Day: May 10, 2018

The team of financial researchers of which famed Bitcoin advocate Tom Lee is part of has some extra bullish predictions for Bitcoin’s end of 2019 price. Fundstrat’s Sam Doctor wrote earlier today that the price of Bitcoin could reach anywhere between $20,000 and $64,000 next year.

Fundstrat Release Second Bullish Call in a Week

Sam Doctor’s prediction was explained in a note to Fundstrat’s clients. It set out the reasoning behind such a call, claiming the gains would be a product of the mining process used to verify transactions on the network and release the remaining Bitcoin of the 21 million total. The thinking is that the cost of mining a single Bitcoin has proved solid support in the past. As the difficulty of mining increases, so too will this level of strong support. According to Bloomberg, the note read:

“Bitcoin miners verify and process transactions, supporting the network in exchange for mining rewards and transaction fees… We argue that the Price/Miner’s Breakeven Cost multiple has proven a reliable long-term support level, and further, that the likely trajectory of future mining infrastructure growth should underpin Bitcoin price appreciation into year-end 2019.”

Earlier this week, Fundstrat managing partner Tom Lee predicted a short term rally in the Bitcoin price. He feels that the annual Consensus conference happening next week could cause the kind of gains that would push the asset back above the $10,000 mark – potentially by a fair bit.

The 2018 Consensus conference is being held in Manhattan from May 14-16. It’s thought that almost 7,000 cryptocurrency proponents will be in attendance making it one of the industry’s largest.

Lee highlighted in his note to Fundstrat clients that each of the four previous Consensus events had seen the price of Bitcoin gain between 10 and 70 percent over the course of the conference. In fact, he went further than this. He stated that since Bitcoin was currently down on its opening price of the year, the rally could be even greater than those previous. This could see the digital asset hitting close to its all-time highs of just short of $20,000.

This week’s double bull call from Tom Lee and Sam Doctor is far from the first time that Fundstrat have been optimistic about the price of Bitcoin. Lee has previously said that a long-term target of $100,000 is conceivable. He has also stated that by the end of 2018, one of the 21 million total BTC units will cost around $25,000. His predictions have been proved correct in the past too. The mid-2017 call of $6,000 within a year from him making it was smashed just months later – much before the parabolic bubble-like run that rounded off 2017.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Bitcoin has fallen to $9,100 after holding its ground at $9,300 during the early morning hours. This marks another subsequent drop since the currency rose to $9,800 over the weekend.

At press time, analysts are relatively mixed regarding where they think bitcoin is heading. North Island Chairman Glenn Hutchins, for example, believes that the top spot in the crypto arena – currently held by bitcoin – may be grabbed by another digital asset in the future.

“What we should be talking about is something called the bitcoin protocol, which is the technology we’ll use to enable the internet to move value around the world at the speed of light the way we do everything else today,” he commented. “The bitcoin currency they are all talking about is an input on that process, but it is not the end. They are all focused on that because they think about it from a trading perspective, and that’s the object that looks like it trades.”

Hutchins further compared bitcoin to a type of metal, and said that adhering to bitcoin was the equivalent of choosing “copper rather than gold.”

“I think it is more like copper,” he stated. “Like industrial metals used to drive an outcome. Bitcoin could turn out to be Betamax to another currency’s VHS and, in other words, you could have something like XRP or Ethereum or Litecoin that becomes the token that is used… The token of exchange at the heart of the math solution that leads the technology will be there – different tokens will be used for different applications.”

Despite the negative hype, many remain bullish about the coin’s future, particularly the research staff at Fundstrat led by analyst and crypto-investor Tom Lee (no stranger to our price articles). Recently, the team released a report discussing newfound growth in the bitcoin mining arena. Processing power is consistently referred to as “hash power,” and the team suggests that this will grow by 350 percent through 2019. In turn, this could hike the price up big time.

“We believe the current path of hash power growth supports a BTC price of about $36,000 by the end of 2019, with a $20,000 – $64,000 range,” explains Sam Doctor, head of data science research at Fundstrat.

