Bitcoin is a movement founded on individual monetary sovereignty, transparency and peer-to-peer auditability enabled by a breakthrough in technology. It launched at a time when trust in the worlds financial institutions was at an all-time low and struck a chord. Bitcoins success has led to profits, which has, in turn, led to complacency. Today, people are once again placing their trust in new crypto institutions, some of which have done very little to earn that privilege. Over $4.4 billion was lost as a result of crypto exit scams and thefts in 2019 alone and billions more are likely at risk right now.

The technology to provide auditability and transparency for bitcoin held in custody has been inherent to the protocol from its inception. However, the industry has been slow to incorporate these features for end customers. As once-siloed companies bid to broaden their offerings (exchanges adding custody, lending, etc.), complexity will increase and transparency on proof of reserves (allowing customers to confirm that the service they are using does in fact hold their bitcoin, on-chain) will become even more important. The ability to offer proof of reserves will become a tool to earn and retain customer trust.

While the idea of proving that bitcoin sent to a particular service or company is still held by such company might seem trivial to some, there are about as many ways to structure custody and interaction with customers as there are altcoins in the crypto universe.

Some services like cold-storage vaulting allow for relatively straightforward implementations while others, like trading on exchanges, can be more complex. Beyond the technical challenges, it is important to highlight some of the business reasons.

Many exchanges are structured in a hot-warm-cold wallet security framework. In this setup, the hot wallet manages a limited balance and is used for inbound and outbound transactions. The warm wallet is a whitelisted bridge between the cold and hot, and the cold, as the safest, holds the majority of the assets. This setup allows for quick withdrawals, improving customer experience as well as operational efficiencies through transaction batching, and at the same time, be able to benefit from the safety of cold storage.

Some services offer periodic audits of their cold, warm and hot wallet balances. They have used increasingly clever ways for customers to verify that their balances were indeed included in the audit. (This has to be done openly while at the same maintaining customer privacy). Although the audit verification methods to date are still somewhat cumbersome for customers (given they are not real-time), they are a step in the right direction.

Contrary to what some may think, there is an enormous supply of bitcoin looking to be lent to earn a yield. In fact, the rates to lend and borrow bitcoin are lower than those to lend and borrow cash and equivalents (USD), meaning that (currently) there is an oversupply of bitcoin in the market (in comparison to the demand for borrowing bitcoin).

While this phenomenon has been primarily led by the increasing popularity of bitcoin interest accounts, competition is bringing new players into the space looking to monetize bitcoin that is in their custody. Presently the market is becoming flush with digital assets looking for yield and it shows no sign of stopping. As the allure of holding fractional reserves of assets increases, proof of reserves can act as a way for end customers to keep the platforms levels of fractional lending in check or verify whether their funds are there or not.

Irrespective of the type of asset or industry, aggressive lending practices eventually leads to trouble. In order to prevent a credit bubble from occurring, transparency on funds is paramount. Lets try to build the right tools and educate the Bitcoin community on the importance of transparency before another QuadrigaCX or Mt. Gox happens.

And it can be profitable! In an industry with such low switching costs and a growing user base, transparency can be the winning differentiator for people looking for a new service provider for their digital asset needs and a good reason to remain there.

Bitcoin has given us the tools to build a new financial system that is transparent and open to the world an opt-out of an existing system full of unknowns as Satoshi described. Let's keep the ethos of Bitcoin alive as we build financial services for it lets not recreate the world we had to escape. Services that give customers the information they need to make good decisions will win in the long run.

Link:

Why Proof of Reserves Is Important to Bitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

Getty

Its the season of Bitcoin price predictions.

Only days after Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev made the case for a $50,000 Bitcoin price in 2020, Bitpay Chief Commercial Officer Sonny Singh has also shared his belief that the crypto asset will hit new all-time highs this year.

Notably, Singh shared what turned out to be a correct prediction that Bitcoin would get close to $15,000 in 2019 with Bloomberg a little more than a year ago.

This year, Im going to make a prediction, Singh told Bloombergs Taylor Riggs on Wednesday. I think Bitcoin passes the all-time high and goes passed $20,000 this year.

While most other Bitcoin pundits have pointed to the upcoming halving as the main catalyst for a Bitcoin price pump in 2020, Singh offered an alternative theory. The halving event is expected to occur in May, and it will cut the number of new Bitcoin that are created roughly every ten minutes in half.

