Day: August 10, 2018

Crypto newbies from around the world are now using their old laptops to earn bitcoin, according to statistics from the firm.

Golden Gate Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, is to launch a $10 million global fund for cryptocurrency and blockchain companies

Asia and Australia

Welcome to our weekly roundup of all important blockchain and cryptocurrency news from around the world. Follow the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space continent by continent, country by country.

China

Court sides with exchange despite allegations of defying government crypto ban: A Beijing court took the side of a cryptocurrency exchange despite strict local rules preventing cryptocurrency transactions and trade.

In a detailed judgment, the court upheld a decision on Bitcoin trader Li Jianfeng that he must return the proceeds of BTC 5 that he got by accident back in 2017. Li liquidated the cryptocurrencies immediately after that.

The case was complicated because cryptocurrency exchanges and transactions are under a blanket ban by the Chinese government and Li’s counsel argued that the transactions couldn’t be recognized by the court but the court still ruled that Li should return the funds.

The court’s judgment said:

“In this case, whether or not Coinnice’s establishment as a Bitcoin trading platform has violated relevant rules, does not have any impact on Li’s liability to return the profits he received with no legal basis… As such, the court denies his appeal and the decision is final.”

Alibaba working on application of blockchain technology: Alibaba, one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world, is working on application of blockchain technology and already has the largest number of blockchain-related tech patents in the world.

According to Jing Xiandong, CEO of Alibaba’s financial arm: “We are the most patented company in the world of blockchain technology.”

Overall, 43 blockchain-related patents were claimed by Alibaba in 2017 alone. That is around 11% of the total number of blockchain patents filed in the space in the world. The Ant Financial System 2.0 released by the Alibaba’s financial arm is an open platform for self-operation and decentralization. Alibaba is also involved in blockchain partnerships around the world.

Thailand

50 ICOs apply for licenses: Increasing interest is being witnessed in the Thai crypto circles as more than 50 companies have applied for ICO permits, according to latest reports from the Bangkok Post.

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received increased interest after it announced that ICOs will have to be passed by it. ICOs normally look to raise funds through crowdfunding campaigns and SEC secretary-general Rapee Sucharitakul said that it remains to be seen how many of these new ICOs will actually be given license to operate in the country.

Japan

Crypto exchanges’ self-regulator applies for official status: Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges’ self-regulation body Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) is seeking official recognition from the government.

The union consists of 16 licensed cryptocurrency exchanges and are what they call security inspectors of Japanese exchanges themselves as part of a self-regulatory approach by them. The association has written up to 1,000 pages of self-regulatory measures.

The association filed for recognition and certification from financial regulator Financial services Authority (FSA) and said in the application that it is a “certified fund settlement business association” which will provide “guidance and recommendations to members to comply with regulations, laws and self-regulation rules”.

South Korea

Blockchain association presses for regulation efforts: The South Korean Blockchain Enterprise Promotion Association (BEPA) has pressed the government to swiftly pass blockchain and cryptocurrency regulation in the country.

Yoo Joon-sand, president of BEPA said in a press briefing:

“But instead of welcoming the people’s fervor for the technology, the government is focused on controlling it to address negative short-term side effects. This is essentially kicking away the economic opportunities that lie in front of us.”

The association is a powerful union with ex-politicians, academics and even former Prime Minister Lee Soo-Sung is part of its team.

Philippines

Government Using Blockchain Technology in Cleaning Rivers: The Philippines government is working on a blockchain system to help clean up a local river.

The Pasig River Rehabilitation Council (PRRC) which is in charge of cleanup operations in the city is looking to partner with CypherOdin, a blockchain startup with an environmental focus to help save a river that is one of the most polluted rivers in the country.

India

Government planning blockchain district in Hyderabad: The Indian government’s IT division is planning a new blockchain center in the city of Hyderabad in a partnership with multinational IT services company Tech Mahindra.

The two groups signed an MoU for future work on the center. The project is part of India’s agenda to bring new technological innovation in the country.

Australia

“Time traveler” millionaire investor plans crypto bank: Aussie cryptocurrency millionaire Fred Schebesta who claims to have traveled in time is trying to establish his own bank in the country to circumnavigate strict crypto-related restrictions in place in the Aussie system.

