Day: April 15, 2018

Bitcoin doomsayers have once again called it too early. Bank of America Corp., the second-largest bank in the US by total assets, announced that “the greatest bubble in history is popping”. Somehow, it doesn’t seem that way. The price of Bitcoin has broken above the $8,000 mark and has steadily collected gains over the weekend. Yes, this could be just a simple short squeeze before the very imminent demise of the cryptocurrency market, but what has history taught us?

The Bitcoin Bubble Burst Déjà Vu

Bitcoin is one of “the greatest bubbles in history”, Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, wrote in a note Sunday. Hartnett leads a research group that concluded the Bitcoin bubble has already burst. Equipped with an X (Years from Peak) and Y (Multiple from starting level) chart, the group says the cryptocurrency peaked in December, when it reached $20,000, and is on a ‘post-peak’ mode.

To back up the ‘solid reasoning’, Hartnett’s team compared its price behavior to other famous bubbles in history: the 1929 crash, Gold, South Sea Company, Mississipi Company, and of course, the Tulip Mania in 17th century Netherlands. The much-disputed race for the biggest speculative bubble in history clearly has a winner: Bitcoin. The digital currency was able to nearly multiply its value by 60 at its peak. That is 150% the value of tulips at their ‘best’.

That was an interesting chart, but does it serve as evidence that Bitcoin is a bubble and that it has burst? Of course not. I guess they claim the bubble has burst because Bitcoin has fallen over 65 percent from its December peak. But how seriously should we take such light analysis? Any differently than the Economist story in 2011? Or the CNN story in 2013? Or the CNN story in 2015?

“BITCOIN, briefly the world’s favorite cryptocurrency, is in trouble. It plummeted from a peak of around $33 per unit in June to just $2.51”, said the Economist on a piece called “The Bursting of The Bitcoin Bubble” in 2011.

CNN’s “Bitcoin Bubble May Have Burst”, dated 2013, makes a similar point. “The price of Bitcoins has plunged more than 70% in the past two days, sparking a rush of activity that overwhelmed trading platforms and suggested the bubble in the virtual currency has burst”, it said.

In 2015, the news agency proved it didn’t learn the first time: “Bitcoin lost more than 60% of its value last year. The digital currency has already plunged another 30% in the first few days of 2015 — and that includes a 30% rebound on Thursday!”, said CNN in its article entitled “Will Bitcoin Ever Rebound?”.

I just picked these three pieces at random. The list could go on and on. This reminds me of David Meade, a Christian numerologist who claims the end of days is on April 23, 2018. Who knows, maybe this time he’s right.

Image from Shutterstock

The post No, the Bitcoin Bubble is Not Bursting appeared first on NewsBTC.

There are several reasons to discount the contribution of tax-related selling to the Q1 bear market – and thus the chances of a post-April 17 rebound.

In just two days, the U.S. tax filing deadline, April 17th, will be here. Despite this, only a very small fraction of Americans have reported their cryptocurrency holdings. In fact, data released from Credit Karma reveals that fewer than 100 people — out of the most recent 250,000 filers using the tax platform — reported capital gains on their cryptocurrency investments.

“There’s a good chance that the perceived complexities of reporting cryptocurrency gains are pushing filers to wait until the very last minute,” Jagjit Chawla, general manager of Credit Karma Tax, told CNBC in an email. “I want to reassure people that it’s not as complex as it may seem at first glance and that Credit Karma Tax has a number of resources about how to approach bitcoin and taxes.”

IRS on Cryptocurrencies

According to the International Revenue Service (IRS), which began providing guidance on Bitcoin transactions over four years ago, the agency considers cryptocurrencies to be classified as property. Because of this, the purchase, sale, trade, and mining of digital currencies could be considered taxable events.

Credit Karma, the popular credit score website and tax platform, has documented information from the IRS which details those individuals reporting capital gains from cryptocurrency investments. According to the company, less than 100 people have reported these taxable events to the IRS out of the 250,000 most recent tax filers, just days ahead of the deadline to file.

The figure, which amounts to about 0.04% of tax filers, is not far off from previous ones. For example, for the 2015 tax year the IRS indicated that only 802 people had included cryptocurrency gains or losses in their tax filings. That said, because of the massive differences between 2015 and 2017 with regards to the popularity of the cryptocurrency space, comparisons are difficult to draw.

Reasons For the Low Numbers

Bitcoin multiplied more than 13 times last year, while the cryptocurrency market in its entirety gained well over $500 billion in value. As a result, U.S. households likely owe $25 billion in capital gains taxes for their digital currency holdings, according to estimates from Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors.

