before it hits consumers, rose 0.6%, thehighestmove upward since 2018.
Meanwhile, bitcoin's lockstep trading with gold continued into Wednesday. After falling more than 4% over the course of Tuesday, bitcoin was trading up 1.5% at the time of writing.
© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Prosecutors Detail Russians’ Crypto Phishing Scheme in Forfeiture Suit: The two Russians who were sanctioned earlier this week by the U.S. Treasury Department on accusations of being crypto thieves allegedly got their millions through market manipulation and phishing. Prosecutors detailed Danil Potekhin and Dimitrii Karasavidi’s alleged heists, victims and target exchanges in a 30-page forfeiture complaint filed Wednesday against the pair’s previously seized crypto funds. Karasavidi and Potekhin allegedly “deployed” a series of bogus Poloniex, Gemini and Binance lookalike sites that duped unwitting users into sharing their login credentials, giving the hackers control of wallets. They then “drained” $20 million worth of bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and NEO from victims’ accounts, according to the complaint. Prosecutors said the lion’s share ended up in Karasavidi’s Bitfinex account. Other funds were frozen by Poloniex and quickly seized by authorities, who filed the lawsuit to take control of 15,602 ETH, 199.8 BTC, $6.1 million in cash and 1,199 NEO, a total worth $14.2 million at press time. That ETH haul was actually the product of a separate hacker scheme: market manipulation, authorities say. In late October 2017, hackers pumped $5 million of one victim’s crypto into NEO’s Gas market, skyrocketing the usually sleepy token’s value 13,000% before ordering their personal gas-holding Poloniex accounts to cash out into ETH. The victim “lost virtually all of his $5 million in cryptocurrency,” prosecutors alleged. Prosecutors also claimed the hackers attempted to cover up the stolen crypto’s origin by “layering” funds – a classic money-laundering technique. Treasury officials said they used “blockchain tracing analysis” to follow the ETH from the Poloniex manipulation and the Poloniex, Binance and Gemini phishing schemes into Karasavidi’s Bitfinex account. They further claimed to have identified Potekhin as the owner of multiple misspelled Poloniex domain names linked to the phishing scheme. Similar tactics were used against Binance and Gemini customers, the regulator said in the lawsuit. Related: Cryptopia Users Can Claim Assets from End of 2020, Says Hacked Exchange's Liquidator Karasavidi and Potekhin face a mounting lineup of legal troubles. This week, they’ve been added to the Treasury Department’s OFAC blacklist and also face federal wire fraud, hacking and money laundering charges. Related Stories Prosecutors Detail Russians’ Crypto Phishing Scheme in Forfeiture Suit Prosecutors Detail Russians’ Crypto Phishing Scheme in Forfeiture Suit Prosecutors Detail Russians’ Crypto Phishing Scheme in Forfeiture Suit View comments || Global Cryptocurrency Industry: Global Cryptocurrency Market to Reach $1. 4 Billion by 2027. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Cryptocurrency estimated at US$979. 5 Million in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$1. New York, Aug. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Cryptocurrency Industry" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05800039/?utm_source=GNW 4 Billion by 2027, growing at aCAGR of 4.8% over the period 2020-2027. Hardware, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record 5% CAGR and reach US$866.5 Million by the end of the analysis period. After an early analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Software segment is readjusted to a revised 4.5% CAGR for the next 7-year period. The U.S. Market is Estimated at $288.6 Million, While China is Forecast to Grow at 4.5% CAGR The Cryptocurrency market in the U.S. is estimated at US$288.6 Million in the year 2020. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$240.1 Million by the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 4.5% over the analysis period 2020 to 2027. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 4.6% and 3.8% respectively over the 2020-2027 period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.9% CAGR.We bring years of research experience to this 6th edition of our report. The 214-page report presents concise insights into how the pandemic has impacted production and the buy side for 2020 and 2021. A short-term phased recovery by key geography is also addressed. Competitors identified in this market include, among others, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Binance Holdings Limited Bitfinex Group Bitfury Holding B.V. BitGo Inc. Bitmain Technologies Limited Bitstamp Ltd Canaan Creative CO., LTD Coinbase Ethereum Foundation Ethereumminer.EU Intel Corporation Ledger SAS NVIDIA Corporation PandaMiner Ripple Shark Mining Upbit Xapo Xilinx Inc. Zhejiang Ebang Communication Co., Ltd. Story continues Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05800039/?utm_source=GNW I. INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY & REPORT SCOPE II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. MARKET OVERVIEW Global Competitor Market Shares Cryptocurrency Competitor Market Share Scenario Worldwide (in %): 2019 & 2025 Impact of Covid-19 and a Looming Global Recession 2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS 3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS 4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE Table 1: Cryptocurrency Global Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2020-2027 Table 2: Cryptocurrency Market Share Shift across Key Geographies Worldwide: 2020 VS 2027 Table 3: Hardware (Offering) World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 4: Hardware (Offering) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 5: Software (Offering) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 6: Software (Offering) Market Sales Breakdown by Region/Country in Percentage: 2020 VS 2027 Table 7: Mining (Process) Geographic Market Spread Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 8: Mining (Process) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 9: Transaction (Process) World Market Estimates and Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 10: Transaction (Process) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 