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Prominent Crypto Hedge Fund Says Worst Is Over for Bitcoin – Wall Street Journal

Wall Street JournalProminent Crypto Hedge Fund Says Worst Is Over for BitcoinWall Street JournalA prominent cryptocurrency hedge fund said bitcoin prices have bottomed out. San Francisco-based Pantera Capital Management called $6,500 the probable low f…


Wall Street Journal

Prominent Crypto Hedge Fund Says Worst Is Over for Bitcoin
Wall Street Journal
A prominent cryptocurrency hedge fund said bitcoin prices have bottomed out. San Francisco-based Pantera Capital Management called $6,500 the probable low for bitcoin in the current bear market. The investment firm also said it was “highly likely” that ...
Crypto Hedge Fund Says Bitcoin Has Bottomed OutBloomberg

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Smart Money Blasts Small-Fry In Massive Bitcoin Pump – CryptoSlate

CryptoSlateSmart Money Blasts Small-Fry In Massive Bitcoin PumpCryptoSlateMarket Cap: $316.07B 24h Vol: $25.28B Cryptos: 1561 ICOs: 920 Events: 151 · About · Advertising · ICO Listings · Jobs · Contact · Telegr…


CryptoSlate

Smart Money Blasts Small-Fry In Massive Bitcoin Pump
CryptoSlate
Market Cap: $316.07B 24h Vol: $25.28B Cryptos: 1561 ICOs: 920 Events: 151 · About · Advertising · ICO Listings · Jobs · Contact · Telegram · Twitter · Facebook · LinkedIn · Instagram · CryptoSlate · News · Coins · ICO Database · Events; Publish; Search ...

and more »

74 Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTC

74 Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTCThis week the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange and payment processor, Bitflyer, announced its partnership with SBC Medical Group the parent company of the popular Shonan Beauty Clinic. The union between both firms means that 74 clinics nationwide will allow patients to settle their bills in cryptocurrency. Also read: Markets Update: BTC Price Jumps Over $1000 in Less […]

The post 74 Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTC appeared first on Bitcoin News.

74 Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTC

This week the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange and payment processor, Bitflyer, announced its partnership with SBC Medical Group the parent company of the popular Shonan Beauty Clinic. The union between both firms means that 74 clinics nationwide will allow patients to settle their bills in cryptocurrency.

Also read: Markets Update: BTC Price Jumps Over $1000 in Less Than an Hour

Pay for Cosmetic Treatments in Japan with BTC

74 Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTCThe SBC operated Shonan Beauty Clinic chain in Japan now accepts BTC for services by utilizing Bitflyer’s bitcoin payment platform. Shonan clinics offer a wide variety of services like eyelid surgery, liposuction, dermatology, acupuncture, cosmetic dental, rhinoplasty, and breast augmentation. There are 74 Shonan facilities across Japan and some of their surgeons and doctors are very well known. All Shonan clinics will now accept bitcoin for services but there is a cap on how much you can spend.

Currently, the maximum amount per transaction for bitcoin purchases is 2 million yen ($18,700 USD). Bitflyer says they’ve introduced BTC to thousands of merchants from various industries and “the number of introduction cases is increasing”.

“With our partnership with SBC Medical Group and more domestic and overseas businesses — we will contribute to improving convenience for our customers,” Bitflyer’s press statement explains.

74 Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTC
Shonan Beauty Clinic

A Wide Range of Online and Brick and Mortar Businesses Now Accept BTC Through Bitflyer

74 Shonan Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTCBitflyer has been partnering with a lot of merchants and Japan now has a wide range of stores that accept BTC for payments. The company has signed firm’s like Marui Group’s department stores, the retail chain BIC Camera, the points website Hapitas, and Samantha Thavasa Japan Co. Ltd. The firm also provides insurance for customers that cover failed transactions involving the BTC network.