As we’ve mentioned, bitcoin has undergone a series of small, yet noticeable drops in the past week. Doctor believes they may not stop right away, though this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. He says that as the price continues to fall, bitcoin miners are more likely to hang onto their stashes to breakeven for operating costs, then sell as the price gets higher. This will lead to larger profits and jumps in the currency’s price.

“The primary net sellers, in our view, are bitcoin miners, and the rest are transactions between investors,” Doctor added.

Bitcoin mining has attracted a huge following over the last two years, with Chinese ASIC developer Bitmain garnering over $4 billion in revenue in 2017 alone.

“The release of the next generation of rig hardware should trigger a new round of capex as well as hash power growth, which could accelerate if BTC prices appreciate,” Doctor explained.

Bitcoin Press Release: Nauticus is pleased to announce its cryptocurrency advanced exchange interface beta has just been released for beta testing, with the public launch to take place within months. With $14.6 Million already raised, the token sale is open for two more weeks.

May 7th, 2018, Melbourne, Australia – Nauticus Exchange will make buying Bitcoin – or any one of 100 other altcoins – as easy as ordering a pizza.

Newcomers to crypto are often intimidated by a bafflingly complex world of hard-to-use exchanges, ‘hot and cold wallets’ and ‘addresses’ comprised of seemingly random strings of numbers. Worse, if they make one wrong step they can lose all their money forever.

That’s why newbies turn to retailers and brokers like CoinBase in the US and CoinSpot in Australia.

These sites make buying crypto as easy as possible – but consumers pay through the nose for the privilege. CoinSpot’s transaction fee alone is up to 10 times higher than the average exchange rate, and CoinBase charges an additional 50 percent more than that in ‘payment’ fees.

Newcomers also pay a high exchange rate. On April 25 a Bitcoin cost USD$43 more on CoinBase than on Binance while CoinSpot’s price was AUD$46 higher than on Aussie exchange BTC Markets.

That opens up a huge opportunity for an exchange that offers the ease of use of a retail or broker site but with just 0.1 percent fees and low market exchange rates.

Enter Nauticus Exchange

The advanced interface, aimed at sophisticated traders has just been released for beta testing, but it’s Nauticus Exchange’s simplified user interface that’s been generating all the interest.

It’s designed to make buying Bitcoin as easy as buying a pizza, and guides users through the process every step of the way. If a tech-phobic mum or grandpa wants to buy crypto, they’ll be able to do so on Nauticus Exchange.

The exchange will offer 100 crypto and seven fiat currencies (CNY, USD, EUR, JPY, HKD, AUD and ZAR). That will make it a one stop shop for everyone’s crypto and fiat needs.

The Nauticus mobile wallet and exchange is about to be launched on the Android and iOS app stores. It offers basic and advanced modes, and enables users to trade and store crypto and fiat. A payments facility is coming soon.

Exchanges are already a license to print money. The top ten exchanges generate $3 million a day in fees, and 100,000 new users a day are signing up. Demand is so high, that Binance has had to severely curtail the number of sign ups this year because it can’t keep up with requests.

Exchange coins have all increased in value. KuCoin Shares increased 2738 percent to its all time high. The Huobi token increased 64 percent in a couple of months, and the Binance Coin (BNB) increasedmore than 22,000 percent.

Like BNB, the Nauticus Coin also offers users a 50 percent reduction in trading fees. It’s available to purchase at around 10c USD during the three remaining weeks of the ICO.

$14.6 million has already been raised in the successful ICO, putting it close to matching the Binance ICO last year, which raised $15 million.

Don’t miss the chance to get in on the ground floor of the world’s best new exchange.

New users receive 100 free coins, and can access 200 more for completing a user survey to help us refine our exchange offering.

The Nauticus Exchange token sale ends on May 18.

Visit the Nauticus website at – www.nauticus.io
Register now and receive 100 NTS – https://www.nauticus.io/signup
Learn more about Nauticus on Telegram – https://t.me/nauticusblockchain
Follow Nauticus on Medium – https://medium.com/@nauticus
Keep up with Nauticus on Twitter – https://twitter.com/nauticusen
Like Nauticus on Facebook – www.facebook.com/NauticusBlockchain/

Media Contact
Contact Name: Andrew
Email: [email protected]
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Nauticus 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.

