Day: January 2, 2018

ETH/USD

Ethereum started out the year very strong, reaching above the $850 level. At this point, it appears that the market is trying to continue the upward pressure, and perhaps go looking towards the $900 level. Longer-term, we have just broken out of an ascending triangle that suggests we could continue to go towards the $1000 handle. Buying on pullbacks is probably what we are about to witness.

ETH/BTC

With Ethereum rallying in the way it has, and of course Bitcoin looking a bit soft, it makes sense that this market has rallied significantly. We are above the 0.06 handle, and looking very likely to continue going higher. Expect significant support at the 0.055 level. Buying on dips should work out.

Thanks for watching, I’ll be back tomorrow.

The post Ethereum Analysis January 3, 2018 appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Yves Mersch has said bitcoin could pose a threat to economic stability if financial infrastructure institutions get involved with the cryptocurrency.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin has dipped a bit during the trading session on Tuesday, but at this point it looks like there is a large descending triangle trying to form, putting bearish pressure on Bitcoin. Because of this, we are either going to consolidate back towards the $16,000 level, or we will need to pay attention to the $12,000 level. If it gets broken to the downside, the market could go looking for as low as $8000. A break above the $14,000 level should send this market looking for that $16,000 handle.

BTC/JPY

Bitcoin of course did very similar things against the Japanese yen with ¥1.5 billion on the lower end of the descending triangle offering massive support, and a break above the ¥1.7 million offering an opportunity for the market to return to the ¥1.9 million level above.

Thinks for watching, I’ll be back tomorrow.

The post Bitcoin Analysis January 3, 2018 appeared first on NEWSBTC.

It’s Tuesday morning and it’s time for the first of our twice-daily bitcoin price watch analysis pieces of 2018. Last year was a monster year for the entire cryptocurrency space but exactly how the coming year is going to play out is anybody’s guess. Obviously, we are hoping for some degree of appreciation between now and the end of 2018 but the degree to which things appreciate and the severity of any corrections along the way remain to be seen and (of course) is well out of our control. All we can do, however, is maintain the strategy that has served us well for three or four years now – jumping in and out of the markets on short-term intraday breakout trades while maintaining some pretty solid risk management strategies on any positions we enter.

So, with this in mind, and for the first time this year, let’s get some levels in place that we can use going forward. As ever, take a quick look at the chart below before we get started so as to get an idea where things stand and where we are looking to jump in and out of the markets according to the rules of our intraday strategy. The chart is a candlestick chart and it has our primary range overlaid in green.

As the chart shows, the range we’re looking at for the session comes in as defined by support to the downside at 13619 and resistance to the upside at 13683. If we see price close above resistance, we will enter long towards an immediate upside target of 13750. A stop loss on the trade at 13658 works well to define risk.

Looking the other way, if price closes below support, we will enter short towards a downside target of 13550. A stop loss on this one somewhere in the region of 13640 looks good.

Charts courtesy of Trading View

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It is safe to say the final weeks of 2017 and early 2018 have been pretty interesting for IOTA. Although it seemed this altcoin was tanking in value, the IOTA price has shot up again to surpass $4.20 earlier today. It is evident the year 2018 may hold quite a few surprises, although it remains to be seen how things will play out. For now, the IOTA price is moving up strongly, although things can always change at any given moment.

IOTA Price is on the Move Again

In most cases, a stagnating Bitcoin price would be quite problematic for the vast majority of altcoins. This has been a dreaded scenario for quite some time now, even though it appears the “dominance” of Bitcoin is far less of a factor these days. In fact, we see altcoins go up in value regardless of what Bitcoin is doing at that time. Especially the IOTA price has noted some strong gains these past few days, both in the USD and BTC department. Rest assured there is still some gas left in the tank to keep pushing forward.

To be more specific, the IOTA price has risen to $4.27 once again. That is quite a relief to many long-term holders of this altcoin, as it appeared the value was headed for $2.50 not that long ago. At its lowest point in the past week, the IOTA price hit $3.01, which created an excellent buying opportunity for most people. Ever since that time, we have seen a relatively solid uptrend for IOTA again, culminating in the push past $4 and $4.20 respectively.