74 Shonan Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTC
Shonan Beauty Clinic

Shonan Beauty Clinic in Japan is not the only cosmetic surgery company that accepts BTC as there are a few others worldwide. Other practices that accept bitcoin include Vanity Cosmetic Surgery in Miami, Elite Body Sculpture in Beverly Hills, Artisan Cosmetic Surgery in Ohio, Houston Cosmetic Surgery, and Artful Awakenings Cosmetic Surgery in Melbourne Florida.

What do you think about Bitflyer enabling 74 Shonan Beauty Clinics to accept BTC for payment in Japan? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.


Images via Pixabay, Shonan Beauty Clinic, and Bitflyer. 


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The post 74 Beauty Clinics in Japan Now Accept Payments in BTC appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Another Washington County Puts Freeze on Bitcoin Mining – Coindesk


Coindesk

Another Washington County Puts Freeze on Bitcoin Mining
Coindesk
Officials in yet another county in the U.S. state of Washington have placed a moratorium on new crypto mining operations. Announced Wednesday, Mason County’s Public Utility District (PUD) commissioners decided to implement the freeze in order to


Coindesk

Another Washington County Puts Freeze on Bitcoin Mining
Coindesk
Officials in yet another county in the U.S. state of Washington have placed a moratorium on new crypto mining operations. Announced Wednesday, Mason County's Public Utility District (PUD) commissioners decided to implement the freeze in order to ...

Another Washington County Puts Freeze on Bitcoin Mining

Public utility officials in yet another county in the U.S. state of Washington have placed a moratorium on new crypto mining operations Wednesday.

Public utility officials in yet another county in the U.S. state of Washington have placed a moratorium on new crypto mining operations Wednesday.

Ripple Partners with Santander on New Foreign Exchange App

European financial giant The Santander Group is reported to be launching a cross-border foreign exchange application on Friday based on blockchain technology developed by Ripple. Ripple Partners with Santander on New Foreign Exchange App The Financial Times reported on Thursday that the Spanish based banking group in partnership with Ripple have created an app they are

The post Ripple Partners with Santander on New Foreign Exchange App appeared first on NewsBTC.

European financial giant The Santander Group is reported to be launching a cross-border foreign exchange application on Friday based on blockchain technology developed by Ripple.

Ripple Partners with Santander on New Foreign Exchange App

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that the Spanish based banking group in partnership with Ripple have created an app they are calling One Pay FX which will be launched in four countries – Spain, the U.K., Brazil, and Poland.

The application is a product of the ongoing partnership between Ripple and Santander, which was one of the original investors in Ripples A series funding in 2015.

The One Pay FX app is built on Ripple’s distributed ledger technology and is rolling out after two years of development. The product will make Santander one of the first banks to offer blockchain – based foreign exchange payments to its customers.

First trialed among Santander’s UK employees in 2016 the app is based on Ripple’s xCurrent platform. That is a distributed network created to facilitate cross-border transactions. Neither X-current nor the One Pay FX app utilizes XRP, the cryptocurrency derived from Ripple’s blockchain protocol.

Santander Group says it expects to extend the service to additional countries in the near future and is considering making the service available to other financial institutions as well. Transactions from the initial four countries covered by the app may account for close to half of Santander’s retail consumers according to the original FT report.

This announcement comes only days after Ripple announced its $25 million XRP investment in a fund dedicated to blockchain technology development. As reported in NewsBTC Ripple added its $25 to the $150 million fund managed by Blockchain Capital Parallel IV, LP “to be invested in entrepreneurial enterprises which can find additional uses for Ripple’s blockchain technology.

Ripple says XRP is not a Security

In related news, the debate over whether XRP is to be considered a security or not has returned after the President of Coinbase made the implication in a recent interview.

Asiff Hirji told CNBC’s “Fast Money” panel that currently Coinbase lists all cryptocurrencies for which there is a clear regulatory certainty – XRP is not one of them.

The question of what qualifies as a security in the cryptocurrency market is still unclear as the SEC puts off making a final distinction while referring both exchanges and consumers to the Howey Test of 1946  in order to make their own decisions.

