Day: August 19, 2017

Bitcoin users find themselves at a bit of a crossroads right now. The Bitcoin price has seen spectacular growth over the past few weeks and is now going through a minor retrace. That in itself is not surprising by any means, yet it is still a bit unexpected for most users. Moreover, it appears the markets are somewhat volatile right now, as dips get bought up quickly, but small price increases are pushed back down accordingly.

Bitcoin Price Battles to Maintain $4000

It is evident the recent Bitcoin price rally would have some unpopular consequences sooner or later. In this particular case, we are going through a brief Bitcoin price dip. Briefly is perhaps understating things, though, as close to $6bn has been wiped off Bitcoin’s market cap over the past 36 hours. That is quite a lot of money, which will take some time to get back, that much is evident. Then again, a 7.5% decline is not entirely new in the world of Bitcoin either.

With the Bitcoin price still hovering around $4,000 there is no real reason to panic whatsoever. Although we were on the verge of breaking $4,500 just a few hours ago this question is expected and absolutely necessary. It is only normal some early investors and speculators are looking to take profits whenever they can. Moreover, some market makers would like nothing more than to stock up on cheaper bitcoins once again. To do that, the market price has to come down first, which is not all that easy to achieve.

Moreover, the Bitcoin trading volume is still quite strong. That is another indicator of how this negative price trend will only be temporary at best. After all, a lot of people have only recently started purchasing their first share of bitcoins and they will look for a price that will give them some decent returns. What that price point is exactly, remains to be seen, though. For many people, it could be as low as $5,000 whereas others wouldn’t mind to see the Bitcoin price go to twice that value or more.

Looking over the trading markets, no one can deny Korea plays an important role in all of cryptocurrency. Surprisingly, the Bithumb volume for Bitcoin has shifted to Bitcoin Cash almost entirely. There is still $130m worth of BTC trading volume in the past 24 hours, but it is dwarfed by what the BCH/KRW pair is doing right now. Right now, Bittrex is leading the Bitcoin trading volume charts with their Bitcoin Cash/BTC market. Bitfinex and Poloniex complete the top three. Once again, it is mainly alternative cryptocurrencies bringing in exchange volume for Bitcoin instead of Dollars, Euros, Won, and other currencies. Not a popular trend, to say the least.

There is no negative news to explain this sudden Bitcoin price downtrend, though. There are some political shenanigans on Twitter regarding BitPay, the world’s leading Bitcoin payment processor. It seems the company leans toward SegWit2x over the more traditional SegWit scaling roadmap, without clarifying that properly at first. This situation has been rectified ever since, but  a lot of people are not happy with the company right now. They are not turning their back on Bitcoin, though, thus it shouldn’t negatively impact the Bitcoin price.

In the end, Bitcoin will be just fine in a few days from now. Bigger things are at play here, which seemingly directly influence cryptocurrency market movements. It is doubtful we will see a major Bitcoin price correction anytime soon, but minor dips like this one can still occur over the coming weeks.  It shouldn’t take much effort for the Bitcoin price to start recovering, as there is a lot of support in place to keep the price around the same mark.An interesting development, though, that much is certain.

The price of the digital currency Bitcoin Cash sustained its upward trajectory and surpassed the $700 mark on Aug. 18.

Cryptocurrency markets have a tendency to evolve in the most unusual direction these days. This is especially true where major currencies are concerned. Right now, Bitcoin Cash is taking up all of the momentum, while Bitcoin itself is going down ever so slightly. Additionally, it seems BCH has more trading volume than Bitcoin right now. Both currencies have around US$3bn worth of volume right now, but there is a big difference between the two markets.

Bitcoin Cash Continues to Dominate the Market

A lot of people were surprised yesterday when they noticed Bitcoin Cash was no longer being dumped across all exchanges. This trend has lasted for a full week. Especially with platforms such as Poloniex finally allowing BCH trading and crediting user balances, a massive pressure was created in the markets. This has now subsided and it looks like things have taken a complete turn over the past 24 hours. A very remarkable turn of events, to say the least.

More specifically, the BCH price was struggling to reach $500 just yesterday. That was considered to be the temporary top for this altcoin using the Bitcoin name. Today, however, Bitcoin Cash is valued at a market cap of $13,72bn, with every BCH having a value of $832. This spectacular growth is rather unprecedented, to say the least. Although we have seen massive price growth for Bitcoin these past few weeks, even that currency could not note a 66.5% gain in just 24 hours.

What is even more impressive is how Bitcoin Cash has more overall trading volume than Bitcoin. To put this into perspective, Bitcoin has a 24-hour volume of US$2.97bn, which is very impressive. Bitcoin Cash, on the other hand, is responsible for US$3.53bn in trading volume over the same period of time. That is quite a spectacular difference and also the very first time BCH has more volume compared to BTC. Whether or not this will become a trend we will see more often in the near future, remains to be determined.