What’s worth nothing is that some experts have attributed part of Bitcoin’s more than 40% drop so far this year to investors cashing out to pay capital gains taxes ahead of the April 17th deadline. Bitcoin suddenly rallied 17% Thursday morning and traded above $8,000 Friday morning. Today the coin sits at almost $8,400.

Credit Karma Tax’s Chawla explained that there is: “A good chance that the perceived complexities of reporting cryptocurrency gains are pushing filers to wait until the very last minute”

Elizabeth Crouse, a partner at Seattle-based law firm K&L Gates, shares Chawla’s perspective. Crouse argues that a high risk tolerance amongst many crypto-enthusiasts means they are likely more willing to risk the chance that the IRS comes knocking, saying:

“If I had to guess, there’s probably a lot of underreporting.” Adding that, “Most of the people in the cryptocurrency world tend to have a pretty high risk tolerance.”

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock

The post Two Days From U.S. Tax Filing Deadline, Large Majority of Crypto Holders Have Not Reported Their Investments appeared first on NewsBTC.

As equity markets were struggling with uncertainty, crypto has experienced its best week of 2018 so far. #MARKET_ANALYSIS

Mastercard is looking to expand its offices based in Dublin, Ireland, with 175 new technology developers recruited for roles such as blockchain experts, software engineers and information security specialists.

Mastercard is confident that blockchain technology is the future in regards to security and integrity within financial systems. This is displayed by the array of blockchain-related patents that they have acquired in an effort to make the best of payment innovations.

Back in 2016, Mastercard released some preliminary APIs, Blockchain Core API, Smart Contracts API and Fast Pay Network API. The implementation of blockchain technology is set to change the way in which consumers pay for goods and services.

Mastercard, like Santander with its blockchain phone app, will be working alongside San Fransisco-based technology Ripple to realize its blockchain future.

Mastercard’s view for blockchain purchases

It has been estimated that up to USD 1.4 trillion worth of fraudulent goods are circulating globally. This affects companies and individuals financially and could pose health and safety risks.

The Mastercard Blockchain and Authorization Network sets out to provide proof of provenance for goods. It plans to track anything from vehicle parts, pharmaceuticals, art, electrical items and luxury goods as they are created, transferred, purchased and re-sold, to prevent fraud.

Blockchains privacy will allow vehicle owners and registered dealers to share vehicle information with each other privately. Service history can be encoded into a smart contract, containing details such as the mileage, service type and stored irrefutably on the blockchain. Pre-purchase vehicle checks will be simpler: after gaining permissions to view private data, buyers can access service history, previous owner details and car details.

The person-to-person global market – worth over USD 16 trillion – could use blockchain for faster, more secure payments with the ability to set release parameters for balances and generate custom reports on transactions.

The blockchain future is coming

Ireland is among 21 other European Union countries pushing for a wider adoption of blockchain technology in the region.

In 2016, Justin Pinkham, blockchain lead at MasterCard, said, “We believe that there is a role of blockchain in the future of commerce. This future needs to be developed in partnership with banks, merchants, and industry participants.”

Mastercard believes Dublin is a key technology hub and that future development isn’t only limited to payments, having tested pay-as-you-go solar energy provision in Africa.

The post Mastercard Joins the Blockchain Bandwagon appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Irrefutably, Bitcoin and most altcoins are bottoming up. However, it’s all about fundamental events and supply-demand dynamics that could affect price movement of most these altcoins especially EOS which had its EOSDAC air drop on April 15. In my view and basing my forecast on EOS technical analysis, prices might retrace back to $6.

Let’s have a look at these charts:

XLM/USD (Stellar Lumens)

Stellar Lumens Daily Chart by Trading View

In the last 24 hours alone, Stellar Lumens is up 16.28 percent. Even though there is little to talk on the fundamental front, it’s obvious that Stellar Lumens is ending the week at a stronger footing. Week over week, it’s up 44.68 percent and is the 3^rd most performing coin in the top 10 after IOTA.

When it comes to the charts, the daily chart gives us a better glimpse of price action. As we can see, bull momentum is up. Most notably though is the banding that is in its earlier stages. Check out those bullish candlesticks moving along the upper BB. It means buy momentum is strong and all we have to do is to look for buy entries in lower chart.

In my view, buying on dips at around $0.27 can be profitable and in that case, feasible bull targets should be $0.4 and $0.5 on the upper end.

IOT/USD (IOTA)

IOTA Daily Chart by Trading View

Of all the high performing coins bottoming out last week, IOTA is a stand out. Not only is it up 66 percent in the last 7 days, it has more potential for further upsides. I shall be watching this coin closely and with the addition of Jan Pauseback, will there be a positive response?