Ripple’s chief market strategist, Cory Johnson responded on CNBC by saying

 “We absolutely are not a security. We don’t meet the standards for what a security is based on the history of court law,”

 

Image from Shutterstock

The post Ripple Partners with Santander on New Foreign Exchange App appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Set to Surge, Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Disagrees With Barclays

One of the worlds largest cryptocurrency hedge funds predicts the end of Bitcoin’s slump in sharp contrast to Barclays bank which claims the cryptocurrency has found its “new norm”. Hedge Fund Looks for Bitcoin to Surpass $20,000 Pantera Capital Management says that Bitcoin has found it’s ultimate low at $6,500 in this bear market and

The post Bitcoin Set to Surge, Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Disagrees With Barclays appeared first on NewsBTC.

One of the worlds largest cryptocurrency hedge funds predicts the end of Bitcoin’s slump in sharp contrast to Barclays bank which claims the cryptocurrency has found its “new norm”.

Hedge Fund Looks for Bitcoin to Surpass $20,000

Pantera Capital Management says that Bitcoin has found it’s ultimate low at $6,500 in this bear market and that it should stay above that for the remainder of the year.

The crypto investment firm which began trading in Bitcoin in 2014 and now has more than $800 million in assets sent a note to investors on Thursday, April 12, saying that it has only made three buy and one sell recommendations in seven years, but they predict Bitcoin will rise to and surpass it’s previous $20,000 price high by the end of the year.

According to Bloomberg, Pantera’s Dan Morehead and Joey Krug stated in the note,

“For those who are new to Pantera who might think a fund manager like Pantera would always be saying ‘Today’s a great day to get long” I rarely have such strong conviction on timing. A wall of institutional money will drive the markets much higher.”

The prediction from Pantera Capital comes in part from Bitcoin having crossed its 200-day moving average. Referred to as the “death cross” by some economists in reference to the shape created when the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average.

Though the term is ominous Pantera sees it as a good sign, writing in their report that “Traders often use that time period as it seems to be the optimal response time of human psychology. Long enough to stop fretting about missing the trade. Not too long that the information is lost.

Pantera Report in Conflict with Barclays Findings

The report from Pantera Capital calling for Bitcoin to see big gains in the coming year is in direct conflict to the recent findings from Barclays Bank analysts who likened the movement of the cryptocurrency markets from the high in late 2017 to the lows at the start of 2018 to a viral breakout that has been treated.

As was reported by NewsBTC economists at Barclays created a model that examined the rise and fall of Bitcoin. They explained their methodology saying  “We developed a theoretical model of an asset price with a pool of speculative investors and compared it with actual bitcoin price behavior to see what it might imply for the future dynamics

From this, the analysts concluded that Bitcoin will continue on a “downward spiral” while hesitating to predict a fall below $6,000.

The story that first ran in the Independent balanced Barclays’ findings with the comments of former COO of Skype Micheal Jackson who said Bitcoins price lows at the moment will “will appear trivial” by years end.

 

Image from Shutterstock

The post Bitcoin Set to Surge, Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Disagrees With Barclays appeared first on NewsBTC.

Ethereum Price Technical Analysis – ETH/USD Back in Uptrend

Key Highlights ETH price surged sharply and cleared the $480 resistance level against the US Dollar. There is a major bullish trend line forming with support at $440 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair remains in an uptrend and it is likely to move above $495-500 for more gains

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

Key Highlights

  • ETH price surged sharply and cleared the $480 resistance level against the US Dollar.
  • There is a major bullish trend line forming with support at $440 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
  • The pair remains in an uptrend and it is likely to move above $495-500 for more gains in the near term.

Ethereum price is rising sharply against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD is now well above the $440 pivot level and eyes upsides above $500.

