Day: February 27, 2018

JP Morgan’s CEO has been backpedaling on calling Bitcoin a fraud for months now but he has stuck to the line that no government (especially the US) will allow cryptocurrency to exist on a large scale. A new report shows though that JP Morgan is very aware of the ‘risk’ cryptocurrency puts on its own services and how they are dealing with it.

A Risky Future

In its annual report released on Tuesday, JP Morgan recognized that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are potential competition to the bank’s own services that could potentially take money from their very deep pockets.

CEO Jamie Dimon has been on record deriding the risk of cryptocurrency to fiat institutions for a long time. He has also publicly recognized that the underlying blockchain technology will most likely be implemented to move currency but has added, that the currency would be dollars, not Bitcoin.

The report released on Tuesday details ways in which the bank has had to change its practices in order to compete with the new technologies in order to retain customers. Payment processing and other currency transfer services were highlighted by the report as being especially susceptible to technologies like cryptocurrency that require no inter-mediation.

“Ongoing or increased competition may put downward pressure on prices and fees for JPMorgan Chase’s products and services or may cause JPMorgan Chase to lose market share,”

JP Morgan’s annual report.

JP Morgan isn’t the only major financial institution in the US to come around to the ‘threat of cryptocurrency’. In their own report, last week Bank of America recognized the risk of losing their own customers to competitors offering products “in areas we deem speculative or risky, such as cryptocurrencies.”

The Bitcoin Bible

This reported recognition by JP Morgan doesn’t come as much of a surprise to those who have read the 71-page research report released more than a week and a half ago that some have dubbed the ‘Bitcoin Bible’. The report gives a thorough analysis of multiple cryptocurrency issues the banking industry faces. This includes assessing the banks own crypto and blockchain based ventures.

That report concluded that “Opportunities for banks to utilize blockchain technologies for conducting business could have far-reaching implications for the sector.”

In actuality, JP Morgan has been one of the first major financial institutions to recognize and adapt to the reality of cryptocurrency. As well as one of the first to implement its own Ethereum based blockchain.

Earlier this month Umar Farook, JP Morgan Chase’s head of blockchain initiatives, gave a glimpse into how serious the bank was taking new technology speaking at Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York. “It’s more than thriving. People have been surprised how quickly it basically spread as a way to address and think about customers differently. It’s quite insane.” He said.

The post JP Morgan Chase: Cryptocurrency a Threat to its Own Services appeared first on NewsBTC.

Scammers hoping to steal cryptocurrency are hacking verified Twitter accounts to swindle users.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price gained momentum recently and it moved above the $0.8800 resistance against the US dollar.
• There was a break above a crucial bearish trend line with resistance at $0.8700 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from SimpleFx).
• The pair looks set to trade further above the $0.9000 and $0.9200 resistance levels in the near term.

Ripple price is placed nicely in a bullish zone against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD may continue to move higher towards the $0.9500.

Ripple Price Trend

There was a nice bullish trend formation above $0.8000 this week in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The price traded higher and it was successful in breaking the $0.8400 and $0.8500 resistance levels. It also succeeded in closing above the $0.8600 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. These are positive signs and it means that the price may continue to move higher towards $0.9500 in the near term.

During the upside move, there was a break above a crucial bearish trend line with resistance at $0.8700 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The pair traded as high as $0.9062 where it faced sellers and started a downside correction. It traded below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.8239 low to $0.9062 high. However, the downside move was protected by the $0.8750 support. Moreover, there is also a major support near $0.8600. The stated level is close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.8239 low to $0.9062 high.

Therefore, the $0.8600 level is a major buy zone. As long as the price is above $0.8600, it may perhaps rise again towards $0.9500 or even $0.9800 in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is currently losing momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is placed well above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $0.8600

Major Resistance Level – $0.9000

Charts courtesy – SimpleFX

The post Ripple Price Technical Analysis – XRP/USD to Rise Further appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bill Gates made provocative statements in an ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit Tuesday that have garnered some serious backlash from the crypto community.

The founder and former CEO of Microsoft, and the richest man in the world for 18 years before semi-retiring to head the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, had some negative things to say about cryptocurrencies in his sixth Annual Reddit AMA.

