Day: July 7, 2018

A Venezuelan, using the alias “Hector” to protect his identity, has spoken out against the Madura regime illustrating how the country’s poor is increasingly relying on cryptocurrency for survival, writes Bitcoin magazine.

As Bitcoin News reported recently hyperinflation is rampant in Venezuela and as a result, Bitcoin trading volume keeps hitting new records each week. Meanwhile, authorities are scratching their heads on how to rein in the burgeoning, albeit underground industry, including attempts to crackdown on the import of cryptocurrency mining equipment.

Despite the government’s recent social projects to support student programs through crypto mining at schools and universities, and the building of more than 2 million homes for the homeless, paid for by the Petro, Venezuela’s economy continues to suffer.

The country’s poor have found Bitcoin to be a foil for the country’s hyperinflation which at last count had reached $18000 percent, creating a bizarre situation where locals are now making carrier bags out of the national currency, the bolivar, in order to carry their money in for making a shopping trip.

Hector realized that Bitcoin was the way out of total poverty when he recently received 0.5 nano as a gift, at the time worth $1.80, which was more money than he had made in a month. Four days later Hector saw his money swell after informing the community that he now had opened a wallet. He discovered he had amassed 360.68 nano (nearly$950 at time of press) which allowed him to buy 224 lbs of food for just 29 nano, according to Reddit.

Hector’s story is becoming typical, as Venezuelans turn to cryptocurrency. He explained:

“We were almost running out of food some days ago; it was common for that to happen every six or seven days after getting paid. With the 3 NANO (around $8 USD) we were able to buy food for the whole week and that’s only something to be very happy about, something that doesn’t happen very often.”

As Hector went on to explain, Facebook has become a medium which now attracts thousands of people discussing airdrops, with foreign nationals increasingly becoming involved in these types of benevolent activities. Former Goldman Sachs employee turned developer Jonathan Wheeler recently announced plans to help Venezuelans get their hands on Bitcoin via his massive airdrop and has assembled a team of foreign nationals and Venezuelans to make it successful, even quitting his job in the city. He explained:

“To give it the greatest likelihood of success, it has to be done en masse. We’re trying to make this a large-scale collaborative mission to help people suffering from financial tyranny.”

Hector has the last word, thanking all those that are working towards making the lives of Venezuela’s poor a more positive one. He said:

“Venezuela is what a country with almost zero economic freedom looks like, and many are at risk of ending up like us. One important focus the cryptocurrency community has is to fight for our freedom and I congratulate you guys for standing for what is yours.”

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Key Points

• Bitcoin price formed a strong support base near $6,450 and jumped higher against the US Dollar.
• There is a major ascending channel in place with support at $6,600 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair remains supported and it is likely to move further higher above the $7,000 level in the near term.

Bitcoin price is gaining momentum above $6,600 against the US Dollar. BTC/USD could accelerate gains above $7,000 to target the $7,250 level.

Bitcoin Price Trend

This past week, there was a downside correction below the $6,700 support in bitcoin price against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair traded below the $6,500 support level, but declines were protected. The $6,400-6,450 support zone acted as a support and prevented declines. A support base was formed and the price jumped above the $6,600 and $6,700 resistance levels. There was also a break above the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $6,795 high to $6,454 low.

It opened the doors for more gains and the price traded above the $6,800 resistance. However, there was no test of the 1.236 Fib extension level of the last decline from the $6,795 high to $6,454 low. Therefore, there are high chances that the price may accelerate gains above $6,800 in the near term. The next resistance is at $6,875. Above this, the price may move above the $7,000 barrier to test the 1.618 Fib extension level. In the short term, there could be a downside correction towards the $6,700 support. More importantly, there is a major ascending channel in place with support at $6,600 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair.

Looking at the chart, the price is placed nicely in an uptrend above $6,600. The next targets may well below $6,875, $7,000 and $7,250.

Looking at the technical indicators:

4-hours MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI is now placed well above the 60 level.

Major Support Level – $6,600

Major Resistance Level – $7,000

The post Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Could Break $7,000 appeared first on NewsBTC.

