Day: February 1, 2018

The Guardian

Markets await US jobs report, as Bitcoin drops again - business live The Guardian Opening Monday at $11700 – remember at its 2017 it hit $20000 – it is now struggling to keep its head above $8400, following a week that dealt blow after blow to the cryptocurrency. First there was the introduction of new regulations on anonymous ... Bitcoin Slide Steepens Even as It Keeps Getting Easier to BuyBarron's all 8 news articles »

Wall Street Journal

Bitcoin Is Falling Fast, Losing More Than Half its Value in Six Weeks Wall Street Journal Bitcoin plunged below $9,000 on Friday, extending its sharp rout since the start of the year in a selloff triggered by a widening regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies. The digital currency has now fallen more than 55% from an all-time high of close ...

The European Union initiative launched Thursday will fund up to $425 million in blockchain projects and draw on ConsenSys’ expertise and connections.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price tumbled sharply and moved below the $1.0000 support against the US dollar.
• There is a crucial bearish trend line forming with resistance at $1.0200 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from SimpleFx).
• The pair is likely to extend declines and it could even break below the $0.7500 support in the near term.

Ripple price is under immense pressure against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD is likely to accelerate declines below the $0.7500 support level.

Ripple Price Decline

There was the start to a new downside wave yesterday from the $1.1500 high in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The price tumbled and moved below the $1.0000 and $0.9000 support levels. To initiate the downside move, there was a break below a contracting triangle with support at $1.0600 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. It traded close to the $0.8000 level and formed a low at $0.8038.

It is currently attempting a correction from $0.8500. An initial resistance is around the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1.0814 high to $0.8038 low. There are many hurdles on the upside around the $0.9000. The most important resistance is at $0.9750. It was a support earlier and now it could prevent gains above $1.0000. An intermediate resistance is the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1.0814 high to $0.8038 low at $0.9420.

Clearly, the price is under a lot of pressure below $1.0000. It seems like it could even break the $0.8030 swing low. The next major support is around the $0.7500 level. If the current pressure remains intact, the price may even break the $0.7500 level.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is currently moving heavily in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is moving lower and is well below 40.

Major Support Level – $0.7500

Major Resistance Level – $0.9500

 

Charts courtesy – SimpleFX

The post Ripple Price Technical Analysis – XRP/USD to Trade below $0.7500? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price went on another leg lower after breaking below a short-term triangle consolidation pattern.
• Price is now testing another potential support at the bottom of its falling wedge pattern visible on the 4-hour time frame.
• Price could bounce off this area and make another test of the wedge resistance around the $10,000 area of interest.

Bitcoin price can’t quite catch a break as it suffered another selloff to the $9,000 handle.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is still below the longer-term 200 SMA to indicate that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, the selloff is more likely to continue than to reverse.

In addition, the gap between the moving averages is widening to reflect stronger selling pressure, possibly leading to a wedge breakdown. Note that this chart pattern spans $9,000 to $19,000 so the resulting breakout could be of the same height.

Stochastic is indicating oversold conditions, though, which means that bears are tired and could let bulls take over bitcoin price action. RSI is also ready to pull up from the oversold level to signal a pickup in buying momentum.

Market Factors

Not even dollar weakness was enough to keep a lid on BTCUSD losses recently as negative sentiment for the cryptocurrency industry is prevailing. The lack of any positive updates is convincing more and more investors to liquidate their holdings, thereby exacerbating the selloff.

Analyst say that the increased scrutiny from regulators is still to blame for the tumble, especially since the CFTC announced plans to beef up its bitcoin futures review process. According to Chairman Giancarlo:

“The CFTC’s current product self-certification framework is consistent with public policy that encourages market-driven innovation that has made America’s listed futures markets the envy of the world. Whatever the market impact of bitcoin futures, I hope it is not to compromise the product self-certification process that has served so well for so long”.

This could involve setting “exchange large trader reporting thresholds at five bitcoins or less” and entering into “information sharing agreements with spot market platforms to allow access to trade and trader data.”

The post Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 02/02/2018 – Another Nearby Support appeared first on NewsBTC.

Coincheck’s offices were raided by Japan’s Financial Services Agency a week after a $500 Million dollar hack took place against the Cryptocurrency exchange, files and computers were seized as evidence.

