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Bitcoin (BTC) Technical Analysis: Bitcoin Soaking Gravity before Hitting $15,000

Regardless of the overall bearish sentiment and the SEC weighing in heavily against Bitcoin, bulls seem to be stable and recovering. It’s up five percent and reducing their weekly losses to eight percent as buyers reject prices below $6,000-the upper limit of our support zone. Considering the past two trends, we still hold a bearish

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Regardless of the overall bearish sentiment and the SEC weighing in heavily against Bitcoin, bulls seem to be stable and recovering. It’s up five percent and reducing their weekly losses to eight percent as buyers reject prices below $6,000-the upper limit of our support zone. Considering the past two trends, we still hold a bearish position and until we see thrusts above $6,800 and $7,000 to the upside, we recommend shorts on high more so once there is a convincing break below $5,800.

From the News

  • Bitmain, the world’s largest ASIC manufacturer plans on holding an initial public offering, IPO in the coming months. As it prepares to secure funding, details are emerging that the ASIC marker leader and the company behind one of the largest Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash mining pools holds more than one million Bitcoin Cash estimated at $650 million at current spot prices and $1 billion in acquisition price by end of Q1 2018. Contrary to our expectation, Bitmain owns about 22,000 Bitcoins. At current prices, their Bitcoin holdings stand at $140 million with an acquisition price marked up to $150 million. However, recent statistics shows that their Bitcoin holding is down to 6,700 BTC following their steady liquidation since the beginning of the year.
  • The market is waiting for solid fundamentals before pouncing and riding with the resulting trend. That solid news has to be approval of the Bitcoin ETF by the SEC. Lest we forget, the Bitcoin and crypto market often pans out in similar fashion as other securities. News or even rumors of “certain” approval would definitely jump start reversal of last week’s losses. On the reverse side, a rejection would have an opposite effect dumping prices to new lows. However, let’s get this straight: even if the SEC rejects the VanEck Bitcoin ETF, more ETFs will be up contending for approval and it will just be a matter of time before we get a market propelling nod.

Bitcoin (BTC) Technical Analysis

Weekly Chart

From the way Bitcoin prices caved in early last week, we didn’t expect prices to follow through over the weekend. That’s exactly what happened and a relief for buyers, there was a clear rejection of lower lows resulting in that rather lower wick in the weekly chart.

Now, if we take a neutral approach then we note that prices are literally moving inside a descending triangle with a nice strong support at $6,000. As mentioned in our early Bitcoin (BTC) trade plans, all we need for bears to be officially in charge is a strong close below $5,800 and $6,000—our support zone.

Still, we retain a bearish stand and as price action nears the apex of this triangle, there will be nullification of this sell projection once buyers shake out bears thrust above the resistance trend line and close above June 2018 highs at $7,000. Then, we shall load longs as before with first targets at $10,000.

Daily Chart

At current spot prices, Bitcoin bulls are doing a pretty nice job preventing further depreciation. Nevertheless, despite their efforts, prices are still trending inside Aug 10 bear candlestick and are more than $500 away from breaching and even closing the main trigger line at $6800.

For now and in line with our last Bitcoin (BTC) trade plan, we shall retain a bear outlook as we recommend shorting opportunities anywhere between $6,500 and $6,800 on the upside.

Risk on traders should stay out until we see convincing close below the lower limit of our main support zone at $5,800. For those who took sells according to our previous Bitcoin trade plans, we recommend locking in profits at $7,000.

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.

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Stable coins: Backed enough for the future?

In the short-term it is fair to say that, for traders, it doesn’t appear to matter how the stable coin is pegged, backed or governed, so long as it reflects $1 because.

In the short-term it is fair to say that, for traders, it doesn’t appear to matter how the stable coin is pegged, backed or governed, so long as it reflects $1 because.

EOS, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens, Tron, IOTA Technical Analysis: It’s an Altcoin Black Friday

More often than not, asset prices tend to recover following periods of stretching as the last two weeks demonstrate. In our case, unless we see a recovery in Bitcoin, most coins as Litecoin or EOS for example might extend their losses. Others as Stellar Lumens might be destabilized even after Facebook denying partnership claims. All

The post EOS, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens, Tron, IOTA Technical Analysis: It’s an Altcoin Black Friday appeared first on NewsBTC.

