Day: August 28, 2018

Despite the ban on crypto mining apps in Google Play Store a month ago, some of them are still live in the store

Even as XRP proponents insist that the coin is fully decentralized and a utility, XRP is technically in a down trend aside recent recovery. Fundamentally, we expect a recovery in sync with Brad Garlinghouse comments that institutional money will be funneled to XRP this quarter and our optimism seems to be high now that prices are actually expanding with XRP printing a five percent gain in the last week and in the past 24 hours.

News Highlights

In recent weeks, eToro, the Tel Aviv based social trading platform has been a news topper. It’s not because of their services but because at the rate at which is supports coins as XRP and providing opportunities for investors to trade them against fiat as JPY and GBP. Shortly after declaring their support of IOTA, the platform is now availing XRP/JPY and XRP/GBP opening further investment opportunities for impatient investors who can’t wait for approval at crypto exchanges.

But, while it’s rosy, here’s a disclaimer you should know before investing: Once you buy cryptocurrency on eToro, the social trading platform will be holding XRP on your behalf and there is no margin trading. Additionally, there is no investor protection since the crypto market is after all global and not under any form of regulation.

Regardless, Ripple Lab’s XRP is technically a hot investment as it tries to bottom up after a value draining eight month of bears. Going by Brad Garlinghouse words, the market is expectant of a wave of institutional level investors to head back to crypto and XRP by Q3 2018. All things constant, this is the same narrative that market influencers have been looping since the beginning of the year safe  the changing time frames. However, should we see actual movements on charts when buying resumes on exchanges, not on OTC markets, then XRP might be on the way back to $1 or higher.

XRP Technical Analysis

Weekly Chart

XRP Weekly Chart by Trading View

On a weekly basis, the third most valuable coin is up two percent. As such there is a clear rejection of lower lows as the chart shows.

However, while this may seem “relieving” and “positive” from a bull’s perspective, traders should realize that prices are still moving inside Aug 12 high lows. After all, the bar is by itself extremely bearish. Besides, it’s an anchor and a bear break out bar and will surely influence price action going forward.

In that perspective therefore, our price projection of XRP is bearish. That’s unless of course there are moves above 55 cents.

Daily Chart

XRP Daily Chart by Trading View

In this time frame, it’s clear that prices are trading within a bear break out pattern set in motion by Aug 6 bear candlestick breaching 40 cents.

Though there are attempts of higher highs, it’s likely that this will be another recovery, a retest. As a result, a reasonable first target is at 40 cents—our immediate resistance line.

Because of recent rejection of lower prices after Aug 17 high volume bear engulfing candlestick, buyers might have an upper hand today. In that case, taking longs at spot rates with stops at 30 cents could pan out alright.

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice and views represent that of the author and not NewsBTC. Do your own research before making an investment decision.

The post XRP Price Technical Analysis: XRP Gains After Brad Garlinghouse Q3 Upbeat Expectations appeared first on NewsBTC.

While some believe that the bottom has not yet been reached, there are several reasons why current Bitcoin price levels may be a good entry point for investors. 

The Associated Press has partnered with blockchain startup Civil to secure and track content

Coinbase has reviewed the world’s top 50 universities and found that 42 percent of them offer crypto- and blockchain-related classes

It’s a ball park seven percent gain for all altcoins under our preview. While our trade plans are live and on course, we expect further gains especially in Tron which is due to launch their virtual machine as they compete with Ethereum by end month. Others as IOTA, LTC and EOS are rising thanks to recovering Bitcoin prices and the general positive alt-coin market.

EOS Technical Analysis

From the News

• Speculation is rife that a $1 million order on Binance propelled EOS prices above $5 on Aug 27.
• Despite registering high transactions and record TPS, EOSIO network dApps are struggling to attract real usage as daily visits statistics show.

Technical Analysis

EOS Daily Chart by Trading View

On top of buoying fundamentals and market wide appreciation, EOS is holding on tight and following through Aug 27 higher highs. As we can see from the charts, not only did EOS gain six percent in the last day, but the mere fact that $5.5, our minor resistance line and Aug 17 highs would likely be hit today. All in all, we recommend short term longs with first targets at $7 and $9 as spelled out in our last EOS price analysis.

