Day: June 3, 2018

China-based ImToken, one of the first cryptocurrency and Ethereum wallets to be listed on the Apple App Store, has processed more than $35 billion in deposits over the past few years, surpassing Coinbase.

Similar to Blockchain, MyEtherWallet, and MyCrypto, ImToken is a free and non-custodial wallet that enables users to store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum while maintaining full control over their private keys and accounts.

In the early days of Ethereum, prior to the creation of popular wallets such as MyEtherWallet and MetaMask, ImToken was the only reliable mobile wallet users could utilize on mobile devices. The first-mover advantage of ImToken and the app’s simplicity led the platform to settle over $35 billion in deposits, an amount that is larger than 99 percent of the banks in the US.

In May, Bloomberg reported that Xapo, which has processed over $10 billion in deposits over the past three years, has more money stored in its vaults than 5,670 banks in the US, or 98 percent of the banks in the country. $35 billion worth of deposits in Ether and other cryptocurrencies would place ImToken in the top 0.5 percent, along with major banks and financial institutions.

Investment From Chinese VC Giant IDG Capital

This week, ImCrypto received a $10 million Series A funding round from IDG Capital, which is based in China and one of the biggest venture capital firms in Asia. IDG Capital has invested in more than 700 companies with 150 successful exits, including multi-billion dollar companies such as mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi, portable battery manufacturer Anker, cryptocurrency company Circle, and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

ImCrypto’s business model is similar to that of Blockchain and other non-custodial platforms in the blockchain sector; it does not have a stable revenue source due to its transparent operation and its free software. While the simplicity of ImCrypto’s platform ultimately led to its long-term success, the difficulty of monetizing ImCrypto, despite the billions of dollars stored on the platform, would be considered a major issue by investors, especially venture capital firms, in the traditional tech industry.

The $10 million investment from IDG Capital demonstrated confidence in the long-term growth of the cryptocurrency sector and wallet operators in the space. Although non-custodial wallets lack revenue and have small profit margins as of right now, venture capital firms are still leading multi-million dollar funding rounds, acknowledging the potential of cryptocurrency wallets.

“We noticed very early the potential of Ethereum and focused on it to differentiate [ourselves from] competitors. The growth has been completely organic. We didn’t have any marketing or promotional budget,” ImToken founder Ben He said, suggesting that the newly acquired operating capital from IDG would enable the company to pursue marketing and aggressive expansion into the global cryptocurrency market.

Confidence From Investors

Recently, during an interview with Bloomberg Television, Dan Morehead, CEO of $1 billion cryptocurrency hedge fund Pantera Capital, stated that the valuation of the cryptocurrency market could surpass $40 trillion in the long term.

“The $400 billion crypto market could balloon to $4 trillion, and even $40 trillion is definitely possible. It’s the 10-year forecast. It’s not going to happen overnight,” said Morehead.

Large-scale venture capital firms and hedge funds are generally optimistic about the long-term health of the cryptocurrency market and are confident that cryptocurrencies will evolve into a major asset class, competing against traditional assets and the global financial system.

‘Chinese Google’ Baidu has revealed its latest ‘Super Chain’ protocol that targets blockchain energy consumption

Crypto markets have gained $25 bln over the past 7 days, with all of top ten coins by market cap in the green

Bitcoin can make a positive impact on the financial industry. This is especially true when it comes to regions where financial hardship has become the new normal. Companies such as BitPesa try to disrupt the negative financial cycle in Africa by introducing Bitcoin-based solutions.

Africa Needs Cryptocurrency

Fighting financial hardship in Africa is no easy feat. Money is difficult to come by and unemployment rates remain a big problem in most countries. As such, the continent is a big market when it comes to remittance transfers. Residents travel abroad to find work and send money back home. It has become a booming business for industry leaders such as MoneyGram and Western Union.

Even so, these remittance providers still pose a problem. Consumers need to travel hours to pick up money and return home. Additionally, there are the relatively high fees associated with money transfers to and from Africa. The price to pay for convenience is quite steep. While remittance transfer fees have dropped over the years, there’s still a lot of room for improvements.

This is where Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies make an impact. Their borderless nature and no intermediary involvement make for a cheap and convenient solution. Companies such as BitPesa are making big inroads in this regard. Even for them, however, major challenges remain in place at all times. Despite some setbacks, the company is still changing the world one user at a time.

The Success of BitPesa

As one would expect, BitPesa uses Bitcoin as a means of settlement between the different brokers. Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin can remove friction and offer a higher degree of liquidity across African markets. By embracing the decentralized nature of this technology, BitPesa is showing how useful Bitcoin can be in the long run.