“The inspection was conducted to ensure security for users,” Finance Minister Taro Aso said.

Largest Cryptocurrency Heist Since Mt Gox

As reported earlier hackers accessed a single signature hot wallet resulting in the loss of 523 million NEM coins, worth 534 million dollars. The security breach went unnoticed for at least eight hours until a Coincheck staff member noticed an alert indicating a steep drop in their NEM coin reserves.

The theft brought up ugly memories for many investors who got stung in 2014 during the Mt. Gox meltdown when $470 million worth of Bitcoin went missing. That hack was followed by calls for greater regulation throughout the cryptocurrency market.

XEM, the developer of the NEM coin, responded quickly to the heist by announcing that they would refund 90% of the lost monetary value to 260,000 investors with funds from their own capital reserves. Though the announcement was made along with an apology from NEM President Koichiro Wada there was no timeline for reimbursement set.

While the announcement helped reassure the cryptosphere and had markets rebounding after an initial sell-off that saw Bitcoin drop 7% the FSA warned XEM to review and beef up security protocols.

FSA Acts Before Report Deadline

Coincheck was initially ordered to submit a written report to the securities watchdog by Feb. 13. However, due to the wide coverage of the hack and market concern over cryptocurrency regulations, the FSA decided to conduct the surprise investigation.

Though Japan has had a cryptocurrency exchange registration system in place since April of 2017. XEM was in operation before the introduction of the system and is now under review to ensure that they are now following the same regulations as exchanges already registered.

”Along with our ongoing efforts to file applications to be registered as a Cryptocurrency Exchange Service Provider with Financial Services Agency, we will continue business.”

Unlike exchanges that suffered serious hacks in the past Coincheck has denied any rumors of declaring bankruptcy. In 2014 Mt. GOX with handled 80% of the Bitcoin trades in the world filed for bankruptcy when they lost half a billion dollars worth of the cryptocurrency. More recently South Korean Cryptocurrency exchange Youbit closed down and declared bankruptcy after being hacked twice last year.

The post Japan’s FSA Raids Coincheck Offices Following $500 Million Hack appeared first on NewsBTC.

Tezos may be embroiled in a back-room brawl, but what does this mean for the funds raised at ICO? The answer to that question isn’t so clear.

Key Highlights

• ETH price started a new downside wave and moved below the $1,000 support against the US Dollar.
• There was a break below a connecting bullish trend line with support at $1,120 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via SimpleFX).
• The pair is now trading well below the $1,000 level and it has moved into the bearish zone.

Ethereum price made a U-turn against the US Dollar and traded higher against Bitcoin. ETH/USD is likely to trade further lower with resistance at $1,025.

Ethereum Price Resistance

There was a sudden increase in selling pressure on ETH price, which took it below the $1,000 support against the US Dollar. The downside move was initiated from the $1,150 swing high and the price moved below the $1,100 and $1,025 support levels. During the downside, there was a break below a connecting bullish trend line with support at $1,120 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. It traded as low as $942 recently and it looks set for more declines in the near term.

An initial resistance is around the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,150 high to $942 low. However, the most important resistance is around the $1,025 level. The mentioned $1,025 level was a support earlier and it may now act as a resistance. Moreover, the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,150 high to $942 low is also around $1,025. Above the $1,025 level, the next hurdle is at $1,046. It is the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $1,150 high to $942 low.

On the downside, the recent low of $942 is a short term support. A break below $942 could ignite further declines toward $900 in the near term.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is gaining momentum in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is currently around the 35 level and is showing bearish signs.

Major Support Level – $940

Major Resistance Level – $1,025

 

Charts courtesy – SimpleFX

The post Ethereum Price Technical Analysis – ETH/USD Tumbles Below $1,000 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Forbes

Bitcoin: The First Truly Worldwide Bubble Forbes Jay Adkisson , Contributor I cover Wealth Preservation in its legal permutations Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. It used to be that bubbles largely harmed only folks in one particular country. Tulpenmanea (tulip bulbs, 1638 ... and more »

FOMO Moments

A train wreck is the best way to describe the markets today. The Asian trading session has not been pretty and we have had to go beyond the top 25 to find an altcoin that is in the green. There is one and it is relatively unknown but it is up by 51% when many in the top ten have fallen by over 30%.