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One of blockchain tech’s undisputed qualities is the fact that it allows for transparency and accountability. Whenever large amounts of money are moved from place to place, there’s almost always a rancid cesspit of corruption seething underneath. And the multi-billion dollar soccer industry is no different. Backhanders, bribes, and other criminal activities are naturally par for the course. And with worldwide scandals like that of FIFA in 2015, it’s time to hold the perpetrators accountable.

At least, that’s the premise of Blocside Sports, a blockchain startup that’s on a mission to wipe out inefficiencies and corruption from the sport. Not only do soccer fans and clubs suffer from the numerous changing of hands behind every transaction, but many players are caught up in a cycle of broken promises and shady payments. Says Daniel Taylor, CEO & Co-Founder, “We believe there’s a better way through transparency and accountability.”

Their MVP token will be the first digital token within professional soccer, and the hope of this bright-eyed ICO team is to create a transparent financial infrastructure that can scale and support the evolution of digital currencies within the professional soccer industry, which is valued at over $40 billion.

Another Classic Case of a Broken Supply Chain

Blockchain technology is already seeing major potential and results, fixing broken supply chains in many industries. And professional soccer seems to be another classic case of many a damaged link along the chain. As an ecosystem in itself, the soccer industry is subject to multiple middlemen at every transaction, when you consider the myriad of countries, capital flows, and currencies involved. The result? A lot of room for improvement.

“We have found that there are many financial and operational inefficiencies within the soccer industry,” Taylor states. After the very public FIFA scandal of 2015 that even made it onto American news, no one can deny that corruption in the sport is a problem. And it’s one that extends beyond the FIFA to individual clubs, agents, and players. “The system does not lead to transparency,” he concludes.

Your average club receives funds from multiple channels, including sponsorship, broadcasting rights, tickets sales, merchandising, and transfer fees. These transactions are settled in multiple currencies, which means that the clubs lose money on nearly every exchange. Payments are also delayed often, leading to a lack of trust among clubs.

The Blockchain Solution

Blocside’s MVP token will allow for transparency of transactions, removal of conversion rates, and much-needed accountability. It will also let the fans get more involved by holding a stake in their favorite club, so they can really feel like they’re ‘in the game’ rather than just ‘at the game’.

The young company is also considering buying their own team to provide them with a “proving ground for both sides of our business.” They could test their token technology, and provide a successful use case that could be rolled out to others. “That’s a story we can take to all football clubs, leagues and associations,” Taylor says.

But is the Soccer Industry Ready for Change?

Whether the soccer industry will be quick to adopt cryptocurrency remains to be seen, although Arsenal became the first major club to sign a deal with CashBet earlier this year. And actually, the sport has a long history of appealing to online gamblers (particularly in Asia) through their sponsors.

But some question the wisdom of promoting a very risky investment to fans. Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement, “The partnership aims to promote CashBet Coin ahead of their Initial Coin Offer … it does not exist to encourage fans to bet with CashBet Coin.”

Above all, the soccer industry is a business. And like any business, it will accept blockchain technology and cryptocurrency if doing so favors the bottom line. If there is more money on the table, the clubs will be sitting at it. But how will Blocside fair in an industry where crypto is already filtering in?

“There will be winners and losers,” says Taylor. “Football fans wouldn’t want it any other way.”

A patent application submitted by Walmart proposes to use autonomous vehicles with a blockchain-based authentication system for package delivery.

An official at the Bank of America (BoA) believes that cryptocurrencies impede the efforts of law enforcement to catch criminals.

Cathy Bessant, the chief technical officer (CTO) at the multinational financial institution, believes current transparency in banking allows authorities to police transactions in a way not possible with digital currency.

Is Cryptocurrency Actually Easier to Use Than Cash to Evade Authorities?

Cathy Bessant spoke to CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box‘ earlier today. On the morning segment, the official cited a lack of transparency as one of cryptocurrency’s more troubling qualities. She went on to compare the traditional banking system with the financial innovation:

“As a payment system, I think it’s troubling, because the foundation of the banking system is on the transparency between the sender and the receiver, and cryptocurrency is designed to be nothing of the sort. In fact [it’s] designed to be not transparent.”