The volatility of Bitcoin makes it a less favorable currency. Even so, some African currencies show more volatility compared to cryptocurrencies. BitPesa CEO Elizabeth Rossiello recently explained how Bitcoin can be bought and sold quickly in a time of need. As such, its volatility creates far less of a problem than most people would assume.

BitPesa wants to help local companies by using Bitcoin. Solving the friction associated with doing business in Africa will not be easy by any means. Even so, small businesses, consumers, and even multinational can benefit from services rendered by relying on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The post A Startup Uses Bitcoin to Reduce Friction of Doing Business in Africa appeared first on NewsBTC.

In an era where many startups are taking more complex transactions to other blockchains, Hodl Hodl is focused on making them work on the bitcoin.

Analysts report that 66 percent of global companies expected to switch to blockchain in 2018. Cointelegraph investigated to find out whether Google, Facebook or Uber will be among them

Fundstrat’s co-founder, Tom Lee, has long been known as a Bitcoin Bull in the cryptocurrency community. Robert Sluymer, Managing Director and Technical Strategist at Fundstrat seems to be joining the company’s growing group of cryptocurrency bulls.

Promising Signs for Bitcoin?

On CNBC’s “Futures Now” segment, Sluymer stated:

“We think Bitcoin is starting to bottom off some very key support around $7,000 and we think it’s going to start a recovery process here.”

Sluymer also noted that he has a three-phase technical analysis process that allows him to try to predict future price movements of cryptocurrencies. The first phase, which is the deceleration or bottoming out of momentum indicators, may be just starting. 

Sluymer pointed out that the first phase seems to be in effect when he said:

“While it is premature to conclude the correction is over, there was a positive technical development this week suggesting the first stage of a three-stage bottoming process is developing. Short-term momentum indicators are beginning to bottom.”

For the past week, Bitcoin has been hovering around the low to mid $7000s, in a low volatility state, as shown by the bottom most indicator in the chart below.

Volatility has become a key characteristic often attributed with the price of cryptocurrencies and seeing a slowdown in volatility might leave some market players in a confused state. I personally would attribute this decrease in relative volatility to the increased institutional involvement in the industry.

However, take volatility with a grain of salt in this case, as volatility levels we are currently residing at were seen just before the crypto boom of 2017.

But some have begun to believe that this is a promising sign, as they believe that Bitcoin is consolidating before the eventual retesting of ATHs.

$6500 Triple Bottom. Is it Possible?

However, Bitcoin is still over $1000 away from 2018’s low, which amounted to around $6500 back in early April. The low in April was actually a double-bottom, with Bitcoin reaching similar price levels back in February after December’s $20,000 Bitcoin. This has led some analysts who are more critical of Bitcoin’s price, to think that a triple-bottom could occur in the future.  However, even if Bitcoin was to revisit those prices levels, past indicators show that there is a large amount of support at $6500. 

Despite fears of a triple-bottom at $6500, the relative strength indicator (RSI) has been trending upwards (as seen by the chart above), finding a bottom of around 30 earlier this week. This RSI indicator, which is still located in the ‘oversold’ zone, may show that Bitcoin is prepared for upwards price action. 

Over the course of this year’s price drops to $6500, RSI indicators often went as low as 30, with run-ups in price and positive indicators quickly following the aforementioned price drops. If historical values and patterns are of any merit, as they often are, this means that we could see a rapid Bitcoin run-up in the near future.

However, Sluymer believes that before that Bitcoin breaking past $7800 will have to be a precursor to the run-up which many have been waiting for.

Despite the potential for Bitcoin’s short-term success, Sluymer believes that the largest cryptocurrency may lose some dominance as some players like EOS and Tron (TRX) may outperform Bitcoin in the near future. He also mentioned that other cryptocurrencies residing in the top-40, such as IOTA, 0x, and WaltonChain have shown that they may also begin to encroach on Bitcoin’s 38% market share.

But Sluymer made it clear that he is still adamant about his belief that Bitcoin, along with other cryptocurrencies, will begin to see some upward price action very shortly.

He put it best when he said:

“If you’re short we think you should be very careful and reducing your short exposure. I think if you’re looking to be long this is where you start adding here to your long exposure.”

Charts from Tradingview.com

Image from Shutterstock

The post FundStrat Analyst: Bitcoin at the Bottom, Recovery Very Soon appeared first on NewsBTC.

Marketing plays an important role in the world of cryptocurrency. Some projects are seemingly better at it than others. Whereas Bitcoin still lacks PR and marketing, it seems TRON is doing the exact opposite. Even so, there are some concerns regarding its odd way of advertising this project. Living up to people’s expectations will not be easy.

Fueling the TRON Hype

For the second time in a few weeks, a massive TRON advertisement appeared on a Nasdaq billboard. The same happened prior to the project’s test net launch. While that generated quite a buzz, the overall interest in TRON has remained somewhat unchanged. Not entirely surprising, considering the project still has everything to prove to the masses.