Gates Critical of Crypto on Reddit

Each year Bill and Melinda get together to dedicate some time to answering questions on Reddit, these questions normally have to do with the couples extensive charity work around the world. It was a surprise to many then when Gates went off on a bit of an anti-cryptocurrency tangent Tuesday.

The focus of his comments was on the anonymity that most users feel is central to the success of Bitcoin and it’s ilk. First pointing out that “The government’s ability to find money laundering and tax evasion and terrorist funding is a good thing.” He then went to say the use of cryptocurrency to buy illegal drugs has ended in death.

“Right now cryptocurrencies are used for buying fentanyl and other drugs so it is a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way.”

When a Reddit commentator argued that plenty of fentanyl is bought using fiat currency Gates recounted with the bizarre argument that “Yes — anonymous cash is used for these kinds of things but you have to be physically present to transfer it which makes things like kidnapping payments more difficult.”

Perhaps he doesn’t see that paying drug dealers with fiat currency face to face can lead to very real violence and kidnapping instead of the virtual type.

Also, did he forget that in 2014 he liked the idea of being able to transfer currency virtually? “You don’t physically have to be in the same place, and of course, for large transactions (of) currency (it) can get pretty convenient.”

He finished his comment sounding like so many other fiat currency pundits by adding that “I think the speculative wave around ICOs and cryptocurrencies is super risky for those who go long.”

Statements Not a Change of Opinion

Though these comments set off a flurry of negative responses from the cryptocurrency faithful on Reddit and Twitter it doesn’t actually mark a turnaround for Gates.

He in no way criticised the technology that makes up the backbone of cryptocurrency in his statement but pointed out the way humans may abuse the opportunities it creates. The Gates Foundation released software in October in cooperation with Ripple to create banking service infrastructure to developing countries.

The post Bill Gates’ Critical Comments on Crypto Causes Backlash appeared first on NewsBTC.

An early ethereum developer is speaking out about why he feels a platform-wide software upgrade should be used to help him recover lost funds.

Key Highlights

• ETH price gained bullish momentum recently and it was able to move above $865 against the US Dollar.
• There is a connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $862 on the hourly chart (data feed via SimpleFX).
• The pair may continue to move higher towards $885 as long as it is above the $862-860 levels.

Ethereum price is slowly moving higher against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD could trade above $885 in the near term if buyers remain in action.

Ethereum Price Trend

There was a slow and steady rise in ETH price above the $850 level against the US Dollar. The price traded higher and moved above the $865 resistance. It traded as high as $884 before starting a downside correction. There was a downside move and the price traded below the $870 level. A low was formed at $855 where buyers appeared and prevented further declines.

A fresh upside wave was initiated and the price traded above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $884 high to $855 low. On the downside, there is a connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $862 on the hourly chart. The pair is currently facing resistance near $875 and the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $884 high to $855 low. Once there is a close above the $875 level, the price may move above the recent high of $885. Above $885, the price may even break the $900 resistance.

If the price fails to move above $885, there could be a downside reaction. A break below the trend line support at $862 may perhaps ignite more declines. Any further losses would push the price towards the $825 level in the near term.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is struggling to remain in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is moving higher and is currently above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $860

Major Resistance Level – $885

Charts courtesy – SimpleFX

The post Ethereum Price Technical Analysis – ETH/USD Holding Uptrend Support appeared first on NewsBTC.

FOMO Moments

The upswing has continued during this morning’s Asian trading session and the majority of altcoins are in the green, some a lot more than others. Bitcoin continues to march upwards, gaining another 6% on the day and eating away at all of the altcoins. There is always one in the top 25 though showing stronger gains than the rest and this cryptocurrency has been featured before, it is OmiseGO.

According to Coinmarketcap OMG is up 15% today from the same time yesterday, it is currently trading at $20.55 from $17.80 24 hours ago. It has made solid gains over the past seven days of 18% and is still trending upwards. OmiseGO has been one of the top performing cryptocurrencies during the month of February when most others have lost value. During the big early January spike it reached a peak of $27 and fell to $7.6 a month later in the big dip of February 6.

