Day: July 30, 2018

The first developer to code alongside Satoshi couldn’t stay away from crypto for long. He’s now helping to launch a new token.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price continues to tread sideways in tight consolidation, and bulls might need to gather more energy on a correction.
• Applying the Fibonacci retracement tool shows the potential support zones where more buyers might be waiting.
• The flag or pennant still seems intact even with the recent dip, so there’s still chance for consolidation.

Bitcoin price is still stuck in consolidation as bulls wait for more buying pressure or the next round of catalysts.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is still above the longer-term 200 SMA on this time frame, confirming that the path of least resistance is to the upside. This suggests that the uptrend is more likely to continue than to reverse.

In addition, the gap between the moving averages is widening to reflect stronger bullish pressure. The short-term simple moving average also recently held as dynamic support on the latest dip. Just when it appeared that sellers had pushed for a downside break, buyers rushed to defend support and propped bitcoin price back up.

RSI is slowly inching lower, however, reflecting a slow increase in bearish pressure. Stochastic was also on the move down but turned higher halfway through its journey to the oversold region. This suggests that buyers are still defending current levels and could have enough energy for a push higher.

BTCUSD Chart from TradingView

A break past the $8,500 level could be enough to confirm another leg higher, possibly spanning the same height as the flag mast or the earlier rally. On the other hand, a break below the short-term consolidation or spike down could lead to a larger pullback.

The 61.8% level is in line with the 200 SMA dynamic support and might be the line in the sand for this uptrend. The 50% level at $7,300 is closer to the channel bottom while the 38.2% retracement level is near the $7,600 handle.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Bullish Correction Needed? appeared first on NewsBTC.

The Ethereum (ETH) blockchain has different user case application and undoubtedly, that what generates value. It’s a proven platform that is secure and investors stand to reap big. At current prices, Ethereum (ETH) is stable, decoupling from BTC influence and likely to sink if at all bulls cannot overcome sellers aiming to reverse July 24 gains.

From the News

• The Commonwealth Bank of Australia used the Ethereum blockchain for their international shipping and logistics. For demonstrations, they successfully exported and tracked 17 tons of Almonds from Australia to Hamburg, Germany.

• Constantinople will be the next major Ethereum blockchain upgrade after Byzantium whose implementation was done one year ago. Constantinople aims to improve efficiency and most importantly lower the cost of on-chain transaction fees. Full activation would be done in October.

The second part of a series of upgrades to make the #ethereum network more efficient and less costly in terms of fees, #Constantinople will be activated sometime before October's #Devcon4 #EthereumConference, according to stakeholders during a core developer meeting Friday. pic.twitter.com/xbqSAJldTt

— CryptoGround (@CryptoGround) July 30, 2018

• Quantstamp, the smart contract security firm says Binance ERC-20 tokens are free from Batch and Proxy Overflow bugs.

Great, Binance partnered with @Quantstamp to audit ERC-20 tokens for security flaws. Even more awesome that Quantstamp successfully finalised the audit and found none. $QSP providing real value and doing what they promised to do since the beginning.https://t.co/JIfNSlYwbX

— Crypto Accountant (@CryptoCountant) May 2, 2018

Ethereum (ETH) Technical Analysis

Weekly Chart

Ethereum Weekly Chart by Trading View

Like before, $400 is where traders are looking at. Not only is it the main support line but it also doubles up as 2018 lows and previous resistance and now support. Besides, when you past a Fibonacci retracement tool between this 2017 high low you notice that ETH prices are finding support in between the 78.6 percent and 61.8 percent retracement level. All these are important levels that influences our analysis in one way or another.

Now, on the chart, we realize that ETH is pretty stable and still moving within that high volume bear candlestick of week ending June 24. As such and as dictated by our previous Ethereum (ETH) trade plan, ETH bulls need to thrust strongly above that bear candlestick highs printing a three-bar bullish reversal pattern-the morning star in the process. When that happens, Ethereum shall have a clear way for further gains towards $1,000.

On the flip side though, sellers are technically in charge. That’s why $400 is important as it acts as a strong support line and sell trigger. Any close below will open doors for $350 and later $150 especially if it was accompanied by high volume break bellows.

Daily Chart

Ethereum Daily Chart by Trading View

If anything, ETH is trading within a bear break out pattern set rolling by June 20 bear candlestick. Not only did we see strong volume spikes but Ethereum (ETH) buyers are yet to reverse those gains and print above $550.

What we do have is a 35 day consolidation with clear limits at $550 and $400. As aforementioned, we shall take a neutral stand until we see a break out in either direction. However, since we are technically bearish, risk off traders can initiate small size ETH positions once prices close below $430.

