Day: March 11, 2018

A delegation of top-level Chinese technology executives is visiting Australia this week to explore the future and implementation of blockchain into industry.

Australia Hosts First Blockchain Meeting

The delegation which is made up of the elite of China’s Fintech companies including Senior managers from Ant Financial, WeBank, JD.com, ZhongAn, Wanxiang and OnChain.

The group is being led by Ming Li, director of the China Electronics Standardisation Institute, which has responsibility for setting blockchain industry standards under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The delegation is set to explore developments in global blockchain standards where Australia is taking a lead role by hosting the first international blockchain standards meeting for the “ISO/TC 307” group next month, chaired by Westpac Banking Corp director Craig Dunn.

The delegation is tasked with both exploring the next step in blockchain architecture that will be the basis of “the internet of value” and to send the message that China will be aggressive in implementing this technology.

China wants Blockchain Not Bitcoin

As Chinese companies go proactively into the future of blockchain technology the government continues to express its dislike of cryptocurrency.

Once home to the majority of the worlds cryptomarket activity the Chinese government began cracking down on trading digital currency and the release of ICO’s.

Zhou Xiaochuan governor of the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) spoke this week about the Banks official stance of nonrecognition of cryptocurrency and plans to ramp up regulation of both the trade and companys launching ICO’s.

We don’t like cryptocurrency products that make huge opportunity for speculation that gives people the illusion of getting rich overnight.

Zhou went to say that cryptocurrencies are inevitable but that they had strayed from the useful path of being a secure and safe way to quickly and easily move money.

That they are now used by people as a get rich quick scheme that can end up costing people their life savings.

Local news outlets interpreted his speech as possibly the first move to creating a nationally backed cryptocurrency. Zhou ended with hopes that public and private agencies can partner together for further research and development.

Later the same day the founder of Okcoin made a statement over social media that the company was ready to work with the government.

Despite the regulations of Bitcoin and like alt currencies there are more than 150 blockchain-enabled companies in China. This may seem ironic as blockchain was developed to allow people to anonymously buy and sell what they wish thus circumnavigating government control.

However, blockchain can also be set up to allow a government full visibility of transactions across the network.

The post China to Meet With Australia to Deploy Blockchain Technology Commercially appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price formed a nice support around $0.7400 and moved a few points higher against the US dollar.
• There is a major connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $0.8300 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair must break $0.8300 and $0.8400 resistance for further upsides in the near term.

Ripple price is slowly gaining pace against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD must break the $0.8400 hurdle to set the pace for more gains.

Ripple Price Resistance

After a major decline, there was a strong buying interest noted near $0.7400 in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The price formed a low near $0.7450 and started an upside move. It traded above the $0.7800 and $0.8000 resistance levels. It even broke the $0.8200 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. However, the upside move was capped by the $0.8310 level.

A fresh downside move is underway and the price broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.7466 low to $0.8312 high. More importantly, the price is now below the $0.8000 level and the 100 hourly SMA. It may decline further to test the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $0.7466 low to $0.8312 high. Below $0.7850, the price may even test the $0.7650 level. On the upside, there is a major connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance at $0.8300 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair.

The pair must break the $0.8300 and $0.8400 resistance levels to gain upside momentum. The overall bias is neutral and it seems like the price is consolidating above the $0.7500 level in the short term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

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

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is moving down and is just around 50.

Major Support Level – $0.7650

Major Resistance Level – $0.8400

Charts courtesy – Trading View

The post Ripple Price Technical Analysis – XRP/USD Consolidating Above $0.75 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Thousands of devices allegedly affected by malware across Egypt, Turkey and Syria.

On March 10 a cryptocurrency trader and researcher published a report on how he believes $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency trade volumes, primarily from a couple of exchanges, are concocted. The author of the study, Sylvain Ribes, alleges that the exchange Okcoin has been fabricating up to 93 percent of its trade volumes.

Also read: Thailand Dodges Extreme Cryptocurrency Regulations

Massive Discrepancies Between Exchanges

Sylvain Ribes has published a study that reveals some interesting information about trade volumes stemming from exchanges like Okcoin (Okex) and Huobi, which may be falsifying their trade volumes. Ribes calculated his data from order books across all major exchanges to “measure how badly market selling $50k USD worth of each cryptocurrency would crash the price.”