Omise is an Asia Pacific venture backed payments company founded in 2013, it has strong ties to Singapore, Japan and Thailand where a number of strategic partnerships have been made. A number of products such as digital wallets and the SDK are road-mapped for launch this year and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has praised the project. Aside from a few warnings about fake accounts nothing else has been posted on their Twitter feed and no announcements have been made.

OmiseGO is traded largely in Southeast Asia on Binance, Upbit, Bitfinex’s sister site Ethfinex. Total market cap at the time of writing is just over $2 billion with $138 million being traded in the last 24 hours. Only 140 million OMG tokens are available with just over 100 million circulating.

There are no other altcoins in the top 25 enjoying double digit increases this morning, but a couple doing well include Iota and Nano. Further down the list DigixDAO as always is performing well along with Binance’s own coin and Aeternity.

More on OmiseGO can be found here: https://omisego.network/

FOMO Moments is a 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 Asian Cryptocurrency Trading Roundup: Top Altcoin is OmiseGO appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price is struggling to break the $1,280-90 resistance area against the US Dollar.
• There is a short-term connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $1,220 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD (data feed from SimpleFX).
• The pair must stay above the $1,200 level to move further higher towards the $1,350 level.

Bitcoin cash price is facing a tough challenge below the $1,300 level against the US Dollar. BCH/USD has to gain strength above $1,280 to rise further.

Bitcoin Cash Price Trend

There was an attempt recently to move above the $1,280 and $1,290 resistance levels in bitcoin cash price against the US Dollar. However, the price faced a lot of sellers near $1,290 and it could not move above the $1,300 level. As a result, there was a downside move and the price broke the $1,250 support. There was also a break below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $1,125 low to $1,282 high.

The downside move is currently finding support near $1,220. There is also a short-term connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $1,220 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD. Moreover, the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $1,125 low to $1,282 high is acted as a support. If the pair fails to stay above the $1,220 level, it could test the 100 hourly simple moving average. An intermediate support is around the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $1,125 low to $1,282 high.

On the upside, a break above the $1,280-90 zone is needed for more gains. Above $1,290, the price may perhaps move above $1,300 for a test of $1,350.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is currently reducing its bullish slope.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is now just below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $1,220

Major Resistance Level – $1,280

Charts courtesy – SimpleFX

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – Can BCH/USD Hold Uptrend? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price looks ready to resume its climb as it forms a new uptrend channel on the 4-hour chart.
• Price is also forming an inverse head and shoulders on this same time frame.
• Applying the Fib extension tool on the latest pullback shows how high bitcoin price could go from here.

Bitcoin price appears to have completed its pullback on the latest uptrend as it is bouncing off the area of interest.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA has crossed above the longer-term 200 SMA to confirm that the path of least resistance is to the upside. In other words, bulls are gaining traction and could allow the uptrend to resume.

The 38.2% Fib extension level lines up with the swing high around $11,000 while the 50% level is closer to the channel resistance and long-term area of interest at $12,000. The 61.8% extension is at $12,879.30 and the 76.4% extension is at $13,737. The full extension is at $15,123.30.

Stochastic is indicating overbought conditions, though, and looks ready to turn lower to reflect a return in selling pressure. RSI has some room to climb but is closing in the overbought region as well.

Market Factors

Bitcoin has drawn support from news that Circle has acquired Poloniex, which could mark the start of more mergers in the industry. In that case, more firms could combine capabilities and expand their market reach, probably leading to an IPO at some point.

However, the dollar has also enjoyed stronger demand in recent sessions thanks to a hawkish view shared by new Fed Chairperson Jerome Powell. He noted that risks are tilted to the upside thanks to tax cuts, strong global growth, and better trade activity.

Interestingly enough, bitcoin price was able to draw some gains during the session, even though equities and commodities closed lower. This marks a shift in the dynamic wherein bitcoin usually trails these riskier assets and benefits from risk appetite.

The post Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 02/28/2018 – Aiming Higher From Here appeared first on NewsBTC.

Malaysia’s central bank is now requiring domestic crypto exchanges to comply with anti-money laundering and know-your-customer mandates.

During an “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit, Bill Gates says cryptocurrencies are “a rare technology that has caused deaths in a fairly direct way”, makes waves in community. #NEWS