More often than not, asset prices tend to recover following periods of stretching as the last two weeks demonstrate. In our case, unless we see a recovery in Bitcoin, most coins as Litecoin or EOS for example might extend their losses. Others as Stellar Lumens might be destabilized even after Facebook denying partnership claims. All in all, we remain bearish and unless otherwise, traders should search for selling opportunities in lower time frames.

Let’s have a look at the charts:

EOS Technical Analysis

From the News

  • It’s just a matter of when. EOSIO blockchain is working as pitched and with zero transaction fees and mainstream companies as Everipedia launching operations straight from the EOSIO blockchain, the network is the most active according to data from Blocktivity. On a normal day though, the network TPS stands at around 3700 but many project new records once Bancor are through with their cross chain communication.

Technical Analysis

Our EOS trade plan is on course and solid. With a week over week drop about 28 percent, EOS prices are edging closer to 2018 lows and bear target at $4 following their strong break out below our intermittent support at $7 last week.

While we expect EOS to damp down their losses and even retest recent highs at $6, still sellers should always unload EOS at every high in lower time frames as laid out in our last EOS technical analysis.

If EOS buyers join in pushing prices above Aug 10 highs and $6, then we should expect to see a retest of $7 in line with the general bear break out pattern. In that case, selling opportunities would be found at retests with stops at $8 and first targets at $4.

Litecoin (LTC) Technical Analysis

From the News

  • News is, Bitmain–the world’s largest ASIC manufacturer and which grapevine says controls more than 51 percent of Bitcoin’s hash rate, held 931,932 Litecoins by end of Q1 2018. Bitmain wants to go global and with offices all over the world, they are planning on raising $18 billion for expansion purposes via an IPO set to be held at the Hong Kong Stock exchange.

Technical Analysis

At current prices, Litecoin is $10 away from hitting our first targets at $50. There is a high probability that prices would slide towards $50 but first-and as common when prices collapse like it has been the case in the past two weeks-, we might see a slight recovery retesting immediate resistance at $70.

Notice that while yesterday was bullish, it is Aug 11 high volume bear pin bar candlestick that underpins our analysis. Volumes are high but prices didn’t move lower and instead on Aug 12, we saw higher highs meaning buyers are preparing to edge higher and that’s why I recommend staying neutral today.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) Technical Analysis

From the News

  • Well, interesting news that is pushing Stellar platform into the limelight—again! That of Facebook officials visiting Stellar’s offices to “view the crypto landscape” and perhaps determine the direction the social media giant might take. As expected, there was an immediate saturation of news that Facebook was forming a partnership with Stellar pushing XLM prices as a result. Facebook on their part are not new to blockchain. The social media giant has plans of creating their own blockchain and has a team in place led by former CoinBase board member David Marcus.

Technical Analysis

If we take the positives from those partnership rumors then we can associate that with Stellar Lumens (XLM) higher highs. But, note that despite all these, Aug 8 break out and bear candlestick still confines the last five day’s price action.

This is an automatic damp for bulls and as highlighted before, we shall take a neutral to bear approach in line with our XLM trade plan waiting for prices to close below June lows before entering shorts.

On the positive side of things, Stellar Lumens buyers would be back in contention once they close above 26 cents or Aug 4 highs.

Tron (TRX) Technical Analysis

From the News

  • The much sought after domain, blockchain.org is now under Tron. However, Tron would turn it into a Tronix mouthpiece but instead it shall be a news aggregator and search engine service besides being a hub for blockchain big data analysis.

Technical Analysis

In the last day, Tron is up three percent meaning TRX ended up bullish in the midst of strong bears. Even though we remain bearish, we might see buyers building on yesterday’s higher high and retesting our first layer of resistance at 2.5 cents.

That will be nothing new –this pattern often happens after periods of high volatility—and would provide a perfect entry for sellers. Instead, they should aim for our bear targets at Jan 24 lows in line with our last Tron (TRX) technical analysis.

IOTA (IOT) Technical Analysis

From the News

  • After fixing bugs, the IOTA team is working round the clock to release the desktop beta version of the Trinity Wallet.