11: Bitcoin (Type) World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 12: Bitcoin (Type) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 13: Ethereum (Type) World Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2020 to 2027 Table 14: Ethereum (Type) Market Percentage Share Distribution by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 15: Monero (Type) Market Opportunity Analysis Worldwide in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2020 to 2027 Table 16: Monero (Type) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 17: Ripple (Type) World Market by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 18: Ripple (Type) Market Share Breakdown of Worldwide Sales by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 19: Litecoin (Type) Potential Growth Markets Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 20: Litecoin (Type) Market Sales Breakdown by Region/Country in Percentage: 2020 VS 2027 Table 21: Dash (Type) Geographic Market Spread Worldwide in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 22: Dash (Type) Market Share Distribution in Percentage by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 23: Other Types (Type) World Market Estimates and Forecasts by Region/Country in US$ Thousand: 2020 to 2027 Table 24: Other Types (Type) Market Share Breakdown by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 25: Trading (Application) Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Region/Country for the Years 2020 through 2027 Table 26: Trading (Application) Global Market Share Distribution by Region/Country for 2020 and 2027 Table 27: Remittance (Application) Global Opportunity Assessment in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2020-2027 Table 28: Remittance (Application) Percentage Share Breakdown of Global Sales by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 29: Payment (Application) Worldwide Sales in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2020-2027 Table 30: Payment (Application) Market Share Shift across Key Geographies: 2020 VS 2027 III. MARKET ANALYSIS GEOGRAPHIC MARKET ANALYSIS UNITED STATES Market Facts & Figures US Cryptocurrency Market Share (in %) by Company: 2019 & 2025 Market Analytics Table 31: United States Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Offering: 2020 to 2027 Table 32: United States Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 33: United States Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Process: 2020 to 2027 Table 34: United States Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 35: United States Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type: 2020 to 2027 Table 36: United States Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 37: United States Cryptocurrency Latent Demand Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020 to 2027 Table 38: Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown in the United States by Application: 2020 VS 2027 CANADA Table 39: Canadian Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Offering: 2020 to 2027 Table 40: Cryptocurrency Market in Canada: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Offering for 2020 and 2027 Table 41: Canadian Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Process: 2020 to 2027 Table 42: Cryptocurrency Market in Canada: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Process for 2020 and 2027 Table 43: Canadian Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2020 to 2027 Table 44: Cryptocurrency Market in Canada: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2020 and 2027 Table 45: Canadian Cryptocurrency Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020 to 2027 Table 46: Canadian Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Application: 2020 VS 2027 JAPAN Table 47: Japanese Market for Cryptocurrency: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Offering for the Period 2020-2027 Table 48: Japanese Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 49: Japanese Market for Cryptocurrency: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Process for the Period 2020-2027 Table 50: Japanese Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 51: Japanese Market for Cryptocurrency: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2020-2027 Table 52: Japanese Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 53: Japanese Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Cryptocurrency in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020 to 2027 Table 54: Cryptocurrency Market Share Shift in Japan by Application: 2020 VS 2027 CHINA Table 55: Chinese Cryptocurrency Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Offering for the Period 2020-2027 Table 56: Chinese Cryptocurrency Market by Offering: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2020 and 2027 Table 57: Chinese Cryptocurrency Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Process for the Period 2020-2027 Table 58: Chinese Cryptocurrency Market by Process: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2020 and 2027 Table 59: Chinese Cryptocurrency Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2020-2027 Table 60: Chinese Cryptocurrency Market by Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2020 and 2027 Table 61: Chinese Demand for Cryptocurrency in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020 to 2027 Table 62: Chinese Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2020 VS 2027 EUROPE Market Facts & Figures European Cryptocurrency Market: Competitor Market Share Scenario (in %) for 2019 & 2025 Market Analytics Table 63: European Cryptocurrency Market Demand Scenario in US$ Thousand by Region/Country: 2018-2025 Table 64: European Cryptocurrency Market Share Shift by Region/Country: 2020 VS 2027 Table 65: European Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Offering: 2020-2027 Table 66: European Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 67: European Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Process: 2020-2027 Table 68: European Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 69: European Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2020-2027 Table 70: European Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 71: European Cryptocurrency Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020-2027 Table 72: European Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Application: 2020 VS 2027 FRANCE Table 73: Cryptocurrency Market in France by Offering: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2020-2027 Table 74: French Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 75: Cryptocurrency Market in France by Process: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2020-2027 Table 76: French Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 77: Cryptocurrency Market in France by Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2020-2027 Table 78: French Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 79: Cryptocurrency Quantitative Demand Analysis in France in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020-2027 Table 80: French Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis: A 7-Year Perspective by Application for 2020 and 2027 GERMANY Table 81: Cryptocurrency Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Offering for the Period 2020-2027 Table 82: German Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 83: Cryptocurrency Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Process for the Period 2020-2027 Table 84: German Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 85: Cryptocurrency Market in Germany: Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2020-2027 Table 86: German Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 87: Cryptocurrency Market in Germany: Annual Sales Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Application for the Period 2020-2027 Table 88: Cryptocurrency Market Share Distribution in Germany by Application: 2020 VS 2027 ITALY Table 89: Italian Cryptocurrency Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Offering for the Period 2020-2027 Table 90: Italian Cryptocurrency Market by Offering: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2020 and 2027 Table 91: Italian Cryptocurrency Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Process for the Period 2020-2027 Table 92: Italian Cryptocurrency Market by Process: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2020 and 2027 Table 93: Italian Cryptocurrency Market Growth Prospects in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2020-2027 Table 94: Italian Cryptocurrency Market by Type: Percentage Breakdown of Sales for 2020 and 2027 Table 95: Italian Demand for Cryptocurrency in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020 to 2027 Table 96: Italian Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Application: 2020 VS 2027 UNITED KINGDOM Table 97: United Kingdom Market for Cryptocurrency: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Offering for the Period 2020-2027 Table 98: United Kingdom Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 99: United Kingdom Market for Cryptocurrency: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Process for the Period 2020-2027 Table 100: United Kingdom Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 101: United Kingdom Market for Cryptocurrency: Annual Sales Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand by Type for the Period 2020-2027 Table 102: United Kingdom Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 103: United Kingdom Demand Estimates and Forecasts for Cryptocurrency in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020 to 2027 Table 104: Cryptocurrency Market Share Shift in the United Kingdom by Application: 2020 VS 2027 REST OF EUROPE Table 105: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Offering: 2020-2027 Table 106: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 107: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Process: 2020-2027 Table 108: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 109: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2020-2027 Table 110: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Market Share Breakdown by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 111: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Addressable Market Opportunity in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020-2027 Table 112: Rest of Europe Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Application: 2020 VS 2027 ASIA-PACIFIC Table 113: Cryptocurrency Market in Asia-Pacific by Offering: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2020-2027 Table 114: Asia-Pacific Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Offering: 2020 VS 2027 Table 115: Cryptocurrency Market in Asia-Pacific by Process: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2020-2027 Table 116: Asia-Pacific Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Process: 2020 VS 2027 Table 117: Cryptocurrency Market in Asia-Pacific by Type: Estimates and Projections in US$ Thousand for the Period 2020-2027 Table 118: Asia-Pacific Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Type: 2020 VS 2027 Table 119: Cryptocurrency Quantitative Demand Analysis in Asia-Pacific in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020-2027 Table 120: Asia-Pacific Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis: A 7-Year Perspective by Application for 2020 and 2027 REST OF WORLD Table 121: Rest of World Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Offering: 2020 to 2027 Table 122: Cryptocurrency Market in Rest of World: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Offering for 2020 and 2027 Table 123: Rest of World Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Process: 2020 to 2027 Table 124: Cryptocurrency Market in Rest of World: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Process for 2020 and 2027 Table 125: Rest of World Cryptocurrency Market Estimates and Forecasts in US$ Thousand by Type: 2020 to 2027 Table 126: Cryptocurrency Market in Rest of World: Percentage Share Breakdown of Sales by Type for 2020 and 2027 Table 127: Rest of World Cryptocurrency Market Quantitative Demand Analysis in US$ Thousand by Application: 2020 to 2027 Table 128: Rest of World Cryptocurrency Market Share Analysis by Application: 2020 VS 2027 IV. COMPETITION Total Companies Profiled: 46 Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05800039/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 || Russia’s New Blockchain Elections Remain Centralized: Russian communications giant Rostelecom has finally published details about its blockchain-based voting system that will be deployed for by-elections in September.
