Day: August 23, 2018

The seemingly never-ending Bitcoin ETF saga has continued, with a recent regulatory development recently sparking discussion within the cryptosphere.

The Bitcoin ETF Debacle Continues

As reported by NewsBTC, on August 22nd, the SEC came out to issue orders of denial for nine ETF proposals from ProShares, Direxion, and GraniteShares. Elaborating on the reasoning behind the verdict, three 26-page SEC documents brought attention to the regulatory body’s fears of manipulation, noting that Bitcoin markets lack “significant size.” Following this verdict, CNBC “Fast Money,” which has become near-notorious for its coverage of the crypto markets, did its best to weigh in on the current state of crypto-backed ETFs.

With the SEC reviewing its decisions on #bitcoin ETFs, @BKBrianKelly breaks down when the #crypto funds could finally come to market. pic.twitter.com/LQtj2BQisE

— CNBC's Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) August 23, 2018

Opening the episode’s crypto segment, Brian Kelly, CNBC’s “crypto baller” and CEO of BKCM, outlined the ETF situation as it stands. Firstly, Kelly noted that these rejections were expected, adding that February 2019 will likely be when the SEC will first confirm an ETF application. The BKCM CEO went on to elaborate on his reasoning for this date, explaining:

“February 2019 will likely be the earliest that we can get it. Why do I say that? Bob just mentioned that the VanEck decision is going to come at the end of September, (but) they actually have until February. So I would expect in September, (that) the SEC will push it off.”

Oddly enough, the analyst’s call for an ETF by2019 has mirrored what Bitcoin proponent Charlie Shrem said at San Francisco’s MoneyShow conference. While on stage, Shrem stated:

“We’re not ready for an ETF today, (the) market is too manipulatable. But we will see one in 2019”

Taking these statements into account, it’s evident that many industry leaders have not accepted the fact that this nascent market isn’t ready to take on a fully-fledged ETF. Secondly, Kelly pointed out that prior to an eventual ETF acceptance, it will be essential for the SEC to find a way to accurately survey the market, which will help to mitigate the risk of market manipulation and trading fraud.

Last but not least, CNBC’s in-house crypto analyst added that the Bitcoin futures market will need to mature, as the SEC has yet to put its full trust into the crypto futures subindustry. While this statement sounds like futures have garnered close-to-zero support, Kelly revealed that this is far from the case, as the CME-backed Bitcoin futures have seen an 85% increase in open interest positions. And if this trend continues, the analyst expects for the Bitcoin futures market to be “robust” by the time February rolls around.

This factor, coupled with the introduction of the ICE-backed Bakkt platform and continual support from legacy market insiders, like SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, may make a Bitcoin ETF much more than a possibility.

Speaking of SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, who has been dubbed ‘CryptoMom’ by some, she recently took to Twitter to announce that the SEC would be reviewing its decision to deny the aforementioned ETF proposals. Although Kelly did not see this as an explicit sign of an immediate ETF acceptance, he noted that this is a sign of such an investment vehicle drawing ever closer.

Closing off the segment, the so-called “crypto baller” and Bitcoin permabull remained as bullish as ever, stating:

“If you look at where the demand for this product is coming from, it’s from the retail investor. Institutional investors are knocking on my door, but they haven’t pulled the trigger yet. But, the retail investor has already said that they want to buy this… and there’s about $50 trillion of assets under management (AUM)… It would only take a small portion of that to go into a Bitcoin ETF, that could spark a nice rally in Bitcoin.”

Featured Image from

The post Brian Kelly: A Bitcoin ETF Could Spark A “Nice Rally” appeared first on NewsBTC.

UPDATE: A previous version of this post claimed the sum Honda was being paid was 40 million USD. This has since been corrected. Japan superstar professional soccer player, entrepreneur and investor Keisuke Honda, 32, was appointed by the Japanese crypto exchange Bitpoint to promote its brand, the company announced earlier this week. Honda appeared at the same time in a commercial for Bitpoint shot in Hollywood. 