Welcome Jan Pauseback to the IOTA Foundationhttps://t.co/vfhJVTysES#IOTA #Mobility

— IOTA (@iotatoken) April 15, 2018

Despite the FUDs going up and hard statistics hinting of a possible short squeeze-IOTA shorts is up 86%-there are chances that prices might after all explode to the upside. Historically, technical developments like these padded with higher highs and fear points to the end of a bear market.

This is why I recommend longs and waiting for dips on lower time frames can be a perfect strategy. Our short term support lies at $1.45. Should prices drop, then wait until a stochastic buy signal prints, buy IOTA and aim for $3.

EOS/USD (EOS)

EOS Daily Chart by Trading View

If you had over 100 EOS tokens on April 15, 2017 then expect to have your EOSDAC tokens in your Ethereum or Exchange’s wallet later. In case you had less than 100 EOS tokens, you can as well apply manually. Remember, the end game here is to develop and achieve this full decentralization according to EOS objectives.

Regarding eosDAC airdrop that will be done in 24hs, if you want to double check to see if your EOS is included in the snapshot tool @eosdac is using, you can check your Ethereum address here: https://t.co/Zdff7YJfDG#eos #eosio #eosairdrop @go_eos

— EOS Argentina (@EosArgentina) April 13, 2018

Anyways, besides this, Brendan Blumer the CEO of Block One said there are thousands of companies building apps on the platform. Nothing much is publically available about these companies but soon after EOSIO version 1 goes live in June, we shall know who these companies are.

[Exclusive] Interview with Brendan Blumer; CEO of EOS https://t.co/MqY5CNAJTk pic.twitter.com/lNX29AJfxk

— Its Blockchain (@ItsBlockchain) April 15, 2018

In the charts and EOS is up 43.24 percent in the last 7 days. However, not this though, prices are generally up but there is an over-valuation as the chart shows. Check out April 12-14 candlesticks which are above the upper BB and yesterday’s bear candlestick seeking for equilibrium. You can decide to stay out of this trade and wait for prices to correct say back to $6.5-$7 before looking for buy opportunities in the 4HR chart.

LTC/USD (Litecoin)

Litecoin Daily Chart by Trading View

If it interests you to become a Litecoin LN full node, then there is good news. There is a full length guide on how to install and the tutorial is literally available for everyone on the net. Other than this obvious good news, if you are in Germany you can now exchange fiat for Litecoin and other main coins at Börse Stuttgart through their app, Bison.

Paukenschlag: Mit der App BISON machen wir den Handel mit Kryptowährungen massentauglich. Check it out https://t.co/8oLFBMOClR pic.twitter.com/0WhIscXJof

— Börse Stuttgart (@boersestuttgart) April 13, 2018

From our Litecoin Technical analysis, it seems like prices are in consolidation mode. Even though Litecoin is generally up adding 11 percent in the last 7 days, it’s finding resistance at $130 despite the strong bull momentum.

Because of this, I recommend traders to pause their long entries until after prices trade above $135. Alternatively, buying on dips at around $115 and $120 can be a bargain. Overly, the ultimate bullish target of $180 is our main long objective.

NEO/USD (NEO)

NEO Daily Chart by Trading View

This year alone, we expect 3 DEX at NEO-Switcheo, NEX and Aphelion. Already we have a NEO web wallet for Aphelion and Switcheo is up and running. While NEO continues to gain ground, it’s the number of projects that are in the pipeline that may affect price in the coming days.

Moonlight is one of the startups seeking for funds by issuing out their NEP-5 tokens. They are working towards their success and recently they announced partnerships with VDT and nOS platform.

We are proud to announce technical partnerships with both @VDT_Network and @nOSplatform

The Smart Economy is growing a strong mesh of collaboration.#NEO #smarteconomy #Blockchain pic.twitter.com/70OLrjDBRg

— Moonlight (@Moonlightdotio) April 14, 2018

Even though we are net bullish on NEO-it’s up 45 percent for the week, I expect prices to pull back now that we can see sell pressure from April 15 candlestick. Potential buys zone lies at around $60 and bull targets at $90 as per our previous NEO technical analysis.

The post NEO, EOS, Litecoin, IOTA and Stellar: Technical Analysis April 16, 2018 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Chilean cryptocurrency exchanges BUDA, Orionx, and CryptoMarket take banks to court to protect the rights of citizens to buy and sell cryptocurrency.

San Francisco, a city with a respected hip-hop scene that has spawned rappers like Too Short and Mac Dre, has produced another star: “Bitcoin rapper” CoinDaddy.  The 28-year-old behind CoinDaddy, Arya Bahmanyar, left a career in commercial real estate after he said he made a small fortune in Bitcoin.