Further Ribes refers to a term called “slippage,” which he defines as “the percentage change between the observed mid-spread price and the lowest price I had to consent to sell the asset.” Throughout Ribes’ research of various currency volumes coming from exchanges like GDAX, Bitfinex, Kraken, Binance and more he found vast inconsistencies between trading platforms.  

“I found ridiculously massive discrepancies between exchanges. Not the kind that can be easily hand-waved away (“oh well, their users must behave differently”), but the kind that can only be explained by some figures being overstated as much as 95%,” explains Ribes’ study.

Leading the pack is Okex, currently ranked #1 exchange by volume with $1.7b total volume on both Coinmarketcap and Livecoinwatch websites.

‘A Suffocating Majority of Okex Volume Is Fake’

Okex volumes raised a red flag for Ribes who says because the markets are unregulated artificial volumes and wash trading should be expected. Ribes’ slippage and volume chart shows the pairs with a daily volume of $100K across four exchanges over 24 hours.   

“Many pairs, albeit boasting up to $5 million volumes, would cost you more than 10% in slippage, should you want to liquidate a mere $50k in assets — Those pairs included, at the time of the data parsing (06/03/18): NEO/BTC, IOTA/USD, QTUM/USD — Hardly illiquid or low-profile assets,” Ribes states.

Although those numbers alone prove to me without the shadow of a doubt that a suffocating majority of Okex volume is fake, I had not witnessed first-hand how they implemented it — I thus logged into their platform and had a look at some pairs trading history. And indeed, they fake their volume in a laughingly obvious and artificial way.  

Ribes says that Okex volumes are very different than an exchange like Poloniex that is “generally quite liquid across all pairs.” The trader believes it’s quite “obvious” that Okex volumes are doctored. Further, the paper suggests that the trading platform Huobi Pro has roughly 81.8 percent of “made-up volume.” He details that even though there appears to be more organic volumes taking place “there still exists a strong background of constant low-key wash trading.” The study also looked at exchanges like Bittrex, Hitbtc, and Binance against “respectable” exchanges.

Binance CEO Calls Ribes Study a “Good In-Depth Analysis”

Hitbtc is a touch less liquid and small differences can be seen for various reasons. Ribes says the results stemming from Binance were more “intriguing,” but notes that the exchange has a “pretty restrictive policy when it comes to API-trading.”  

“Inspecting their volume history does not show any obvious suspicious activity,” explains Ribes.

After the report was published, Zhao Changpeng, the CEO of Binance said Ribes study was a “good in-depth analysis.”

We like liquidity, but we don’t like “flash” liquidity, which are used by many HFT “market makers” — Binance believes having these restrictions help the much larger number of retail traders.

Additionally, Ribes has asked Okcoin and Huobi Pro over Twitter if they would like to provide a statement concerning his recent study on phony trade volumes. “I’m happy to quote you on a comment if you’d like to provide one,” the trader states. This is also not the first time these exchanges have been questioned about falsified trade volumes.

What do you think about the study Sylvain Ribes conducted? Do you think his conclusion is correct that some exchanges are faking their volumes? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, and Sylvain Ribes report. 

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The post Study Finds $3B Worth of Faked Cryptocurrency Volumes and Wash Trades appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Most altcoins didn’t recover immediately as expected and even though most are, we shall remain neutral until after there is confirmation of our previous forecast. That might happen today and I’m particularly checking out Monero, NEO and Lumens which are reacting at key support lines.

Lumens and LTC for example have been moving horizontally along $0.30 and $180 respectively for the past 3 days or so and this makes it possible that a break out might happen in the coming sessions. This is why I will be watching these two coins today.

Let’s have a look at these charts:

XLM/USD (Lumens)

The momentum on March 10 didn’t provide enough thrust to push Lumens prices higher as per our initial plan. Instead, what we are seeing now is a rebound and basic consolidation in lower time frame.

It’s clear that yesterday’s prices were positive but even this means Lumens is still moving along $0.30, our level of interest over the past couple of days/weeks.

In my view, as long there is no break above $0.35 and the middle BB in the daily chart, we shall remain bearish as we anticipate further price erosion towards $0.25 and lower.