Also read: Soccer Star Leo Messi Promotes Ultra-Secure New Crypto Phone

Honda to Receive Contract Payment in Crypto

As cryptocurrencies remain continuously popular in Japan among the younger generation, companies believe they can improve their image by collaborating with strong and sustainable public characters to familiarize the image of cryptocurrency.

Earlier in August, it was the Japanese professional soccer player Shinji Kagawa, who made a deal with GMO Internet Group. Kagawa has signed a contract with GMO to support its corporate brand and products as the group decided to challenge business overseas. GMO is developing mainly internet infrastructures in South East Asia through the global brand Z.com by concluding individual sponsorship agreements with the most popular professional soccer players in each country. Kagawa has reportedly been active as a brand ambassador for Z.com since 2016.

The amount in cryptocurrency for which they contracted with the Japanese super star was not mentioned, however the press release confirms that the payment was made in cryptocurrency. “Regarding the theme of the promotional movie, I thought there was a part that matches my own personal goal in life, that is to aim every day at becoming the world’s best [player],” Honda said in a statement. “The Hollywood shooting crew was also very nice, I really enjoyed it.”

Bitpoint Wants to Strengthen Its Management

In June of this year, Bitpoint received a business improvement order by the FSA and had been refrained from operating marketing campaigns that leads to “aggressive business expansion,” Bitpoint said in a statement. “We are working on the execution of the business improvement plan we submitted on July 23rd as our top management priority. With this promotional movie featuring Keisuke Honda, we wanted to show the public that we are currently strengthening our management system.”

Born in 1986 in Osaka, Honda attracted the world’s attention for shooting 2 decisive goals during the 2010 World Cup, in South Africa. Honda has been active recently at the 2018 Football World Cup in Russia with the Japanese national team, and professionally active at Melbourne Victory. In June 2016, Honda was also named Global Advocate for Youth, by the United Nations Foundation and reportedly opened more than 60 soccer schools in Japan and worldwide. 

Sweating for Crypto

In the commercial movie shot in Hollywood by local videographers, Honda appears to be sweating at a gym, training hard to become a top player. “I want to be the world’s number one,” the advertisement message reads. According to Bitpoint, the video shows the company’s management strengthening.

High-profile names, such as Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa, are increasingly becoming advertising figures for cryptocurrency in Japan, which shows for many Japanese that the crypto industry seems to be maturing.

Do you think Japanese crypto businesses can promote Bitcoin using soccer superstars? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Bitpoint.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

The post Japanese Soccer Star Honda Paid in Crypto to Promote Exchange appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stayed the decision on the five Bitcoin ETFs from Direxion pending further review from higher-ups in the SEC.

The SEC rejected nine Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at once on 22 August 2018, including the five from Direxion, two from Proshares and two from GraniteShares. This is the first time a Bitcoin ETF decision has been stayed after a rejection and could be an indication that the SEC might approve the Direxion Bitcoin ETFs, which would be huge news for the crypto space.

Yesterday's staff orders disapproving SRO rules related to a number of bitcoin ETFs are stayed pending Commission review. See, for example: https://t.co/Ky9Z8t1E4q

— Hester Peirce (@HesterPeirce) August 23, 2018

The SEC rejected all nine applications on the grounds that the Bitcoin markets themselves are prone to fraud and manipulation, and not properly regulated. Essentially, the SEC is saying it would not approve any Bitcoin ETF since the Bitcoin market is too risky and new in their view. Perhaps this is not surprising since the last ETF class the SEC approved was copper, a commodity that is thousands of years old. Bitcoin is shy of ten years old.

The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF and the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin ETF were rejected and stalled respectively in the past month prior to the most recent decision, crushing the spirit of the crypto markets. This was because those two ETFs would have been based on actual Bitcoins and would have provide a way for institutional investors to easily buy Bitcoin on all the stock trading platforms. All the ETFs rejected on 22 August do not use actual Bitcoins and could be considered paper Bitcoins.

