Day: July 11, 2018

Cryptocurrency payment service TokenPay purchased a 9.9% stake in Germany’s WEG Bank, and gifted a 9.9% stake to the Litecoin Foundation to forge a partnership. In return for the stake, the Litecoin Foundation agreed to provide technology and marketing expertise for TokenPay’s blockchain initiatives including the TPAY cryptocurrency, eFin decentralized exchange, TokenSuisse asset management, WEG Bank’s FinTech platform, and a multi-signature transaction engine.

Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin and director of the Litecoin Foundation, says, “This partnership is a huge win-win for both Litecoin and TokenPay. I’m looking forward to integrating Litecoin with the WEG Bank AG and all the various services it has to offer, to make it simple for anyone to buy and use Litecoin. I’m also excited about Litecoin’s support in TokenPay’s eFin decentralized exchange.”

The CEO of WEG Bank, Matthias von Hauff, says, “The partnership with innovative institutions such as TokenPay and Litecoin might at first come unexpectedly for a very conservative institution like us. But we have thoroughly and diligently examined the prospects of a common future, and we became convinced that the future of banking will make adoption of such modern payment methods inevitable. We are therefore proud to have teamed up with the best in the field.”

Under German law, no entity can buy more than a 9.9% share in a bank without regulatory approval. If TokenPay receives approval they plan on buying up all the shares of WEG Bank. This is a big if, since it would probably be the first time in history that a cryptocurrency firm purchased an entire bank, and would be major positive news for the crypto world. They want to keep the Litecoin Foundation on board as a strategic partner, so the Litecoin Foundation would keep its stake even if TokenPay takes over WEG Bank.

Due to its partnerships with the Litecoin Foundation, WEG Bank and Verge, TokenPay is expecting to get several hundred thousand customers when it releases its crypto debit cards. Indeed, the fact that TokenPay has a large share in a bank sets the foundation for an ideal fiat to crypto exchange service for cryptocurrency traders. Oftentimes, centralized actions by banks are the biggest hindrance to trading crypto for fiat, but since TokenPay now owns a part of WEG Bank, it is likely it won’t face much banking problems.

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Key Highlights

• Ripple price is trading in a range below a key resistance at $0.4500 against the US dollar.
• Yesterday’s highlighted major declining channel is still active with resistance at $0.4480 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair is likely to clear the $0.4480 and $0.4500 resistances as long as it is above $0.4380.

Ripple price is consolidating in a tiny range against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD faces tough resistances near $0.4500 and $0.4520 for a decent recovery.

Ripple Price Resistance

Recently, we saw a major downside move below the $0.5000 pivot level in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair tumbled and settled below the $0.4500 support. It traded as low as $0.4394 and is currently consolidating losses. There was a minor upside move above the $0.4400 level, but upsides were capped. The 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $0.4879 high to $0.4394 low acted as a resistance.

The price is slowly moving lower and is currently trading near $0.4450. It seems like yesterday’s highlighted major declining channel is still active with resistance at $0.4480 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. A break above the channel resistance could push the price toward the $0.4500 and $0.4510 resistance levels. Above these, there are chances of more gains in XRP. The next crucial resistance is at $0.4640 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Looking at the chart, the price may perhaps continue to trade in a range above $0.4400. As long as the $0.4400 and $0.4380 support levels are intact, ripple could move above the $0.4500 resistance. On the flip side, a break below $0.4380 may well clear the path for more declines towards $0.4200.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is currently neutral in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is still below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $0.4380

Major Resistance Level – $0.4500

The post Ripple Price Analysis: Can XRP/USD Recover Above $0.4500? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Jeffrey Wernick, an independent investor, explains why he started to invest in the early stages of the cryptocurrency market.

Jeffery Wernick – The Anti-Centralization Investment Figure  

Jeffrey Wernick is a sixty-two year old investment guru that fell in love with economics and investing at a young age, gaining interest in the industry during high school. His first encounter with economics came in 1970-1971 when former U.S. president Nixon began to decouple gold from the U.S. dollar.

As he went through high school, he gained further interest in the industry, eventually deciding to study at one the homes of monetary economics, the University of Chicago. While studying at university, Wernick began to develop anti-centralization theories, believing that central banks should be accountable to society as a whole.

He elaborated in an interview with Business Insider‘s Sara Silverstein, stating:

I don’t support central banking to begin with, but if we’re going to have central banking, I’d rather have it accountable to society than a completely unaccountable, you know, run by technocrats. For people that espouse limited government, it’s sort of like, weird to have a central bank that’s not accountable to anybody or anything.

