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Investing In Altcoins: What You Need to Know

Investing in cryptocurrency has caught everybody’s attention — from professional market participants to newbies. The number of active crypto wallets is increasing day by day, new participants are joining the crypto community and there are already over 1,500 altcoins on the market. Let’s see how an emerging investor can make sense of this market and … Continue reading Investing In Altcoins: What You Need to Know

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Investing in cryptocurrency has caught everybody’s attention — from professional market participants to newbies. The number of active crypto wallets is increasing day by day, new participants are joining the crypto community and there are already over 1,500 altcoins on the market. Let’s see how an emerging investor can make sense of this market and how hedging platforms like BITRUST can be of help.   

 So, you’ve spent a lot of time researching online and reading all kinds of information about cryptocurrencies and investing. However, before you even think about spending any money, let’s try to assess how much you really know about the cryptocurrency market. Here is a set of simple questions you could use to understand that:

  • Could you explain what a blockchain is to your ten-year-old nephew as well as a Cryptocoin Kid can?
  • Have you been to CoinMarketCap and understood it?
  • Are you familiar with the cryptocurrency purchase mechanism?
  • Where will you store your purchased altcoins and or tokens? Is it safe?
  • Do you understand how cryptocurrency exchanges work?
  • Do you know how to convert your cryptocurrency to fiat money and back?
  • Is there any tax payable in your country from profit gained from these transactions?
  • Do you know of any ways to hedge a cryptocurrency position?
  • Do you know what volatility means?

 A young and volatile market

This market is just a few years young so it’s no wonder that altcoins are highly volatile. Just see how ridiculously successful investors were last year and how extremely unhappy many of them have been in early 2018.

In terms of all cryptocurrencies, the total market cap hyped by 10,000% starting in 2013 and right up until its downturn this January. (And it’s true, we can only imagine what a difference an affordable hedging tool like BITRUST could make for investors, were it already live!).

So, how can one predict or trust an asset of such volatility and what should the right time be to invest in it? Today, in a month, in a year? Well, whatever your preferred answer to this question, just make sure that you only invest as much money as you are ready to lose. And be smart about never investing money you don’t actually own, using your credit card or taking out credit.

The right motivation counts

You should also make sure that you really understand the blockchain technology and appreciate the vision behind cryptocurrency, as well as the values concealed in its decentralization. Fear of missing out is not a very good driver behind any investment strategy.

Watch and study how altcoins are traded

Since its creation in 2009, bitcoin has been considered as the only electronic currency — the cryptocurrency. This continued up until 2016 and the growing interest in Ethereum. So, for early adopters of all things crypto, there was only bitcoin to invest in. Alternative cryptocurrencies, altcoins, have been just outside the interest zone of those seriously considering investing in this new type of asset.

This all started to change in 2017, when the dominant share of bitcoin fell from 90% to around 40%. So, it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the market and watch daily, weekly and monthly volumes of the top most-traded currencies, as well as newly-released altcoins.

We recommend you take the time to study the altcoins that have a practical use case (like IOTA) to make sure you really understand it. Pay attention to maximum supply and credibility of the team backing it.

BITRUST for safer transactions — follow the news

As you can see, choosing which cryptocurrency to invest in is a little bit like being on a hunt for a bargain. On the way to a safer and more regulated market, let’s hope that more tools like BITRUST will appear for insuring a certain altcoin position.

BITRUST is a peer-to-peer platform, which serves as an affordable tool that enables those willing to offer the purchase of insurance for a certain currency position to find a party willing to sell such insurance. Entering into a BITRUST smart contract, the parties pre-agree on the terms of its opening. A smart contract executes automatically, so everyone knows all possible scenarios of the transaction and can count on those.

BITRUST is an online marketplace currently being developed by BTF Project Limited, a UK-incorporated company, and is expected to become operational by January 2019.

To finance the development and launch of the BITRUST platform, a limited-supply sale of BITRUST tokens (BTFs) will be created by BTF Project Limited. The sale will start on the 5th of March— see more information about the BITRUST ICO structure and the company BITRUST.

 Disclaimer: This article is not intended as professional investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are risky, never invest more than you can afford to lose. Always seek professional advice before making any investment.