CoinDaddy: Bitcoin Rapper

CoinDaddy makes rap music about driving Lamborghinis, “slinging coin,” and indulging an urge to check the price of Bitcoin on his phone while he’s having sex. For some, his style of hip-hop may be an acquired taste, but if you’re a crypto-enthusiast there’s a lot to like.

Bahmanyar, who worked as a successful commercial real estate agent, switched career directions after claiming he made a million dollars trading Bitcoin. Bahmanyar, as CoinDaddy, now spends his time writing and performing songs for his Youtube channel, and lives off the earnings he has made trading cryptocurrencies.

According to the self-described Bitcoin millionaire, Bahmanyar hopes to turn his hobby into an entertainment brand, bringing cryptocurrency culture mainstream.

CoinDaddy’s Music

After creating a hilarious parody meditation tape that told listeners to breathe “bit” in and exhale “coin” out, following a string of bad trades, Bahmanyar had a revelation: “I’m going to make songs that aren’t that good,” Bahmanyar said he thought to himself.

His concept strings together crypto slang, like “HODL” and “mooning,” and name-drops iconic crypto figures. In “Holding The Bag,” for example, CoinDaddy mentions several cryptocurrencies and boasts of buying the dips:

“I’m closing in the profit while you’re reaching for pips / You’re coming up short while I’m buying your dips.”

The song goes on:

“Apartment’s looking like the Palace of Versailles / Long position riding on an all time high / If you want the ride, and you want the riches / Then buy more coin and get the b*****s.”

Another more recent release from CoinDaddy, “Alt Season (Where The Money At?)” sees the rapper expanding his horizons, name-dropping altcoins like IOTA and Monero.

According to Bahmanyar, who spoke with Business Insider, the idea was to create music that holds a mirror to the crypto community, aiming to comfort investors in times of volatility, and self-congratulate when the price of coins soar.

How did Bahmanyar make his money?

In 2013, Bahmanyar was a recent graduate of George Washington University sharing an apartment with friends in New York City. After an unexpected encounter with a group of Bitcoin enthusiasts in a bar, Bahmanyar — who received an educational session on cryptocurrency from his new friends — poured his savings into Bitcoin.

Years passed, and he checked the price of Bitcoin almost daily. His parents asked him to undo his investment, calling Bitcoin a scam and referring to it as “magic internet money.” Fortunately, for the most part, prices just kept going up.

“I just held,” Bahmanyar said.

In mid-2017, Bahmanyar’s enthusiasm had waned slightly, but that changed when, after not checking cryptocurrency prices for four months, Bahmanya discovered that Bitcoin had shot up to $6,000 per coin. He was visiting family in Europe but decided to pack up immediately and head home.

“I was like, ‘What? I love you but not that much,’” he remembered saying.

Bahmanyar returned to the place he grew up — the San Francisco Bay Area — to be part of the action. Around this time CoinDaddy made his first appearances. 

For 2018, Bahmanyar plans to ramp up production of new videos and create songs that educate people who are new to cryptocurrency investing — like a “Bill Nye the crypto guy,” he said.

What advice does Bahmanyar/CoinDaddy offer to other Bitcoin investors looking to the future?

“Just hold. I’ve done pretty well so far.”

Image Courtesy of Shutterstock

The post Meet CoinDaddy: Mink Suit Wearing “Bitcoin Rapper” and Cryptocurrency Enthusiast appeared first on NewsBTC.

Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bitflyer has contested media reports that the Japanese financial regulator has deemed its user verification process to be insufficient. Nonetheless, the exchange admitted to being in talks with the authority and has implemented additional measures.

Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space

Reports of Financial Regulator’s Concerns

The largest Japanese crypto exchange by volume, Bitflyer, has issued a statement in response to media reports that the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has asked the exchange to strengthen its user verification procedure after determining it to be insufficient.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported last week that, unlike many other exchanges in Japan, customers were able to trade cryptocurrencies at Bitflyer “even with insufficient identity verification.” According to Japanese law, customers must mail verification document to the exchange as part of the know-your-customer (KYC) requirements.

While “A normal dealer will take 1 to 3 weeks” from account opening to trading, the news outlet noted that trading within 24 hours is possible at Bitflyer. Since speculators often try to time the market and profit before the price drops, “exchange operators who can start trading earliest are attractive,” the publication explained.

Bitflyer quickly contested this report, claiming that “the contents reported are different from the facts,” adding:

The company has implemented measures such as money laundering and terrorist financing…and has been discussing with the authorities concerned.