Paper Bitcoins could be bad for the Bitcoin market, since it diverts investment from the actual Bitcoin market into a paper derivatives market. Someone could buy USD 1 trillion of paper Bitcoins and technically, the global Bitcoin market would see no increase in demand and price would be unaffected. Further, if a paper Bitcoin ETF is approved, then institutional investors who ask to buy Bitcoin from their brokers will get paper instead of the real thing. This is the same situation with gold: if an investor asks to buy gold they get paper gold from COMEX usually, which is only 0.1% backed by physical gold.

The Direxion Bitcoin ETFs will be based on the future markets in Chicago, which are cash-settled and, therefore, paper Bitcoins. Thus, Direxion Bitcoin ETFs are paper Bitcoins based on paper Bitcoins, rather than an investment tool that is actually based on holding actual Bitcoins like the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust ETF.

Furthermore, the Direxion Bitcoin ETFs are both short and long. This means investors would be able to buy Direxion Bitcoin ETFs to bet against Bitcoin’s price. This is conducive for large-scale manipulation to force the Bitcoin price in the direction of bets.

Finally, if the Direxion Bitcoin ETFs are approved, not only will it divert investment that would go into actual Bitcoins, investors might decide to sell their actual Bitcoins to buy the ETF since they might think it is a better option. This could cause the Bitcoin market to go down significantly and be far lower long term than it would be without paper Bitcoins.

As such, the approval of the Direxion Bitcoin ETFs may not be a good thing after all.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter: @bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com: https://t.me/bconews

Image Courtesy: Pixabay

The post SEC Stays Decision on Direxion Bitcoin ETFs Pending Further Review appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price remained supported above $0.3120 and $0.3150 level and moved higher against the US dollar.
• There was a break above a connecting bearish trend line with resistance at $0.3250 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair has to move above $0.3300 to gain traction in the near term towards $0.3380.

Ripple price is placed nicely in a positive zone against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD may perhaps break the $0.3300 to move towards $0.3450.

Ripple Price Trend

There was a retest of the $0.3120 support area in Ripple price against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair is forming a decent support base near the $0.3120 and $0.3150 levels. The price moved higher and broke the $0.3200 level. It also cleared the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $0.3540 high to $0.3095 swing low. However, upsides are limited and the price is facing many hurdles near the $0.3310 level.

The stated $0.3310 level coincides with the 100 hourly simple moving average. Moreover, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $0.3540 high to $0.3095 swing low is also near $0.3315. Therefore, the $0.3310 and $0.3315 levels are important resistances for buyers. Should there be a break above these hurdles, the price may perhaps rise towards the $0.3400 level. The next major resistances above $0.3400 is near the $0.3500 level. On the downside, the main supports are at $0.3150 and $0.3120 levels where bulls are likely to take a stand.

Looking at the chart, ripple price is forming a decent support base near the $0.3120 level. As long as the price is trading and consolidating above $0.3120, it is likely to climb higher towards $0.3400 in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD has moved back in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is now placed above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $0.3120

Major Resistance Level – $0.3310

The post Ripple Price Analysis: XRP/USD Could Gain Traction Above $0.3300 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

• ETH price remained supported near $265 and it slowly moved above the $270 level against the US Dollar.
• There is a short-term ascending channel forming with support at $271 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair might face hurdles on the upside near the $284 and $285 resistance levels.

Ethereum price is mostly trading in a range against the US Dollar and bitcoin. ETH/USD could slowly rise towards the $290 level with ranging moves.

Ethereum Price Resistances

After trading as low as $259.17, ETH price found support against the US Dollar. The ETH/USD pair started moving higher with most range moves above the $270 level. It cleared the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $301 swing high to $260 swing low. However, the upside move faced a lot of resistance near $280, $281, and 100 hourly simple moving average.