In that case, fitting stops will be at July 24 highs at $480 while targets would be at $400 and later $350.

On the reverse side, should bulls find enough momentum and break above this descending wedge closing above $510, then aggressive bulls can do the same with first targets at $550 and later $850 as laid out in our last Ethereum (ETH) technical analysis.

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are those of the author and aren’t investment advice. Trading of any form involves risk and so do your due diligence before making a trading decision.

The post Ethereum (ETH) Technical Analysis: ETH Bulls Shaky appeared first on NewsBTC.

The crypto market is back in loss making territory and as Tron (TRX) and EOS lead the loss with a cumulative drawn down of eight percent in the last day, Bitcoin dominance is up three percent to 48 percent. Both ways, judging from the chart, it seems like it is a disappointment for Tron (TRX) investors. As such, it’s highly likely that sellers shall set in and drive prices down.

Let’s have a look at these charts:

EOS Technical Analysis

From the News

• Eva, a new ride sharing app that plans to compete with Uber and Lyft, will launch on EOS. Critics doubtful of the viability of the project and if at all it needs to be decentralized.

Eva is a decentralized Uber set to launch on https://t.co/ZVFwD5X9CT. #Blockchain #blockchaintechnology #EOS #eosiohttps://t.co/RMcNbxLoqp

— Everipedia (@Everipedia) July 30, 2018

Technical Analysis

EOS Daily Chart by Trading View

As laid out before, EOS is technically trading within a bear break out pattern and if we take a step back then we realize that $9 is not only a buy trigger but previous support now resistance.

Anchoring this view is June 22 bear candlestick breaking below $9 and triggering sell pressure. In my view, July 30, July 9 and June 22 candlesticks are pointers of trend. Therefore, the best approach is to wait for close below $7, our sell trigger line and sell with every pull back with general targets at $4.

It’s easy to see why:  All referred sell candlesticks have remarkably high volumes. Besides, they have a wide trading range cancelling bullish attempts.

Litecoin (LTC) Technical Analysis

From the News

• HTC Exodus is the first smart phone that will be specifically designed to run dApps while retaining high level security. Litecoin co-founder Charlie Lee will be HTC’s lead consultant on the project set to launch in autumn. According to Charlie, the phone will support LTC and LN. However, solid plans are there to integrate BTC and Ethereum.

Met the HTC Exodus team last week and was really excited to hear the phone will support LTC and Lightning Network on Litecoin natively! I will be an advisor as I see having a secure crypto phone that makes LN simple is needed for mass adoption.

P.S. No, they will not remove BTC. https://t.co/WQcygPVst0

— Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) July 30, 2018

Technical Analysis

Litecoin Daily Chart by Trading View

Like any project mass adoption is good news and once LTC becomes mainstream, its valuation shall sky rocket.

In the meantime though, Litecoin (LTC) buyers are having a hard time taming sellers. It’s down four percent in the last day but sellers are yet to close convincingly below $80.

If that happens today, then risk off traders can begin loading with stops at $80 with first targets at $70 and later $50.

On the other side of the coin, conservatives are on the sidelines waiting for break outs. Any breach above $90 cancels this bear break out set in motion by June 10 sellers. Meanwhile, collapse below $70 confirms the bear break out pattern and would signal bears to jump in.

Overall first targets in both cases are at $110 and $50 respectively.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) Technical Analysis

Stellar Lumens Daily Chart by Trading View

Overly we are net bullish on Stellar Lumens and holding on to our previous Stellar Lumens (XLM) trade plan. Regardless, I recommend buyers to exit their XLM longs and wait for proper entries at around 22 cents.

Even though prices are rejecting higher highs, aggressive XLM traders can begin selling at current spot prices with stops above July 30 highs at 32 cents.

Because of the general bear pressure, first targets would be the break out level at 22 cents. On the other hand, bear pressure driving prices below 20 cents or June 2018 lows will effectively cancel our initial Stellar Lumens (XLM) buy projection.

Tron (TRX) Technical Analysis

From the News

• The eagerly awaited secret project is Atlas. It’s a merger of BitTorrent and Tron protocol with the aim of making BitTorrent faster, competitive and integrating it within the Tron ecosystem.

The @Tronfoundation never stated a “Secret Partnership” it is a “Secret Project.”

Project Atlas will develop the ecosystem of the #TRON network. pic.twitter.com/RjKb0Kllfd

— Tron News 特伦新闻 (@TronNews_) July 30, 2018

Technical Analysis

Tron Daily Chart by Trading View

The secret project wasn’t received well and with seven percent dip, our stops were triggered.