According to Coinmarketcap DigixDAO is the only coin showing gains in the entire top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap. DGD is an obscure altcoin with a market capacity of just $685 million. It is currently trading at $357, up from $231 this time yesterday. Over the past seven days this altcoin has jumped over 50%.

Digix tokenizes gold on Ethereum. It offers the ability to own, save and transact gold in tokenized form, keeping secure private ownership of your digital assets. This provides what the company terms as a stable store of value. There is nothing stable whatsoever about the markets today which could be boosting the performance of the token.

News of a partnership between Ethereum stalwarts MakerDAO and Digix to deliver the ‘ultimate stablecoin’ to the blockchain ecosystem has made the difference. Maker is a decentralized autonomous organisation (DAO) on the Ethereum blockchain which aims to minimize the price volatility of its own stable token, the Dai, against USD. The Maker team plans to launch a Multi Collateral Dai with a three billion debt ceiling for DGX, Digix gold tokens.

It seems like investors are flocking back to something stable when all other cryptos are hemorrhaging. DGD is traded heavily on Binance which has over 75% of the total volume. Over $62 million has been traded in the past 24 hours and this is the only crypto asset out of the top 100 that is increasing in price at the moment.

More on Digix can be found here: https://digix.global/

FOMO Moments is a new section that takes a daily look at the top 25 altcoins during the Asian trading session and analyses the best performing one, looking for trends and fundamentals. 

The post Morning Asian trading roundup: the leading altcoin is DigixDAO appeared first on NewsBTC.

London – January 30, 2018 –  Humaniq today set out its milestones for 2018 with a new set of ambitious goals. Based on the projects strong social message, genius technological solutions and unique approach to token emission Humaniq’s vision of development provides both social and financial empowerment the unbanked population in Africa.

After a successful ICO with invested capital rising above $5.1M, getting more than 450 applications for startups over the Humaniq Global Challenge and finally launching the product  within the first year of the project, Humaniq is ready to further rapid growth and achievements. The Humaniq team is going to develop its ecosystem focusing on its user and  partners concurrently.

The Milestones for 2018 include such goals as:

 

• Attract 1 Million App users in 2018.

 

With 80 % of Humaniq’s tokens generated in  App, it will encourage more people to install and be part of the community. With this in mind HMQ will be available to be traded on more exchanges in 2018, the first new exchange listing is due to be announced in the nearest future.

• Integrate 10 new partner companies within our ecosystem

Due to the open API and existing and features and opportunities, such as proof-of-human concept, bio-ID, and ongoing developments like bot assistance and a marketplace for our partners, some potential for partnering projects are already in the loop. The first partner’s integration will be announced in the first quarter.

 

• Conducting annual Humaniq Global Challenge

 

Last years incredibly successful “Humaniq Global Challenge” saw 450 applicants, resulting in a very useful and incredibly inspiring expedition to Africa. Inspired by these results, the Humaniq team plans to continue the challenge as an annual project, with a second challenge in late 2018. This will allow the project to continue the engagement with new and prospective community of users, and a growing family of partners.

 

• Become part of the top 5 most popular blockchain apps in the region

 

The company is making significant marketing and PR efforts in Africa due to a strong ambassador team and nationally based PR Agency. The further development of the App will make it even more competitive than it is now, with all new features listed in a recently published roadmap such as QR-code creation, bot assistant and voice calls within the Application.

“I’m happy to present the updated milestone for Humaniq project. We are not just another blockchain project or cryptocurrency. 80% of  tokens will be generated inside the Mobile Application, so their future holders of these tokens are those who use the Humaniq App and who invest their time and energy into the project. This is precisely the route that Humaniq follows on its way to reach its goal of making the world a better place”- said Alex Fork, Founder of Humaniq.

To read the full version of Humaniq Milestone 2018 please go here

ABOUT HUMANIQ

Humaniq is a London-based Fintech firm that provides next generation financial services using its Blockchain-based mobile application to the unbanked and underprivileged in emerging economies globally. Humaniq is focused on worldwide financial inclusion by providing access to global markets, greater opportunities, and novel financial solutions using repurposed technologies for those gaining exposure to financial services for the first time.