BitMEX, short for Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, consistently has the highest trading volume for any cryptocurrency exchange by far, such as USD 2.5 billion in volume versus Binance’s USD 1.3 billion on July 5, 2018. However, BitMEX is usually excluded from cryptocurrency exchange ranks because it primarily trades derivative contracts that represent a certain amount of bitcoin instead of spot trading actual bitcoins.

BitMEX offers up to 100 times leverage, meaning customers can invest the USD equivalent of 1 bitcoin into their margin account and buy 100 BTC worth of derivatives contracts. This means that BitMEX can ‘print’ 100 times more bitcoins than they really have, which is obviously dangerous.

Customers have the choice of going long or going short. When going long, the customer holds onto the Bitcoin contracts, and if the market goes up then they gain money. If a customer is going short they sell the contracts immediately and the USD goes into their margin account, and if the market goes down they buy the contracts back for less money to repay the loan and keep the USD profits.

Therefore BitMEX provides a mechanism for people to place large bets on the Bitcoin market declining. Theoretically, whales with large amounts of bitcoin and other influential people can collaborate to drive the market down and make huge profits by using maximum leverage on their short sells.

The 2008 global financial crisis provides an excellent example of how derivatives trading can be extremely harmful. Derivatives based on real-estate mortgages proliferated in the years leading up to 2008 and soon comprised a large fraction of the assets that banks, corporations, and investors held. Housing prices declined and homeowners defaulted, causing derivatives backed by real-estate to become worthless. Many people had unknowingly put a large amount of their life savings and retirement funds into these derivatives via their financial advisors, and lost their money.

The derivatives market collapsed, and banks stopped trading with each other because banks usually offered derivatives as collateral for loans. The resulting financial crisis was the worst since the Great Depression and was only stopped by world governments printing trillions of dollars in fiat to bail out the corporations and banks, at the expense of the people.

The lesson of this story is that derivatives can appear to have value and be considered an asset but actually have nothing backing them. BitMEX has up to 100 times more contracts than the actual amount of USD deposited on the exchange, which could lead to a disaster if Bitcoin’s price goes up and BitMEX is forced to pay out the contracts. BitMEX doesn’t have the USD to honor the contracts and would have to shut down.

This makes it suspicious that Bitcoin’s price has been going down so consistently while BitMEX volume has rapidly increased. This is the market situation BitMEX needs to survive, and the question whether such players are attempting to manipulate the cryptocurrency’s price is something that crops up in everyone’s mind now and then.

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Key Highlights

• ETH price traded higher recently and broke the $470 resistance zone against the US Dollar.
• There is a key connecting bullish trend line formed with support at $465 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair is likely to move above the $490 and $500 resistance level to gain upside momentum.

Ethereum price is placed in a bullish zone versus the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD remains supported on the downside near the $470 and $462 levels.

Ethereum Price Support

This past week, there were a couple of swing moves towards $455 level in ETH price against the US Dollar. The ETH/USD pair tested the $450-455 zone where buyers were successful in defending losses. During the decline, there was a break below the 23.6% fib retracement level of the last wave from the $403 low to $488 high. Moreover, there was a close below the $470 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours).

However, the decline was limited as buyers took a stand above the $450 level. There is also a key connecting bullish trend line formed with support at $465 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD. Moreover, the 38.2% fib retracement level of the last wave from the $403 low to $488 high acted as a decent buy zone. As a result, the price spiked higher above the $470 resistance and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours). It even broke the $488 swing high and traded above $490. At the moment, the price is consolidating gains, but it remains supported above the $470 level.

The above chart indicates that the price may correct a few points, but as long as the $465 support is in place, it could accelerate gains. A break above the $490 and 500 resistance levels could really accelerate gains.

4-hours MACD – The MACD is placed in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI – The RSI is currently positioned above the 60 level.

Major Support Level – $465

Major Resistance Level – $500

The post Ethereum Price Weekly Analysis: ETH/USD Eyeing Further Upsides appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price found support around the $700 handle and recovered against the US Dollar.
• There is a major bullish trend line formed with support at $730 on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair may dip a few points, but it remains supported near the $730 and $710 levels.