The technical and high-frequency trading is what drives this market in Bitcoin, said Singh. Any time you have an unforeseen circumstance like the Iran incident that happened a couple of days ago that adds new buyers to the market, they werent expecting that and that bumps it up. And that little bump actually in buying pressure really drives it to be up, next thing you know, 20% in two days.

In Signhs view, the Bitcoin market is largely driven by traders who follow technical indicators, which is why unforeseen events where new buyers enter the market have had such a large impact on the cryptocurrencys past price movements. Singh pointed to last years surprise announcement from Facebook about their Libra project as an example of this phenomenon.

This year, again, things like China, Russia, or India could legalize Bitcoin, added Singh. Some new companies competitive to Facebook could get involved. The American government could do something. Something unforeseen that could happen will really move it faster.

Singh also pointed out that fundamental building blocks for a stronger Bitcoin ecosystem are already here through developments like the launch of Fidelitys crypto services and Squares hiring engineers to focus on Bitcoin. However, he reiterated that it will be the unforeseen events that trigger big Bitcoin price moves in 2020.

In terms of the crypto asset market more generally, its unclear if other coins would rise as quickly as Bitcoin in a bull market, as 2019 was a historically bad year for altcoins. The development of secondary protocol layers, such as sidechains, on top of the base Bitcoin blockchain, could spell doom for many of the alternative assets in the crypto market. Even a member of the United States House of Representatives has singled out Bitcoin as the real innovation in the crypto asset space.

See more here:

Bitcoin Price To Rise Above $20,000 In 2020, Says Bitpays Singh - Forbes

Getty

While the Bitcoin price was on the decline for the second half of 2019, the reality is the crypto asset still roughly doubled in value over the course of the entire year. In fact, there were only two major cryptocurrencies that outperformed Bitcoin in 2019.

On Friday morning, Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev told Bloombergs Matt Miller why he thinks the Bitcoin price could continue to rise to the $50,000 mark in 2020.

I think that, very easily, we could see Bitcoin going up to $50,000 by the end of this year, said Trenchev.

Trenchevs Nexo platform allows users to borrow fiat currency against their cryptocurrency holdings. According to Nexos researchers and analysts, a massive rise in the Bitcoin price could occur due to the upcoming halving event. A halving event in Bitcoin is when the amount of Bitcoin generated by the network roughly every ten minutes is cut in half. This event takes place about every four years.

The last time this happened, Bitcoin rallied 4,000%, noted Trenchev.

Trenchev also pointed out that Bitcoin is mostly uncorrelated to the rest of the market, providing asymmetric returns for holders of the cryptocurrency.

Miller pointed out that Bitcoin hasnt grown much as a payment option since he tried to live on the digital currency for a Bloomberg investigative report back in 2012, but Trenchev claimed the main selling point of Bitcoin has evolved over the years.

The initial idea was: Were going to pay for coffees with Bitcoin, said Trenchev. But, obviously, that has failed to materialize. The narrative, now, that is much more persuasive is that Bitcoin is the new gold, and we see confirmation with the turmoil that we have this morning Bitcoin is rallying on par with gold.

Trenchev added that the Bitcoin price would reach the $50,000 level if the crypto asset is able to take hold of 10% of the current gold market. The Nexo co-founder claimed that, eventually, people will only be able to afford to buy satoshis rather than whole Bitcoins for their portfolios.

Members of the cryptocurrency industry are not the only ones who are aware of Bitcoins potential, as members of the United States Congress also envision a world where this technology could have a major impact on society. Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) has said Bitcoin has enormous long term value, while Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) is worried about the cryptocurrencys potential impact on the U.S. dollar as the major reserve currency in the world.

The rest is here:

Why The Bitcoin Price Could Hit $50,000 In 2020 - Forbes

Bitcoin spiked earlier this week following an escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with analysts once again linking bitcoin to so-called safe haven assets like gold.

After the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, general Qasem Soleimani, was killed by U.S. forces in Iraq it was widely reported the bitcoin price in Iran had soared to around $24,000this is, however, based on a common misunderstanding of exchange rates in Iran.

Some think that bitcoin could eventually join gold as a safe-haven asset, though it has yet to ... [+] consistently perform like one.

