Day: August 14, 2018

The South Korean island of Jeju sees itself as a potential crypto haven and has requested that the government allows it special crypto zone status.

The island’s governor made the request at a meeting with Kim Dong-yeon, Korea’s finance minister and deputy prime minister for the economy, and other government officials in an attempt to place the island at the forefront of South Korea’s crypto economy.

Jeju Province, officially Jeju Self-Governing Province, is one of the nine provinces of South Korea. According to Wikipedia, the province is situated on and conterminous with the nation’s largest island of Jeju, formerly transliterated as Cheju, Cheju Do, etc., or known as Quelpart to Europeans.

Governor Won Hee-ryong proposes making the island a hub for the development of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology and has requested that the South Korean government form a panel of specialists to plan a strategy to boost its blockchain profile. At a meeting last week, the governor commented:

“For Korea to become a leader rather than a consumer of this new global industry, we need to quickly allow [the operation of] blockchain and cryptocurrency [firms].”

The request comes on the heels of a statement by central government on Monday that it plans to spend USD 4.4 million on eight tech sectors it regards as critical, citing self-driving cars and smart factories, with an emphasis on blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence. This spending could increase to KRW 10 trillion over the next five years according to Kim Dong-yeon. If these reports are accurate, then the government would need to train 10,000 specialists to service these new projects.

The ministry said, “The measures will help facilitate the platform economy, which in turn will help speed up innovative growth.”

It appears that the request by Jeju may not be an accident coming so quickly after the government statement of extra funds targeting new technology. Governor Won’s desire to create “Jeju Free International City” is very much in keeping with the government’s drive towards regulating blockchain so that becomes fit for purpose, freeing up current restrictions.

Moves towards deregulating ICOs in South Korea is never far from the crypto news in the Asian techno hub, with announcements in June that Korea’s Financial Convergence Association had plans to build its own blockchain hub.

A startup fund is planned for the end of 2018 with Seoul talking the talk, promising that it plans to use “drastic measures to ease regulations that have been blocking new industries and technologies from moving forward”.

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Key Highlights

• Ripple price recovered nicely and moved above the $0.2750 resistance area against the US dollar.
• This week’s crucial bearish trend line is preventing gains with resistance near the $0.2900 level on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair may perhaps break the $0.2900-0.3000 resistance area for more gains in the near term.

Ripple price corrected higher against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD is currently attempting an upside break above the $0.2900-0.3000 resistance zone.

Ripple Price Resistance

There was a decent support base formed near the $0.2465 level in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair started an upside correction and moved above the $0.2750 and $0.2800 resistance levels. Buyers even managed to push the price above the $0.2810 resistance. Moreover, there was a break above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last major drop from the $0.3151 high to $0.2467 low.

However, the price is currently facing a tough resistance near the $0.2900 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. Additionally, this week’s crucial bearish trend line is preventing gains with resistance near the $0.2900 level on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last major drop from the $0.3151 high to $0.2467 low is also near $0.2900. Therefore, a break and close above $0.2900-0.3000 won’t be easy in the near term. If ripple buyers succeed in pushing the price above $0.3000, there could be more upsides towards $0.3200 in the near term.

Looking at the chart, ripple price is trading with a decent bullish bias from the $0.2467 low. However, a break above the $0.3000 barrier is must for buyers to gain control. On the downside, supports are near $0.2750 and $0.2600.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is showing positive signs in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is now well above the 60 level.

Major Support Level – $0.2600

Major Resistance Level – $0.3000

The post Ripple Price Analysis: XRP/USD Attempting Upside Break above $0.3000 appeared first on NewsBTC.

The second day of Las Vegas Blockchain Week and the ChainXchange blockchain convention has concluded. Today’s activities included discussions and lectures carried out by prominent cryptocurrency supporters and skeptics, including representatives from Ripple and NEM, as  well as Nobel Prize winning economist and perpetual crypto bear Paul Krugman.

In the afternoon, research analyst heavyweight Thomas Lee, Paragon CEO Jessica VerSteeg, and celebrated economist Paul Krugman gave speeches on cryptocurrency before joining Ripple Chief Market Strategist Cory Johnson and Department of Justice pioneer of the first Cyber Investigative Task Force Lilia Infante.