There will be two blockchain voting pilots in different regions of the country next month. One will be run by Rostelecom, the state-owned major telecom provider, and the other by the Department of Information Technologies, a branch of the Moscow city hall that ran the previous blockchain voting pilots.
The platform by Rostelecom will be used for remote voting on Sept. 13 in two Russian regions, Kurskaya and Yaroslavskaya areas, where the residents will vote to fill the vacant seats at the Russian national parliament, the State Duma.
Related:Barclays' Former Russian Bank Has Issued a Token-Collateralized Loan
The system will be based on the privateenterprise version of the Waves blockchain. According to the press release circulated Wednesday by Rostelecom and Waves, the system will allow for “control by all authorized participants of the elections, including independent observers.”
Read more:Russian Voters’ Data on Sale After Blockchain Poll to Keep Putin in Power: Report
However, the nodes of the blockchain will be located on Rostelecom servers exclusively, and for security reasons there won’t be a way for independent observers to run their own nodes, Rostelecom’s press person Natalia Bakrenko told CoinDesk.
Waves CEO Sasha Ivanov said observers will still be able to watch what’s going on: “All information from the enterprise voting chain will be published on a special portal that can be accessed by anybody. Cryptographic instruments guarantee that the data cannot be tampered with.”
Related:Russia, With Bitcoin Playing Bit Part, Tried to Hack 2016 US Election, Senate Report Finds
Despite therough experienceof previous blockchain-based voting in Russia, it remains a good business for Waves, Ivanov told CoinDesk:
“Voting has always been one of the most low-hanging fruit for blockchain technology implementation. It is extremely important for us to participate in launching one of the first large scale projects implementing blockchain beyond monetary applications,” Ivanov said.
Rostelecomannouncedthe further expansion of the blockchain voting experiment in July, after the technology was used for voting oncontroversial constitution amendments.
The process did not go smoothly. Journalists in Russia reported finding a way todecrypt people’s votesand retrieve personal identification numbers out of aweakly protected service file. After the voting, dark web vendors offeredpersonal data of the votersfor sale, although public officials denied the authenticity of the data.
The system was built on Bitfury’s open-source Exonum blockchain with the help ofKaspersky Lab, according to CoinDesk’s sources, although the anti-virus company did not confirm that.
Read more:Hacker Attempts to Disrupt Russia’s Blockchain Voting System
The first blockchain voting experiment in Russia took place in the fall 2019 during local elections in Moscow. Residents could vote electronically using an Ethereum-based system, which was criticized forweak security.
Blockchain voting has been under the purview of Moscow city’s Department for Information Technology (DIT). Now, there will be two parallel pilots, one by DIT and one by Rostelecom.
DIT is not backing away from the blockchain voting project, the press person told CoinDesk. In November, it will provide the blockchain-based system for the municipal elections in two Moscow districts.