Litecoin (LTC) Technical Analysis

From the News

• In the future, the price of Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies will be reflective of their intrinsic value, not on speculation. That’s Charlie Lee’s thoughts on the performance of Bitcoin, Litecoin and most coins in the market which are down more than 80 percent after peaking. During the interview with CNBC’s Fast Money, he also said he had no intention of buying back Litecoin and he sold his coins because of conflict of interest and nothing else. However, he recommend those planning on buying in to do so with capital they can afford to lose.

Technical Analysis

Litecoin Daily Chart by Trading View

Technically, Litecoin is raising with the rest of the market and is already up six percent in the last day.

Though prices are moving within a tight range, our last Litecoin trade plan is active and we suggest ramping up longs in lower time frames in anticipation of the new trend set rolling by Aug 17 bullish engulfing candlestick and confirmed by Aug 27 high volume thrust above Aug 20 bears.

Loading at current prices mean stops should be at $55 with targets at $70, $90 and later $110 should buyers step up their charge.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) Technical Analysis

Stellar Lumens Daily Chart by Trading View

Like most coins, XLM is bottoming up and might continue adding to their gains going forward. All things constant, prices are still in a consolidation along 22 cents and with every higher high, our risk on trade conditions are likely to be printed.

Ideally, what we want is a single high volume candlestick breaking and closing above 25 cents. This will usher the next wave of bull pressure as set out in our previous XLM trade plan with buyers aiming for July highs. Nevertheless, capitalizing on the market overall gains by taking longs on every dip with first targets at 30 cents is our suggestion.

Tron (TRX) Technical Analysis

From the News

• Coin burn, reward mechanism will be dependent on the community and on-chain development Justin Sun has announced. All this will be in a bid to ensure autonomy, democracy and complete decentralization within the Tron network.

$TRX burn and the Reward Mechanism will be changing based on #TRON network development and in sync with our community to ensure a #decentralized, #autonomous and #democratic TRON ecosystem. #TRX https://t.co/y6fkBSLilc

— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) August 27, 2018

• The Tron Foundation has burnt a further 670 million TRX ERC-20 compliant tokens taking the total count to over 1 billion TRX ERC-20 compliant tokens which have been disposed.

Technical Analysis

Tron Daily Chart by Trading View

As the community gears for the official launch of TVM, TRX is on a rapid recovery path adding 10 percent in the last day and in the process printing above 2.5 cents triggering longs in line with our last TRX trade plan.

Because of this, we suggest buying on dips with first targets at 3 cents—our sell trigger and immediate resistance line. Safe stops should be at 2 cents or below Aug 27 lows, the break out level.

IOTA (IOT) Technical Analysis

IOTA Daily Chart by Trading View

After periods of consolidation and lower lows, Aug 27 thrust and close above 60 cents did confirm Aug 17 bullish engulfing candlestick.

Now that IOTA is racing higher after adding 20 percent in the last day, we suggest ramping up longs in lower time frames or at spot prices with targets at 90 cents as spelled out in our previous IOTA iterations.

Ideal stops should be at Aug 27 lows at 55 cents but could be lower depending on your risk reward ratio.

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice and views represent that of the author and not NewsBTC. Do your own research before making an investment decision.

The post EOS, Stellar Lumens, IOTA, Litecoin, Tron Technical Analysis: Altcoins Path Back To Q4 2017 Peaks appeared first on NewsBTC.

In an effort to fight back against the ill-effects of his presidency’s economic policy, Nicolás Maduro has ordered Venezuela’s banks to accept the petro digital currency as a unit of account. The Venezuelan President has also increased public’s minimum wage, price of petrol, and VAT in his latest bout of economic reforms.

Venezuela’s Banks Forced to Accept Petro

According to a resolution by the nation’s Sudeban banking regulator reported by Channel News Asia today, all banks in Venezuela must adopt the petro digital currency. The move announced yesterday aims to alleviate the economic crisis that has plagued the country for several years now.

The situation in Venezuela only seems to be worsening and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimate that the rate of inflation there will reach as high as one million per cent later this year. Millions have fled the country to escape the crisis. Those that remain are frequently turning to the safe haven provided by digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Dash to protect what little of their wealth they have left.

The new economic reforms from the central government include a 3,400% increase in the required minimum wage, an increase in the rate of VAT from 12 to 16%, and an increase in the price of petrol.