Bitcoin cash price is placed nicely above the $700 pivot level against the US Dollar. BCH/USD could accelerate gains above the $780 level in the near term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Support

This past week, there was a correction initiated from the $830 swing high in bitcoin cash price against the US Dollar. The BCH/USD pair declined and traded below the $800 and $750 support levels. It also declined below the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $865 low to $830 high. More importantly, there was a close below the $750 pivot level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours).

It tested the $700 handle where buyers emerged. Moreover, a major bullish trend line with current support at $730 acted as a buy zone on the 4-hours chart of the BCH/USD pair. Lastly, the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $865 low to $830 high also acted as a support. The pair started a fresh upward wave and moved above the $750 pivot level and the 100 SMA. It opened the doors for more gains and the price is now placed nicely above the $740 level.

Looking at the chart, the price may dip a few points in the near term towards the $740 and $730 support levels. However, the price action suggests more gains as long as the price is above $710.

Looking at the technical indicators:

4-hours MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is now placed nicely in the bullish zone.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now well above the 60 level.

Major Support Level – $730

Major Resistance Level – $800

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Weekly Analysis: Can BCH/USD Recover Further? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Japan’s leading messenger application operator, Line Corporation has announced plans to launch a global cryptocurrency exchange ‘BitBox’ in July

It is now common knowledge that excessive energy consumption directly results in a change of global climatic patterns as well as the depletion of natural resources such as petrol and coal. Not only that, activities such as mining and logging are also responsible for the destruction of natural habitats as well as an increase in air and land pollution.

Energi Mine, the company behind ETK (EnergiToken) cryptocurrency, is currently in the process of developing a new platform that will serve as a peer-to-peer marketplace where users can buy and sell energy. The marketplace will connect generators and consumers and introduce a higher level of transparency to a market that is otherwise known to be notoriously opaque.

When using the platform, participants will have the ability to connect with independent suppliers, thereby cutting out the need for energy companies or brokers who are known to overcharge unsuspecting customers. Owing to its transparent framework, the platform helps ensure that prices are always truly market-reflective, as opposed to artificially high thanks to certain companies that dominate the global energy market.

Another key feature of the system is its use of a reward mechanism that provides customers with incentives for their energy-saving behavior. Users who conserve energy by buying efficient appliances or take public transport to their work are rewarded with EnergiTokens (ETK).

Overview of the service

• The governance model envisioned by Energi Mine can work within a global context and has the power to be implemented across energy markets spread around the world.
• By allowing for the tokenization of the energy market, the platform can help in the creation of more energy-efficient systems.
• The company behind the upcoming platform, Energi Mine, is an established venture that has offices in the UK.
• According to the official whitepaper, the platform will deploy deep learning and AI models to manage energy consumption on behalf of corporate clients, leading to more efficient service delivery within a sector that is driven mainly by manual labor.
• The platform will make use of a visually-oriented UI, thereby allowing users with varying levels of technical know-how to use this innovative service.

Key Features

Energi Mine’s upcoming platform is designed to reduce global energy consumption via the use of a token-driven incentive model.

A detailed overview of the architecture employed by this service

The Energi Mine ecosystem is comprised of a P2P marketplace that allows consumers and producers to directly interact with one another. However, the thing that sets this solution apart from any other product in the market is that all transactions are facilitated via digital tokens. Not only that, transactions are recorded directly onto a ledger which ensures that all monetary dealings are accounted for at all times.

Through the elimination of unwanted intermediaries such as energy companies, the platform helps ensure that electricity prices are in accordance with market averages and are not determined by corporate players who are known to create artificial scarcity in order to increase prices.

Lastly, as mentioned earlier, the ecosystem deploys a reward mechanism that provides users with incentives in the form of native ETK tokens that can either be used to pay future power bills or exchanged for fiat currencies.

Energi Mine’s Envisioned Roadmap

How Will All This Work?

