Day: September 24, 2017

Do you want to work with cryptos? Chances are growing exponentially.

What has to be done for Bitcoin and Ethereum to conquer the existing financial systems.

What is the cost of speaking ill of Bitcoin?

H2O tokens will be sold at a discounted rate of 25% during the first round of the sale. This is your opportunity to begin earning monthly dividends of ETH from H2O tokens. Check out our token sale and white paper for further details. This initial coin offering will allow HydroMiner to grow its current number … Continue reading Don’t Miss Your Chance to Earn Dividends from Mining Cryptocurrency in a Convenient and Competitive Manner

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Successful On-Chain Atomic Swaps performed and what it means.

Not too much is going on in the world of cryptocurrency these days. The Bitcoin price is still struggling to regain most of its lost ground due to the China scare. Ethereum is one of the few currencies successfully bucking the trend right now. Thanks to a 2.5% price increase over the past 24 hours, things are looking a lot better. Whether or not the Ethereum price can reach $300 again, remains to be seen.

Ethereum Price Gain is a Positive Sign

A lot of Ethereum holders have been waiting for the price to go back toward $300 and beyond. During these troubling times, that is much easier said than done. It is evident there is still a lot of negative momentum across all markets right now, but something will have to give eventually. Ethereum is slowly setting the tone, thanks to a 2.5% value increase over the past 24 hours.

While that may not seem like much, Ethereum is only one of two top 10 cryptocurrencies to go in the green today. This Ethereum price gain means the value has been pushed over $285 again, although it remains to be seen how this situation evolves over the next few weeks. Do keep in mind this currency has an all-time high of just under $400 on Coinmarketcap, It will take a lot of positive momentum to even get close to that mark again.

Without the Bitcoin price going back to $4,000 and more, reaching that all-time high appears to be virtually impossible for Ethereum right now. As much as this currency tries to get rid of its shackle to Bitcoin, the markets remain interlinked for the foreseeable future Bitcoin is dominating the cryptocurrency markets in every way possible, which is not necessarily a good sign. It will be interesting to see if Ethereum – or any other currency – can break this chain before the year is over.

Despite the somewhat low trading volume, the Ethereum price successfully increased by this small margin. With $582m in 24-hour trading volume, Ethereum is doing what it needs to at this point in time. Bithumb is clearly dominating the volume right now, followed by Bitfinex and Coinone. This growing interest by Korean trading platforms is pretty significant, although it remains to be seen if this momentum can be maintained.

For the time being, it appears the majority of Ether trading takes place in USD and KRW markets. Bitcoin trading pairs are also in the top 10, but they generate far less volume than one would expect. This may also explain why the Ethereum price gained 381% against Bitcoin directly. Some pushback is needed for any altcoin trying to succeed right now. No currency can afford to rely on the Bitcoin price momentum for an extended period of time.

All things considered, it seems the hard fork is bringing some positive momentum to the Ethereum price right now. Whether or not this trend will continue, is anybody’s guess right now. A lot of ETH holders would like to see the price go back to $300 and higher, but that may not happen anytime soon. Cryptocurrency markets are still extremely volatile as we speak. Until things settle down a bit, gains and losses will remain visible on a daily basis.

Regulators across China are intent on shutting down all Bitcoin operations in the country. The price of BTC has reflected these concerns, plunging from over $4,000 (September 18, 2017) to a level of around $3,718 (September 24, 2017). In fact, BTC peaked at over $5,000 per unit by Friday, 1 September 2017, and BTC has … Continue reading What Real Impact Has China Had on BTC?

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Few things have grown as rapidly as blockchain technology has over the past five years. The stunning rise to power has been marked by ups and downs, to be sure, but the increase in platforms has been truly incredible. What started as one API (application programming interface) in 2012 has grown to around 50 as … Continue reading Decentralized Technology is Revamping the Video Streaming Industry

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Bitcoin will soon surpass the daily trading volume of Apple, the US$784 billion technology giant, Jens Nordvig, founder and CEO of Exante Data, told CNBC earlier this week.

Apple, the most liquid stock in the world, has a daily trading volume of US$4 billion. While the daily trading volume of bitcoin is just under US$1 billion at the time of reporting, previously, before its major price correction caused by the Chinese government’s imposition of a nationwide ban on local bitcoin exchanges, the daily trading volume of bitcoin remained relatively stable at over US$2 billion.

But as the price of bitcoin dropped from over US$5,000 to US$3,700 due to uncertainty over Chinese bitcoin exchange markets, the daily trading volume of bitcoin also fell by nearly 50 percent. In the upcoming months, as the global bitcoin market recovers from the exit of Chinese bitcoin exchanges, the price and daily trading volume of bitcoin will likely surge at a rapid pace.

As Charlie Shrem noted, the relevance of the Chinese market has decreased significantly and the vast majority of bitcoin traders have begun to realize that the Chinese bitcoin exchange market only accounted for 10 to 13 percent of global bitcoin trades prior to the nationwide bitcoin exchange ban. Shrem stated:

“This China FUD is playing on all your fear, uncertainty and doubt. China has no real effect on the future of bitcoin. Bitcoin is about censorship free and an alternative non govt controlled financial system. China’s relevancy is diminishing by the day. They overplayed their hand and there is a reason they are being ambiguous. The only power they have over bitcoin is the power you give them. Bitcoin puts a financial system back in our control.”

In an interview with CNBC, Jens Nordvig explained that various indicators demonstrate that the current US$3 billion daily trading volume of the cryptocurrency markets will increase exponentially over time, and that it will soon surpass the trading volume of Apple. If the global bitcoin market continues to recover from the Chinese bitcoin exchange controversy at the current pace, the trading volume of all cryptocurrencies including bitcoin will actually surpass that of Apple.