Although the IOTA price was valued slightly higher a few hours ago, it seems to be a matter of time until $4.35 is broken again. All cryptocurrency markets are flourishing as we speak, although there is still an overall bearish sentiment in the Bitcoin market. Whether or not this will have any major effect on the IOTA price moving forward, remains to be determined. For now, the market looks pretty healthy, even though the trading volume is still on the low side.

More specifically, IOTA has seen a trading volume of $342m in the past 24 hours. Although that is a respectable number, we know this altcoin is capable of achieving so much more. It will be interesting to see if the $500m in volume will be surpassed later today, especially now that the IOTA price is appreciating pretty nicely. There will always be people looking to take profit and exit their position, No major changes are expected in terms of the IOTA price being pushed down, though, but the market remains very unpredictable at this point.

With a few new exchanges adding IOTA in Q4 of 2017, the rankings based on trading volume look slightly different as well. Binance is now the go-to market for IOTA, although Bitfinex is hot on their tail. In fact, both exchanges have two trading markets in the top four, with only one of them being related to fiat currency. OKEx completes the top five. Further down the list, we see two other Bitfinex markets, Binance’s BNB pair, OKEx’s USDT pair, and CoinFalcon. A very interesting list, although it is evident some other exchanges would be welcome. Coinone is also adding some good volume, yet Coinmarketcap has excluded their price and volume for the time being.

For the time being, it is unclear how all of this will play out moving forward. There is enough momentum to keep the IOTA price moving toward $5 again. Whether or not that will happen today, is anybody’s guess. In the world of cryptocurrency, nothing is impossible and one should expect the unexpected. What that means for IOTA exactly, is unclear, but rest assured a lot of people will keep a close eye on the market moving forward.

The native token of the ethereum platform, ether, hit an all-time high of over $900 this morning.

One of the more profound aspects of the modern-day world is the ability to monetize almost anything. All around the globe the very definition of money is being radically updated with new innovations that are causing disruption to the mainstream traditional financial establishment.

One of the biggest aspects of this financial revolution is the emergence of Blockchain technology. A lot has happened since those early days in 2008 when the Bitcoin whitepaper introduced Blockchain technology to the world. Amidst the wave of exciting new innovations that have been spurred by Blockchain Technology, Ethereum has established itself as a veritable means of expanding the sphere of applicability of the Blockchain.

Using the sophisticated application development and smart contract protocols, developers are able to create intuitive Blockchain-based applications. This influx of Blockchain-based applications has opened up several markets to the seemingly unlimited potential of the cryptocurrency and blockchain market.

Almost everything from news verification to payment processing and even music licensing and crowdfunding are being actively disrupted by this emerging blockchain phenomenon. One area of the digital world that has been identified as having a potential for being disrupted by cryptocurrency and the blockchain is the gaming industry. The Tap Project (TTT) is a blockchain-based project that is hosted on the Ethereum blockchain and aims to provide unique solutions in the gaming scene.

Overview of the Gaming Industry

The global gaming industry is believed to be 2 billion strong with over $15 Billion on content alone. The total revenue of the industry in 2017 was over $99 Billion and this figure is expected to grow to about $118 Billion which is an increase of roughly 20 percent. This is largely due to the rapid rate at which gaming technology is being revamped almost on a quarterly basis.
In-game currencies have become ubiquitous in the industry. Developers introduce digital currencies that players can purchase with fiat currency in order to make purchases and unlock resources within the game. These currencies can also be earned by completing tasks within many games.

The digital tokens do not have any real value outside of the game and there are a lot of problems associated with payments and transfers of in-game currencies. In this digital age where monetizing assets seems to have mass appeal, it does seem like the gaming world is slightly behind.

TTT Concept

TTT is set up to be a full utility token that services the entire gaming market. Rather than having a multitude of legacy digital tokens for each title or gaming company, all in-game currencies will be decentralized into one “game currency” which can then be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies or even for fiat money.
The aim of TTT is not to have Tap Coin become a replacement for in-game tokens, rather as a conduit for the monetization of these tokens. Gamers will be able to transfer their hard-earned game coins into Tap Coins which gives them entry into the currency exchange market. In a way, TTT is providing an incentivized platform for gamers to earn rewards for playing their favorite games.