In line with this, these technical formations demand that we hold on our long guns and wait for proper buy/sell triggers as per our previous forecast. After all, in the weekly chart, bulls are rejecting lower lows and you can easily see the influence of the 20 period MA in that chart.

XMR/USD (Monero)

Generally, Monero prices are on a slide but relative to other coins, bulls are putting a brake on this depreciation.

From previous analysis, our emphases laid with the confirmation of March 9 buy pressure and that didn’t happen on Sunday. Instead sellers drove prices to the break out level and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $250.

Yesterday’s candlestick was positive and it will mean nothing for buyers if today’s doesn’t end up higher. Ideally-and if the trend resumption phase is actually on, I would like to see prices above March 8 highs and immediate resistance at $350.

I will recommend swing traders to buy with every stochastics buy signal and place their stops just below $250 in lower time frames.

EOS/USD

After March 10, we were expecting buyers to jump right in and drive EOS prices higher so as to correct that undervaluation on March 9. That also didn’t happen but at the moment-following March 11 candlestick, chances are prices might recovery and trend higher in subsequent sessions.

In my view, considering the oversold stochastics and a buy signal, EOS traders are better off if they look for long opportunities in lower time frames and if they do, stops should be below March 9 lows of $5.2.

On the other hand, conservatives should wait for bull pressure confirmation and the most ideal level for that is $9.5.  However, the 50% Fibonacci retracement line and the middle BB at $7.5 can act as the first level of bullish triggers allowing early buyers to enter on pull backs.

LTC/USD

The net gain over the past 3 days is almost zero and if it continues like this then we shall likely have another BB squeeze in the lower time frame along our main support line at $180.

Remember, it’s a patience game and ideally, risk averse traders can buy after $230 assuming this stochastic buy signal is inviting for LTC bulls.

At the moment though, if there is a follow through of yesterday’s bull candlestick then chances of $200 and the middle BB being hit is high.

NEO/USD

As long as NEO prices are trending above $85 and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level then I will take a bullish stand. After all, $85 is a key support line in our analysis.

As per our previous highlight, there is a little bit of undervaluation-March 9 candlestick- that needs correction and that will only happen if buyers push prices higher.

While yesterday’s candlestick is bullish, I recommend and actually take a neutral stand here until after there are higher highs closing above $100 and that might happen today if NEO buyers push prices higher.

All BitFinex, Bittrex and CoinBase charts courtesy of Trading View

The post Altcoin Daily Technical Analysis: NEO, EOS, LTC, Monero and Lumens appeared first on NewsBTC.

Scams, death, network takeover attacks. There’s no shortage of strange ways users can lose money in the cryptocurrency wild west.

A monthly low was hit over the weekend as crypto markets continued to slide. This morning they have bounced back a little but are still largely trending downwards. Bitcoin has made gains in the past 24 hours of around 8% sending it back over $9,000 once again. Altcoins have been a mixed bag, some have rebounded while others are still floundering, and this morning’s top performer is Bitcoin Cash.

Most of the altcoins are in the green during the morning’s Asian trading session however only a couple are double figures. Bitcoin Cash is one of them trading 11.3% higher than this time yesterday. BCH is currently trading at just over $1,100 (0.117 BTC) up from $989 (0.114 BTC) this time yesterday. Looking at the weekly chart however paints a bleaker picture as BCH is down 14% since last Monday.

The possibility of the US based Gemini exchange listing Bitcoin Cash would have given it an additional boost. The overall rebound has pushed most cryptocurrencies a little higher this morning but only the rest of the week will determine whether this is a true reversal or the markets are still bearish.

BCH has been traded heavily on Hong Kong based exchange OKEx which has almost 30% of the total volume. Around $500 million has been traded in the past 24 hours and Bitcoin Cash is still holding on to fourth spot with a market capacity of $18.8 billion.

Other altcoins performing well this morning include Dash, Tron, Stratis, and RChain. Most of the others have just regained losses over the past few days.