In addition to these measures, Maduro is launching an offer of gold-backed bonds. It is hoped that these will promote responsible saving strategies for the people of Venezuela. The initiative will allow the nation’s citizens to buy “lingoticos” (little ingots) and will begin in mid-September. Maduro commented on state television:

“No one can say that gold loses its value.”

The socialist president was re-voted into power for an additional six years this May. However, the elections themselves were mired with controversy and many in the international community reject them as fraudulent. Maduro hopes that by fixing the nation’s fiat currency to the newly created petro, some form of financial stability will be possible.

The petro was launched in February of this year. Recently, Maduro has mandated that it becomes the nation’s second national currency. The controversial digital currency is supposedly backed by the nation’s oil reserves. It has also been alleged that the initiative is a Russian-led experiment in evading U.S. economic sanctions.

However, the people of Venezuela are exploring other options for themselves. Earlier this month, NewsBTC reported on the Dash cryptocurrency becoming more widely accepted by Venezuela’s merchants and consumers alike. Even the likes of Subway and Calvin Klein now allow people to use the digital currency to pay for goods.

The Dash Foundation has invested around $1 million in the nation to educate the public on using digital currencies securely.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Venezuelan President Orders Banks to Adopt Petro appeared first on NewsBTC.

The NASAA’s probe into potentially fraudulent crypto investment programs, dubbed “Operation Cryptosweep,” has resulted in over 200 investigations

BTC community left reeling after major developers fail to make compromise ahead of scheduled Cobra Client hard fork

According to new research conducted by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and research firm Qriously, 42% of the world’s top 50 universities are now offering at least one course in the realm of blockchain or cryptocurrency. The interest in these classes spans across majors and countries.

The report, which was posted on Coinbase’s Medium page, crystalized the results from Qriously’s surveys of 675 U.S. university students, 50 international universities, and interviews with professors and students. One such university that is offering a significant amount of cryptocurrency and blockchain courses is New York University (NYU), who is ranked 30th in universities in the U.S. according to U.S. News and World Reports.

The first NYU course on cryptocurrencies was offered in 2014 by the finance department chair, David Yermack, who enrolled a total of 35 students. In the years since, it is no secret that interest in cryptocurrency has grown greatly, and this growth is reflected in the enrollment numbers for the same class. For the Spring semester of 2018, the same class saw enrollment of 230 students, a significant increase.

Yermack spoke to Qriously about the importance of the class, saying: “A process is well underway that will lead to the migration of most financial data to blockchain-based organizations. Students will benefit greatly by studying this area.”

Cryptocurrency Interest Spans Across Academic Disciplines

Interestingly enough, interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency spans across academic disciplines and majors, ranging from computer science to anthropology.

The report also found that students in all types of majors were interested in studying the technology. Dawn Song, a computer science professor at UC Berkeley, spoke about the widespread interest in crypto, saying:

“Blockchain combines theory and practice and can lead to fundamental breakthroughs in many research areas. It can have really profound and broad-scale impacts on society in many different industries.”

Students Showing Great and Growing Interest in Cryptocurrency 

According to the Coinbase survey, 9% of current college students have already taken a course on blockchain or cryptocurrency, which is a relatively small number. Part of the reason the number of students have taken a crypto course is due to limited offerings, which are likely to grow in the coming months and years.

The survey also found that 26% of students want to take a cryptocurrency course, and 18% of college students already own cryptocurrency. The ownership in cryptocurrency spans across majors, with the highest ownership by major falling into those in the medicine field at 19%, followed closely by computer science at 18%.

Part of the widespread interest is due to the number of job offerings available to graduating students with knowledge of blockchain and cryptocurrency. While speaking about the amount of crypto-related law jobs, Campbell Harvey, a Professor of international business at Duke University, said:

“If you’re graduating from law school it’s a tough market these days. However, the law students that are trained in blockchain, they don’t need to apply anywhere. People are just asking them to join their firms.”

This sentiment was shared by Benedikt Bunz, a doctoral student at Stanford focusing on cryptocurrencies. He said that “if you’re an expert in cryptocurrencies and cryptography you’ll have a difficult time not finding a job.”

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Almost Half of the World’s Top Universities Offer Cryptocurrency or Blockchain Courses appeared first on NewsBTC.