Thomas Lee, who has been recognized as a top three research analyst every year since 1998, gave a bit of background on the strategies he’s used to successfully predict major market movements from the dotcom to real estate eras. Lee looks at concrete data and statistical trends, rather than market sentiment, to make his analyses. When applied to blockchain, Lee sees a very strong future for cryptocurrency alongside an inevitable increase in bargaining power of millennials. Lee often appears on CNBC to share his bullish sentiments, and has recently been quoted calling for a US$22,500 BTC price at end of year.

VerSteeg gave a quick presentation about product traceability, which is the core focus of her company, Paragon (PRG). Paragon’s focus is authentication of medical marijuana products for consumers, to ensure they are getting the exact composition or strain that is advertised from products.

Krugman followed with a speech about the history of money, why it plays a role in society and how each generation of money expands societal possibilities and functions, from pebbles, to gold, to paper money, and so on. Being the skeptic he is, Krugman then referenced the energy consumption of Bitcoin to compare it to mining physical gold, and that Bitcoin essentially takes money backwards several hundred years. (He did, however, preface his criticisms with the statement that he “only halfway understands” Bitcoin).

After Krugman, the five engaged in discussion about the future of Bitcoin, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrency as a whole. Lee and VerSteeg shared quite optimistic views about the future of all three, while Krugman and Infante were far more pessimistic, asserting their beliefs that Bitcoin really doesn’t have much use for the average person. Ripple marketing strategist Cory Johnson surprisingly shared similar views with the first two, essentially enforcing his belief that Bitcoin sucks but Ripple is great. Outside of Bitcoin, the skeptics indicated that they do see an impactful future for blockchain technology (with the exception of Paul Krugman, who maintained his position as “blockchain agnostic”).

The highlight of the discussion undoubtedly came from Jessica VerSteeg, who passionately and adamantly countered the critiques of the skeptics in the room. When Krugman asserted that Bitcoin has no value, VerSteeg cut him off, insisting that, for her, and many others, Bitcoin is used every day, and for them, certainly has value. VerSteeg, also known for her appearance in The Amazing Race, cited frequent issues with her credit card company abroad and difficulty in paying her overseas workers as examples in which Bitcoin certainly makes sense to use. She went on to add, “I book flights. I book hotels. I pay workers [with Bitcoin]… It has value to me, because I like it.”

Thomas Lee also made strong comments in favor of cryptocurrency, particularly in regards to current market climate. “It’s a mistake to be bearish when you’re already down,” Lee stated.

This discussion was preceded by a number of presentations and classes, ranging from talks about smart contracts by NEM representatives, to the current regulatory state of cryptocurrency. Tone Vays hosted a talk show. In the evening, Gary Vaynerchuk, Common, and Neil Sahota were joined by moderator Phu Styles to tackle the topics of machine learning, diversity, and opportunity in the imminent, techno-centric future of business and society.

LINE has announced yet another move into the cryptocurrency space with the launch of a $10 million token venture fund.

Key Highlights

• ETH price started a short-term correction and moved above the $275 level against the US Dollar.
• This week’s followed important bearish trend line is in place with resistance at $300 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair is likely to find a strong selling interest near the $295, $300 and $305 resistance levels.

Ethereum price recovered a few points against the US Dollar and bitcoin. ETH/USD is now heading towards a monster resistance near $295-300.

Ethereum Price Upside Hurdle

Yesterday, we saw a sharp drop towards the $250 level in ETH price against the US Dollar. Later, the ETH/USD pair found buyers and started an upside correction from the $249 swing low. It moved above the $260 and $275 resistance levels. Moreover, there was a break above the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last key decline from the $331 high to $249 low.

However, the price is facing many hurdles on the upside near the $290-300 zone. At the moment, the price is testing the 50% Fib retracement level of the last key decline from the $331 high to $249 low. If it breaks the $290 level, there is a crucial resistance waiting near $300. More importantly, this week’s followed important bearish trend line is in place with resistance at $300 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The same trend line is positioned with the 100 hourly simple moving average near $300. Therefore, sellers are likely to defend more gains above the $295 and $300 resistance levels.