• Russia’s New Blockchain Elections Remain Centralized
• Russia’s New Blockchain Elections Remain Centralized || Blockchain Bites: Big Bitcoin Bets, SushiSwap Drops, bZx Attacked: Hackers hit DeFi protocol bZx again, derivatives traders have placed bets bitcoin will hit $30,000 by year’s end and the latest twist in the SushiSwap saga. Top shelf Hacked again Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol bZx is the victim of yet another hack – this time costing nearly $8 million. On Sunday, an unnamed attacker apparently tricked bZx into minting iTokens, an interest-earning token that allows users to redeem crypto in the protocol’s lending pools, cashing them out for nearly 220,000 LINK tokens, 4,507 ETH , 1.76 million USDT , 1.4 million USDC and 670,000 DAI , CoinDesk’s Paddy Baker reports. Early this year, attackers drained nearly $1 million from the protocol in two separate attacks – raising questions over a DeFi feature called “flash loans.” The latest bug apparently passed through two audits performed by security firms Certik and Peckshield. bZx co-founder Kyle Kistner said the drained funds will be covered by the protocol’s insurance fund, pending community ratification. In a late breaking twist, a spokesperson said bZx was able to track down the attacker using his or her on-chain activity and that the funds were returned as soon as that person was exposed. Related: First Mover: Bitcoin Investors the Sane Ones as Federal Reserve Cheers Inflation, Price Nears $11K Red flags The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international standards-setting body followed by 200 nations, has recommended regulators profile cryptocurrency users so they can better identify criminal activity. In a Monday report, FATF said regulators should keep an eye out for suspicious behavior including swapping publicly tracked cryptos for privacy coins like monero or zcash, skirting KYC/AML checks and transactions that fall just below the Travel Rule threshold, CoinDesk’s Paddy Baker reports. The watchdog also said a discrepancy between a trader’s transaction history and known wealth is a red flag. Story continues Auto crisis Iran may use crypto to fund car imports. Gholam Hossein Mozaffari, CEO of the Kish Free Zone Organization, has queried the nation’s central bank about using cryptocurrencies mined on Kish Island to beat hyperinflation and international sanctions. “If the central bank allows this, it [would be] possible to import cars with digital currency for these three free zones, and the car problem can be solved,” Mozaffari said, according to ArzDigital. In recent months, Iran has loosened regulations to permit crypto mining under certain circumstances. Diamond ring? Prosecutors have charged a Washington, D.C., man with running a crypto-backed diamond investment ponzi scheme. Jose Angel Aman was charged with wire fraud on Friday for his alleged role in soliciting $25 million from hundreds of investors to fund a scheme where he and his cadres promised to buy and flip diamonds. Court documents say Aman “rarely” used investments as promised, instead funding a lavish lifestyle and to pay interest to earlier investors. Prosecutors further allege Aman launched a purported diamond-back cryptocurrency called Argyle Coin to solicit more funds as the scheme neared collapse. ICO targets Rapper T.I. and seven others were charged with securities violations for their involvement in a pair of initial coin offerings (ICOs). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Friday film producer Ryan Felton misappropriated funds and wash traded cryptocurrencies using the proceeds from the $164,665 FLiK and $282,418 CoinSpark ICOs, while others are said to have recommended investors buy tokens without disclosing they were paid by the projects. The rapper has agreed to pay a $75,000 fine and not participate in any digital asset sales for at least five years; Sparks agreed to pay a $25,000 fine and likewise refrain from participating in any securities sales for five years. Quick bites Coinbase CEO renews critique of Apple, says tech giant preventing its app from enabling DeFi access (Michael McSweeney/The Block) Tether is moving 1 billion more USDT coins from TRON to Ethereum blockchain (Yogita Khatri/The Block) Private Jets Are Being Sold For Bitcoin to Fire Up Sales (Adriana Hamacher/Decrypt) The Crypto Firms Collaborating on a Swiss Franc Stablecoin (Ian Allsion/CoinDesk) Money Reimagined: Ending Money’s Distance Trap (Michael Casey/CoinDesk) At stake Related: Uniswap looks to have regained its position as top automated market maker (AMM). Billing itself a community-driven DeFi experiment, SushiSwap aspired to drain liquidity and users from the dominant, VC-backed AMM Uniswap. It did this by forking Uniswap’s code, instituting a governance token and offering a generous subsidy for liquidity providers (LPs) that migrated over. On Saturday, the vampire clone cut its block reward from 1,000 tokens to just 100. And it looks like a number of LPs cut town as well. As of this writing, $776 million worth of crypto is held in Sushi’s smart contracts, down 18% from the previous day, according to sushiswap.vision. Meanwhile, Uniswap’s total value locked (TVL) has spiked 70% day-over-day to $971 million, according to DeFi Pulse. Last Friday, Messari’s Ryan Selkis drew the terms of the confrontation as being about entrepreneurship and full-decentralization. “As an entrepreneur I am rooting so f**king hard for uniswap and against everything about sushi. But as a crypto degen, I am loving the ruthless competition and embrace of open source ‘rules,’” he tweeted. Market intel Big bitcoin bets Hundreds of derivatives investors are betting bitcoin will rally to $36,000 by the end of 2020. Over the weekend, crypto derivatives exchange Deribit saw a rise in call options (bullish bets) with $36,000 and $32,000 strike prices that expire Dec. 25. Calls give investors the option, but not the obligation, to buy an asset at a given time. CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reports that the probability