Media contact:

Alex Fork office

[email protected]

See more at: http://humaniq.com

Join us:

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https://humaniq-co.slack.com

https://www.linkedin.com/company/humaniq

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https://open.kakao.com/o/gR94ctw

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price continued to decline and it moved below the $1,200 support against the US Dollar.
• There are two bearish trend lines forming with resistance at $1,360 and $1,440 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD (data feed from SimpleFX).
• The pair is currently under a lot of pressure and it could even trade toward $1,000 in the near term.

Bitcoin cash price declined heavily by more than $200 against the US Dollar. BCH/USD is now in a bearish zone and is eying further declines.

Bitcoin Cash Price Decline

This week is turning out to be a major declining phase for bitcoin cash price from the $1,450 swing high against the US Dollar. The price extended its decline recently and it even moved below the $1,300 and $1,200 support levels. The current decline is very strong and the price is trading below the $1,180 level. The recent low was $1,159 and it seems like the price may continue to decline in the near term.

On the upside, an initial resistance is around the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the decline from the $1,495 high to $1,159 low. However, the chances are very less that the price may recover above $1,300 in the near term. Further to the upside, there are two bearish trend lines forming with resistance at $1,360 and $1,440 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD. The first trend line is just above the 50% Fib retracement level of the decline from the $1,495 high to $1,159 low.

Clearly, there is a lot of pressure on BCH and it could soon break the $1,159 low. The next major support sits around the $1,120 level followed by $1,100.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD placed heavily in the bearish zone.

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

Major Support Level – $1,120

Major Resistance Level – $1,300

 

Charts courtesy – SimpleFX

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – BCH/USD Crushed Below $1,200 appeared first on NewsBTC.

The first release of the 2018 is here. Today Revain is announcing next step in the development of its blockchain-based review platform. The company just released version 0.4 of its flagship Dashboard service. After several iterations aimed to test some core functions, Revain is finally adding first 15 projects to the platform.

A few new things were included in v0.4.

The starting page was relocated from Revain project’s page to the page with a list of all tokens which were added on the platform with some basic information such as rating, volume, today’s and ICO price, open source activity. Users can choose a project and review all the statistics about it as well as authentic and qualitative feedback provided by other token holders.

Next. Dashboard overall user interface and design was improved. The search line was redesigned. Some user interface changes were made, such as second ‘add review’ button for user’s convenience was moved to the bottom of the site, new animations were added, etc.

Finally. Dashboard got sharing buttons. Users can share different statistic and performance of the token which they hold through social media channels.

We are really gaining momentum with the platform’s progress as development becomes more complex and sophisticated. Release 0.4 is available here: https://dashboard.revain.org/

About Revain:

Revain is aimed to revolutionize online reviews using blockchain technology. Its platform designed for accumulating authentic user reviews on projects and startups that have concluded their crowdfunding / ICO stage. The platform is bringing to life the service that will finally allow businesses to receive detailed and genuine feedback about their projects, while users will get access to other people’s experience with ICOs and share their own insights as well. The platform will be aggregating information on token dynamics and major milestones in startup’s development.

http://dashboard.revain.org?utm_source=http://themerkle.com&utm_medium=pressrelese&utm_campaign=dashboard&utm_content=jan29&utm_term=v0.4

Ravain released version 0.3 of the platform in December 2017 with a target to deliver full release 1.0 as early as Q2 2018. Using blockchain technology, Revain creates an economic model that rewards users for creating honest reviews online through it’s token RVN. RVN remains as a stable internal token thanks to a nonlinear conversion mechanism based on R, the token that is tradable and available outside the platform. The entire system remains transparent, incorruptible and immutable thanks to its reliance on the Ethereum platform.

Find out more about Revain: https://revain.org/

Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/CzZcC0PCgpJcbBCb3JfNeQ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revain.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Revain_org

Medium: https://medium.com/revain

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/revain_org/  

Slack: https://revain-community.slack.com/

This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of The Merkle. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued a new checklist as part of the “heightened review process” it’s developing for virtual currencies.

The fake diploma and resume scandals are becoming common in the e-Education era. A startup offers a Blockchain-based solution to this problem. #SPONSORED