Looking at the chart, ETH price is recovering positively above $275, but a push above $300 is needed for a larger upward wave. If it fails to move past $300, there could be a fresh bearish wave back towards the $270 and $260 support levels.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is placed nicely in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI has moved above the 50 level with positive signs.

Major Support Level – $270

Major Resistance Level – $295

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD Correction Facing Hurdle Near $300 appeared first on NewsBTC.

The Indian government is currently in the midst of reviewing the viability of substituting smart travel cards for its own central-bank issued crypto tokens.

A senior official from the country’s finance ministry and a member of the committee undertaking applicability research for the crypto token said that the committee is currently researching the use of a custom blockchain-backed crypto token to replace smart cards in the public sector, such as the metro card.

Also in the private sector, they are looking to include the tokens in such areas as air mile loyalty programs where they cannot be converted back into fiat money, he said.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) was first established early last year by the Ministry of Finance and constitutes members from India’s taxation authority and India’s Department of Economic Affairs (DoEA), as well as representatives from India’s central bank, the State Bank of India, and several other government departments.

The IMC has also been charged with producing a regulatory road map for the cryptocurrency space and is responsible for determining the usability of crypto tokens in the public sector, partly by studying international and governmental policies and legal framework regarding cryptocurrency.

The committee has been requested to find specific measures used by governments to curb money laundering activities via crypto.

India’s own crypto token

As reported by Bitcoin News on Monday, the Indian government is in the midst of implementing a crypto token specifically for financial transactions, stressing this as different to cryptocurrencies which are currently all banned in the country.

The tokens would differ specifically from cryptocurrencies as they would be a means of executing financial transactions exclusively in India.

The president of the Digital Lenders Association of India detailed that people would have to pay for these tokens with physical money should they be instituted, removing any impact on the country’s monetary policy.

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ZEC has taken a somewhat controversial and unique approach of heavily incentivizing founders and the existing ZEC team to promote ongoing protocol improvements. As opposed to default privacy on the protocol layer, optional privacy has been shown to reveal users transactions through linking if transacted between non-shielded addresses. As zk-SNARK technology becomes available in other protocols like BTC and ETH, ZEC will need to set itself apart through scalability and low transaction fees.

It has been reported that there are new plans afoot for a Venezuelan central bank cryptocurrency along with a “superior court to the Supreme Court of Justice”.

According to Venezuela National Constituent Assembly member Hermann Escarra, the government is preparing to change the constitution to allow for the new crypto bank.

Venezuela’s crisis has steadily worsened as a result of lower oil prices, corruption, and a mismanaged socialist system, experiencing all but a total collapse of the economy, public services, security, and healthcare. In February, Venezuela launched its own Petro cryptocurrency backed by the country’s oil reserves.

Shopping bags made of the national currency the bolivar (VEF) are now being made in order to transport the notes, and a cup of coffee costs around VEF 2.2 million (around USD 0.50 at black market rates). For the same price, you can fill a small SUV with petrol almost 9,000 times.

The government continues to print money at an alarming rate with a current inflation rate of over 25,000%. The IMF predicts hyperinflation in Venezuela will reach a staggering one million per cent by the end of this year at the current rate, although this has been refuted as ludicrous by some economists. Economic meltdown and a recent assassination attempt on President Maduro just this weekend continue to paint a grim future for the South American oil-rich giant.

It is uncertain if a cryptocurrency-based central bank can do anything to help to at least alleviate some of the country’s extreme financial problems, particularly as the Petro has so far made little impact. It looks very much as though Venezuela has reached the “try anything” stage. Nonetheless, Escarra divulged the latest plan on Thursday:

“The National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela… is preparing a reform to the Constitution that would include a central bank for crypto-assets and a superior court to the Supreme Court of Justice… the draft changes to the Constitution will be presented in 35 days to the board of the Constituent Assembly.”

Maduro’s new “Bolivar Soberano” which is linked to the Petro is also ready for release on 20 August.

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Bitcoin could get better privacy with Taproot, but there’s one big obstacle – it can’t be deployed until another technology goes through.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced that the Petro will be used as a unit of account in the country for salaries as well as goods and service