Technical Analysis

Relative to other coins in the top 10, IOTA is the worst performer shedding more than 50 percent last week alone. While it is stable in the last day gaining eight percent, that doesn’t mean buyers are back. In fact from candlestick arrangements, we are poised to see further losses this week with sellers hitting our ideal bear target at 30 cents.

Our first targets immediately after we saw a break below 90 cents was at 65 cents and that was hit on Aug 8. Should there be a recovery, then Aug 8 highs at 70 cents will act as our immediate resistance and sell zone for traders aiming to short on every pull back according to our laid out 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, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens, Tron, IOTA Technical Analysis: It’s an Altcoin Black Friday appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin’s Dominance Percentage Over 50% for the First Time Since December 2017

Bitcoin’s dominance percentage is at 50.9% as of this writing on 12 August 2018 according to data from CoinMarketCap. The numbers are up 15% from May 2018 when the uptrend began. This is the first time since December 2017 that Bitcoin’s dominance percentage has risen above 50%, meaning most of the money invested in cryptocurrency is …

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Bitcoin’s dominance percentage is at 50.9% as of this writing on 12 August 2018 according to data from CoinMarketCap. The numbers are up 15% from May 2018 when the uptrend began. This is the first time since December 2017 that Bitcoin’s dominance percentage has risen above 50%, meaning most of the money invested in cryptocurrency is invested in Bitcoin.

Currently the Bitcoin market cap is USD 109 billion while the overall cryptocurrency market cap is USD 215 billion, which yields the 50.9% Bitcoin dominance rate. Ethereum’s dominance percentage has declined to 15.3%, since the Ethereum market cap is USD 33 billion. In June 2017 Ethereum’s dominance percentage rose to as high as 31.8% at the same time Bitcoin’s dominance percentage decreased to 39.2%, which is the closest Ethereum got to overtaking Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency with the most investment. Since then Ethereum has declined relative to Bitcoin, long term.

The rise of Ethereum’s popularity in 2017, alongside a wave of initial coin offerings (ICOs), most of which are based off the Ethereum blockchain, is the reason Bitcoin’s dominance percentage declined from the 80-90% range. ICOs have taken a big hit as regulators crack down on ICO activity across the world, and Ethereum is simultaneously losing value relative to Bitcoin, resulting in the dominance percentage upswing since May 2018.

It might be healthy for the cryptocurrency market, for Bitcoin’s dominance percentage to continue rising. Bitcoin is the most secure, most widely used, and perhaps the purest cryptocurrency. It truly is the gold standard of the cryptocurrency world. It would make things far less confusing for new investors if other cryptocurrencies continue to decline since it makes it more obvious that Bitcoin is the best investment choice. In general, if funds are diverted from other cryptocurrencies back to Bitcoin, that could fuel a strong Bitcoin price increase long-term which is beneficial for the entire crypto space. Especially since most crypto businesses prefer to transact with Bitcoin.

Since Bitcoin’s dominance percentage fell from the 80-90% range in early 2017, there have been 3 rallies in the dominance percentage. This includes the time when Bitcoin rallied to USD 20,000, and a smaller bump in the dominance percentage during March 2018 before the Bitcoin rally to USD 10,000. The current rally in dominance percentage is much larger than the bump during March and could be a positive sign that Bitcoin is entering a favorable setup for a rally. However, the past data for this sort of phenomena is so scant that using Bitcoin’s dominance percentage to predict price can’t be done with much confidence.

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Binance Demos Decentralized Exchange

Changpeng Zhao has published a video showing a demo of the early stages of the Binance decentralized exchange (DEX), which will be hosted on the Binance Chain. Changpeng Zhao says “As you guys saw, that’s a very casual early demo for the Binance Chain, there’s still a ton of work to be done to turn …

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Changpeng Zhao has published a video showing a demo of the early stages of the Binance decentralized exchange (DEX), which will be hosted on the Binance Chain. Changpeng Zhao says “As you guys saw, that’s a very casual early demo for the Binance Chain, there’s still a ton of work to be done to turn it into a final product. The team is working on it very aggressively. Nevertheless, I think this is a major milestone for Binance chain”.