 

 

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Bitcoin Prices Recover From a Six-Week Low Ahead of G-20 Cryptocurrency Talks – Fortune

FortuneBitcoin Prices Recover From a Six-Week Low Ahead of G-20 Cryptocurrency TalksFortuneA weekend selloff cryptocurrencies subsided, with Bitcoin rallying from a six-week low before Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors discuss di…


Fortune

Bitcoin Prices Recover From a Six-Week Low Ahead of G-20 Cryptocurrency Talks
Fortune
A weekend selloff cryptocurrencies subsided, with Bitcoin rallying from a six-week low before Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors discuss digital assets in Buenos Aires. Bitcoin traded at $8,235 as of 11:20 a.m. in Hong Kong, up 12 ...

and more »

NEO, EOS, LTC, Monero, Lumens: Technical Analysis March 19, 2018

There is a broad-based recovery of Lumens, NEO, LTC, Monero, EOS and LTC. That’s because G20 countries don’t intend to crack down on cryptocurrencies in general. Now, considering our trade plan and our adherence to trading with the trend, it is likely that buyers might find reason to buy with tight stops below recent supports. … Continue reading NEO, EOS, LTC, Monero, Lumens: Technical Analysis March 19, 2018

The post NEO, EOS, LTC, Monero, Lumens: Technical Analysis March 19, 2018 appeared first on NewsBTC.

There is a broad-based recovery of Lumens, NEO, LTC, Monero, EOS and LTC. That’s because G20 countries don’t intend to crack down on cryptocurrencies in general.

Now, considering our trade plan and our adherence to trading with the trend, it is likely that buyers might find reason to buy with tight stops below recent supports.

For NEO that means just below $50 and $150 in LTC/USD.

Let’s have a look at these charts:

XLM/USD (Lumens)

Lumens Technical Analysis
XLM/USD Bittrex 4HR Chart for March 19, 2018

While we can sellers driving prices below $0.20, XLM is somehow finding support below the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level and our key support line as price action show.

But first, while sellers seem to be in charge, it’s the characteristic of yesterday’s candlestick that can hint of possible higher highs in the next couple of days. Buyers might end up driving prices higher with that bullish pin bar.

In the 4HR chart, there’s a bullish divergence pattern. In light of these developments, going forward every high is a shorting opportunity. Ideal buy targets can be anyway between $0.27 and $0.31 in the 4HR chart.

XMR/USD (Monero)

Monero Technical Analysis
XMR/USD Bittrex 4HR Chart for March 19, 2018

Despite the depreciation and trigger of our previous stop loss, I shall still on to a short term bull projection. As we can see from the chart, the week ended up strongly and with a bullish pin bar forming right at the 78.6%, a Monero bull spring board might right be in the offing.

$165 seems like a reliable support and of course considering the bullish reversal patterns in the 4HR chart, we can as well wait for a confirmation. Bullish confirmation in this case can only happen when there is a close above the middle BB in the 4HR chart, that’s about $200 assuming there is a build-up of buy momentum as the daily and 4HR confluence shows.

I will recommend searching for shorts at $260, that’s the immediate resistance line and it would be preferable when a stochastic sell signal prints.

EOS/USD (EOS)

EOS Technical Analysis
EOS/USD BitFinex 4HR Chart for March 19, 2018

There are basically two levels that can affirm our previous bull projections. Remember, for buys to be valid, we still need a breach of the 20 period MA in the 4HR chart.

From price action, that can happen assuming buyers build enough pressure-as daily and 4HR chart stochastic hints of.

Already there is a stochastic buy signal turning from deep the oversold territory. Additionally, if that bullish engulfing candlestick manage to stay above $5 then short term buyers can think of $6.2 on the upper limit.

LTC/USD (LTC)

LTC Technical Analysis
LTC/USD Bittrex 4HR Chart for March 19, 2018

It is likely that LTC prices are turning the corner and even though we are naturally pessimistic about this recovery, taking risks can either lead to profits or further losses.

Therefore, I recommend buying LTC now that prices seem to be taking a turn. Traders can wait for a break above the resistance trend line in the 4HR chart above.

Already, if there is confirmation of this bullish engulfing candlestick in the 4HR chart and LTC trend above the middle BB, then chances of that resistance trend breaking testing the resistance trend line is high. Aggressive traders can decide to go long now with conservative targets at $200 or higher.

NEO/USD (NEO)

NEO Technical Analysis
NEO/USD Bittrex 4HR Chart for March 19, 2018

With a bullish engulfing candlestick and a stochastic buy signal in our entry chart, it’s likely that prices might move higher in coming sessions.

First, notice that prices are already testing the middle BB at $65 in the 4HR chart and if there is a follow through after this, then NEO buyers can as well target $90, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level visible in the daily chart.