Ethereum Price Uptrend

Yesterday, we saw a decent start of an upside move above $425 in ETH price against the US Dollar. The price gained upside momentum and it succeeded in breaking a crucial pivot level at $440. It cleared the way for more gains and the price rocketed above the $480 level. It even pierced the $500 level and traded as high as $503.34. At the moment, the price is consolidating gains above the $480 level.

It recently declined below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $450 low to $503 high. However, the downside correction was limited by the $480-484 support area. Moreover, the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $450 low to $503 high acted as a support. It seems like there is a solid support forming above the $480 level. There is also a major bullish trend line forming with support at $440 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD.

Ethereum Price Technical Analysis ETH USD

Therefore, it seems like the price is placed nicely above $480 and is preparing for more upsides. A proper close above the $500 level could open the doors for further gains. If there is a downside correction from the current levels, the broken resistances at $480 and $440 are likely to provide supports.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is placed nicely in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is currently near the 70 level.

Major Support Level – $480

Major Resistance Level – $500

 

Charts courtesy – Trading View

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

Asian Altcoin Trading Roundup: Top is Cryptocurrency OmiseGO

FOMO Moments In contrast to this time last week the crypto markets are on fire today. After what seemed like an endless bearish winter there is finally some positive momentum which has taken total market cap back over $300 billion for the first time since the end of March. Bitcoin erupted a few hours ago

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

FOMO Moments

In contrast to this time last week the crypto markets are on fire today. After what seemed like an endless bearish winter there is finally some positive momentum which has taken total market cap back over $300 billion for the first time since the end of March. Bitcoin erupted a few hours ago surging almost a thousand dollars in less than an hour. It is currently trading 12.4% up on the day at $7,800. Many of the altcoins have performed even better and are showing solid gains in Asia this morning. One that is way ahead of the pack at the moment is OmiseGO.

According to Coinmarketcap OMG is trading 37% higher during the morning’s Asian session. The spike came a couple of hours ago when it jumped from $11.7 to $16 OMG has since fallen back to just over $13.7 which is a strong gain from its price this time yesterday of $9.85. OmiseGO has had a good week climbing 60% from $8.8 this time last week. Monthly gains are not so impressive as this altcoin is trading at the same level it was in mid-March. Against Bitcoin OMG has jumped 25% to 180000 satoshis from 142000 sats the same time yesterday. On the seven day chart OMG has posted gains of 36% or 48000 satoshis.

Buying momentum for this Southeast Asian altcoin has come from a number of positive developments in recent days including a the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a major South Korean credit card business. OmiseGO has also collaborated with MakerDAO to use its stablecoin, DAI, on the OMG decentralized trading platform. Once again South Korea is leading the charge with Upbit taking 35% of the total trade volume in KRW.

Total trade volume has jumped from $40 million to $316 million over the past 24 hours and OMG has moved up to 20th spot with a total market cap of $1.4 billion. There are 140 million tokens in total supply with 102 million circulating. Total crypto market capitalization has increased 12.3% in the past day and is currently at $310 billion. Many are now hoping that this signals the end of the three month long bear run though this rally would need to extend a lot further to confirm it.

Other altcoins enjoying solid gains this morning include Ripple, Cardano, Iota, Nem, VeChain, and Bytom.

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 Altcoin Trading Roundup: Top is Cryptocurrency OmiseGO appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – BCH/USD Bullish Above $700

Key Points Bitcoin cash price surged higher and broke the $700 resistance against the US Dollar. There is a short-term bullish breakout pattern forming with resistance at $745 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair is placed nicely in a bullish zone and is currently eyeing more gains

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – BCH/USD Bullish Above $700 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

  • Bitcoin cash price surged higher and broke the $700 resistance against the US Dollar.
  • There is a short-term bullish breakout pattern forming with resistance at $745 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
  • The pair is placed nicely in a bullish zone and is currently eyeing more gains above $745.