The exchange clarified that its discussion with the FSA is healthy, emphasizing that “We are strengthening countermeasures as one of the most important management issues” throughout the company.

Recently, the FSA has been actively inspecting crypto exchanges, particularly those that have been allowed to operate while their applications are under review. Among the 16 fully licensed exchanges, only GMO Coin and Tech Bureau have been issued business improvement orders so far.

Strengthening User Verification Measures

In its statement, Bitflyer clarified that prior to offering trading services to customers, the exchange asks for “Personal information, transaction purpose, occupation, [and] PEPs (those who occupy an important position in foreign governments etc.)” Users must also submit identification materials by registered mail. The exchange clarified:

We provide services only when we can confirm the agreement of the materials…If there is an error or inadequacy, service provision will not start. Also, in the event that the address is found unknown, the sale and purchase transaction is limited immediately.

Bitflyer further detailed its fraud prevention practice for Japanese yen withdrawals to bank accounts and unauthorized IP addresses. Countries with “risks of laundering and terrorist financing are subject to strict vigilance,” the exchange detailed, adding that “We will make strict verification by strengthening our customer support system in the future.”

Despite contesting media reports, Bitflyer announced some changes “After consultation with the agency,” the exchange wrote. Effective April 26, the exchange will not allow customers to send cryptocurrencies or withdraw Japanese yen until their identities and addresses have been confirmed by registered mail. In addition, purchasing high-value goods with bitcoin through the exchange is also only possible after the exchange has received the customer’s registered mail.

What do you think of Bitflyer strengthening its user verification process? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, FSA, Bitflyer.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

The post Bitflyer Contests Reports of Insufficient Customer Verification Process appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin Press Release: Blockchain holding Finom AG has announced that it has opened orders for its cloud mining service, FinCloud. Finom AG is currently offering a 40% discount for pre-orders until the 15th of April, 2018

April 11th 2018, Teufen, Switzerland – FinCloud, a cloud mining service owned by the Swiss blockchain holding company Finom AG, has begun accepting orders for the purchase of mining power. All FinCloud users will be entitled to earn income for one month following their initial purchase. At the pre-order stage, FinCloud is offering a 40% discount valid until 15 April 2018.

Cryptocurrency mining, as a form of wealth creation, started becoming particularly popular in mid-2017. Around this period the value of the cryptocurrency market rose sharply, along with the mining profitability. However, mining remains out of most people’s reach. Setting up and maintaining mining rigs is technically complex and takes up a great deal of time.

Another challenge in this activity is the considerably expensive nature of the individual mining equipment. Companies offering clients the opportunity to rent mining rigs sold out of their power so quickly that the market is now experiencing a deficit as a result.

The Finom company has announced the launch of a new cloud mining service called FinCloud, which will happen later this month. Mining power for this service is already being sold. FinCloud offers the mining of the most popular and profitable cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, ZCash, and Electroneum.

“FinCloud is a part of the wider Finom ecosystem that contains five large crypto services including TabTrader trading mobile app and Nanopool, one of the world’s largest Ethereum mining pools. The equipment is owned by Cryptal mining center, which also forms part of Finom holding. Having provided the other profitable services in our ecosystem, we can offer much more competitive prices. FinCloud’s rates are lower than the rest of the market,”

said Rustam Kutuev, founder of Cryptal mining center and head of business development at Finom AG.

FinCloud accepts payments in US Dollars but not Euros, to aid its users in conserving value on the exchange.

The Cryptal center mines most cryptocurrencies through Nanopool, with the exception of Bitcoin and Litecoin. In the future, the company plans to launch its own pools for these two coins, so that they can be easily mined with the platform’s ecosystem.

Learn more about Finom AG – https://finom.io/
Join the official Finom AG Telegram – https://t.me/finom_community
Find Finom AG on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/finom.company/
Follow Finom AG on Twitter – https://twitter.com/finom_company
Read about Finom AG on Bitcointalk – https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2341179
Official Finom AG on VK.com – https://vk.com/finom_community
Learn about the Finom AG team on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/finomcorp/
Official Finom AG Medium blog – https://medium.com/@Finom.io

Media Contact

Contact Name: Toma Besedina
Email: [email protected]
Location: Teufen, Switzerland
Company: Finom AG

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKGeWFdNGiuZ6Qh7xtiGNg

Finom AG is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. Cryptocurrencies and tokens are extremely volatile. There is no guarantee of a stable value, or of any value at all. Token sales are only suitable for individuals with a high-risk tolerance. Only participate in a token event with what you can afford to lose.This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. The Finom AG token sale is closed to US participants and participants of all countries in which ICOs are illegal.

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