#TRON hits #NASDAQ once again! We’re going to change blockchain, the internet, and the world! We’re going full speed. Don’t get left behind.  $TRX #TRX pic.twitter.com/BBkztNMY0b

— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) June 1, 2018

People need to understand why this advertisement shows up on this billboard. It is a paid ad, just like any other which is displayed on the same screen. This doesn’t mean NASDAQ has any interest in TRON or its technology. Nor does it mean this will immediately lead to bigger adoption of this ecosystem or its native currency.

Founder Justin Sun seems to be rather deceptive in this regard. He claims how TRON “hit NASDAQ” again. This is clear misdirection, as the project isn’t even on the radar of the major stock exchange. Instead, this paid advertisement is being packaged as something which it isn’t. Granted, it will attract eyeballs and makes for a nice picture on social media. That doesn’t guarantee any major impact on the project or the price.

Deceptive Marketing or Sheer Brilliance?

Another recent tweet by Justin Sun has stirred a hornet’s nest. More specifically, he compared TRON to Ethereum, even though these projects are not in the same league. Ethereum has a multi-year track record and has overcome many challenges. TRON is only just getting started with an imminent main net launch. As such, there is no point in comparing the two.

Why #TRON is better than #ETH: 1. 2000TPS vs. 25TPS 2. Popular sovereignty of token vs. Authoritarian rules 3. 100M Dapp users vs. Thousands 4. None fees vs. High fees 5. Coin burn vs. No coin burn 6. $2B bonus vs. Zero 7. High scalability vs Poor scalability #TRX $TRX pic.twitter.com/W7jEjmx0wp

— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) June 1, 2018

According to Sun, TRON will support 100 million dApp users. An interesting concept, even though there are no main net dApps which attract thousands of users. That situation can still change, yet all it does is create hype and speculation for the project rather than develop. On the Ethereum side of things, hundreds of “useful” dApps exist already, which makes one wonder which project is effectively the more advanced.

Last but not least, Sun is deceiving users by comparing the transaction throughput. In his opinion, TRON will support 2,000 transactions per second. Ethereum only supports 25, according to his infographic. Even so, Ethereum processes over 1 million transactions per day, TRON has a lot less activity. Without network activity to speak of, the project will never be in the same league as Ethereum.

The post Deceptive Marketing of TRON Reaches New Levels, Claims it’s Better Than Ethereum appeared first on NewsBTC.

It is rather uncommon to see all of the cryptocurrencies in the green on a Sunday morning. If history has taught us anything, it is how this momentum will not last all that long. Even so, the VeChain price is on the road to reaching $4 once again, thanks to some solid overnight momentum.

VeChain Price Surge Remains Firm

As is the case with all other cryptocurrencies, the momentum is slowly turning in favor of VeChain once again. After a rather rough month filled with continual VeChain price declines, it seems an uptrend is forming over the past few days. As such, the value of this altcoin has risen from $3.18 all the way to $3.97 again over the past week.

To put this VeChain price into perspective, the overnight increase results in a solid 10.84% gain. That is pretty impressive, especially when considering how the value of Bitcoin is on the rise and most other altcoins struggle to gain more than 5% over the past 24 hours. Even so, it remains to be seen how long the VeChain price surge will last, as cryptocurrencies remain volatile first and foremost.

Even so, VeChain has also gained a lot of value over both Bitcoin and Ethereum in the past 24 hours. Surprisingly, it seems the VEN/ETH ratio has increased by just 5.36%, whereas the VEN/BC ratio increased by 9.92%. This seems to indicate more positive Ethereum price momentum can be expected in the future, although it remains to be seen how that particular situation will play out in the days and weeks to come.

Thanks to $81.248m in 24-hour trading volume, the VeChain price has seen some interesting changes. At the same time, most people will readily acknowledge this trading volume simply isn’t sufficient to warrant any long-term momentum. Whether or not that will be the case, remains to be seen, although some caution is still advised when jumping on the VeChain price bandwagon for quick profits.

The way things look right now, LBank has become the biggest exchange for VeChain trading. This particular trading platform has one BTC and one ETH trading pair in the top three, with Binance’s BTC and ETH pairs claiming second and fifth spot. The only other exchange in the top five is Bithumb with its KRW pair. An interesting mix of exchanges and currencies, although it remains to be seen how high the VeChan price can go in this regard.

For the time being, the positive momentum remains present across all cryptocurrency markets. It is a very peculiar development, albeit a more than welcome change given all of the negative market pressure over the past few months. This doesn’t mean Bitcoin and altcoins are out of the woods just yet, although things may finally begin to improve in the long term. For the VeChain price, it seems the push to $4 will be relatively easy, although one’s mileage may vary.