Day: August 26, 2018

As previously reported by Bitcoin News, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just rejected at least eight proposals for Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), but there is one investor who doesn’t see this as a bad thing.

In a recently released video, Bitcoin advocate and tech entrepreneur Andreas Antonopoulos sees Bitcoin ETFs as both an inevitable and potentially destabilizing influence on the cryptocurrency market when they finally get approval.

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a Greek-British bitcoin advocate. He is a host on the Let’s Talk Bitcoin podcast and a teaching fellow for the M.Sc. Digital Currencies at the University of Nicosia. His concerns are best illustrated by this comment made on the video.

“ETFs fundamentally violate the underlying principle of peer-to-peer money, where each user is not operating through a custodian, but has direct control of their money because they have direct control of their keys.”

Antonopoulos seemingly examines ETFs differently from the majority of market investors who see approval as a kickstart to a sluggish year which will bring in institutional investors and revitalise Bitcoin.  His view is that the market will be manipulated by major market makers as seen in commodity markets, and the investors will lose the right to be heard, arguing:

“We already saw that level of influence during the August 1st fork, user activated software forks, Bitcoin Cash, the scaling debate… Large custodial exchanges had a very strong voice in the ecosystem. They were able to decide if they were going to support or not on behalf of 10 million customers… an ETF will do that and it will do that on an even bigger scale”

Another issue that concerns Antonopoulos is privacy and transparency, suggesting that an ETF may react to regulatory pressure and refuse to adopt privacy measures and create another corporate Bitcoin market. This is a similar view to that held by former Wall Street exec Caitlin Long, who sees a corporate Bitcoin through Wall Street’s entrance into the crypto arena bringing the potential of bad practice to the industry.

Recently, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin Tweeted out his critique of those focusing too much on ETF approval, pointing out the accessibility of purchasing cryptocurrency should be focused on to promote ”actual adoption.”

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FOMO Moments

Altcoins lifting markets this morning, Icon, Iota, VeChain rising, while Lisk is losing.

Monday morning has seen little action in crypto land however there has been some small upward movements by a few altcoins. Total market capitalization has remained above $215 billion and has crept up slightly on the back of a few spurting cryptos today.

Bitcoin is still floating just above $6,700 and has made 1.3% on the day to trade at $6,730. Technical indicators suggest that BTC could break out from a rising wedge in which it is currently consolidating. Ethereum has not moved much either but there have been no further losses and it is actually up 2% to $280 at the moment.

Altcoins are mostly in the green according to Coinmarketcap however Iota has barged its way back into the top ten with an 18% surge to $0.622. The chatter on Reddit claims that Volkswagen has tapped the Iota Foundation to work on a blockchain based CarPass system which will be launched in early 2019. Iota is still massively low compared to previous levels this year and needs to be back near the $2 level to show any signs of recovery. EOS is up 5% and Cardano 4% which makes up the other two leading coins in the top ten, the rest are showing 2-3% gains.

More solid performance can be seen by altcoins in the top twenty where VeChain is leading the pack with an 11% jump to $0.016. Tron, Neo and Binance Coin are all looking good gaining over 6% at the moment. Further down the list Ontology, Nano and Zilliqa are all climbing 10-12% on the day but Lisk has actually fallen back a little.

Icon is the altcoin of the moment with a 26% surge to $0.908. With the team buying back $5 million of their own tokens and partnering with South Korea’s largest insurance firm momentum is growing. ICX has made 36% on the week but has a long way to go as it is still down almost 30% on the month. Trade volume has tripled in the past 24 hours to $80 million and Binance has over 60% of it.

In the top one hundred the other altcoins trying to chase Icon are Wanchain and Loom Network, both up over 20% on the day. There are as always a couple of losers today and those include Qash and Bitcoin Private dropping a couple of percent.

Total crypto market capitalization has moved another 2.5% over the past 24 hours to $218 billion, its highest level for five days. Markets are still massively down on this time last month though when market cap was closer to $300 billion and things seem to have flat lined for the time being.

More on Icon can be found here: https://www.icon.foundation/

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

The post Cryptocurrency Trading Update: Iota and Icon Moving Monday Markets appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

• Ripple price formed a decent support near the $0.3200 level and climbed higher against the US dollar.
• There was a break above a major bearish trend line with resistance at $0.3240 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair is moving higher and it seems like it could test the $0.3400 level in the near term.

Ripple price is climbing higher against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD is likely to slowly rise towards the $0.3400 and $0.3450 resistance levels.

Ripple Price Support

After testing the $0.3120 support once again, Ripple price recovered higher against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair traded above the $0.3200 level and also formed a decent support base near $0.3190-0.3200. Later, the price started a fresh upside move and traded above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last slide from the $0.3541 high to $0.3090 low.