Bitcoin cash price rocketed above the $700 level against the US Dollar. BCH/USD is back in an uptrend and is eyeing more upsides in the near term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Trend

Yesterday, there was a nasty upside move in the crypto market as bitcoin, Ethereum, bitcoin cash and others rocketed higher. There was a major upside move in bitcoin cash price from the $655 swing low against the US Dollar. The price traded above a couple of important hurdles such as $680 and $700. The upside move was strong as the price even broke the $720 level.

A high was formed at $743 before the price started consolidating gains. It corrected slightly and tested the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $655 low to $743 high. However, losses were contained and the $720 support acted as a support. At the moment, it seems like there is a short-term bullish breakout pattern forming with resistance at $745 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair. The pair is placed nicely in a bullish zone and if buyers remain in action, it could move above the $745 level in the near term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis BCH USD

Above the mentioned $745, the price may even break the $750 level. On the downside, there are many supports such as $720, $700 and $680. Therefore, the chances of an upside move are very high above $745.

Looking at the technical indicators:

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

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is positioned near the overbought levels.

Major Support Level – $720

Major Resistance Level – $745

 

Charts courtesy – Trading View

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Technical Analysis – BCH/USD Bullish Above $700 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Don’t Overlook the FBAR Requirement When Filing Cryptocurrency Taxes

TheMerkle Bitcoin Taxes TipsWith tax season upon us, cryptocurrency enthusiasts have a lot to take into account. For one thing, it seems there are some details which most people may not be aware of. Failing to comply with these requirements can lead to a jail sentence, though, so it’s important to keep these things in mind at all times. It’s Cryptocurrency Tax Season Filing taxes is always a bit of a difficult task when it comes to cryptocurrencies. It is quite difficult to fill out everything unless one uses specialized software for this specific purpose. Thankfully, there are quite a few tools available to help

TheMerkle Bitcoin Taxes Tips

With tax season upon us, cryptocurrency enthusiasts have a lot to take into account. For one thing, it seems there are some details which most people may not be aware of. Failing to comply with these requirements can lead to a jail sentence, though, so it’s important to keep these things in mind at all times.

It’s Cryptocurrency Tax Season

Filing taxes is always a bit of a difficult task when it comes to cryptocurrencies. It is quite difficult to fill out everything unless one uses specialized software for this specific purpose. Thankfully, there are quite a few tools available to help out in this regard, although that is only the first step to take when it comes to filing taxes.

It seems there is a lot of confusion regarding owning cryptocurrency which is stored offshore. A lot of American cryptocurrency users rely on non-US exchanges for either Bitcoin or altcoins. Any money held abroad must be disclosed to the IRS and the US Treasury. Anyone failing to do so will face a hefty fine and a potential jail sentence as well.

Unfortunately, this poses a big problem for cryptocurrency users. Since users who purchased cryptocurrency for the first time last year may not even be aware of this requirement, it is very possible they will face a lot of repercussions due to this “hidden rule”. As soon as you store over $10,000 worth of cryptocurrency abroad in any form, it must be disclosed in one’s Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).

Additionally, these foreign holdings need to be disclosed on Form 8938, which is how people typically file their taxes with the IRS. Although this sounds like a rather trivial matter, a lot of people tend to forget these things, mainly because they aren’t aware of them. With the IRS defining cryptocurrencies as property, holders will need to pay taxes at their capital gains rate. This also applies to foreign trading platforms, which poses a lot of new questions.

The biggest question is how this affects US citizens who buy cryptocurrency on foreign exchanges. Right now, tax professionals are divided on this front, as it is possible that there is an FBAR requirement. Even so, it does not appear to be mandatory, and it is something the US government will need to address sooner rather than later. No one can expect taxpayers to be in the loop on all things related to tax filings and cryptocurrencies.

It will be quite interesting to see how all of this plays out for US taxpayers. After all, if that is indeed an official requirement, the IRS direly failed to communicate this vital piece of information. A foreign exchange can be considered a reportable foreign account for FBAR. Now is a good time to talk with your accountant or tax man and see if they can help you file such a document before tax day. It’s not worth risking a jail sentence over; that much is evident.