The Tap Project’s ecosystem is made up of Game Developers, Gamers, Cryptocurrency Exchanges, and the Tap Project Network. The core relationship in the ecosystem exists between TTT and Game Developers. By forming partnerships with Game Developers, blockchain-based monetization framework can be established.

The Tap Project believes that Game Developers have a lot to gain by partnering with them. For one, these Game Developers will have increased exposure for their titles. This is something that is sorely missing in the market as many don’t have the funds for executing rigorous advertising campaigns.

Developers can also introduce smart contracts into their gaming rewards framework. Milestones and Achievement Levels, when unlocked in games, can trigger the contract to release Tap Coins to the gamer’s wallet. Apart from being able to monetize their gaming experience, gamers will also enjoy multiplatform support by virtue of the Tap Project. Rather than having to keep track of dozens and scores of in-game tokens, gamers can use the TTT dashboard to manage and monitor all their gaming content. They can also transfer currencies across games making it easier to obtain enhanced capabilities in different titles.

The Tap Coin Token

The Tap Coin is the native currency of the Tap Project network. Tap Coin is an ERC20 standard token which means it is supported by a variety of wallet options and can function seamlessly in other Ethereum-based projects which incidentally account for an overwhelming percentage of all blockchain-based projects and cryptocurrencies.

Tap Coin can be purchased, sold and exchanged for fiat money on cryptocurrency exchanges. The total supply of Tap Coin is capped at 1.5 billion tokens out of which 140 million will be given to early adopters and 610 million will be issued during the ICO.

The Tap Project Team

The Tap Project team is composed of individuals with experience in the gaming industry, finance, marketing, and blockchain technology. Some of the team members include:
1. Haniff Knight
Haniff has many years of experience in the gaming industry being a founder of a gaming company. He has also provided streaming services for a number of gaming events.
2. Hugh Knight
Hugh has more than 15 years of experience in network infrastructure and computational development. He is also an avid gamer and has competed in multiple gaming tournaments.
3. Rory Piant
Rory combines experience in journalism and finance to provide expert consultancy services to many successful ICO and crowdfunding campaigns. He is a marketing specialist with a keen insight into the dynamics of the cryptocurrency economics.

Verdict

Digital tokens in the gaming industry aren’t a new thing. However, The Tap Project adds a layer of innovation to the concept that sets them apart from the crowd. This difference is due to the fact that it provides gamers with the opportunity to monetize their gaming. In-game earnings will no longer have to be only useful within the game itself as they can now be exchanged for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies using Tap Coins.

While there might be issues with liquidity using this model, the idea to introduce an incentive for holding a set amount of Tap Coins can go a long way to solve the problem of liquidity. Like most blockchain projects, its success lies mainly in the degree of adoption it receives in terms of partnership with key stakeholders which in this case are Game Developers. The allure of being able to turn hours playing games into money is surely one that has the potential to resonate with a considerable percentage of that 2 billion strong gaming community.

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Central banks want to issue their own digital currencies. After the success of Bitcoin and various altcoins, such a decision was to be expected. So far, no institution has effectively done so, although things are progressing nicely behind the scenes. Venezuela, for example, will issue the Petro very soon. Bank of England has also solidified their plans to issue a digital currency. If things go according to plan, this may happen at some point in 2018. For now, no official date has been announced or confirmed.

Rumors regarding Bank of England and a new digital currency have been circulating for months now. It is evident a lot of financial institutions have no desire to embrace Bitcoin. At the same time, they want to cater to consumers’ needs. Digital payments are on the rise in most countries. For banks, this means they will need to adapt or perish. Issuing a national digital currency makes a lot of sense in this regard. Doing so, however, is something else entirely.