Based on her stance towards digital currency, Bessant must also has a massive problem with cold hard cash too. Physical notes have enabled thousands of crimes in the past. Of course, the difference between cash and cryptos, like Bitcoin, is that cash doesn’t have an open blockchain that has a record of every transaction that can be used to follow the movement of funds involved in criminal acts. For this reason, she must loathe cash, although I’m sure she uses it daily.

Hypocrisy aside, Bessant continued her attacks on cryptocurrency stating that it impeded law enforcement’s ability to catch ‘bad guys’:

“The way we sort of quote-unquote catch bad guys is by being transparent in the financial moment of money. Cryptos is the antithesis of that.”

Despite Bessant’s cautionary words, those using the services provided by the BoA are still free to invest in Bitcoin. They are, however, excluded from using a BoA credit card to make such purchases. Although some may perceive this as an attack on cryptocurrency, the policy seems a rational stance for a institution providing lending services given the risks involved with such speculative investments at present. Bessant explained how it was in-keeping with their policy on stocks and shares:

“Just like we don’t allow stocks to be purchased on our credit cards, we’re not going to allow cryptos or other currencies to be purchased on our credit cards.”

This latest outcry from a voice associated with the banking industry is hardly the first time that cryptocurrency has been attacked based on its supposed association with criminality.

The likes of Jamie Dimon and Vasant Prabhu previously said that it was only useful to avoid paying taxes or to facilitate drug deals. Despite this, evidence suggests that less than one percent of Bitcoin is currently being used for illegal purposes. Funnily enough, people said that the internet would only be useful to criminals back in the 1990s. Look how wrong they were.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Developers have proposed testing the Dandelion privacy mechanism on large number of active nodes.

De Beers has announced the successful completion of a blockchain pilot for tracking diamonds along the entire value chain: from mine, to cutter, to polisher, and, finally, to jeweler. 

De Beers Diamond Blockchain

De Beers Group announced today the completion of a blockchain pilot that immutably and securely tracked 100 high-value diamonds all the way along the value chain, marking the first time a diamond’s journey has been digitally tracked from mine to retail.

To make this happen, the world-renowned diamond miner developed a blockchain platform called Tracr. Following the successful completion of its trial run, the Tracr blockchain is set for a full launch later this year, and will be open to the entire industry. The pilot was announced in January, following months of research and industry consultation. De Beers is working with BCG Digital Ventures to build the platform and the underlying technology.

When fully operational, Tracr will provide consumers with confidence that registered diamonds are both natural and conflict-free, while improving visibility and trust within the industry, and enhancing efficiencies across the entire diamond value chain.

Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers Group, described the company’s blockchain as a ‘significant breakthrough made achievable by the close engagement of the pilot participants who share our commitment to industry progress and innovation.’

Five leading diamond manufacturers — Diacore, Diarough, KGK Group, Rosy Blue NV, and Venus Jewel — played integral rolls, working with De Beers throughout Tracr’s development process. According to De Beers, these manufacturers were chosen as partners because they have significant experience in the processing of large stones — the initial focus of the pilot — as well as broad coverage across the midstream of the industry.

Sevantilal Shah, chair of Venus Jewel, describes the importance of being able to show where its diamonds come from, as transparency is one of the company’s hallmarks:

“Venus Jewel is proud to be one of the first partners in Tracr. Proof of provenance is a key part of Venus’ promise to its customers, and Tracr will be an integral part of that promise.”

How Does Tracr Work?

As the diamonds travel along the value chain, a unique Global Diamond ID is automatically created on Tracr, which stores individual diamond attributes — like carat, color, and clarity — through integration with De Beer’s partners’ existing record-keeping systems. 

Tracr then consolidates the data into an ‘immutable digital trail’ for each diamond, assuring provenance and traceability. To further verify this authenticity, Tracr also utilizes stone images, planned outcome images, and records of a diamond’s other physical properties. 

The platform verifies the uploaded data at each key milestone of a diamond’s journey, while at the same time allowing users to be in full control of what they share with other participants through privacy controls — permitting things like price, and other insider information, to be kept hidden if required.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Award-winning rapper Mims is to talk about his new artist-focused blockchain project, and perform, at a crypto event this month.