Since graduating at the University of Chicago, he has worked with Salomon Brothers and the National Bank of Detroit. Since leaving a desk job at financial institutions, he has become a rather successful independent investor, becoming an angel investor for Uber and Airbnb. 

Despite spending time at centralized financial institutions, his negative sentiment about central banks persisted, seemingly becoming a basis for his rationale for investing in general. 

Bitcoin Is “A People’s Currency”

According to the interview, Wernick noted that he had started acquiring Bitcoin in 2009, and has since expanded his cryptocurrency investments into altcoins.  The investor then gave three main reasons why he believes that Bitcoin is a viable investment vehicle and a solution to current issues with centralized currencies.

Firstly, Wernick lauded Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, pointing out that it isn’t issued by a central party, and that the rules are fixed for distribution. The Bitcoin protocol disallows a central party to create extra Bitcoin on a whim, ensuring that hyperinflation is impossible for the Bitcoin network. Secondly, the University of Chicago graduate recognized that Bitcoin is counterfeit resistant, with it being near impossible for a malicious actor to record a false transaction on the blockchain. He elaborated, adding:

So we have a currency that can’t be counterfeited, that we kind of know the rules under which how it’s created, and we know there’s a hard budget constraint in how many are gonna be issued. And its distribution through the system is not determined by any authority.

Last but not least, the investor pointed out that everyone has the opportunity to access the Bitcoin network, as it is uncensorable and open-source. He then closed off the interview by giving a powerful message about the most prominent cryptocurrency. He said:

Does Wernick Have A Common Investment Strategy?

What’s one thing Airbnb, Uber, and Bitcoin have it common? The products used in the ecosystem aren’t owned by a central party, with these systems being semi-decentralized at the least. Airbnb doesn’t own user’s homes, apartments or condos, Uber doesn’t own the cars and transportation vehicles of drivers, and most importantly, no one entity can own the Bitcoin network.

Another thing three of Wernick’s investments have in common is that they were criticized heavily in their early stages, as people believed that they would fail. But it seems that Wernick has beat all the odds, and made three investments into semi-decentralized/decentralized systems which are continuing to grow at a rapid pace.

Warren Buffet once said:

Different people understand different businesses. And the important thing is to know which ones you do understand and when you’re operating within what I call your circle of competence.

It seems that Jeffery Wernick has capitalized on his opinions on centralization, and has turned it into a viable investment strategy which he understands and trusts.

Featured Image from Shutterstock

The post Why This Early Uber Investo Bought Bitcoin at $1 in 2009 appeared first on NewsBTC.

An Israeli man was indicted by the Tel-Aviv District Court on 5 July 2018 for trying to sell top-secret spy software called Pegasus built for Israel’s government. The extremely sophisticated software gained notoriety for being able to hack into Apple iPhones.

The man worked as a senior programmer for NSO Group, which gave him access to all the company’s source code and tools. He tried to sell Pegasus for USD 50 million of cryptocurrencies on the darknet, wanting the deal to be separated into various cryptocurrencies to obfuscate his trail.

The Israeli was fired by NSO Group in February 2018 for connecting an external drive to company computers, after searching on the internet how to connect an external drive without being detected. He downloaded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of software and then hid the external drive under his bed.

Sometime later, he went to the darknet to find a buyer for Pegasus. The person contacted became suspicious of the deal and contacted NSO Group, after which point the contact cooperated to get the Israeli man arrested. The seller man was charged with theft, trying to damage property in a way that would hurt national security, marketing defense material without a permit, and interfering with computer material.

The Israeli man is being kept in custody throughout the court proceedings since he is considered a danger to national security. According to NSO Group, no top-secret data was leaked due to this incident.

The company said, “The company was able to quickly identify the breach, collect evidence, identify the perpetrator, and share its findings with the relevant authorities. The authorities, in turn, responded quickly and effectively, so that within a very short time the former employee was arrested and the stolen property was secured. No [intellectual property] or company materials have been shared with any 3rd party or otherwise leaked, and no customer data or information was compromised.”

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Shanghai Stock Exchange is pushing for the use of DLT in the securities market but says a lack of regulatory framework is a key hurdle at the moment.