Bank of England Forges Ahead With RS Coin

No one can deny it would be interesting to see Bank of England issue their currency. It will not replace fiat, but rather be complementary. Rumor has it this currency may be greenlit as soon as 2018. A central back-backed digital currency will certainly shake things up a bit over in the UK. Whether or not that will be for better or worse, has yet to be determined. We do know Bank of England has been experimenting with DLT to complete settlement between central banks.

It is unclear if the concept of RS Coin still matters. More specifically, this “version” of a central bank digital currency was proposed not too long ago. However, not much has been heard of it ever since. It introduces some intriguing efficiencies regarding money supply control and limiting the coins in circulation. It is a digitized version of how central banks control money in physical form today. Whether or not anyone has a need for RS Coin or a similar version, is an unknown factor at this point.

How all of this will play out, remains to be determined. The interest by the Bank of England to pursue this opportunity is certainly genuine. There’s a big difference between writing a paper for such a currency and effectively issuing it to the masses, though. Moreover, no one knows for sure which blockchain will be used for this specific purpose. A private ledger seems to be the most logical choice. There are still a lot of unknowns as far as this project is concerned. Rest assured this is not the last we will hear of this venture in 2018.

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock

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The beauty industry is one of the most growing niches all over the world since many people cherish the value that good looks bestow on them. Unfortunately, there are numerous weaknesses curtailing this industry from expanding to its maximum potential.

A closer look at the industry shows that only big beauty firms with huge advertisement budgets are the ones succeeding. Smaller franchises, on the other hand, languish in low sales and a wanting customer base. Consumers too face challenges of their own while looking for a beauty service. They have to make long phone calls to inquire about a new hairstyle, how much it costs, and how long it takes before they can book a slot. This is pretty tiresome, expensive and time-consuming. But this might soon change as one platform, Jolyy has set out to make things better.

Jolyy is a decentralized beauty platform that brings cosmetic product manufacturers, beauticians, and users, together in a closed environment. In this ecosystem, beauty parlors can talk directly to cosmetic companies; the companies can talk to end users who as well can talk to their beauty experts. It’s a complete circle; a closed environment that aims at improving services while cutting down the costs.

Jolyy doesn’t own any beauty products. It’s simply a booking platform which has been enhanced by incorporating the blockchain technology into its services. Like cryptocurrencies are doing to the traditional financial markets, Jolyy too aims at disrupting the old-fashioned beauty booking platforms by introducing innovative and highly effective booking services.

For so long, beauty market has lacked secure and reliable systems to work with. There are so many flaws some of which include high commissions, money reversals and failure to deliver the product. With the introduction of altcoins and the underlying blockchain technology, all the parties within the beauty ecosystem stand to benefit a lot.

Delayed payments is another key issue Jolyy looks at solving. Latest booking platforms can take days, weeks and month tops just to release the money. This is a turn off to most people who prefer faster transactions or just need money to pump back into their businesses. With this blockchain powered booking agency, payments will happen within minutes, and there will be no charges levied for both parties.

There is also the issue of non-commitment when you deal with ordinary booking agencies. Their goal is to bring in new clients, so they can bag a sizable commission. They are not interested in repeat clients or help businesses retain the ones they already have. This is why such companies do well with salons located in huge centers that attract many people including tourist attraction. Jolyy, on the other hand, works with salons of all caliber and helps them retain their client base by providing a well-knit environment.

Jolyy works with a salon’s schedule. They don’t allow overbooking or booking a timeframe that has already been allocated to someone else. Once a client has been allocated a certain time, it’s removed from empty slots so there are no double bookings.

How Jolyy platform works

When a customer is looking for a beauty parlor, they will visit Jolyy’s website or mobile app, flip through the available salons and pick the one they like. There is also an option of typing the name of the best beauty salon instead of rummaging through the entire list. Filters such as location, distance, used products, price, rating, discount, and others will be there to help anyone get exactly the salon they want.

The style and services offered by each salon will also be listed so one doesn’t have to select a certain salon and fail to find the services they were looking for. The moment one gets what they like, all that remains is to click on the service, check the available hours and book.