The price also traded above the $0.3250 resistance and the 100 hourly simple moving average. More importantly, there was a break above a major bearish trend line with resistance at $0.3240 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The pair traded above the $0.3260 level and is currently trading in a positive zone. The immediate resistance is $0.3315 and the 50% Fib retracement level of the last slide from the $0.3541 high to $0.3090 low. A break above $0.3315 may perhaps open the doors for a push towards the $0.3400 resistance. If there is a downside correction, the $0.3250 and $0.3200 levels are likely to act as supports.

Looking at the chart, ripple price is trading with a positive bias above $0.3200. The recent break is signaling more upsides above the $0.3300 and $0.3350 levels in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is slowly gaining pace in the bullish zone.

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

Major Support Level – $0.3200

Major Resistance Level – $0.3400

The post Ripple Price Analysis: XRP/USD Broke Key Resistance, Could Test $0.3400 appeared first on NewsBTC.

So far this year, the most important support level for Bitcoin has been USD 5,800. This can easily be elucidated from the graph of Bitcoin’s price on Bitfinex available on Bitcoinwisdom, especially when selecting a time interval of three days. It shows that Bitcoin’s price has crashed into the USD 5,800-6,500 level multiple times in 2018 and bounced off, with USD 5,800 being the absolute support level that Bitcoin has not crossed this year.

The first time Bitcoin’s price rose above USD 5,800 was in October 2017 and besides a brief dip in November 2017, it has not gone this low again. During November and December 2017, Bitcoin saw its biggest rally in history, with the price rapidly accelerating to a peak of USD 20,000. Much of this rally was based in reality, the fundamentals being that Bitcoin is better than fiat since it is cryptographically secured, decentralized, and efficient and cheap to send anywhere in the world. However, the rally had a bubble element that caused the price to go up too quickly.

Bitcoin’s price came crashing back down to Earth and by early February 2018, it hit a local minimum of USD 6,000. This represented a hard crash of 70% in only three months but Bitcoin bounced off the USD 6,000 level and went back up to USD 11,500 by early March.

The price of Bitcoin then crashed again, getting as low as USD 6,500 in early April. Once again, it bounced back up off this support level and was USD 10,000 by early May. It then went into a steady decline that brought it as low as USD 5,800 in late June, perhaps slightly lower than USD 5,800 briefly, but certainly not lower than USD 5,700.

Once again, Bitcoin’s price refracted upwards, to as high as USD 8,500 as speculation about a possible Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proliferated in the crypto space. Once this speculation was squashed by a string of rejections by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , Bitcoin went into a downtrend again and neared the USD 5,800 level in the middle of August.

As of this writing on 26 August 2018, Bitcoin’s price has bounced upwards from USD 5,800, and is now near USD 6,700. Clearly, USD 5,800 is a critical support level for Bitcoin. If Bitcoin crosses below that by a significant amount, then that means the market has fundamentally shifted but for now, that mark seems to be a solid and obvious support level.

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Chinese search giant Baidu is joining Alibaba and Tencent in a move aimed to distance itself from cryptocurrency-related activities.

Key Highlights

• ETH price was not able to break higher and it is currently trading below $275 against the US Dollar.
• There is a significant bearish trend line formed with resistance near $272-274 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair must clear the $275 resistance and the 100 hourly simple moving average for more gains.

Ethereum price is trading with a neutral bias against the US Dollar and bitcoin. ETH/USD needs to gain momentum above $275 for further gains in the near term.

Ethereum Price Upside Hurdle

There were many attempts by ETH price to move into a bullish zone with a break above the $275-280 zone against the US Dollar. The ETH/USD pair continuously struggled to gain momentum and it recently declined below $275. There was also a break below the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $259 low to $283 high. However, declines were limited since the $270 level acted as a support.

Moreover, it seems like the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $259 low to $283 high is acting as a support. If there is a break below the $270 and $268 levels, the price may well decline back towards the $262 level. On the upside, there is a significant bearish trend line formed with resistance near $272-274 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The same trend line acted as a hurdle for buyers on many occasions above $275. It also coincides with the 100 hourly SMA near the $277 level. Therefore, a break and close above $277-280 is needed for buyers to gain traction.

Looking at the chart, ETH price is clearly struggling to clear the trend line and $280. In the short term, there could be a push towards the $270 and $268 levels before a recovery.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is flat in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is placed well below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $270

Major Resistance Level – $277

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD Facing Significant Resistance appeared first on NewsBTC.

The current lack of clarity governing Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency more broadly in the United States’ legal system has led some to consider whether including U.S. citizens in an ICO or Token Generation Event (TGE) opens a company to unnecessary liability. With ample investment opportunities outside of the States in more certain or liberal legal environments, some have taken a skeptical eye toward the U.S. investor, posing a fair question: why even take the risk?