The UK head of eToro has revealed how many crypto assets the social trading platform is looking to add and criticized reporting on blockchain technology by mainstream media. In an interview with NewsBTC, he said that the recent bear market has been a ‘blessing in disguise’ for crypto companies.

eToro Considers Six New Coins

UK Managing Director Iqbal Gandham said that eToro are looking at six new crypto tokens to add to their platform of which he expects four or five to be added. Currently doing due diligence on the new assets, he said that it depends on the nature of the coins and the nature of the teams over whether or not all the tokens will be added.

Gandham also departed from the usual rhetoric on the 2018 bear market by claiming that it has enabled crypto companies and exchanges to cope with the recent demand and update their systems.

Gandham told NewsBTC: “Most exchanges will concur that the industry has needed the low prices, which are a breathing space that the industry needed. We struggled to keep up last year. This year has been a blessing in disguise.”

Mainstream Media is a ‘Tired Commentary’

The MD took aim at mainstream media which has taken a sceptical view on cryptocurrencies, calling them a ‘speculative bubble‘ which will be ‘wiped out.’ He criticized the main three targets of volatility, money laundering and it being determined a Ponzi scheme.

Gandham said: “We need to change the sentiment surrounding crypto assets. It’s an amazing innovation. We keep hearing the incorrect arguments. Email took 35 years to develop. We’re only eight or nine years into the game. Give it four or five years before mainstream innovation. eBay had scalability issues, Amazon had scalability issues. I hope these reports move away from that tired commentary on crypto.”

“I’m tired of reading about Ponzi schemes. It’s not a Ponzi scheme. Bitcoin has never guaranteed anybody any set returns. The volatility of these assets has gone down year on year. Even money laundering, even though the national risk assessment in 2017 said the risk of money laundering is currently very low. We keep reading it in the mainstream press, it’s a very tired conversation.”

Gandham contributed to definitions within a recent report called ‘Unlocking Blockchain’ by UK Tory MP Eddie Hughes. He argued that more of these reports are needed in order to move the conversation away from talks about money laundering.

He did not back the call in the report for a ‘Chief Blockchain Officer’ as he believed it is not necessary. On the other hand, he said that anything that raises awareness of crypto assets is a good thing. He also said that a proposed blockchain competition might be helpful because it too, could raise awareness.

Featured Image From Shutterstock

The post eToro Executive: Crypto Correction in 2018 is a Blessing in Disguise, Bull Market Expected appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

• ETH price recovered a few points, but faced sellers near $445 against the US Dollar.
• Yesterday’s highlighted important bearish trend line is intact with resistance at $447 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair may continue to struggle as long as it is below the $445 and $448 resistance levels.

Ethereum price is under pressure against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD must move higher above $448, if not, there is a risk of more losses.

Ethereum Price Upside Hurdle

After a major drop, ETH price found support near the $425 level against the US Dollar. The ETH/USD pair formed a base and started a minor upside correction above $430. There was a spike above the $440 resistance, but buyers failed to gain momentum. Additionally, there was no proper close above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $496 high to $425 low.

The price attempted to break the $445 level on two occasions, but it failed. Above this, yesterday’s highlighted important bearish trend line is intact with resistance at $447 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. Finally, above the trend line, the next hurdle for buyers is near $452 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. It is also close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $496 high to $425 low. Therefore, the price is likely to struggle near the $445, $448 and $452 resistance levels.

Looking at the chart, the price is currently moving lower from the $445 resistance. On the downside, an initial support is at $432. A break below this could push the price towards the $425 low. Overall, the price is at a risk of more declines as long as it is below the $448 resistance.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is about to move back in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is now back below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $448

Major Resistance Level – $432

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD Facing Key Hurdle appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price remained in a range and consolidated above the $680 support against the US Dollar.
• Yesterday’s highlighted key bearish trend line is intact with current resistance near $720 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair remains at a risk of more losses as long as it is below the $710 and $720 resistance levels.

Bitcoin cash price is struggling to move above $710 against the US Dollar. BCH/USD is currently consolidating and it remains at a risk of further declines.

Bitcoin Cash Price Trend

After a major decline below the $700 level, bitcoin cash price found support near $680 against the US Dollar. The BCH/USD pair formed a low near $683 and later it started a minor upside correction. It moved above the $690 level, but it failed to move past the $700-710 resistance. Moreover, the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $780 high to $683 low also acted as a resistance.