The video demo shows how a cryptocurrency based off the Binance Chain can easily be created from the command line, and by the time this technology is released perhaps, it will just be a click of a button to create a cryptocurrency. This looks like it’s even easier than creating a cryptocurrency with the Ethereum ERC-20 protocol, and Binance Chain has the potential to be better than Ethereum for creating new cryptocurrencies in the future.

Another major benefit of creating cryptocurrencies with Binance Chain rather than ERC-20 is the tokens can easily be listed on the Binance DEX, as the video demonstrates. Users can launch trading pairs for their newly created cryptocurrencies, or even for other cryptocurrencies. Since the Binance DEX will intrinsically be decentralized, users will have all the power instead of a central organization deciding which coins get listed.

Further, users will have full control of their cryptocurrency at all times, rather than the way it is now where they have to trust Binance and deposit cryptocurrency on the platform to be able to trade. Users can start trades, cancel trades, deposit, and withdraw at will, and there will be no centralized organization to stop them.

There are some decentralized exchanges based on Ethereum, like IDEX and 0x, but Binance DEX has the potential to be far more popular due to Binance’s well-respected and widely used brand, and the fact that it has tremendous amounts of money to make the perfect DEX.

When cryptocurrency and Bitcoin trading was effectively banned in China in September 2017, Binance left the country along with other top crypto exchanges Huobi and OKCoin. This is motivation for becoming decentralized, since once Binance is decentralized it can’t be stopped and will be available everywhere in the world regardless of government regulations.

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Stablecoins Gaining Popularity in India to Minimize Central Bank’s Impact

Stablecoins Gaining Popularity in India to Minimize Central Bank’s ImpactA growing number of cryptocurrency exchanges in India are adding stablecoins such as trueusd (TUSD) and tether (USDT) to their platforms. They are part of the solutions exchanges have come up with in order to minimize the impact of the crypto banking ban imposed by the country’s central bank. Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into […]

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Stablecoins Gaining Popularity in India to Minimize Central Bank’s Impact

A growing number of cryptocurrency exchanges in India are adding stablecoins such as trueusd (TUSD) and tether (USDT) to their platforms. They are part of the solutions exchanges have come up with in order to minimize the impact of the crypto banking ban imposed by the country’s central bank.

Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space

Unocoin Adds TUSD

Stablecoins Gaining Popularity in India to Minimize Central Bank’s ImpactUnocoin, one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, announced on Wednesday the addition of TUSD to its crypto-to-crypto platform, Unodax. An ERC-20 token built on the Trusttoken platform, each TUSD is said to be backed by one USD held in reserve which can be redeemed. Unodax currently offers 23 TUSD trading pairs including BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, and XRP.

“The decision [to add TUSD] has been taken to minimise the RBI circular’s impact on cryptocurrency investors and traders,” Inc42 reported. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, issued the circular banning banks from providing services to crypto companies on April 6.

The publication quoted the exchange’s CEO and co-founder, Sathvik Vishwanath, commenting on the addition:

After the RBI banned bank transfers for crypto trading and investments, we were looking for the plausible solutions to help our users continue to hodl, without any disruptions and hassles.

“With trueusd, we are excited to present our users with a long-awaited stable trading plan for crypto-assets traders on our Unodax exchange,” he continued. “Crypto enthusiasts may use this stable coin as a medium of exchange for other crypto-assets and minimise their risks in a volatile market.”

Zebpay Slashes Withdrawal Fee for TUSD

Stablecoins Gaining Popularity in India to Minimize Central Bank’s ImpactAnother major crypto exchange in India, Zebpay, added TUSD to its platform earlier this week, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported.

The exchange also slashed withdrawal fees for multiple currencies. For TUSD, “withdrawal fees are zero till 31st August 2018.” Zebpay wrote:

You can now buy, sell and trade TUSD in two trading pairs: TUSD-INR and BTC-TUSD.

Wazirx Uses USDT in P2P, Adds TUSD

Stablecoins Gaining Popularity in India to Minimize Central Bank’s ImpactCrypto exchange Wazirx launched an escrowed “P2P” service on July 10 that uses tether to enable users to deposit and withdraw INR in an effort to bypass RBI’s ban. Issued on the Bitcoin blockchain via the Omni Layer protocol, each USDT is backed by one USD that Tether Limited claims is held in reserve and can be redeemed for cash. Wazirx has also added TUSD as a deposit option.