of bitcoin reaching a new record high above $20,000 by the end of December is roughly 5%. Tech pod Do or dai Demand for stablecoins has knocked MakerDAO’s dai (DAI) off its peg, reports CoinDesk’s Colin Harper. MakerDAO’s community is now debating some tweaks to its monetary policy to restore the peg, though Maker’s creator believes the only long-term solution is adding additional, varied collateral to the DAO. Op-ed Bitcoin correlations Bitcoin’s correlation with gold is now at an all-time high, though this may not help us understand what “digital gold” really is any better. In the latest Crypto Long & Short newsletter, CoinDesk Director of Research Noelle Acheson examines the role correlations play in how we think about and utilize an asset – especially in an age where price movements may not be rational. “This grasping for data to back a story reveals our very human need to put bitcoin in context of things we’re already familiar with. … [W]e are searching for a handle on its prevailing narrative. We hope that correlations will give us a clue. Podcast corner Validating Ethereum With Ethereum 2.0’s much anticipated move to Proof-of-Stake getting closer, CoinDesk Research Analyst Christine Kim spoke with Ben Edgington and Vijay Michalik on what would-be validators need to know. Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: Big Bitcoin Bets, SushiSwap Drops, bZx Attacked Blockchain Bites: Big Bitcoin Bets, SushiSwap Drops, bZx Attacked || Bitcoin and Moneros XMR Weekly Technical Analysis September 21st, 2020: Bitcoin Bitcoin rallied by 5.84% in the week ending 20 th September. Following on from a 0.54% gain from the week prior, Bitcoin ended the week at $10,934.5. It was a particularly bullish start to the week. Bitcoin rallied from a Monday intraweek low $10,259.0 to a Saturday intraweek high $11,185.0. Steering clear of the first major support level at $9,935, Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $10,675 and the second major resistance level at $11,019. It was a bearish end to the week, however. Bitcoin fell back through the second major resistance level to wrap up the week at sub-$11,000 levels. 4 days in the green that included a 3.47% gain on Monday delivered the upside. A 1.47% slide on Sunday limited the upside for the week, however. For the week ahead Bitcoin would need to avoid a fall through $10,793 pivot to support a run the first major resistance level at $11,327. Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break out from last weeks high $11,185. Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $11,500 would likely pin Bitcoin back. In the event of a breakout, Bitcoin could test the second major resistance level at $11,719 and resistance at $12,000 before any pullback. Failure to avoid a fall through the $11,793 pivot would bring the first major support level at $10,401 into play. Barring an extended sell-off, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$10,000 levels. The second major support level sits at $9,867. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.28% to $10,964.6. A mixed start to the week saw Bitcoin fall to an early Monday morning low $10,917.0 before rising to a high $10,993.0. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested at the start of the week. Moneros XMR Moneros XMR rallied by 8% in the week ending 20 th September. Following on from a 6.93% gain from the previous week, Moneros XMR ended the week at $92.75. Story continues It was a mixed start to the week. Moneros XMR fell to a Monday intraweek low $84.31 before finding support. Steering well clear of the first major support level at $78.57, Moneros XMR rallied to a Saturday intraweek high $95.27. Moneros XMR broke through the 23.6% FIB of $90 and the first major resistance level at $91.77 before easing back. A bearish end to the week saw Moneros XMR slide back to $90 levels before steadying. Moneros XMR fell back through the first major resistance level at $91.77 to test support at the 23.6% FIB of $90. Off the back of the late support, Moneros XMR broke back through the first major resistance level to wrap up the week at $92 levels. 3-days in the green that included a 6.57% rally on Monday and 5.18% gain on Thursday delivered the upside. A 3.25% fall on Wednesday limited the upside for the week, however. For the week ahead Moneros XMR would need to avoid a fall through the $90.78 pivot and 23.6% FIB of $90 to support a run at the first major resistance level at $97.24. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Moneros XMR to break out from last weeks high $95.27. Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $100 would likely cap any upside. In the event of another breakout, Moneros XMR could test the second major resistance level at $101.74. Failure to avoid a fall through the $90.78 pivot and 23.6% FIB would bring the first major support level at $86.28 into play. Barring an extended crypto market sell-off, however, Moneros XMR should steer clear of sub-$80 levels. The second major support level sits at $79.82. At the time of writing, Moneros XMR was up by 0.20% to $92.94. A mixed start to the week saw Moneros XMR fall to an early Monday low $92.28 before rising to a high $93.25. Moneros XMR left the major support and resistance levels untested at the start of the week. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Week Ahead Private Sector PMIs, Powell, Geopolitics, and COVID-19 in Focus Ericsson to Buy U.S. Networking Company Cradlepoint for $1.1 Billion; Target Price SEK 110 The Crypto Daily Movers and Shakers September 20th, 2020 U.S Mortgage Rates Hold Steady thanks to the Dovish FED Natural Gas Price Fundamental Weekly Forecast Next Major Move Hinges Upon LNG Demand GBP/USD Daily Forecast Support At 1.2925 Stays Strong || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Braces for $700M in Options to Expire; Record $7B Value Locked in DeFi: The bitcoin market bottomed out around $11,100 before bouncing back; DeFi continues an upward trend, garnering interest from traders and perhaps creating new ones.
• Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,467 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 1.2% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,102-$11,593.
• BTC above its 10-day moving average but below the 50-day, a sideways-turning-bullish signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin’s price was able to hold above $11,100 Wednesday, going as low as $11,102 before jumping as high as $11,593.
Read More:Bitcoin Drop Squeezes Out Weak Derivatives Positions
Related:First Mover: Monetary Challenges Aren't Just Virtual as Fed's Powell Returns to Jackson Hole
Katie Stockton, analyst at Fairlead Strategies, sees $10,000 as a lower bound in trading because the world’s oldest cryptocurrency lacks market momentum. “The pullback in bitcoin appears healthy,” Stockton noted. “That said, there is room for further near-term downside with support in the $10,000-$10,055 area, where there was once resistance, and room to short-term oversold territory.”
Jean Baptiste Pavageau, a partner at quantitative trading firm ExoAlpha, says bitcoin continues to be affected by gains in alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins. Indeed, one way to measure this is looking at bitcoin’s dominance, which hit a 2020 low of 60.26% in August.
”The flattishness of the bitcoin price since the beginning of August allowed the altcoin market cap to grow quickly with an inflow from bitcoin traders toward altcoins,” said Pavageau.
However, two key events looming over the balance of this week might increase bitcoin market action. One is Thursday’s speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. “The key thing to watch from Powell’s speech tomorrow is the possible shift of the inflation target from a unique figure, like 2%, to a range such as 1.75%-2.25%,” said Chris Thomas, head of digital assets for Swissquote Bank. “This would create a dovish feel to the market and we’d likely see some dollar weakness.”
Related:Bitcoin's Implied Volatility Falls Sharply Ahead of Jerome Powell Speech
Another event is the expiration of 65,000 BTC options, over $700 million at current market values, on Friday. The vast majority of these options are on crypto derivatives platform Deribit.
“We may see some volatility as a few traders try to push the futures market towards the $11,000 or $12,000 strike,” said Swissquote’s Thomas, adding, “$11,000 would be a buying opportunity and $12,000 we’d likely see further selling.”
Read More:Fidelity’s Chief Strategist Starts Bitcoin Index Fund
Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Wednesday, trading around $386 and climbing 1.4% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:BitGo Weighs Building a Sidechain for WBTC as Ethereum Fees Climb
The total value locked in decentralized finance, or DeFi, has surpassed $7 billion in value, according to aggregator DeFi Pulse. Over 4.8 million ETH and 49,248 BTC is currently “staked” in various DeFi services, gaining a percentage profit or “yield” in return.
Vishal Shah, founder of crypto derivatives platform Alpha5, says DeFi’s opportunities are captivating the interest of traders, and perhaps creating some brand-new ones. “Derivatives traders naturally look for complex risk to exploit, and, by comparison to DeFi, typical derivatives instruments are quieter,” Shah said. “I think the nuanced specifics of DeFi are probably even giving rise to a new breed of derivative traders.”
Read More:What to Make of the SEC’s New Accredited Investor Rules
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly green Wednesday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• qtum(QTUM) + 10.4%
• chainlink(LINK) + 7.4%
• 0x(ZRX) + 5%
Read More:Binance’s New DeFi Futures Let Crypto Traders Bet on Decentralization
Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• bitcoin gold(BTG) – 1%
Read More:FTX Exchange’s $150M Deal for Mobile-First Blockfolio Is Retail Trading Play
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 ended the day flat, in the red 0.03%, asa Japan-U.K. trade deal is expected to be finalized by Friday.