According to Schebesta:

“You don’t have your money. The bank has your money. Have you ever gone to the bank and asked for all your money? If everyone did a bank run on CommBank [Commonwealth Bank of Australia] right now, they wouldn’t be able to service it. That’s why I’m so big on crypto. I think eventually people will go, “Oh my god, this is so messed up”, and they’ll move to where they can hold their value. Not all of their money, but some of it.”

The eccentric millionaire says he “travels” forward in time to benefit from cryptocurrencies.

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The post Asia and Australia: Crypto and Blockchain News Roundup, 3rd to 9th August 2018 appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

The bitcoin market has turned indecisive in the last 24 hours and today’s UTC close is expected to set the tone for the next move in prices.

If Bitcoin trades lower this year than at the same time last year, it’s “game over,” says Wall Street

Even in a bear market, there is much investors can do to reduce the negative impact on their portfolio — and in some cases even generate a positive return 

WeChat owner Tencent thinks blockchain can speed up reimbursement of expenses for company employees and it’s trialing a feature to do just that.

FOMO Moments

Crypto land is still at the bottom, Stellar doing well, VeChain getting smashed

The hope in crypto land at the moment is that the bottom has been reached and a recovery will now begin. However we have seen bottoms before and they have repeatedly been followed by lower lows. Total market capitalization has inched back up today as some altcoins recover from their big dip.

Bitcoin remained above $6k and has climbed back 1.7% on the day to trade at $6,450. It could form a strong reversal if it can climb back to the critical $6,800 level over the weekend. Market dominance has just surpassed 49% indicating more strength in Bitcoin than any of the other cryptos. Ethereum has not benefited from any market recovery and is still flat on the day at $360 which is below August 2017’s peak price of $400.

Only Stellar is making any significant moves in the top ten, climbing 7.3% to $0.221 and 5.2% against BTC to 3425 satoshis. On the week XLM is down over 17% from its $0.268 high this time last Friday. Over the past month though Stellar has been one of the better performers, it is still up 10%. Binance currently has over 40% of the total volume in XLM, it has increased from $65 to over $80 million in the past 24 hours. Litecoin and Cardano are marginally in the green but XRP, EOS and IOTA are still falling.

In the top twenty privacy cryptos Dash and Zcash are both recovering by around 5% at the time of writing. OmiseGO and Tezos are up roughly 2% from yearly lows yesterday but Neo and VeChain are still dropping. VEN has slid a further 10% today to $0.010 though trade volume has jumped significantly. It is the worst performing altcoin in the top one hundred. Top rallies in the top one hundred at the moment are ChainLink up 14.7% and Dentacoin 9% higher on the day.

Total crypto market capitalization has rebounded slightly from its 2018 low yesterday. It is up just over a percent though to around $226 billion, still massively down over the past 9 months. It is bargain central for altcoins at the moment, and many have not been this low for over a year. Trade volume has dropped slightly to $13 billion and there has been no big bounce to signal a real recovery yet.

More on Stellar can be found here: https://www.stellar.org/

FOMO Moments is a section that takes a daily look at the top 25 altcoins during the current trading session and analyses the best performing ones, looking for trends and possible fundamentals.

The post Hope for Crypto Recovery as Stellar (XLM) Leads the Way appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Points

• Bitcoin price corrected higher and moved above the $6,350 resistance against the US Dollar.
• There is a key ascending channel forming with support at $6,300 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair is facing a couple of important resistances near the $6,630 and $6,680 levels.

Bitcoin price is slowly rebounding from $6,200 against the US Dollar. BTC/USD must clear the $6,680 resistance and the 100 hourly SMA to gain bullish momentum.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

Yesterday, we discussed bitcoin price could rebound further from the $6,100 support against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair did move higher and broke the $6,350 and $6,550 resistance levels. The move was positive since the price broke the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $7,160 swing high to $6,100 swing low. However, the upside move faced a strong resistance near the $6,630 level.

It seems like the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $7,160 swing high to $6,100 swing low acted as a barrier. The price declined a few points and is currently trading near the $6,400-6,450 zone. More importantly, there is a key ascending channel forming with support at $6,300 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. The channel support is very important near the $6,300 level and is likely to act as a buy zone. On the upside, the channel resistance at $6,680 is positioned with the 100 hourly simple moving average. Therefore, a close above $6,680 is must for more gains in the near term.

Looking at the chart, there were positive moves in bitcoin price above the $6,100 and $6,300 levels. Going forward, if buyers gain strength above $6,680, there could be solid gains in BTC/USD towards $7,000.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is slightly placed in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI is currently moving above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $6,300

Major Resistance Level – $6,680

The post Bitcoin Price Watch: BTC/USD Hesitates, But Further Gains Possible appeared first on NewsBTC.