The exchange explained that USDT is used “to make stability and crazy liquidity happen,” elaborating:

While building Wazirx P2P, we realized that since crypto price fluctuations are beyond our control, we needed to bring in a stable coin…Since we wanted to add the stable coin with the highest liquidity in the global market, we’ve decided to go with tether.

More Indian Exchanges Offering TUSD and USDT

On Saturday, August 11, Zecoex announced that it has introduced the TUSD trade markets for BTC, ETH, and XRP pairs.

Stablecoins Gaining Popularity in India to Minimize Central Bank’s ImpactCoindelta has also added USDT for trading, deposits, and withdrawals. Trading against INR was enabled on July 19 and against the platform’s long list of cryptocurrencies on July 24. The exchange noted, “USDT is a stable coin, the value of USDT is always tethered to the US dollar price. This makes it easy for people to hold their funds.”

Koinex introduced TUSD on July 6 and aims for this trading market to serve as an alternative to INR as a stable currency. Users can deposit and trade TUSD against INR, BTC, ETH, and XRP. The exchange detailed:

With the absence of INR corridors, we began to find a suitable alternative to the stability of digital assets against fiat currency. After sincere efforts, we are glad to announce the introduction of trueusd (TUSD) as a stable coin on Koinex.

What do you think of Indian exchanges using stablecoins to minimize RBI’s impact? Let us know in the comments section below.


Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Unocoin, Zebpay, Wazirx, Trusttoken, and Tether.


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Nigeria to Launch State-Backed Blockchain Hub in African Crypto Surge

A new Nigerian blockchain hub is being launched by the government in conjunction with a UK blockchain firm. The popularity of Bitcoin in Africa continues to grow, enabled by the presence of a greater number of cryptocurrency exchange platforms. There are benefits to cryptocurrency ownership that are unique to the continent of Africa, many devolving …

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A new Nigerian blockchain hub is being launched by the government in conjunction with a UK blockchain firm.

The popularity of Bitcoin in Africa continues to grow, enabled by the presence of a greater number of cryptocurrency exchange platforms. There are benefits to cryptocurrency ownership that are unique to the continent of Africa, many devolving from the widespread unstable economic conditions.

Google searches reveal that , Nigeria and South Africa are frantically searching online when it comes down to cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. Many nationals fall foul of inflation and hyperinflation, resulting in weak and unstable financial systems.

Recently, countries such as Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and oil-rich Nigeria have all suffered, many of these countries with inflation rates well into the hundreds of percentages. In these situations, it is hardly surprising that the people look to a more stable form of a monetary solution in their daily lives.

Lady Victoria Walker, CEO of the United Digital Currency Reserve Foundation and UK based fintech entrepreneur feels that new technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrency are essential factors in empowering African leaders to inject growth and financial inclusivity into their economies. She argues:

“Bitcoin is a reality. We have all major world governments scrambling to make sense of it and world leaders sharing their views on the currency. For the past 700 years, our world has relied on the European legacy banking system for means of payments and transactions. Bitcoin is definitely challenging the traditional way when it comes to the transfer of value. Just like the internet changed how we shop, bank, date and find information.”

Nigeria is looking to this kind of future with its new Africa Blockchain Lab in the Kaduna area, designed to create blockchain growth through crypto solutions across the region. The state-backed blockchain hub project between KAD ICT Hub and the British crypto firm Coinfirm wants to stake its claim as a societal changer with latter’s AMLT network offering rewards to Nigerians reporting Cyber Crime and other illegal activity online.

The Africa Blockchain Lab, launched last week has promised to offer financial inclusion to many Nigerians who are excluded from the country’s financial system and also attract new startups as part of the country’s drive to support the adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies in the continent.

As Lady Walker suggested, an understanding and deployment of bitcoin can kickstart the financial growth in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

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Bitcoin Price Watch: Currency’s Market Dominance Grows Stronger

At press time, the most well-known and largest cryptocurrency is still trading in the $6,300 range. This is exactly where it stood yesterday and the day before, suggesting that bitcoin has found some sort of “comfort” where it is and is refusing to move up or down. According to one source, the currency did experience […]

At press time, the most well-known and largest cryptocurrency is still trading in the $6,300 range. This is exactly where it stood yesterday and the day before, suggesting that bitcoin has found some sort of “comfort” where it is and is refusing to move up or down.