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has commissioned a national research agenda to tackle the development of blockchain nationwide

Kodak has partnered with a blockchain project seeking to raise $50 million in a combined public and private token offering. The idea was put forth by Wenn Digital, the developer of an image protection blockchain platform licensed by Eastman Kodak Co.

Kodak’s Blockchain Platform to Raise Up to $50 Million in Token Offering

KODAKOne is a blockchain-based system created by Wenn Digital, designed to protect the copyright of images or photographs registered on the platform. Kodak holds a minority stake in Wenn Digital and has benefited from that position, reports Reuters. The performance of its stock has improved significantly as investors predict the development of the blockchain platform will turn into a lucrative venture once it is set and running.

Shares of the company have jumped from its early 2018 lows around $3 to as high as $11.55 when Kodak announced the deal with Wenn Digital. It quickly lost two-thirds of its market value on news that the token offering, which was scheduled for January, would be delayed. Finally, the initial coin offering (ICO) of KODAKCoin is due to take place on May 21. The January misstep was caused by regulatory issues that have since been taken care of.

Cam Chell, co-founder and chair of KODAKOne told Reuters in an interview that the token offering will comply with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). KODAKOne will use Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT), an investment contract offered by cryptocurrency developers to accredited investors. Being a security, SAFT must comply with securities regulations, which requires the token to be issued when the blockchain platform is launched.

The SEC supports the practice because it sees these SAFTs as being traded like securities without conforming to any of the strict rules that already exist for that market. Token sales become viable under the SEC regulation with the SAFT structure because participation is limited to accredited investors.

“We really took a step back and decided that we would ensure that all Ts were crossed and Is dotted before we embark on a public sale. We wanted to make sure that we got it right”.

KODAKOne is expected to be launched later this year, according to Cam Chell. A pre-sale of its SAFT to accredited investors conducted by Wenn Digital raised approximately $10 million. The company needs $20 million to be able to successfully develop and launch the blockchain platform, but Chell says ‘$50 million is our sweet spot’ as the company aims higher.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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There is no such thing as a boring day in the world of cryptocurrency. Circle is one of the more prolific applications when it comes to blockchain technology and supporting cryptocurrencies. In their most recent move, they added Monero to Circle Invest, the company’s mobile application. It’s a very interesting development, considering how much opposition this altcoin has received.

Circle Invest Embraces Monero

It is quite interesting to see how Circle pays close attention to cryptocurrencies providing privacy and anonymity support. Given the fact that those currencies are being scrutinized by regulators all over the world, one would have expected interest in Monero, Dash, and Zcash to wane. That has not been the case whatsoever, as more and more people see the benefits of such currencies when looking at the bigger picture that is the cryptocurrency industry.

With Circle Invest now adding support for Monero , things will undoubtedly get a lot more interesting. The firm had already enabled Zcash support about a week ago, which took people by surprise as well. It is a bit strange for this company to be adding support for currencies facing such scrutiny. Even so, these additions to Circle Invest immediately validate both currencies as legitimate opportunities to make good money and shape the future of cryptocurrency.

By facilitating crypto asset investment for individuals, the Circle Invest app has become of great interest to people around the world. All one needs is a mobile device and some money with which to buy into these currencies. There are no commissions, no custodial aspects, and a high degree of liquidity.

Considering that this application has only been around for five to six weeks, it has quickly made a big impact around the world. Many people consider Circle Invest to be a major competitor to centralized exchanges, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Such exchanges are usually a target for criminals and other individuals with nefarious intentions.

The way things stand right now, Circle Invest supports a total of seven cryptocurrencies. That list includes the likes of Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and now Zcash and Monero. It is a very select club to be a part of, although it seems to be a matter of time until more currencies and assets are supported by this application. One surprisingly absent asset on this list is Ripple’s XRP, although concerns regarding this asset being a security may have something to do with that.

Whether or not this development will generate more interest in Monero remains to be seen. Although this anonymity-oriented cryptocurrency has solid technical fundamentals, there are still some concerns over its use by criminals and even the North Korean government. Whether or not any of those allegations can be proven is a different matter altogether. Even so, Circle is convinced that Monero is here to stay, which can only be considered a positive development.