Moreover, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $301 swing high to $260 swing low also acted as a strong resistance. The price is currently trading in a range above the $270 level, but there are a few positive signs as well. There is also a short-term ascending channel forming with support at $271 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. On the upside, the price has to break the $281 resistance and climb above the 100 hourly SMA to gain traction. Above this, the price is likely to test the $290 resistance in the near term. On the downside, the channel support is at $271, below which, the price may decline back to $260.

Looking at the chart, ETH price is likely to struggle near the $281 resistance and the 100 hourly SMA. Having said that, the price may well slowly and steadily rise towards the $290 level in the near term.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is slowly moving in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is placed just above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $271

Major Resistance Level – $281

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD Slowly Rising Towards $290-295 appeared first on NewsBTC.

Bitcoin cash devs are fighting over what code changes to make next. If no one compromises, hard-forked coin could itself split into two.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price recently broke above an inverse head and shoulders neckline to signal that an uptrend is underway.
• However, the SEC decision to reject a number of bitcoin ETF applications led to a sharp drop.
• Price appears to be finding support at the broken neckline, though, and could still resume the climb.

Bitcoin price retreated after breaking past its reversal pattern’s neckline but now seems to be drawing support again.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA to indicate that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, there’s a stronger chance for the selloff to resume than to reverse.

Price popped above the 100 SMA dynamic inflection point, though, so it might now hold as support. Bitcoin price is now testing this support zone and could see a bounce to the next ceiling at the 200 SMA.

However, RSI is pointing down to signal that sellers have the upper hand and could stay in control until oversold conditions are seen. Stochastic appears to be bottoming out without hitting oversold levels to signal that buyers are eager to return.

BTCUSD Chart from TradingView

Market Factors

Reports that the SEC is getting ready to review the recently rejected set of bitcoin ETF applications gave traders hope again that an approval could be in the works or at least a longer review period. This also lifts optimism that the next set of bitcoin ETF applications might see more openness from the regulator instead of getting a quick rejection.

SEC secretary Brent Fields wrote in a letter addressed to NYSE Group senior counsel David De Gregorio:

“This letter is to notify you that, pursuant to Rule 43 I of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, 17 CFR 20 I .43 1, the Commission will review the delegated action. In accordance with Rule 431 (e), the August 22 order is stayed until the Commission orders otherwise.”

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Watch: Still a Chance for a Reversal? appeared first on NewsBTC.

Like on-chain developments, Cardano (ADA) sellers are slowing down. Week over week, it’s down five percent. This is a big improvement from three weeks ago when losses where double digit and exceeding 35 percent. If anything, ADA prices are trading around 7 cents, the coin’s main ATL. For recovery purposes, we must wait for gains above 12 cents triggering buys. On the reverse side, dips below 7 cents which would most likely spell a capitulation. At the moment though, we shall take a neutral stand and closely watch prices.

From the News

As expected, many question the rate of development at Cardano with some saying it is slower than anticipated and could best be accelerated. However, that is not the case according to Charles Hoskinson in a recent AMA session.

Charles thinks best things often take time and Cardano being one of the most valuable coins in the world, the peer reviewed platform should ensure all features or on-chain developments work as planned.

Besides, the Cardano Foundation has enough funding to ensure that all their development plans come to pass. Currently, the community backed smart contracting platform is at what they call the Byron phase where it’s all about bootstrapping and making adjustments or improvements whether in wallet or in code debugging.

One of the main objectives at this stage is to make possible third party integration into the network through easy to use API and improving Daedalus design. Afterward, the platform shall move to Project Shelly and though there are no specific timelines, observers place Shelly’s TestNet to be sometimes later this year-anytime in Q4 2018 with the possibility that it may spill over to Q1 2019.

The main goal of Project Shelly is to make the network completely decentralized, improve governance, stability and most importantly make sure Cardano platform allows for complete interoperability.

Cardano (ADA) Technical Analysis

Weekly Chart

Cardano Weekly Chart by Trading View

On a weekly basis, Cardano (ADA) is down five percent and as prices depreciate like it has been the norm this year, ADA is 2 cents away from its all time lows of 7 cents.