2018 has been a crazy year for Bitcoin and crypto so far, with its price fluctuating wildly around the psychological price point of $8,000, and not succeeding in maintaining itself on its higher side. Bitcoin has shed as much as 70% from it’s all-time high of nearly $20,000.

Industry experts claim that the market is correcting itself, and the reason for it can be attributed to the regulatory uncertainty that still persists with regards to cryptocurrencies. Various countries have taken a stand in favour of or against cryptocurrencies, and many of them are still in the process of evaluating cryptocurrencies before declaring their verdict. However, with news of companies like Goldman Sachs considering launching cryptocurrency custody services, and exchanges like Coinbase adding new cryptocurrencies to their custodial services, the ongoing trends point towards the the increasing interest of institutional investors in crypto assets.

Here are 5 reasons why cryptocurrencies are going to be the next big thing for institutional investors.

1. Enhancement of custodial services

Coinbase recently announced that it is considering adding new crypto assets to its custodial services to enable institutional investors to store their cryptocurrency holdings safely. The new additions are likely to have been spurred by a potential demand for custodial services for these cryptocurrencies, which also reveals that institutional investors are looking at cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin and Ethereum for investment.

Goldman Sachs is also considering offering cryptocurrency custody services which will apparently help overcome the barrier of lack of trusted custodianship for institutional investors. Ledger, the hardware crypto wallet manufacturer, which sold over 1 million hardware  company also announced its support for 8 new cryptocurrencies recently.

2. US SEC’s stance on crypto assets

While the US Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected Winklevoss brothers’ Bitcoin ETF, its stance towards cryptocurrencies seems fairly positive. It highlighted that the proposal’s disapproval did not rest on an evaluation of whether bitcoin, or blockchain technology has utility or value as an innovation or investment, but it was owing to the inadequacy of tools for preventing fraud and manipulation with customers.

Kin-Wai Lau, the CEO of Fatfish Internet group recently said in an interview that the world is experiencing a second wave of cryptocurrencies which is being driven by institutional demand, and it just a matter of time before the SEC opens its doors to cryptocurrencies.

3. Regulated crypto ETFs on the cards

After the rejection of Winklevoss brothers’ bitcoin ETF, the US SEC will be looking at 9 ETFs in the next two months and announce its final decision on their status. The SEC highlighted that it is open to the possibility of approving crypto-derivatives in the future. In Europe in the meanwhile, Amsterdam-based speed trader Flow Traders NV announced that it was expanding its trading products to exchange-traded notes (ETNs), which are based on bitcoin and ether.

In Asia, the Singapore-based Huobi exchange had revealed in June that it was creating its own ETF. With all these efforts being made to launch ETFs, the day is not far when the world will see its first regulated crypto ETF.

4. Past performance of cryptocurrencies

It is no secret that the unregulated nature of cryptocurrencies is a double-edged sword. One of its favourable consequences has been the rapid growth is it has witnessed since its inception. Bitcoin, between 2012 and 2016, witnessed a yearly growth of around 106%, which is 6.5 times more than regular tech stocks. In fact, just the last year, Bitcoin saw a growth of 1,318%, with its highest at $19,783 on December 17th, 2017. Ripple was the biggest gainer of 2017 with 36,018% growth. According to Jesse Powell, the CEO of Kraken, the market value of cryptocurrencies will touch 1 trillion this year.

5. Favourable cryptocurrency regulations emerging globally

Many countries are recognising the pressing need to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) to leverage the ongoing transformation which Blockchain is bringing about in the world. In Japan, bitcoin is a legal tender and the country officially recognizes several cryptocurrency exchanges. The country also had a government-backed study group develop guidelines for ICOs, which are being evaluated by Japan’s Financial Services Agency  and might become the law in the coming future. In Switzerland, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) released guidelines for conducting ICOs earlier this year.

Thailand and Philippines have recently launched a regulatory framework for ICOs which dictates that entities seeking to conduct an ICO must file an application and submit the required documents to the respective regulatory bodies of the countries for evaluation. This regulated environment for cryptocurrencies and ICO projects is going to encourage investors to explore the market with confidence.

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The post 5 Reasons Why Institutional Investors are Entering Crypto appeared first on NewsBTC.