Know Your Investor/Buyer

Regardless of a respective legal climate or set of regulations, it is imperative that companies launching an ICO do their due diligence on potential investors or buyers. Startups must invest the necessary time and money to conduct thorough Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes for individuals participating in a token sale in order to limit the possibility that nefarious actors become involved. Doing so will spare them potential time, money, and embarrassment in the long run.

American Buyers: Seller Beware

The opacity shrouding the issue of cryptocurrency regulation in the United States has led many startups to err on the side of caution when it comes to allowing U.S.-based buyers to participate in their ICOs. Token issuers can’t be certain whether their coin will be designated as a utility token or security token, or what that distinction will mean for them legally. The prosecution of certain startups that previously issued ICOs has only created more fear and uncertainty toward the U.S. legal system’s treatment of ICO-issuing startups.

What this means is a wait-and-see approach by many startups that would relish the opportunity to tap into the U.S. market of token buyers and investors, but simply cannot due to potential legal liability.

The Need for Regulatory Clarity

It’s rarely a popular opinion to call for more regulation, especially in freedom-minded cryptocurrency circles. That said, it’s clear that the lack of regulation with respect to ICOs is serving as a discouraging force on token sales that is far more powerful than any regulation. It is uncertainty — will new laws be implemented? what will they look like? etc. — that most drives ICOs into the arms of nations with clearer, established guidelines regarding the designation, regulation, and taxation of ICOs.

Locations such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, known for their ultra-private approach to financial regulation, have become popular sites for companies seeking to issue ICOs without undue risk. Those who do choose to sell their tokens to U.S. citizens are typically only doing so to accredited investors. These investors must have an annual income of $200,000 as an individual or $300,000 as a married couple for three years running, with an expectation that the same or greater income will be earned in the future. Naturally, this precludes many would-be American investors who may otherwise be inclined to take part in a token sale. But it’s not the issuers who are to be blamed for this exclusion — this is the precaution ICOs must take in order not to run afoul of laws that may be acted upon now or implemented in the future.  

In order for ICO issuers to play by the rules, they have to know what the rules are. And until they do, the United States and American citizens will remain less than attractive in the eyes of startups who prefer to have their fundraising unaffected by latent litigation that may or may not be acted upon in the future.

Bio:

Adrian is the CEO of a new Singapore based company BlockchainWarehouse which supports companies through their Initial Coin Offering and Token Generation Event, as well as providing blockchain development capability to clients. He is also FinTech/InsurTech Business Advisor to Axpire, a new start-up providing software to hedge funds to improve the efficiency of their middle and back-offices, underpinned by blockchain.

Asia Economy TV plans to broadcast a new blockchain survival television show called ‘Blockbattle — Who’s the Next Satoshi’ on October 19, showcasing a variety of crypto-development teams from all around the world. Blockbattle will air five episodes allowing viewers the ability to vote in real-time in order to choose the winner of this distributed ledger building competition.

Also read: New CNBC Documentary Explores the Cultism of Bitcoin

Blockchain Survival Show Called ‘Blockbattle’ Plans to Air on Asia Economy TV

There’s been a whole lot of innovation since the creation of Bitcoin and the various blockchain projects all around the world. People using peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies without the need for third parties, individuals and groups are utilizing smart contracts, and some blockchains have the ability to issue representative tokens. Now according to Asia Economy TV’s CEO Hyun-Woo Kim on October 19, a reality-show blockchain contest called Blockbattle will be broadcast on the channel. Blockbattle — Who’s the Next Satoshi will be a television program that focuses on bringing a bunch of blockchain development teams from all around the world so judges and viewers can find the next Satoshi Nakamoto. Developers who want to participate need to apply at the official website nextsatoshi.com by September 5.

The show’s preliminary judges will be composed of members from Korea University, Dongguk University, Korean Blockchain Industry Association, Open Blockchain Association, and the Korea Blockchain Association. Judges will also include Damian Williams the of Alchemist ventures, Rayol Hwang of Hillstone Partners, Bitcoin.com’s Roger Ver, Lee Shin-Hye of GBIC, and more well-known figures in the industry.              

“After the screening, ten projects will qualify for the finals. They will go through a series of presentations, one-on-one battles, and other team competitions,” explains the Blockbattle announcement.  

The ten teams will receive mentorship from domestic and international experts in technology, business, law, marketing, and finance.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Focused Television Shows on the Rise  

There have been lots of blockchain and cryptocurrency television broadcasts popping up over the last two years, including the recently announced CNBC documentary called ‘Bitcoin: Boom or Bust’ that airs this Monday. In Japan, a show called ‘Bitgirls’ was featured on Tokyo MX TV that used cryptocurrencies for voting. The show ‘Startup’ by Sony Pictures Television was just approved for a third season and this past May a crypto Youtuber revealed the launch of his digital currency show that will air on Roku, CW, and CBS.