From a technical perspective, this rejection happened right at 4 cents-our immediate resistance line as laid out in past Tron (TRX) technical analysis. Because of this, odds are sellers are back and syncing with that bear precedence set by June 10 bear candlestick.

First bear target stands at 2.5 cents with stops at 4 cents though conservatives should enter when prices are trading below 3.2 cents and the lower limit of this 1 cent trade range.

IOTA (IOT) Technical Analysis

IOTA Daily Chart by Trading View

In our prior IOTA analysis, we had recommended aggressive, risk off traders to initiate longs with stops right at 90 cents. However, considering these series of lower lows and failure of buyers to edge past $1.3 or even July highs, it’s likely that June 12 bears will once again emerge superior and drop past 90 cents.

So, in regard to yesterday’s development, it’s better to revert back to neutral and wait for break out in either direction before trading. Should IOTA sellers drive prices below 90 cents then we suggest liquidating IOTA with first targets at 65 cents.

Conversely, any breach and close above July high will set the trend for possible retest of 2.5 cents in line with our last IOTA trade plan.

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are those of the author and aren’t investment advice. Trading of any form involves risk and so do your due diligence before making a trading decision.

The post EOS, Tron (TRX), Litecoin, Stellar, IOTA Technical Analysis: Tron (TRX), EOS Caving In appeared first on NewsBTC.

American technology corporation IBM has teamed with banking giants including Barclays and Citi to create an app store style platform for financial blockchain services.

The LedgerConnect project aims to increase efficiency in banks’ ability to access and utilize blockchain solutions from fintech and software developers, offering services in areas of market data, know your customer (KYC) processes, collateral management and sanctions screenings. Nine financial institutions were part of the proof-of-concept of the app for use by their peers.

Trying something new

Those behind the LedgerConnect project say it will benefit users by pre-approving and certifying applications as secure to be used, potentially saving research costs for banks looking for blockchain services. Dr Lee Braine of Barclays noted that a hub such as this gives banks a chance to try something new in the area, allowing them access to the various deployment options of distributed ledgers in banking, and experience in combining infrastructure-hosted and bank-hosted nodes in the private network.

The hub itself runs on IBM’s blockchain platform, offering just Hyperledger-based applications for the time being, although the founders are looking into hosting alternative blockchain solutions, citing R3’s Corda and Quorum as viable options so long as they meet the security specifications.

A good thing for start-ups?

Should the hub find success in the sector, it will not only be beneficial for the banks using it, but also for the blockchain companies whose services are being advertised. By addressing a connectivity gap as the project says it is, the number of blockchain trials by big banks such as those the Bank of Canada has become known for may decrease, allowing smaller start-up firms to have their own solutions employed by those entities.

It could, in fact, encourage further research and applications be developed now there is an easier way for their work to be advertised and used by financial institutions.

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Cryptocurrency services firm AlphaPoint is powering a new decentralized exchange, the company announced Monday. 

After CryptoKitty breeding, virtual shrimp farming, and rare pepe trading, the latest dapps burning precious GAS on the ethereum network let users benefit from the greater fool theory — just like a Ponzi scheme.

In South Korea, special taxation laws for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may no longer apply to cryptocurrency exchanges.

Previously, the Restriction of Special Taxation Act included tax reductions or exemptions for SMEs or venture businesses in the range of 50% to 100% of either income tax or corporate tax in the first five years. Afterwards, this range would be reduced to a range between 5% and 30%.

Tax law revisions

A new draft bill will be submitted to the National Assembly by the end of August 2018, after which it will be opened up to debate within the parliament prior to when or if the bill will be enacted into law. If it is approved, cryptocurrency exchanges will not be eligible to request tax reduction or exemption.

A recent report explains that the government is proposing a revision to the present tax law with the intention of excluding crypto exchanges from this special tax rate. The government explained its reasoning behind the move saying, “The virtual currency transaction brokerage was not effective in generating added value.”

Should the bill pass and be legislated into law, cryptocurrency exchanges will also be obligated to operate under a code of ethics that commercial banks in the country are required to follow, which includes practices such as transaction monitoring.

Cogs in motion

Under the revised laws, cryptocurrency exchanges would officially become financial institutions, which would cause them to fall under South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC). In recent weeks, the FSC has been developing a new tax credit scheme designed specifically with “new-growth technologies” in mind, which includes blockchain technologies.

It comes shortly after the Korean National Assembly saw a whirlwind of political parties submit draft bills in a bid to create the necessary regulatory frameworks for initial coin offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

South Korea’s financial watchdog has also established a new governing body in preparation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As part of the FSC, a new entity named the Financial Innovation Bureau (FIB) will be working to provide “policy initiatives for financial innovation e.g. innovative financial services using fintech or big data and responses to new developments and challenges such as cryptocurrencies”.