“Cryptocurrency trading volume is now more than of $3 billion per day on average, and will likely soon surpass that of the world’s most liquid stock: Apple ($4 billion per day). We do not believe that one can predict with confidence at this point that any given cryptocurrency will continue to thrive and gain status as an alternative to traditional currencies in the long term. But we look forward to using the information from an increasingly active cryptocurrency market in our tracking of global capital flows, when appropriate,” said Nordvig.

Already, the demand for bitcoin as a safe haven asset, store of value, and long-term investment is growing at an exponential rate in countries including Japan, the US and South Korea. More importantly, large-scale institutional and retail traders are focusing on investing in bitcoin through regulated channels. As regulated exchanges such as Gemini and major financial institutions like the Chicago Board Options Exchange successfully introduce trading platforms for institutional investors, the daily trading volume of bitcoin will further increase.

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The Russian State Duma is holding a tender for a detailed study on the subject of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and initial coin offerings (ICOs). The government will pay the winner 2.5 million rubles out of the federal budget. The deadline for submissions is October 10.

Also read: Bank of Russia Opposes Cryptocurrency Legalization, Worried About ‘Loss of Control’

Calling Crypto Researchers

According to the Russian government’s public procurement website, the State Duma is holding a tender for the implementation of an expert-analytical study on financial technologies, including the cryptocurrency market, ICOs, and blockchain technology, local publications reported on Friday.

The deadline for applications is October 10. Each submission will be reviewed and evaluated on October 17. The contract’s winner will receive an initial maximum payment of 2,498,800 roubles, worth approximately $43,400 USD. The source of the financing is listed as the Russian federal budget.

Business Online elaborated:

The winner of the contest will have to conduct a market analysis of cryptocurrencies…and analyze the possibility of using ICOs as an alternative channel for attracting investments.

What the Research Should Entail

The official terms of reference for this project state that the winner should “conduct a meaningful analysis of the latest financial technologies,” which includes blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and ICOs. It specifies that the report should “explore the prerequisites for their appearance, assess their prospects for the Russian financial market, as well as the possibility of further integration of the Russian and global financial markets under different approaches to the regulatory application of modern financial technologies.” In addition, any potential threats and risks that could “lead to negative consequences for the economy” should be identified.

The study should also include an analysis of how ICOs can be used as “a sustainable alternative channel for mobilizing investment resources in the market of alternative investments and develop approaches to the formation of a regulatory framework for their specific regulation.”

Finally, the tender requires the winner to “develop proposals for countering threats and risks with instruments of state regulation.”

Basis for Legislation

Another part of the terms of reference describes the purpose of the project:

The results of the work should be used by the State Duma of the Russian Federation to form a package of legislative initiatives to integrate the most promising financial technologies in the Russian financial market and to legislatively ensure their development and regulation.

Currently, both the central bank and the finance ministry are drafting legal frameworks for cryptocurrency. News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the finance ministry drafting a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which is expected by the end of the year. However, the central bank has spoken against the legalization of cryptocurrencies, stating that “we will not allow the use of cryptocurrency as a money substitute.”

What do you think of the Russian government seeking cryptocurrency researchers? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Although weekends are notorious for terrible cryptocurrency trading activity, there is still a strong focus on Bitcoin and altcoins. For the time being, things are still looking rather bleak for Bitcoin, as the Bitcoin price is going down ever so slightly again. Moreover, the trading volume hasn’t surpassed $1bn over the past 24 hours, which is never a good sign.

Bitcoin Price Slump Continues

No one really expected a major Bitcoin price change over the weekend. Although it is good to see things never went as low as $2,800 this week, the overall trend is still rather bearish. Right now, one Bitcoin is valued at $3,700 which is not even close to what most enthusiasts would have hoped to see by now. Then again, it still shows there is some positive momentum, even though it remains a big struggle to reach $4,000 for an extended period of time these days.

While some people will be pleased with the way things have gone this week, there is nothing to get terribly excited about whatsoever. This week has been pretty profitable for speculators and margin traders, as there has been highs, lows, dips, and temporary pumps. All of the elements one would expect to make a lot of money pretty quickly. Unfortunately, it is also Bitcoin price volatility which holds the cryptocurrency back right now.

The bigger concern is how there is still a lack of Bitcoin trading volume right now. Although not every day needs to have over $2bn in trading volume by any means, seeing the numbers go below 7 digits is still a bit worrisome. This is not entirely uncommon in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, but combined with the current bearish trend, it paints a worrisome picture for the time being.

As one would expect, there is little to no news related to Bitcoin capable of turning this ship around whatsoever. Then again, Bitcoin markets rarely respond to actual news. There is a lot of hype going on, which effectively influences the price. Rumors also tend to wreak havoc upon the Bitcoin price in more ways than one. Right now, there is no logical explanation for this lower Bitcoin price whatsoever, but the situation remains the same.

Due to this low trading volume, the markets have undergone some interesting changes. While Bitfinex is still clearly leading the pack, their gap over the other exchanges has shrunk in volume by quite a margin. Considering how this company processed around $500m on a regular day, seeing it generate just over $80m right now is pretty strange. bitFlyer and Bitstamp still complete the top 3, as things have been for virtually all week so far. No markets really stand out right now, as the prices are pretty much the same everywhere you look, minus the Chinese trading platforms.

It will be interesting to see how the Bitcoin price evolves in the next few days. It is possible we will see a new uptrend toward $4,000 in the next few days, but it may drop to $35,00 or lower as well. There is no real certainty in the Bitcoin market right now, which leaves plenty of room for speculation and manipulation. The overall trend for 2017 is still intact for Bitcoin, but the final few months of 2017 may throw up some roadblocks, that much is certain.