It seems like the $700-710 zone is a major resistance and a pivot area. A break above the same is needed for a push towards the next resistance at $720-725. More importantly, yesterday’s highlighted key bearish trend line is intact with current resistance near $720 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair. The trend line now coincides with the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $780 high to $683 low. The next hurdle for buyers is near the $730 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Looking at the chart, there are clearly many hurdles for buyers above $710. Therefore, a major upside recovery towards $750 won’t be easy. On the downside, a break below the $680 support could push the price towards $650.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is mostly flat in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is now back below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $680

Major Resistance Level – $720

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: BCH/USD Consolidating Above $680 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Lightspeed Venture Partners, a venture capital (VC) firm and early investor in Snap Inc., has raised $1.8 billion for startup investments including cryptocurrency projects.

As it eyes a business expansion to Southeast Asia, where the digital currency ecosystem thrives like no other region, the VC player is likely to fund a number of promising cryptocurrency products there.

Snapchat Investor Lightspeed Has Billion Dollar Wallet to Invest in Cryptocurrency Projects

The early backer of Snapchat’s creator Snap is having approximately $1.05 billion of the $1.8 billion new funding earmarked for a separate fund to invest in more mature companies, instead of its traditional approach of funding early-stage firms.

The company’s upcoming expansion to Southeast Asia will include investments in cryptocurrency, among other areas such as biotechnology and new TV streaming services, according to partners at Lightspeed, who added they will have to invest repeatedly in companies they already backed as startups stay private for longer.

“That trend has only been increasing over time, and as a result, our funds have been getting bigger over time as well,” said partner Jeremy Liew.

Lightspeed hired a new partner, ex-Insight Venture Partners Brad Twohig, to help lead the firm’s growth investments. Lightspeed has returned $2.7 billion to investors since the start of 2017, which has become an uncommon scenario among the VC industry as venture-backed tech companies increasingly delay their initial public offerings (IPOs).

In the last five years, Lightspeed-backed companies have held 17 IPOs, about half of which have occurred since the start of 2017, including messaging app Snapchat.

“If you point to one moment in time for the firm it was probably the Snap IPO. But really, it’s a decade of hard work and it all came to fruition at the same time.”

Lightspeed Venture Partners are no strangers to blockchain and the cryptocurrency market. Jeremy Liew said last year that demand for Bitcoin et al. will continue to grow as the world continues to move towards instability, in terms of geopolitics and military interventions. Citizens will eventually look for alternatives to official currencies, especially in countries in the Middle East, South America, and Eastern Europe, where political instability and inflation are common.

Lightspeed has recently invested in the ICO of Telegram, which raised more than $1.7 billion in its presale. Due to its massively successful presale, Telegram revealed that it will no longer initiate a public ICO. Lightspeed Ventures made its first token investment ever when it backed Basis in April 2018. Developed by Intangible Labs and backed by other big names such as Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, and Google Ventures, Basis is a stable coin that will be built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Charles Hoskinson explains cardano’s iterative approach to security, and how its interaction with academic gives it an advantage over other designs.

Just recently a team of programmers announced the creation of a ‘Bitreon.cash,’ a platform that aims to be similar to the popular membership application, Patreon. This particular platform, however, will be censorship resistant and powered by bitcoin cash (BCH) payments. In order to fund the protocol, two developers have raised 47 BCH so far out of their 100 BCH goal; the funds will be used for marketing Bitreon.

Also Read: Akari Launches BCH-Powered Micro-Site Builder for Crowdfunding

Bitreon.cash Aims to Launch a Patreon-Like Platform Powered by Bitcoin Cash

Patreon is a platform designed by Jack Conte and Sam Yam in 2013, and the membership service provides users with business tools so creators can design a subscription content service. Over the years the service has become very popular and is used by podcasters, Youtubers, artists, musicians, and cryptocurrency luminaries like Andreas Antonopoulos use the service. However, Patreon has its downfalls because it’s a centralized service and the web portal has censored things like adult content. Moreover, the protocol does not allow bitcoin payments for reasons tied to filing with the IRS, the Patreon Zendesk details.

So, two developers Jimmy Birer the creator of Cashflow.fm and the React wallet, alongside a front-end engineer named, Maciej Bowkorski, plan to launch a functional Bitreon.cash on August 1. The development team plans to deliver the complete Bitreon application on September 1. Bitreon.cash has also released the project white paper which details how the platform will function in a decentralized fashion and utilize BCH.           

“With Patreon disabling cryptocurrency payments, we see an opportunity to create a Bitcoin Cash membership platform that brings complete freedom and control to content creators and their subscribers,” explain the developers of Bitreon. “The security of payments (no fear of chargebacks) alongside the anonymity and the privacy offered by bitcoin cash and the Bitreon platform will make it possible for creators to reach their maximum creative potential and the subscribers to enjoy the best their favorite creators can offer.”