According to one source, the currency did experience a small breakout during the early morning hours of Sunday, August 12, though it was unable to deal with present resistance levels and immediately fell backwards shortly after. However, the currency also hit a new low in the $6,100 range before spiking up again to $6,300. The path has been paved for the bulls to rush in and take over; they just need to grab the reins. Current resistance is presently leveled at roughly $6,500.

BTCUSD: Entering the final crash emotional phase : "Despair"

Another source agrees with this sentiment and claims that bitcoin is attempting to fly further up the financial ladder. The currency has managed to increase its total market cap to approximately $108 billion, while its daily trading volume is just shy of $4 billion.

Perhaps the biggest move by bitcoin comes in the form of its current market dominance. Previously, we had mentioned that this percentage stood at nearly 50 percent, and that bitcoin was close to controlling half of the digital currency arena. That figure has since grown to an even 50 percent, which means that bitcoin is now the head honcho, and is the leading figure in the digital currency arena.

This is the first moment where bitcoin has hit such a number in 2018. The last time occurred in December of 2017, when bitcoin was trading for almost $20,000. The currency’s total market cap is over $900 million more than the market caps of virtually every other cryptocurrency combined.

Interestingly, bitcoin – though falling in price – has been on a steady streak of market dominance since May of this year, when it stood at a measly 14 percent. By contrast, the market dominance of virtually every other altcoin has been on the decline.

Bitcoin is generally viewed as the primary indicator of how the cryptocurrency market is performing. If bitcoin isn’t performing well, neither is the market, whereas if bitcoin is performing strongly, other altcoins are likely to mirror its behavior.

Despite its consistent price swings, many people are selling or trading their altcoin stashes for bitcoin, which means that it still holds the top spot in the cryptocurrency market. People seem to trust it, and believe that as the largest cryptocurrency, it also has the most promise. To this day, no other digital currency possesses the adoption rate of bitcoin.

Bitcoin Charts by TradingView

Kim Dotcom: Invest in Bitcoin Before US Debt Spirals Out of Control – CCN

Kim Dotcom: Invest in Bitcoin Before US Debt Spirals Out of ControlCCNControversial Internet pirate and bitcoin advocate Kim Dotcom is urging everyone to invest in gold and bitcoin because the U.S. government is adding $1 trillion to its debt every yea…


Kim Dotcom: Invest in Bitcoin Before US Debt Spirals Out of Control
CCN
Controversial Internet pirate and bitcoin advocate Kim Dotcom is urging everyone to invest in gold and bitcoin because the U.S. government is adding $1 trillion to its debt every year, which will never be paid. The debt will destroy the U.S. and create ...

and more »

Malta Makes Huge ICO Funding Gains as Crypto Investment Funds Rise in 2018

New crypto funds are continuing to open despite a falling market and apprehension over ETF decisions, according to the latest analysis from Crypto Fund Research. With things seeming to go well for crypto funds, collectively amassing $7.1 billion, they still lag behind traditional hedge funds, with most of the institutional investment managers playing a wait …

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New crypto funds are continuing to open despite a falling market and apprehension over ETF decisions, according to the latest analysis from Crypto Fund Research.

With things seeming to go well for crypto funds, collectively amassing $7.1 billion, they still lag behind traditional hedge funds, with most of the institutional investment managers playing a wait and see scenario. Cryptocurrencies’ next big hurdle, now that digital currencies are very much out there in the financial sector, is to start encouraging institutional investment on a larger scale.

It is thought that 2018 will see more crypto hedge funds arrive on the scene, which is on target to reach 165, nine more than in 2017. Statistics show that until July 31 of this year, there were 96 new crypto hedge funds and venture capital funds with more than half of those existing today being launched in the past 18 months.

There are currently 466 crypto funds across the globe with San Francisco, New York, Singapore and London topping the list for 2018 launches. In addition, Austin, Dallas, Hong Kong, Philadelphia, San Diego, Tokyo, and Zug are not far behind in terms of multiple launches of crypto hedge funds and capital ventures since January this year.