• Europe’s FTSE 100 closed flat, in the green 0.14%, asa stronger pound hurt internationally exposed company stocks, dragging down the index.
• The United States’ S&P 500 gained 1%,led by tech stocks as Salesforce jumped 26% on expectations of a stellar earnings announcement.
Read More:Crypto and Fintech Investor Ribbit Capital Files to Raise $350M for IPO
Commodities:
• Oil is flat, down 0.03%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $43.35.
• Gold was in the green 1.1% and at $1,952 as of press time.
Read More:Marathon to Buy Fastblock Mining for About $22M in Stock
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bonds were mixed Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year, in the red 3.8%.
Read More:Democrats Ask Trump Admin. For Details on Terrorist Crypto Seizures
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Braces for $700M in Options to Expire; Record $7B Value Locked in DeFi
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Braces for $700M in Options to Expire; Record $7B Value Locked in DeFi || U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to automate its accounting and that includes transactions in bitcoin: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s tech division has put out a request for information for software that the agency could use to beef up its financial auditing management capabilities and that includes its employees' interactions with and utilization of bitcoin. The agency is looking to build a financial management add-on to an existing piece of open-source application, according to the request. The hope is to digitize the existing functions and add a centralized accounting system to automate workflow related to financial transactions. Within the call, ICE detailed a number of example scenarios it's looking to address. Among these was a digital currency use case calling for software to track transfers, purchases and expenses in bitcoin. Here's how the RFI explains the digital currency use cases, mentioning bitcoin specifically: " DIGITAL CURRENCY Respective employee A transferred 0.03790587 BTC of held digital currency from hardware wallet F to an software wallet G. The fair market value was an exchange rate of $8,531.08. The transfer incurred a mining fee of 0.00021801 BTC. Respective employee A purchased 0.01487506 BTC through Digital Currency Exchange E (exchange rate $6,521.65) with a Coinbase fee of $2.99. Respective employee A transferred the total amount purchased from the Digital Currency Exchange E wallet to a hardware wallet F. Incurred mining fee 0.00001409 BTC. Expense of 0.0191111 BTC paid from wallet. Incurred a mining fee of 0.00043663. Exchange rate on the date of purchase was $13,211.39. Remainder transferred back to software wallet G, which received 0.01777286 BTC. Incurred a mining fee of 0.00036727." Businesses with suitable feedback and solutions can submit answers to the agency's questions by November 9. They may be selected for one-on-one consultations based on their responses. © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Bitcoin Holding Sentiment Strongest in Nearly Two Years: Bitcoin exchange reserves have fallen to a 21-month low, a possible sign investors are feeling bullish about the shape of the market.
• Glassnode data shows the number of bitcoins held in exchange addresses fell by 0.83% to 2,610,278BTCon Monday, the lowest level since Nov. 24, 2018.
• Investors tend to move digital assets from their wallets and onto exchanges when they lose confidence in the current price movement so they can easily sell them.
• In the days leading up to the Black Thursday sell-off, when bitcoin crashed by 40%, exchange balances surged by 2% to a high of 2,947,555 BTC.
• But bitcoin hassince surged to a 13-month highof $12,400 on Monday and is currently up 200% from the $3,867 low it fell to five months ago.
• As such, exchange balances are down 1.4% over the past week, and nearly 3% in the last month. Balances were down more than 11% from the March 13 high at press time.
• The price rises come despite bitcoin looking increasingly overbought on the weekly chart relative strength index (RSI) – an indicator that helps traders recognize the signs of overbought and oversold markets.
• eToro analyst Simon Peters told CoinDesk: “Lower BTC spot exchange balance indicates a current holding mentality among investors, I see this as being pretty bullish.”
See also:First Mover: As Wall Street Goes Topsy-Turvy, Crypto Traders Are Bullish as Ever
• Bitcoin Holding Sentiment Strongest in Nearly Two Years
• Bitcoin Holding Sentiment Strongest in Nearly Two Years
• Bitcoin Holding Sentiment Strongest in Nearly Two Years
• Bitcoin Holding Sentiment Strongest in Nearly Two Years
[Random Sample of Social Media Buzz (last 60 days)]
None available.
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Trend: up || Prices: 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12
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