For now, it’s obvious that NEO is picking up from the 78.6% Fibonacci level at around $50. Buyers should enter and place their stops just below $50 and any move past $75 means moving stops to break even.

All BitFinex, Bittrex and CoinBase charts courtesy of Trading View

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How Bitcoin brought the ‘Wild Wild West’ to Iceland – euronews


euronews

How Bitcoin brought the ‘Wild Wild West’ to Iceland
euronews
The island nation has two major selling points for Bitcoin miners. Firstly, it’s cold, very cold. Equipment used to harvest the cryptocurrency produces a lot of heat and the Arctic winds in Iceland provide a free cooling system, eliminating the need to

and more »


euronews

How Bitcoin brought the 'Wild Wild West' to Iceland
euronews
The island nation has two major selling points for Bitcoin miners. Firstly, it's cold, very cold. Equipment used to harvest the cryptocurrency produces a lot of heat and the Arctic winds in Iceland provide a free cooling system, eliminating the need to ...

and more »

Plattsburgh’s Crypto Mining Ban Could End Earlier Than Expected

Plattsburgh imposed an 18-month halt on new commercial cryptomining operations, but indicated it could end sooner if protections are put in place.

Plattsburgh imposed an 18-month halt on new commercial cryptomining operations, but indicated it could end sooner if protections are put in place.

Bitcoin Rises From Six-Week Low as G-20 Weighs Cryptocurrencies – Bloomberg

BloombergBitcoin Rises From Six-Week Low as G-20 Weighs CryptocurrenciesBloombergA weekend selloff cryptocurrencies subsided, with Bitcoin rallying from a six-week low before Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors discuss digital asse…


Bloomberg

Bitcoin Rises From Six-Week Low as G-20 Weighs Cryptocurrencies
Bloomberg
A weekend selloff cryptocurrencies subsided, with Bitcoin rallying from a six-week low before Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors discuss digital assets in Buenos Aires. Bitcoin traded at $8,235 as of 11:20 a.m. in Hong Kong, up 12 ...

and more »

Bitcoin Price Surges 10% as G20 Will Not Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies

The G20’s announcement that it will pivot away from creating new regulations in favor of examining existing rules gave the cryptocurrency market a much needed seeing Bitcoin surge by $1000. No New Regulations The anticipation of what new regulations might come of the G20 meeting this week in Buenos Aires added to a rocky cryptocurrency market … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Surges 10% as G20 Will Not Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies

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The G20’s announcement that it will pivot away from creating new regulations in favor of examining existing rules gave the cryptocurrency market a much needed seeing Bitcoin surge by $1000.

No New Regulations

The anticipation of what new regulations might come of the G20 meeting this week in Buenos Aires added to a rocky cryptocurrency market over the past week but the news as reported by Reuters is that there will be no new regulation recommendations handed down.

Some of the nervousness of cryptocurrency market watchers coming up to the G20 was due in part to the fact that Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank Of England and outspoken critic of Bitcoin heads the Financial Stability Board which coordinates financial regulation for the Group of 20 economies.

Carney has been very vocal about his doubts concerning the credibility of cryptocurrency in the past speaking as the head of the Bank of England.

Deciding that there was not enough of a consensus to create radical new regulation among the 20 countries that make up the G20 the FSB issued a letter to the central bankers and finance ministers who will convene in Buenos Aries on the 19 and 20 saying

 “The FSB’s initial assessment is that crypto-assets do not pose risks to global financial stability at this time,”

Carneys singing off on this letter shows an increased willingness in his attitude towards accepting cryptocurrency as part of the worlds financial system. Noting that this would be his last year as both chairman of the FSB and Governor of the Bank of England he said his successor would be reviewing existing rules as opposed to pushing through new standards.

Scaling Down

President Donald Trump set a mood for scaling back regulatory powers when he ordered American regulators to relax post-banking crisis reforms in order to encourage lending in the economy.

This made world regulators speculate that America, already reticent to join global regulatory bodies would reject any new suggestions and possibly fragment markets.

In reaction, the FSB membership vowed to make a complete review of whether the watchdog is still “fit for Purpose” for evaluating and amending rules.

Having already scrapped a quarter of its working groups in an effort to make the FSB more efficient and dedicated Carney said “As its work to fix the fault lines that caused the financial crisis draws to a close, the FSB is increasingly pivoting away from design of new policy initiatives towards dynamic implementation and rigorous evaluation of the effects of the agreed G20 reforms,”

This seemingly good news for cryptocurrency regulation and the hangover effects of the latest Mt. Gox bulk sale wearing off gave the faltering Bitcoin price a nice boost, up $1000 recovering nearly 8% of its value in 24 hours.