Once someone has selected a salon, the managing team will get a push notification (usually on their app) with details of the client and the time booked. This is very convenient for both parties, without any need for unnecessary phone calls.

Mode of payment

All payments will happen online through PayPal, bank card, JOY token and a few others. Once the customer places an order, a contract will be initiated on the blockchain rather than a cash payment. The customer can then walk over to the salon, get worked on and even order an extra service. When the job is done, the salon owner will demand payment whereupon the customer has to confirm for the release to happen.

If the beauty experts got paid in terms of JOY tokens, they can keep them or use some to buy stuff from cosmetic manufacturers within the ecosystem. Those who wish to turn them into real money can walk to the nearest ATM and use the cards which Jolyy will give them. In order to receive payment in JOY Tokens or cryptocurrencies, the business should create a wallet.

Jolyy Live

What would be the essence of bringing people together if they can’t interact? Jolyy live is the Facebook, Twitter, Telegram or Instagram of Jolyy followers. Through this medium, users will be able to share posts, like and comment on whatever pleases them. Here they can ask any question or follow the person or salon they like. There will be a chance to see the most liked or trending topics of the day, week or month.

Through Jolyy Live, users will be able to know some of the trending styles, both locally and internationally. Beauty experts will also get a chance to sell themselves to the community as well as get feedback on the quality of their services. Advertising will be allowed, and this is one place where JOY tokens will come in handy.

Jolyy Store

This will be a store of beauty products reserved for Jolyy beauticians only. This will give smaller companies the opportunity to market themselves without spending a dime. There will be a direct link connecting them to customers. Established companies will also find this blockchain enabled booking platform to be a cost saver.

When a delivery has been made, payments will be processed via smart contracts on the blockchain. After a specified time (a day, two or a week) the money will be released to the cosmetic company in the form of JOY tokens which they can choose to swap with fiat currency or use it for advertising on the website.

Businesses will be able to market themselves without the need to engage in expensive advertising campaigns. Clients, on the other hands, will be able to get excellent services from salons of their choice.

Jolyy is the way to go for those who are looking for smart solutions to their beauty business ventures. The first version of the platform has already attracted a wide following, albeit its novelty in the industry. As the team experts work on the “beta” version, all the beauty stakeholders are guaranteed to benefit a lot from this modern day, blockchain-powered booking platform.

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Cardano, a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus protocol-based cryptocurrency, has overtaken Litecoin to become the fifth largest cryptocurrency in the global market.

The market valuation of Cardano has surpassed the $20 billion mark, recording a 12 percent increase in value over the past 24 hours.

What is Cardano?

Created by IOHK, a blockchain technology company that actively contributes to the codebase of Ethereum Classic, ScoreX, and RSI Coin, Cardano is a blockchain network developed by a team of developers led by Charles Hoskinson.

Cardano operates on top of a PoS algorithm known as Ouroboros and technologies created from scratch through peer reviewed academic research. It has been around since 2015, and has evolved into an innovative and advanced smart contract platform.

In addition to providing an Ethereum-like smart contract ecosystem, Cardano also operates as a Litecoin-like payment settlement platform, processing quick and cheap payments efficiently.

The exchange market of Cardano remains weaker than most major cryptocurrencies in the global market, with a relatively low daily trading volume of around $213 million. Its trading volume is heavily concentrated in two cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex and Binance, which process more than 90 percent of global Cardano trades.

In terms of market structure, Cardano falls behind other top cryptocurrencies in the market that have lower market valuations, such as Litecoin and Stellar.

However, regardless of its weak market, analysts believe that Cardano’s technology is more sophisticated and advanced than most cryptocurrencies in the market, because it operates as a multi-layer protocol. The first layer of the blockchain network works like a payments platform. The secondary layer, or the control layer, runs smart contracts and recognize identity.

Cardano Surpasses Litecoin

Last month, in December 2017, Litecoin creator and former Coinbase executive Charlie Lee criticized Cardano and the cryptocurrency market due to the sudden increase in the valuation of Cardano. Lee wrote:

“I just noticed Cardano (ADA) is #6 on CoinMarketCap. How did it become a $10 billion coin when it’s only 3 months old and the only major exchanges trading it is Bittrex and Binance and without even any fiat trading pairs? Either the market is crazy or Cardano will end world hunger.

