Day: December 10, 2017

Are governments trying to use cryptocurrencies as another reason to spy on us?

In his interview with CNBC in early December 2017, Cameron Winklevoss said that Bitcoin is gold 2.0 as it has the capability to disrupt gold.

The risks of environmental impact because of Bitcoin mining have been widely touted, but a recent report indicates that the actual damage from Bitcoin mining may well be far less than that associated with fiat currencies and other industries.

Forks offer ideological leaders the chance to put their ideas on improving protocols into practice without getting bogged down in endless bickering.

In a blow for serious gamers who use the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, Steam announced they would no longer accept it as a method of payment. Price volatility and high transaction fees doomed the relationship. In freer economies, however, other companies like Bitrefill see such problems as an opportunity to gain market share by providing customers a lifeline to coveted services. And sensing advantage as well, the online classified marketplace, Craigslist, now allows users the ability to specify that they accept cryptocurrency payments between users.

Also read: Reddit’s /r/btc Reaches 100,000+ Subscribers

Bitcoinless Steam? Bitrefill to the Rescue!

It would be difficult to blame Steam. Bitcoin is on fire, and it’s having massive problems scaling. Users on exchanges, those merely trying to access them, have all experienced long delays in processing, especially during price runs.

Its parent company, Valve, took to cyberspace and complained/explained loss-loss frustration with friction-filled bitcoin. Users lashed out in over 400 comments. “Death of BTC is coming soon…,” a comment ranted. “200,000 unconfirmed transactions, 10-20$ fee/tax,” it stated.

Other users were more philosophical. “Valve makes a good point. The trading fees of Bitcoin cut into their profit and some transactions are $5USD or less. While I appreciate their exercising control over their business, they are removing a method of payment. I would suggest that Valve re-enable Bitcoin with a minimum as to balance the transaction fees. Maybe Bitcoin will be easier to work with in the future.”

More than a few users suggested the company “add Bitcoin Cash. It’s the real, original, fast and cheap Bitcoin.”

Bitrefill, known mostly as a mobile phone application, saw an opening. “We’re happy to announce that you can now again pay for your Steam gaming with Bitcoin–buying Steam vouchers directly through Bitrefill!” it enthused.

One Door Closes, Many More Open

“Steam vouchers can be paid for through regular Bitrefill transactions,” they explained, “but also through off-chain payments with Coinbase accounts, Xapo accounts and Localbitcoins accounts. You can even try our experimental native Litecoin support.”

“We at Bitrefill are more committed than ever to continue our mission of enabling Bitcoin to be used as money by people all over the world,” it finished.

Isaac Rocket first reported the online classified marketplace board, Craigslist, “has added a new option when making a for-sale post, titled ‘cryptocurrency ok’.”

It is perhaps the best mainstream case to-date of bitcoin’s ultimate utility: where cash can fail and be dangerous in larger transactions for, say, automobiles, bitcoin enables peer-to-peer confidence and transparency.

Mr. Rocket continued, “Yahoo’s Co-Founder recently said that he believed that Bitcoin could become a global force for good. Riding on the back of surging crypto markets across the board, we’ve also seen the payment service Square experimenting with Bitcoin as well,” suggesting tales of the decentralized currency’s demise are overplayed.

The San Francisco-based company is a staple for job seekers, apartment hunters, social functions, sales cars, pets – just about anything. It has been around since the birth of the internet itself, and can be accessed in 70 countries and hundreds of cities around the world. It routinely ranks in the top 100 websites globally.

What are your thoughts on bitcoin as a payment system? Tell us in the comments!

Images courtesy of Pixabay, Reddit, Bitrefill, Steam.

Keep track of the bitcoin exchange rate in real-time.

The post Bitcoin Gamers Offered Steam Lifeline, Craigslist Goes Crypto appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Hundreds of thousands of South Korean investors have started to invest in Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market, as the popularity of Bitcoin skyrockets.

Key Points

• Bitcoin gold price is struggling to recover and is currently heading lower towards $180-150 against the US Dollar.
• This is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance at $220 on the 4-hours chart of BTG/USD (data feed from Bitfinex).
• The pair might continue to move down, but the $150 support level holds a lot of importance in the near term.

Bitcoin gold price is declining towards $150 against the US Dollar. BTG/USD must hold the $150-160 support zone to recover in the near term.

Bitcoin Gold Price Upside Hurdle

There was no major upside move in bitcoin gold price this past week above $300 against the US Dollar. The price mostly struggled to move higher and started a downtrend from the $340 swing high. It seems like a solid downtrend is in place from the $420 high. It has already moved below the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last major upside from the $151 low to $420 high.

At the moment, the price is trading well below the $300 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours). Moreover, the price has breached the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the last major upside from the $151 low to $420 high. These are negative signs and calling for more declines in the near term towards $150. On the upside, there is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance at $220 on the 4-hours chart of BTG/USD. The trend line resistance is very important for a recovery above $250.

If the current momentum remains intact, the price will most likely retest the last swing low of $150. The mentioned $150 support is very important and must hold to avoid any further declines.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BTG/USD is now mostly in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTG/USD is around the oversold levels.

Major Support Level – $150

Major Resistance Level – $220

Charts courtesy – Trading View, Bitfinex

The post Bitcoin Gold Price Weekly Analysis – BTG/USD in Downtrend appeared first on NEWSBTC.