According to Energi Mine, their new peer-to-peer model allows energy generators to sell energy to consumers based upon predetermined contract conditions. In the same way, any network participant has the freedom to buy or sell from any other producer—thus promoting healthy competition within the market while maintaining reasonable energy rates.

In the aforementioned P2P model, existing energy companies do not have to be eliminated from the picture completely. Instead, they are required to simply modify their current business practices so as to adapt to the new economy. For example, large energy companies will be required to take payments in tokens quite like all of the independent providers who make use of the platform.

Lastly, through the use of a blockchain-based ledger system, energy providers will be able to greatly reduce their administrative burden since a digitized entity will record all their payments and other pertinent transactions automatically. As a result of this reduced workload, consumers will be given the option to pay their bills daily or weekly, with lower levels of debt.

Team Details

Omar Rahim is the CEO of this project. According to his online bio, Omar spent more than a decade working in Europe’s energy and gas trading sector. He went on to create Energi Mine, a tech company that is looking to revolutionize the commercial electricity/power domain.

Nick Kairinos is the CTO of this venture. He specializes in the application and integration of artificial intelligence in projects involving complex transactions. Nick has over two decades worth of experience as an architect, advisor, entrepreneur, and investor at various startups.

Lastly, John Townsend is the CFO of Energi Mine. Prior to his collaboration with Omar, John worked as a chartered accountant for nearly 30 years, serving many high-profile clients such as Deloitte. He’s also managed financial affairs for a host of companies and HNWIs spread across the globe in the past decade.

Token Financials

Released into the cryptoverse around a week back, the value of ETK tokens has remained relatively stable since their market inception.

ETK lifetime performance data (courtesy of Coincodex)

While initially trading at a base rate of $0.0045, the value of a single ETK token stood at $0.0055 at the time of writing.

Additionally, ETK possesses a market cap of $6.34 million along with a circulating token supply of 1.14 billion coins.

Final Thoughts

Since EnergiToken incentivizes individuals to reduce their energy consumption, it will be interesting to see how the project is received after its official launch later this year.

As of now, the beta version of the company’s Rewards Platform is currently available for download.

If you would like to buy/sell ETK, trading pairs are currently available on Coinbene and Coinsuper.

Jameson Lopp, a former Engineer for BitGo and the current Engineer for CasaHODL, claims that over BTC 4 million have been lost and over BTC 2 million have been stolen. This suggests that there are much fewer Bitcoins in circulation than the total supply of BTC 17.13 million that have been mined since the genesis block.

There is some debate that perhaps Bitcoin’s price is underestimated as it doesn’t account for the lost Bitcoins. However, others argue that the price of Bitcoin is based on supply and demand and adjusts naturally; if these lost Bitcoins were somehow found, then Bitcoin’s price would go down accordingly.

If millions of Bitcoins truly are lost, then the statistic that needs adjustment is the market capitalization. Currently, the market cap is USD 114 billion as of 5 July 2018, but if BTC 4 million are lost, then the true market cap is near USD 88 billion.

Estimates of lost coins should be taken with caution, however. The most often cited statistic for lost Bitcoins comes from a Chainalysis study released in November 2017 that concludes that BTC 3.79 million are lost. This number is only an estimate based on assumptions, since there is no way to know if Bitcoins are truly lost. The study assumed that Bitcoins idling for a long time are lost, which is not always true.

Chainalysis also assumes that the over BTC 1 million Bitcoins mined by Satoshi Nakamoto are “lost”, having idled for almost ten years. It is unlikely that the private keys for these were lost, but one can only speculate on what plans Nakamoto had for the Bitcoin mined, if at all there were any plans.

Regardless of how many Bitcoins actually are lost forever, the fact that Bitcoins can be lost will be important for Bitcoin’s future price. Over time, people will be losing Bitcoins due to computer malfunctions, throwing out private keys by accident, other disasters, and death. Considering Bitcoin has a fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins, losing them will provide a mechanism for long-term deflation, which will cause Bitcoin’s price relative to fiat to increase.

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