To be clear, I have nothing against Cardano or its tech. And I have a ton of respect for Charles Hoskinson and I’m sure the project has a ton of potential. But at $10 billion valuation right now, how can that possibly be a good value.”

Understandably, Lee was met with criticism for his comments by the Cardano community. But, ultimately, the market and investors within the cryptocurrency space decide the valuation of cryptocurrencies. If the market decides that the market valuation of Cardano is $20 billion, it is worth $20 billion.

More importantly, Cardano has been around since 2015, although it initially launched in 2017.

Still, a fair criticism of Cardano can be the lack of decentralized applications and active smart contracts. On the Ethereum protocol, applications like CryptoKitties and EtherDelta are procesing hundreds of thousands of transactions on a daily basis.

The rise of Cardano and other alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ripple and Ethereum pose a worrying trend for the bitcoin market because as a result, the dominance index of bitcoin has hit an all-time low at 36 percent.

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President Vladimir Putin has reportedly commissioned Russian officials to work on developing a national cryptocurrency dubbed the “cryptorouble.”

Although no one knows for sure what the year 2018 will hold for all cryptocurrencies, it seems Ethereum is off to a good start. More specifically, the Ethereum price has surpassed $900 earlier today, although some of those gains have been wiped out in the process. At this rate, it seems to be a matter of time until the Ethereum price finally hits that illustrious $1,000 mark.Whether or not that will happen this month, remains to be seen, though.

Ethereum Price Reaches a new All-time High

While the Bitcoin price is stuck in sideways and semi-bearish momentum, the Ethereum price is not bogged down by such issues whatsoever. In fact, Ethereum is one of the first big gainers in the top 10 for 2018, although it remains to be seen how long this momentum can last. After all, we have seen a very steep price climb over the past few hours and it seems people are cashing out profits to drive the value back down. This is rather common in the world of cryptocurrencies, mind you, but it’s something to be wary of at all times.

To be more specific, the Ethereum price suddenly rose from $732 all the way to $914.83 in quick succession. While it is not uncommon to see such gains in the world of cryptocurrencies, it’s always evident this momentum will be met with a correction at some point. In this particular case, the new all-time high could not be maintained for very long. In fact, the Ethereum price has failed to surpass $900 ever since, which seems to indicate the correction is already taking place as we speak.

This doesn’t mean we won’t see the Ethereum price making another run to $900 in the next few hours and days. People are always eager to take profits, especially in the anticipation of another Bitcoin bull run. No one wants to miss out on converting altcoins to Bitcoin when the ratio is in their favor to accumulate more BTC. For some reason, that still remains the main objective of most altcoins” allow speculators to get more Bitcoin the process.

With nearly $5bn in 24-hour trading volume, it is evident today will be a good day for Ethereum regardless of the price movement. Although this currency has seen its fair share of major trading volume in the past, reaching new highs now and again is still a pretty big deal. Very few currencies come close to $2bn in 24-hour trading volume.these days, let alone $5bn. The demand to both buy and sell Ethereum is very real right now, although it remains unclear how all of this will affect the market in the long run.

The majority of Ethereum trading volume doesn’t originate from an exchange people would expect. Instead, we see Coinbene at the top of the list, followed by Binance, Bithumb, Ethfinex, and Bitfinex. It’s good to see some new names on this list to kick off 2018, as it further confirms most exchanges will gladly add ETH to their trading markets. Ethfinex and Bitfinex are very close to one another in terms of volume, as a mere $5,000 separates the two right now.

For the time being, it is unclear if we can expect more Ethereum price gains. So far, we have a  13.53% gain in USD value and a 12.97% gain over Bitcoin. Both of these figures are more than respectable, yet it will be difficult to maintain them for an extended period of time. Then again, we have seen a lot of strange and interesting things happen in the world of cryptocurrency last year. The year 2018 may very well bring us more of the same, which could spell good things to come for the Ethereum price.