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Ethereum Price Technical Analysis – Can ETH/USD Recover?

Key Highlights ETH price fell sharply and even traded below the $500 level before correcting higher against the US Dollar. There is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance at $550 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair is struggling to move above the $540-550 resistance area, which is … Continue reading Ethereum Price Technical Analysis – Can ETH/USD Recover?

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Key Highlights

  • ETH price fell sharply and even traded below the $500 level before correcting higher against the US Dollar.
  • There is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance at $550 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
  • The pair is struggling to move above the $540-550 resistance area, which is a bearish sign in the near term.

Ethereum price nosedived recently against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD has to move above the $550 resistance to initiate a decent recovery.

Ethereum Price Upside Hurdle

The past few days were mostly bearish on ETH price as it declined below $500 against the US Dollar. The price tumbled and even broke the $460 support area. However, it managed to stay above the $450 level and started an upside correction. A low was formed at $453 from where it corrected upwards. Buyers succeeded in pushing the price above the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $608 high to $453 low.

The upside move was positive, as the price also moved above the $500 level. However, the current wave was protected by a major bearish trend line with current resistance at $550 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The pair also failed to move past the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $608 high to $453 low. It seems like the price is facing a major sell wall near the $550-560 zone. Therefore, a successful close above the $550 level is needed for buyers to push the price further higher.

Ethereum Price Technical Analysis ETH USD

Moreover, the $570 level is near the 100 hourly simple moving average, which is the next hurdle. On the downside, there is a decent support at $500. Below $50, the price may retest the $450 zone in the near term.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now back in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is currently well above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $500

Major Resistance Level – $550

 

Charts courtesy – Trading View

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Bitcoin: Not ‘Just A Correction’ Anymore, The Bubble Is Bursting, For Now – Seeking Alpha


Seeking Alpha

Bitcoin: Not ‘Just A Correction’ Anymore, The Bubble Is Bursting, For Now
Seeking Alpha
Digital assets are getting crushed, some more than others, but the entire cryptocurrency complex is down by a staggering 67% since the highs earlier this year. There are several negative factors contributing to the “perfect storm” gathering above

and more »


Seeking Alpha

Bitcoin: Not 'Just A Correction' Anymore, The Bubble Is Bursting, For Now
Seeking Alpha
Digital assets are getting crushed, some more than others, but the entire cryptocurrency complex is down by a staggering 67% since the highs earlier this year. There are several negative factors contributing to the "perfect storm" gathering above ...

and more »

ICOs Iced: A 12-Month Freeze on US Token Trading Is Just Beginning

The SEC’s actions against U.S. ICOs appear to not only be discouraging innovation, they’re leaving even experts confused about the state of play.

The SEC’s actions against U.S. ICOs appear to not only be discouraging innovation, they’re leaving even experts confused about the state of play.

Asian Altcoin Trading Roundup: Top Cryptocurrency is Stellar Lumens

FOMO Moments The markets are slowly recovering from a new monthly low yesterday when total market capitalization fell to $275 billion, just lower than last month’s dip. After falling to a low of $7,500 Bitcoin has risen back over $8,000 however Ethereum and a lot of the altcoins have suffered heavy losses. When there is … Continue reading Asian Altcoin Trading Roundup: Top Cryptocurrency is Stellar Lumens

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FOMO Moments

The markets are slowly recovering from a new monthly low yesterday when total market capitalization fell to $275 billion, just lower than last month’s dip. After falling to a low of $7,500 Bitcoin has risen back over $8,000 however Ethereum and a lot of the altcoins have suffered heavy losses. When there is a dip many often show double digit gains the next day giving the appearance that all is well again. At the time of writing the top performing altcoin is Stellar Lumens.

Coinmarketcap reports that XLM has rebounded 19% during the Asian trading session this morning. After hitting a low of $0.16 it has recovered to around $0.22, but it still way down. Over the week Stellar has lost over 30% and the monthly chart is even gloomier with a 50% loss. In terms of BTC Stellar is up only 10% today at 2717 satoshis, this time yesterday it was trading at just over 2400 sats. Since its peak in early January XLM has lost 75% and continues to fall.