In terms of ICOs, launches have also accelerated this year to date, also seemingly undeterred by a bear market. However, 50 percent of all projects in 2018 have failed to raise more than £100,000. This low figure was put down to investors concerns about scams

Service tokens accounted for 42 percent of new ICOs, but utility tokens attracted the most funding at $22 million per project, followed by crypto tokens at an average of $7 million.

Another hurdle for new ICOs remains that problem of getting projects listed on exchanges, which has become an increasingly lengthy process. The number of projects that managed to get listed in the shortest possible time fell by 22 percent this year, due in part to tougher exchange requirements and new regulatory demands.

In overall terms, 2018 has been 10 times better than the previous year for ICOs, according to a market status report published by ETF on August 8, with more money being raised and more ICOs being launched in the second quarter of the year.

A notable fact coming out of the report is that small nations are winning in terms of making the largest gains, with Malta, Gibraltar, and Singapore coming out on top. Malta raised an average of £119 million, almost twice the funds raised by second on the list Gibraltar. Other statistics show that although it is clearly European nations that are making the largest gains in terms of overall fundraising, North America is still the crypto giant at $4.98 billion with 116 projects, a huge 65 percent of all the funding raised. Europe came in second at $1.12 billion, with Asia coming in third with $751 million.

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Students are Mining Bitcoin in University Dorms, Campuses are Alert

While Bitcoin mining — which is the backbone of many public blockchains —  is often left to the operators of data centers, some university students have begun to try their hand at running their own, in-dorm mining efforts. Bitcoin Mining In Unexpected Places — University Campuses Speaking with CNBC journalists, Patrick Cines, a Penn State College

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While Bitcoin mining — which is the backbone of many public blockchains —  is often left to the operators of data centers, some university students have begun to try their hand at running their own, in-dorm mining efforts.

Bitcoin Mining In Unexpected Places — University Campuses

Speaking with CNBC journalists, Patrick Cines, a Penn State College graduate, highlighted his foray into cryptocurrency mining while living on campus grounds. The 2017 Penn State graduate stated:

“I had basically a box, maybe a foot and a half by a foot and a half tall. It was sitting in, right at the foot of my bed. Had several graphics cards.”

While this may have been the computer of a gaming enthusiast living in a cramped dorm room, Cines noted that this was actually a compact cryptocurrency mining rig. He noted that while in operation, this tiny, but powerful machine, was a substantial source of income for a university student with a crammed schedule, as mining farms can be used with a “set and forget” mindset.

Despite the fact that this side-hustle buffed the student’s wallet, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as Cines went on to explain in the following statement:

“It was unbearable… I had fans running, I had the window open. The first day I was living there, went to Home Depot, bought some dryer tubes, strapped them to the front, and used that to push all the hot air outside of my room.”

But to Cines, the unbearable heat that became part of his daily life was all worth it, as his rig proved to be much more than a source of passive income. He added that mining shaped his aspirations for the study and development of technology, stating:

“[Mining] was my personal introduction to tech and being in the Blockchain space. So I was really excited to just see every single thing that I did afterwards definitely shaped my college career,”

Although student miners may be operating in good faith, for university administrators occurrences of on-campus mining might pose to be a financial issue. According to Mike Banic, an executive at cybersecurity firm Vectra, mining may require universities to foot some hefty electricity bills. Banic noted:

“I think there are a lot of universities that don’t know this is happening. I don’t think that they would want it to happen either, considering it costs $4,700 to mine one bitcoin. That’s about 10 percent of the annual tuition at a private university.”

In Cine’s case, Penn State was paying for his electricity, as it is normally factored into the tuition fees paid by him or his parents. Even if the university was aware of this operation, Penn State policies do not explicitly mention cryptocurrency mining as a prohibited activity, leaving the graduate’s operation within the legal barriers set in place.

But this isn’t the case with all universities, as Massachusetts’ Worchester Polytechnic Institute has an “acceptable usage policy” in place, which disallows students from personally benefiting from the use of institutional resources, like electricity. Nonetheless, the rules surrounding mining still vary from one post-secondary institution to another.