Several factors are working in favor of Bitcoin Cash right now. Korean exchanges are absolutely dominating the charts these days, with Bithumb generating over $1.4bn worth of volume. Coinone and Korbit complete the top 3, all of which have far more volume than any exchange in the world. This is quite significant, as it seems to indicate Korean traders see more value in Bitcoin Cash than Bitcoin right now. More precisely, they feel BCH has been undervalued for quite some time now. Bithumb is also quite bullish on Bitcoin, though, which is pretty interesting.

Additionally, it is important to keep in mind mining Bitcoin Cash is far more profitable compared to mining Bitcoin right now. This sounds incredibly strange to people who haven’t kept tabs on things. Just  a week ago, mining BTC was nearly 60% more profitable, but those tables have turned as well. At the time of writing, it is 65% more profitable to mine Bitcoin Cash compared to Bitcoin. Do keep in mind this trend could reverse at any given moment, even though the Bitcoin price isn’t budging all that much right now. An interesting development, to say the least.

All things considered, cryptocurrency markets are quite intriguing in their own way. People dismissed Bitcoin Cash as a currency with no support and no viability. Although the viability factor still has to be determined, it is evident the support is slowly growing. There isn’t much different between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, though, other than the way scalability is addressed. Other than that, both currencies are  on paper, the same, even though BTC acceptance is far greater compared to BCH. Moreover, there are still no major mining pools supporting Bitcoin Cash right now, other than BitClub and ViaBTC.

BitFlyer, the Japanese Bitcoin exchange, has already secured regulatory clearance in 34 states for customers to buy and sell Bitcoin through its US entity, bitFlyer USA.

Aurélien Menant stated that he sees Bitcoin price reaching new highs at $5,000 this year because of instability in other markets, institutional investors,‘safe haven’ value.

Bitflyer, Japan’s and the world’s largest bitcoin exchange by volume, has announced its expansion into the US market this fall. It is launching a US-based bitcoin exchange, allowing customers to trade between bitcoins and dollars. The company says it has already obtained regulatory approval to operate in 34 states.

Also read: Bitcoin Could Tap into $40 Trillion Japanese FX Margin Trading Market This Year

Bitflyer Expanding into US Market

Japan’s largest bitcoin exchange by volume, Bitflyer, announced on Friday that it is launching a US-based bitcoin exchange by the Fall of this year. “Bitflyer will initially target professional traders and institutions in the US, offering BTC/USD trading at launch and then expand to support other trading pairs and products,” the announcement revealed.

Bitflyer CEO Yuzo Kano commented:

While Bitflyer, Inc. is headquartered in Japan, my vision was always to create a global company, and I am excited that the US will be its first step toward global expansion. Bitcoin is a global currency, now our exchange will be global too.

Founded in 2014, Bitflyer has raised over 4.1 billion yen (approximately $36 million) in venture capital funding. The company operates a merchant payment processing service along with their bitcoin exchange, which Coinhills ranks as the largest in both Japan and the world by bitcoin trading volume. The Japanese yen is also currently the most-traded currency for bitcoin worldwide.

The upcoming US exchange will be operated by the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Bitflyer USA Inc, which is headquartered in San Francisco. Bitflyer says that this US expansion is the first for the company into a new market.

Bitflyer’s announcement came exactly one week after Bitfinex, the leading bitcoin exchange globally for US dollar trading volume, announced its exit from the same market. Bitfinex cited “a dramatically outsized portion of our resources…including support, legal and regulatory” as the reason for dropping US customers. Meanwhile, Biflyer says that it has already gained regulatory approval to operate in 34 states. In comparison, Coinbase is licensed in 38 US states.

Access to Trading with ‘Mrs. Watanabe’

The exchange has facilitated over $40 billion worth of bitcoin trades, including $30 billion in 2017, according to Friday’s announcement. Some of this growth was attributed to the powerful Japanese class of investor known as “Mrs. Watanabe,” which is a major force in the global foreign exchange (forex) markets. Bitflyer’s COO Bartek Ringwelski commented:

There is a concept of ‘Mrs. Watanabe’ in the Japanese forex market; she is the personification of household trading in Japan. Bitflyer aims to be the first exchange to allow US bitcoin traders to trade with Mrs. Watanabe.

Recently, news.Bitcoin.com reported on how Mrs. Watanabe is enticed to invest in bitcoin following its recognition by the Japanese government in April. Japan’s near-zero savings rates are also a factor driving them to bitcoin.

“Tokyo has been the epicenter for forex trading for decades,” Ivan Brightly, a portfolio manager at the New York-based investment manager Full Node Capital LLC, commented. “As the market leader in Japan, I expect Bitflyer to bring significant liquidity and market expertise to US markets.”

Would you use Bitflyer’s bitcoin exchange once it is launched in the US? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Stackoverflow, Jpbitcoin.com, and Bitflyer

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