We’re aiming to make Bitreon.cash the most popular content membership platform on the Internet, making bitcoin cash adoption skyrocket and enable people to earn all over the world.

Zero Censorship, Smart Contracts, Bitcoin Cash Payments and Free Speech

The Bitreon developers say there will be many benefits to using the decentralized application over a centralized service like Patreon. For instance, there will be an Electron Cash plugin so people can get recurring payments. Bitreon will also be smart contract based by utilizing Nchain’s new SDK Nakasendo. Additionally, people can register anonymously and be paid without sharing identification.   

“We impose zero censorship and terms for the content you share and will always defend your right to free speech,” explains the Bitreon developers.

With 47 BCH ($34,515 USD) the Bitreon team is well on its way to raising the 100 BCH ($72,922 USD) for marketing the project to new users. Once the functional Bitreon application is released into the wild this August, news.Bitcoin.com plans to review the platform after launch.

What do you think about the Bitreon.cash concept coming to the Bitcoin Cash network? Let us know in the comment section below.

Images via Shutterstock, and Bitreon.cash.

Want a comprehensive list of the top 500 cryptocurrencies and see their prices and overall market valuation? Check out Satoshi Pulse for all that hot market action!

The post A BCH Fueled Version of Patreon is Coming This August appeared first on Bitcoin News.

NEO Price Key Highlights

• NEO recently formed a head and shoulders pattern to signal that a downtrend is underway.
• Price has since broken below the neckline around $36 to confirm that bears have the upper hand.
• NEO has more room to go south since it could slide by the same height as the pattern and technical indicators suggest so.

NEO broke below the neckline of its head and shoulders pattern while technical indicators confirm the downtrend.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA has crossed below the longer-term 200 SMA to indicate that the path of least resistance is to the downside. This means that the downtrend is more likely to resume than to reverse.

RSI is slowly crawling higher but is pointing back down again to reflect strong selling pressure. Stochastic moved south once more, after just making it halfway towards the overbought area. These confirm that sellers are eager to return and keep pushing NEO price down.

NEO has more room to tumble since the chart pattern spans $36 to $42, which means that the selloff could last by the same height. In the event of a short-term pullback, price could find resistance at the moving averages’ dynamic inflection points around the broken neckline.

NEOUSD Chart from TradingView

Market Factors

Cryptocurrencies are back on shaky ground once more, with investor sentiment dampened by negative remarks from well-known economists and resurfacing trade tensions. This has also led to a pickup in demand for the US dollar, weighing on NEOUSD as a result.

Ontology is reportedly getting ready to airdrop $40 million USD worth of ONT tokens in a free airdrop for all NEO token holders, so this might provide some support for this particular altcoin or at least prevent near-term losses. Ontology says that it is doing this to show its appreciation to NEO for “relevant cooperation and to support NEO community feedback”.

The post NEO Price Watch: Reversal Pattern Confirmation appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price is still hovering at the area of interest visible on the 4-hour time frame as buyers and sellers battle it out.
• A small consolidation pattern can be seen at current levels, and this could be seen as a bearish continuation signal.
• If any of the retracement levels hold, an inverse head and shoulders reversal pattern could form.

Bitcoin continues to hold on to the area of interest, still deciding whether to make a bounce and reversal or a continuation of the slide.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA to suggest that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, the selloff is more likely to resume than to reverse. The moving averages held as dynamic resistance also.

However, the gap between the moving averages has narrowed enough to suggest that a bullish crossover may be imminent. In that case, bullish momentum could pick up and take bitcoin price to the swing high or higher.

If that happens, an inverse head and shoulders reversal pattern could be formed. A break past the neckline around $6,850 could signal that further gains are in the cards, possibly leading to a rally of the same height as the reversal formation.

RSI is climbing out of oversold territory to indicate a return in bullish pressure as well. Stochastic just reached the oversold region and might also be ready to move north, so bitcoin price could follow suit. A break below the $6,200 level or 61.8% Fib, on the other hand, could lead to a dip to the support at $5,800.

BTCUSD Chart from TradingView

Bitcoin price appears to be having a bit more trouble getting back on its feet as negative remarks from well-known economists earlier in the week dampened investor sentiment.

It doesn’t help that trade war troubles have returned to haunt financial markets when the US released its list of Chinese goods to target for additional tariffs. The US dollar has been raking in safe-haven gains across the board on strength in the US economy and hawkish Fed commentary.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Still Fighting to Stay Afloat appeared first on NewsBTC.