Aside from the bounce and recovery there are no other fundamentals affecting Stellar Lumens. Those altcoins that fell the hardest often recover a little quicker to make up those losses. The longer term outlook for XLM is still bearish as it has been in a downwards trend for over two months. Stellar is traded predominantly on Binance, Upbit and Poloniex, volume has risen in the past few hours and is currently just over $100 million. There are 103 billion XLM in total with 18.5 billion currently circulating.

Nearly all of the altcoins are showing some recovery this morning. Those leading the way are Ripple, Cardano, Nem, and Icon. However these are the one that have suffered heavier losses and are just trying to claw back some of that deficit.

More on Stellar can be found here: https://www.stellar.org/

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.

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Secretive High-Tech Wall Street Trading Firm is Now Trading Bitcoin

Secretive High-Tech Wall Street Trading Firm is Now Trading BitcoinThis week Jane Street Capital a global proprietary trading firm has announced it has been trading BTC these days. Often referred to as one of Wall Street’s most secretive investment companies, Jane Street says if cryptocurrencies continue to rise they expect to be involved. Also read: Championing Decentralized Exchanges, Now Might Be the Perfect Time […]

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Secretive High-Tech Wall Street Trading Firm is Now Trading Bitcoin

This week Jane Street Capital a global proprietary trading firm has announced it has been trading BTC these days. Often referred to as one of Wall Street’s most secretive investment companies, Jane Street says if cryptocurrencies continue to rise they expect to be involved.

Also read: Championing Decentralized Exchanges, Now Might Be the Perfect Time for Bisq

The ‘Secretive’ and High-Tech Trading Firm Jane Street is Flipping Bitcoins

This High-Tech Wall Street Trading Firm is Now Trading BitcoinThe trading firm Jane Street operated in New York City, London and Hong Kong and the company actively trades $8-13 billion worth of equities, Bonds, Futures, Options, and other investments. Jane Street claims to execute over 1Mn trades per day. The New York Times has referred to Jane Street as one of the most secretive firms out there that handles a lot of trade volume. The news outlet called the traders “coders with a Ph.D.” and the firm specializes in lots of arbitrage trades. According to Business Insider, the firm has explained it is now dabbling in BTC trading.

Arbitrage opportunities in the world of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin are very tempting to firms like Jane Street because spreads can be very high on different trading platforms. Global BTC exchanges can have as much as 10 percent in arbitrage opportunities between each trading venue. Jane Street has not given any details on how it has been trading BTC but explains that if cryptos continue to be hot, the company will continue to remain active.

“Jane Street trades over 56,000 products globally across a wide variety of asset classes, including bitcoin,” the company explains this week.  

Jane Street has always taken a considered approach to trading opportunities and will continue to do so, as more cryptocurrency products emerge, we expect to be involved.

High-Tech Wall Street Trading Firm Jane Street is Trading Bitcoin
Cryptocurrency arbitrage opportunities can be as much as 10% on different exchanges.

Jane Street Follows Other Well Known Wall Street Market Makers

The news also follows other big-name Wall Street firms who have been reportedly trading bitcoin or crypto-based exchange-traded notes and futures products. This year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein explained if clients want to trade BTC they will help facilitate. “We’re clearing futures in bitcoins for some of our futures clients — We’d clear them,” explains Blankfein. “We’re a prime broker, and so if our clients are going to do it, we’re going to do it.”

Back in September of 2017, Jamie Dimon explained that bitcoin traders were “stupid.” But the firm was caught red-handed trading BTC exchange-traded notes for clients. Further, the company has stated it is open to offering clients CME and Cboe bitcoin futures.

Jane Street is different than JP Morgan and Goldman as it uses the Ocaml programming language that helps the firm’s traders quickly execute trades in changing market conditions. The company has even released some open source code for its Ocaml libraries. Jane Street did not reveal to the press how it was actively trading cryptocurrencies.

What do you think of Jane Street trading bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this story in the comments below. 


Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Jane Street. 


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Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 03/19/2018 – Early Bullish Signals

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights Bitcoin price was previously trading below a descending trend line to indicate that a reversal is in order. Price has also broken past the first dynamic inflection point at the 100 SMA and is closing in on the 200 SMA next. A move past this level could draw more buyers in … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 03/19/2018 – Early Bullish Signals

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Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

  • Bitcoin price was previously trading below a descending trend line to indicate that a reversal is in order.
  • Price has also broken past the first dynamic inflection point at the 100 SMA and is closing in on the 200 SMA next.
  • A move past this level could draw more buyers in and allow the reversal to gain traction.