This level was last tested in Q4 2017. Should sellers step up and drive prices lower as they align with our last Cardano (ADA) technical analysis, chances are ADA will find strong supports at 7 cents. It’s easy to see why.

First, even though ADA is strongly bearish and trading below 12 cents in a bear break out pattern, last week ended up with a long lower wick indicative of sellers rejecting lower lows.

That’s not all, there was a spike in volumes with a complementing cap in losses. Additionally, unlike recent weekly trade ranges, ADA’s average trade ranges are tight meaning somehow, price is finding support.

Daily Chart

Cardano (ADA) Daily Chart by Trading View

Sell momentum is slowing down. Despite price action moving inside a bear break out pattern set rolling by Aug 8 high volume bear candlestick breaching below our main support line at 12 cents, Aug 13 and 14 candlesticks are perhaps recent indicators of a slowing bear momentum.

As per our highlight above, ADA is just 2 cents away from the all important 7 cent support line. This level  also doubles up as ADA’s ATL.

Notice that the last nine trading days are moving within Aug 13-14 highs and lows. This further mean prices are actually accumulating with sellers specifically struggling to reverse Aug 17 gains.

In any case, I recommend staying neutral for today because of the unfavorable risk reward ratio in place. We shall recommend sells when there is a breach below 7 cents. Conversely, buyers might recover once prices are back above 12 cents, our immediate resistance line.

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 Cardano (ADA) Technical Analysis: Cardano (ADA) near All Time Lows, Time to Accumulate appeared first on NewsBTC.

A U.K. government-backed startup accelerator is now looking to invest in blockchain startups moving to the nation.

Media accounts are leaning toward blaming a supposed lack of interest in cryptocurrency as the reason US chip behemoth Nvidia has backed out of the mining industry. It was only a little over a year ago the company hoped to make an impact in the space. Whether it’s the industry losing steam or the simple fact Nvidia was beaten, the GPU and semiconductor player has officially packed its bags.

Also read: Bitcoin ETFs Rejected Again: SEC Denies 9 Hopefuls in 3 Decisions

Nvidia Packs Up and Leaves Crypto

“We believe we’ve reached a normal period as we’re looking forward to essentially no cryptocurrency as we move forward,” Colette Kress, Nvidia CFO confirmed. “Our revenue outlook had anticipated cryptocurrency-specific products declining to approximately $100 million, while actual crypto-specific product revenue was $18 million, and we now expect a negligible contribution going forward,” Ms. Kress detailed.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is a chip-making giant, a global force in the tech industry. It ranks as a staple of top 100 components on boards like Nasdaq and S&P, metrics to determine the relative financial health of a given sector. The quarter-century old US company announced just a little over a year ago it would be entering cryptocurrency mining, and everyone took notice. It appeared Nvidia would soon become an industry leader just through heft. It has not turned out that way.

Leaving or Being Shoved Out the Door?

“Although crypto revenue may not be large,” the Nvidia CFO stressed, ”it still has a derivative impact on our stack in terms of what we are selling and to both replenish the overall channel and such. So, over the last several quarters, that we had stabilizing that overall channel, we did get the great effect of selling just about everything and our margins really been able to benefit from that.” And it’s a financial truism at this point: crypto can be brutal. 

It’s rumored the company was lured into the mining sector through demand for its GPU cards, until then thought mostly reserved for gamers. Miners needed more and more GPU cards, more capacity, and, the theory goes, Nvidia took notice. However, that was the unicorn price year of 2017, when crypto surged and seemed only destined to ascend.

CEO Jensen Huang, rather bullish at the start of the experiment, openly admitted crypto mining didn’t add much to the company’s bottom line, and “at this time, we consider it to be immaterial for the second half,” and thus the packing of bags.  

Is Nvidia’s leaving mining the result of their getting beaten or the market souring? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images via Pixabay.

Be sure to check out the podcast, Blockchain 2025; latest episode here. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section.

The post GPU Manufacturing Giant Nvidia Leaves Crypto Mining appeared first on Bitcoin News.