Hong Seong-ki, head of the virtual currency response team for the Korean FSC has been pushing to have these bills prepared and passed with haste, urging lawmakers to do so in order to better protect consumer and investors.

South Korea is at a complete turning point, and could very soon be joining the likes of Malta with world-leading and clear laws and regulations.

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A Russian request to extradite Alexander Vinnik has been supported by a Greek Court, complicating the case as France and the U.S. seek his extradition as well

University blockchain research groups are on the rise, but corporate funding raises questions of objectivity

A little-known European football club has become the first on the planet to introduce cryptocurrency payments for players. Gibraltar United will pay part of their player’s wages in the brand new Quantocoin.

Gibraltar United Embrace Cryptocurrency as a Means of Payment

Gibraltar United aren’t exactly the most prestigious football club on the planet. In fact, they were only certified by UEFA in 2013. The team currently play their football in the tiny premier division of the British Overseas Territory.

There are just 10 teams that compete in the league each year. However, rather than making history for their prowess on the field, Gibraltar United are instead innovating behind the scenes – by becoming the first to pay players in crypto.

According to a report in The Guardian, a myriad of factors have lead the club’s owner Pablo Dana to make the bold step of paying players in digital currency.

One such factor is that transparent, blockchain-based payment methods could be useful in ending corruption in football. Another is that many foreign players struggle to set up bank accounts in Gibraltar. The permissionless nature of cryptocurrency payments completely removes this obstacle for team members.

However, those cynical would argue that Dana is using his ties to Gibraltar United to help pump a project he is affiliated with. The report in The Guardian states that Dana is indeed an early investor in Quantocoin and the media attention the Gibraltar United announcement is getting the token can only be good for the said investment.

That said, it makes sense that such a step has been taken in Gibraltar. They have consistently striven to remain at the cutting edge of blockchain legal innovation by creating a regulated framework for running initial coin offerings (ICOs). Additionally for Dana, the territory’s embrace of online gambling in the last couple of decades makes them ideal to be at the forefront of a potential fintech revolution:

“It [Gibraltar] was the first that regulated betting companies 20 years back, when everyone was seeing them as horrible. They put compliance and anti-money laundering regulations and created a platform – they have the intelligence to do the same with cryptocurrencies.”

The Quantocoin token that Gibraltar United will use to pay players was built on the Waves blockchain. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it before though. The project hasn’t even finished its ICO phase yet. It was only launched at the beginning of this month and will last until late April 2019.

As 2018 continues, more stories are emerging of sports clubs embracing digital assets. Earlier this year, NewsBTC reported on NBA team the Sacramento Kings becoming the first professional sports club to mine cryptocurrency. The team have created a data centre within their state-of-the-art arena dedicated to raising money through crypto mining to help local charitable causes. We also reported on the Major League Baseball launching a collectable trading game on the Ethereum network.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Gibraltar United Will Pay Players in Crypto Next Season in World First appeared first on NewsBTC.

Mount Sinai Hospital’s New York-based medical school has established a blockchain research center to explore its medical use case applications.

The Center for Biomedical Blockchain Research is set to be part of the hospital’s Institute for Next Generation Healthcare. The institute currently hosts 50 specialist researchers studying progressive healthcare solutions, including the application of robotics, artificial intelligence, wearable medical devices, sensors, and genomic sequencing.

Blockchain use-cases to be researched include drug development, drug tracking and authentication, improved research reproducibility, and use in clinical trials. Predictive health applications are also on the agenda, with studies planned to investigate the possibilities of utilizing electronic health record information gained from wearable devices to prevent future health problems.

Director of health data and design innovation, Noah Zimmerman, was careful to point out the institute would add a degree of academic rigor to the blockchain sector. He acknowledged there could be no singular technological solution to ”save healthcare” and he was careful to avoid becoming merely part of the ”blockchain hype cycle“. He believes the institute has a balanced, academic approach to its research.

Executive vice president of precision health at Mount Sinai, Joel Dudley, has been positioned to run the research center. His previous experience in the sector includes time as a senior data scientist at Pivotal Software where the use of artificial intelligence in biology is studied, as well as working to design predictive healthcare models.

Teaming up

The institute’s plans began by bringing together 144 companies involved in blockchain healthcare projects and creating a database of shared information. The combined total of funds raised through initial coin offerings by the companies involved is USD 670 million.

CoverUs is included in the group, offering its project which allows patients to gain financially from their own health data via a blockchain-backed exchange, as is Embleema, a venture which brings together patient health data and electronic medical records in a secure format.

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