Bitcoin price has broken past a short-term trend resistance level to signal that buyers are trying to regain the upper hand.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is still below the longer-term 200 SMA to suggest that the path of least resistance might be to the downside. In other words, there’s still a chance for the selloff to reverse and for the breakout to be a fake one.

In that case, price could revisit the previous lows around $7200 or fall to new ones. Stochastic is indicating overbought conditions and looks ready to turn lower, likely indicating a pickup in bearish momentum as well. Similarly, RSI is in the overbought zone to show that buyers are already exhausted.

On the other hand, a sustained climb past the next dynamic inflection point at the 200 SMA or $8500 could lead to a move up to the next barrier at $10,000 then at $12,000.

Market Factors

The G20 Summit this week could make or break the bitcoin price rally as traders are waiting to hear how world leaders are planning on addressing issues surrounding cryptocurrencies. An approach that is more open to developments in the industry could sustain the climb while a push for stricter oversight could let the selloff resume.

Apart from that, the upcoming FOMC decision could also lead to big moves for the dollar. An interest rate hike is widely expected, so traders might simply tune in to the actual statement to look for any changes in rhetoric that could serve as clues for future policy action. A dovish hike could lead to dollar weakness that bitcoin price could take advantage of.

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Public Vs Private blockchain protocols: What’s the difference?

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin protocol was the first to successfully apply the concept of the distributed public ledger to peer-to-peer transactions. More recently, entrepreneurs in the space have begun to find applications for blockchain technology outsi…

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin protocol was the first to successfully apply the concept of the distributed public ledger to peer-to-peer transactions. More recently, entrepreneurs in the space have begun to find applications for blockchain technology outside of the p2p money use case. This article will look at how these different applications fall into one of two categories, and what is the difference between them: Public Vs Private blockchain protocols.

Demand For Bitcoin Hardware Wallets Rise in South Korea, as Users Develop Awareness

According to security-focused researcher Kim In-soon at South Korea’s ETNews, the demand for bitcoin hardware wallets is increasing rapidly in South Korea, as users have started to avoid local cryptocurrency exchanges to store their funds. Exchanges Are Not Secure Over the past two years, even the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms in South Korea including Bithumb … Continue reading Demand For Bitcoin Hardware Wallets Rise in South Korea, as Users Develop Awareness

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According to security-focused researcher Kim In-soon at South Korea’s ETNews, the demand for bitcoin hardware wallets is increasing rapidly in South Korea, as users have started to avoid local cryptocurrency exchanges to store their funds.

Exchanges Are Not Secure

Over the past two years, even the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms in South Korea including Bithumb have suffered several data breaches and hacking attacks. In other regions like the US and Europe, only a handful of exchanges have not experienced major hacks to date.

Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet platforms are vulnerable to hacking attacks and many kinds of cyber attack methods because of their reliance on a single point of failure. Since cryptocurrency exchanges are managed by a group of administrators or a company, their servers, databases, and infrastructures are all managed centrally.

The centralization of various components of trading platforms provide an opportunity for hackers to break into the system and potentially steal user data, sensitive financial information, and in the worst scenario, reallocate user funds.

An easy alternative to cryptocurrency exchanges is non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to remain in full control of their funds. Non-custodial wallets do not store or protect private keys and back up codes on behalf of users. Users are provided with their private keys and 12-word passphrases that can be utilized to backup or recover their funds, in case users cannot access their accounts of the platform is compromised by hackers.

Web-based wallets can be a target of DDoS attacks or server outages, that may significantly slow down the process of checking balance, withdrawing funds, and sending transactions. Last year, in November 2017, Blockchain, the second most widely utilized cryptocurrency wallet behind Coinbase, experienced a server outage that briefly disabled customers from viewing their balance on the wallet.

Non-custodial wallets like Blockchain do not store or manage user funds and private keys but provide full access to funds to their users. But, because of their reliance on centralized servers, occasionally, server outages could cause inconveniences.

Hardware Wallets

Due to the limitations and weaknesses of centralized wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges, many users in South Korea have started to prefer hardware wallets and cold wallets over centralized hot wallets.

Over the past year, at least three major cryptocurrency hardware wallets targeting the local market have launched, including Penta Cryptowallet, KeyPair, and TouchxWallet. In acknowledgement of the rising demand for hardware wallets, Ledger, the largest cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer based in France, has decided to enter the South Korean market.

In a highly volatile and rapidly growing market in cryptocurrency, the shift in trend from easy-to-use centralized wallets to secure hardware wallets can be considered as an optimistic indicator, as it demonstrates the willingness of users to develop awareness of security.

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