Blockbattle’s first episode will air on Asia Economy TV in Korea, China, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. Furthermore, the blockchain survival show will also stream live on the Youtube channel ‘Coincast.’ The producers of Blockbattle detail that viewers will be able to “vote in real-time for their favorite project.” Moreover, the development teams will receive various benefits and mentorship from blockchain industry leaders.

“Votes will be reflected during the final episode, set for November 19th,” explains the Blockbattle producers. “The final episode will be broadcast live, and the winner will be announced based on the results of the voting.”

What do you think about the Blockbattle show that plans to air on Asia Economy TV? Do blockchain and cryptocurrency television shows interest you? Let us know your thoughts on this subject in the comment section below.

Images via Shutterstock, and nextsatoshi.com. 

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

The post Blockchain Survival Show Blockbattle to Premiere on Asia Economy TV appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Key Points

• Bitcoin cash price is under a lot of pressure and it is still trading below $525 against the US Dollar.
• There is a major bearish trend line in place with resistance at $526 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair has to close above the $530 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average to gain traction.

Bitcoin cash price is slowly declining towards the $508 support against the US Dollar. BCH/USD must clear the $530 barrier for more gains in the near term.

Bitcoin Cash Price Resistance

There was a slow and steady decline in bitcoin cash price from well above the $550 level against the US Dollar. The BCH/USD pair broke many supports such as $540 and $530 on the way down. It also settled below the $540 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. The recent swing low was $515 before the price corrected higher. It moved above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $545 high to $515 low.

However, the upside move was capped by the $525-530 zone. Moreover, the 100 hourly SMA also acted as a resistance near the $528 level and prevented gains. Lastly, the price topped near the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $545 high to $515 low. The price is currently declining and it could continue to move down towards the $515 low. Below this, there is a strong support zone near the $508-510 levels. Further below this, there is a risk of a downside break below $500 in the near term. On the upside, there is a major bearish trend line in place with resistance at $526 on the hourly chart of the BCH/USD pair.

Looking at the chart, BCH price has to close above the $530 level and the 100 hourly SMA to gain upside momentum.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BCH/USD is mostly flat in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BCH/USD is currently below the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $508

Major Resistance Level – $530

The post Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis: It’s Decision Time For BCH/USD appeared first on NewsBTC.

An investigation by CoinDesk has found a flagship blockchain project by NEX group has lost dozens of employees while racking up millions in costs.

Hyperinflation has taken off to cartoon proportions in Venezuela, leaving the government to take rather drastic steps in trying to restore confidence in its domestic market. That’s a very heavy, ambitious goal, and so the government ordered banks and exchanges to remove five decimal places in the hope of curbing hyperinflation. And to limit further confusion, this week it announced its Sovereign Calculator, an Android app, to help its citizens understand re-denomination. 

Also read: Bitcoin Journalist Pioneer: Jamie Redman Has Over 2,000 Articles Published

Venezuela Bolivar Now has a Sovereign Calculator

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela favorite government developer, Comunicación Digital VE, is best known for gamification. Its previous applications have attempted to present leaders and luminaries in softer lights: Super Bolívar, a game about Simón Bolívar, considered the country’s founding father, and even Todo Chávez, about former president Hugo Chávez, are some of its better known games. It’s little wonder, then, the government has tapped them for their latest app in a campaign to make re-denomination go smoother.

“The Sovereign Calculator,” the country’s central bank tweeted, “a tool for everyone and all Venezuelans, is the best ally people will have to understand and assimilate the monetary re-denomination process. Download it now!”

Venezuelans puzzled by its government chopping a full five zeros from the hyperinflated bolivar now have some help. Banco Central de Venezuela, the country’s banker, launched La Calculadora Soberana, The Sovereign Calculator.

Government Must Recognize Black Market Alternatives

An Android specific application, it’s a pretty basic, well, calculator. Users can now determine what was 100,000 bolivars, for example, is now 1 in the government’s re-denomination scheme. It has already been downloaded thousands of times, and has very high rating.

In a rush, an error in plunking down the wrong amount of bills, or plugging in the wrong numbers, could be an expensive mistake, no small matter in a universally understood disaster of an economy. This is especially true as the government has paraded merchants to jail it alleges were gouging the public.

An interesting admission baked-in to The Sovereign Calculator is factoring black market goings on as they relate to exchange rates, a problem not unusual to Venezuela but, yet again, another costly issue for a people already hurting. The government pegs 60 bolivar to 1 dollar, while the black market has it closer to 40, a substantial difference.

Will schemes such as re-denomination and calculators ultimately work? Let us know in the comments below. 

Images via Pixabay, Reuters, Independent.

We’re celebrating a Bitcoin journalist pioneer. Check out Jamie Redman’s author archives. It’s an encyclopedia, a living history of crypto. 

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