The post Asian Altcoin Trading Roundup: Top Cryptocurrency is Bitcoin Cash appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been highly volatile over the past 10 days, with an average daily range frequently exceeding US$1,000. The market cap now stands at US$162.6 billion on US$5.66 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours. The BTC market cap currently accounts for 44.65% of all cryptocurrencies.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price is recovering and is currently trading above $1,100 against the US Dollar.
• There was a break above a major contracting triangle with resistance at $1,040 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair is now trading comfortably above the $1,100 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Bitcoin cash price has moved in the positive zone against the US Dollar. BCH/USD may continue to gain momentum above the $1,150 level in the near term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Support

There was a decent recovery initiated from the $960 support area in bitcoin cash price against the US Dollar. The price traded higher and moved above the $1,000 and $1,050 resistance levels. The trend is positive since the price was able to close above the $1,000 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. Moreover, there was a decent support base formed above the $1,000 level.

More importantly, there was a break above a major contracting triangle with resistance at $1,040 on the hourly chart of BCH/USD. The pair also traded above the $1,100 resistance and formed a high at $1,159. At the moment, the pair is consolidating above the $1,100 level. An initial support on the downside is around the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $962 low to $1,159 high. However, the most important support is near the $1,050 level.

The 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $962 low to $1,159 high is also near $1,060 to act as a support. The overall bias is positive as long as the price is above the $1,050 support and the 100 hourly SMA.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is slowly moving in the bullish zone.

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

Major Support Level – $1,050

Major Resistance Level – $1,150

Charts courtesy – Trading View

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – BCH/USD to Trade Higher appeared first on NewsBTC.

This week the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, spoke about both public and privately issued cryptocurrencies. Zhou details that the central bank dislikes “speculative cryptocurrency products” and the bank does not officially recognize digital currencies like bitcoin. Further Zhou explains the bank is monitoring projects like bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICO), and aims to ramp up regulatory actions.

Also read: Wirex Launching Bitcoin Debit Cards in Europe

PBOC Governor: We Don’t Like Cryptos That Give the Illusion of Getting Rich Overnight

The PBOC has had an interesting relationship with emerging cryptocurrencies and token sales taking place within its borders. At one time, a vast majority of BTC trade volumes and transactions stemmed from China. However, a lot has changed since the beginning of 2017 as China’s central bank has banned crypto-trading platforms domestically and has stopped ICOs from taking place within the country. This week during a press conference held for the National People’s Congress, the PBOC governor Zhou had a lot to say about public blockchain projects, and the cryptocurrencies tethered to these networks.

“Lots of cryptocurrencies have seen explosive growth which can bring significant negative impact on consumers and retail investors,” Zhou explains to the press.

We don’t like cryptocurrency products that make huge opportunity for speculation that gives people the illusion of getting rich overnight.

Zhou Explains Cryptocurrencies Are Technically Inevitable but Need Improvements 

Zhou does say that digital currencies are technically inevitable, but he believes cryptocurrencies have veered off from the original goals of aiming to improve monetary convenience and cutting medium of exchange costs. Zhou thinks a lot of attention is now based on “speculation” and get rich quick schemes. Another area that needs to be attended to in Zhuo’s opinion is privacy and security issues tied to these payment rails. Zhou states that cryptocurrency projects should promote:

Convenience, rapidity and low cost in a retail payment system while taking into account security and protection of privacy.

Is the Governor Possibly Hinting at a PBOC-Issued Cryptocurrency?

Local news outlets and those who attended the National People’s Congress speech felt that Zhou was referring to a nation-state issued cryptocurrency product. Zhou’s statements reveal that blockchain and digital currency solutions will continue to trend, but existing technical problems need to be fixed. Moreover, Zhou hopes that public officials and Chinese agencies will partner together for further research and development.   

“The emphasis should be to serve the real economy — [Cryptocurrencies] should not conflict with the current financial order,” the PBOC governor emphasizes.

The very same day the founder of the exchange Okcoin, Xu Kexing, made a statement over the social media application Wechat that his company was willing to help his country. The regional publication Sohu reports that Xu detailed to an employee that “[Okcoin] will be ready to donate to the country at any time in the future.”

What do you think about the PBOC governor’s statements? Do you think China is in the midst of creating its own cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments below. 

Images via 8BTC, the PBOC, and the Financial Times. 

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The post China’s PBOC Governor Speaks Against Speculative Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Bitcoin News.