Researchers: Cryptomining Poses A Security Threat To Universities

While the electricity issue has been addressed, cybersecurity researchers from Vectra are still worried about the cybersecurity risks which are posed by farms like Cine’s. The aforementioned executive at Vectra noted that cryptojacking malware can quickly spread throughout an unprotected school network, via an innocent miner’s operations. As Banic later explained, mining software can be a gateway for hackers to compromise a network, as nodes constantly communicate with other computers across the globe.

However, the Penn State graduate, who has quickly become a technology expert, claims that these fears aren’t warranted. Rebutting Banic’s fear, Cine stated:

“I think that’s a separate vulnerability, and it goes more to the security that the schools have, or should have. I think mining itself does not open up schools.”

It remains to be seen whether Cine or Banic’s statements hold credence, but as a Vectra study shows, cryptocurrency mining is quickly spreading to campuses all across America.

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Rich Dad Poor Dad Bullish on Bitcoin, Calls Fiat ‘Scam’ – Ethereum World News (blog)


Ethereum World News (blog)

Rich Dad Poor Dad Bullish on Bitcoin, Calls Fiat ‘Scam’
Ethereum World News (blog)
In addition, the personal finance author had harsh criticisms for fiat and other government-controlled forms of money, in particular finding fault with an argument so often levied against Bitcoin: that there is little intrinsic value backing the dollar


Ethereum World News (blog)

Rich Dad Poor Dad Bullish on Bitcoin, Calls Fiat 'Scam'
Ethereum World News (blog)
In addition, the personal finance author had harsh criticisms for fiat and other government-controlled forms of money, in particular finding fault with an argument so often levied against Bitcoin: that there is little intrinsic value backing the dollar ...

EOS Price: Dip Below $5 Looms as Momentum Sours Yet Again

Most of the positive momentum forming across different cryptocurrency markets earlier today has completely evaporated. The coming week will be another tough nut to crack for Bitcoin and the thousands of alternative cryptocurrencies. The EOS price is already feeling the pressure, as it is on the verge of dipping below $5. EOS Price Comes Under […]

Most of the positive momentum forming across different cryptocurrency markets earlier today has completely evaporated. The coming week will be another tough nut to crack for Bitcoin and the thousands of alternative cryptocurrencies. The EOS price is already feeling the pressure, as it is on the verge of dipping below $5.

EOS Price Comes Under Pressure

Given the current cryptocurrency market conditions, it is not all that surprising to see the altcoins suffer from more bearish pressure. The EOS price is already feeling this unwelcome pressure, as its value will seemingly drop below $5 fairly soon. If that happens, it would cap off a week of steep setbacks, and potentially trigger an even bigger panic selling spree in the process.

Over the past 24 hours, the EOS price has lost another 3.09%. This is not the biggest setback the altcoin has faced in the past year, even though its value is reaching a low point not seen since early 2018. Similar to other altcoins, it appears the EOS price will return to its 2017 levels prior to crazy market swings trigger new all-time highs for most currencies.

Unfortunately for EOS price speculators, there is also another setback in the EOS/BTC ratio. Thanks to another 2.61% decline in this ratio, there is no relief for the EOS price in sight. Instead, there will – most likely – be another onslaught over the coming week. It will mainly depend on how the Bitcoin price evolves.

Despite today being a Sunday, there is no shortage of EOS trading volume to speak of. With $620m in 24-hour trades, things look rather impressive, despite the market clearly being controlled by sellers rather than buyers. If this trend keeps up, it is not unlikely the EOS price will drop below $5 before today is over. That can have all kinds of catastrophic consequences next week.

OKEx is leading the charge in terms of EOS trading volume. It is uncommon to see three USDT pairs in the top three, but that is the current situation users have to deal with. Huobi and Binance complete the top three in this regard. Huobi also has a BTC and ETH pair in the top five, further indicating how this altcoin is popular across just a few trading platforms.

Whether or not there will be any EOS price improvement over the coming hours, remains to be seen Based on the current momentum, it seems plausible to assume all altcoins will bleed a bit more. Once fiat currency deposits begin to clear across trading platforms tomorrow, the situation may start to look up. That doesn’t necessarily mean the EOS price will go up again, for rather obvious reasons.