Iran-based bitcoin sellers on peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoins were seen to be pricing bitcoin at around 1 billion Iranian rials, worth some $24,000 based on the official exchange rate set by Iran's central bank.

However, the official exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Iran is only ever used by the government and a handful of businesses. Almost all people and businesses in Iran use a market set exchange rate when converting rials to U.S. dollarsthat currently has rials priced at around a third of the official exchange rate.

"The going market rate for the U.S. dollar to the Iranian rial is one dollar to 136,500 rials," explained Mehran Jalali, an Iranian national who follows the crypto market and splits his time between the U.S. and Iran.

"The current bitcoin to rial rate posted on Iranian crypto exchange websites is around one bitcoin to 984,000,000 rials, equal to $7,208 per bitcoin in Iran, which is very close to the going rate everywhere else."

"The official rate is what the central bank says. But literally, no one except some government organizations can get that rate while no one can use it," crypto expert Ali Beikverdi told bitcoin news site Cointelegraph. "Its a joke."

Bitcoin has been known to trade at a small premium in some places around the world, though never at the levels incorrectly reported in Iran.

In South Korea, the bitcoin price traded around 10% higher until early 2018 when the country introduced tighter regulation.

Elsewhere, bitcoin can regularly see a premium of around 4% in Hong Kong due China's strict bitcoin trading ban forcing people who want to buy bitcoin to use the stablecoin tether.

Meanwhile, some bitcoin and cryptocurrency watchers dismissed suggestions bitcoin was acting as a safe-haven asset in response to the U.S. killing of Iran's general Soleimani.

"Heightened geopolitical risk has resulted in both gold and bitcoin moving higher, but for different reasons," Peter Schiff, the chief executive of Euro Pacific Capital and outspoken bitcoin critic, said via Twitter. "Gold is being bought by investors as a safe haven. Bitcoin is being bought by speculators betting that investors will buy it as a safe haven."

The bitcoin price leaped this week but has been steadily falling for the past six months.

Last year, some in Iran turned to bitcoin to try to evade U.S. sanctions on the country.

"With exchange offices closed, sanctions and the rial dropping like crazy it seems like a good idea to use bitcoin," one person in Iran, who wished to remain anonymous, said at the time, adding bitcoin was "literally the only way to get money out of the country."

Original post:

No, Bitcoin Isnt Going For Anywhere Near $24,000 In IranHeres Why - Forbes

Bitcoin price followed a bearish path after it failed to surpass the $8,500 resistance against the US Dollar. BTC is now approaching a crucial support near $7,750 and $7,600.

Recently, bitcoin bears took control and they were able to push the price below $8,000 against the US Dollar. Moreover, BTC settled below the $8,000 handle and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

The price is now trading below the 50% Fib retracement level of the last major rally from the $7,302 low to $8,460 high. During the decline, there was a break below a key bullish trend line with support near $8,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

Bitcoin Price

The pair is now trading near a significant buy zone at $7,600-$7,750. An immediate support is near the $7,750 level. Additionally, the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the last major rally from the $7,302 low to $8,460 high is at $7,744.

The last key support is near the $7,600 area (the previous breakout zone). Both $7,750 and $7,600 are important buy zones. Therefore, there are chances of a fresh rally above the $8,000 resistance.

An initial resistance is near the $7,900 level. There is also a short term declining channel forming with resistance near $7,880 support near $7,930 on the same chart.

A successful break above the $7,900 and $8,000 resistance levels could set the pace for a decent rally. The next key resistances are near $8,180 and $8,300.

There are slight chances of a downside break below the $7,600 support. However, if the bears are successful, it could start a steady downtrend and the price might extend its decline towards $7,300 and $7,100.

Looking at the chart, bitcoin price is losing bearish momentum below $8,000, but the $7,750 and $7,600 supports are important. Overall, the price could either bounce sharply above $8,000 or tumble below $7,750 and $7,600.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is likely to move into the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) The RSI for BTC/USD is currently declining below the 40 level.

Major Support Levels $7,750 followed by $7,600.

Major Resistance Levels $7,880, $8,000 and $8,180.

See more here:

Bitcoin Is In Steep Downtrend, But This Variable Can Trigger A New Rally - newsBTC

Bitcoin is showing first signs of a weakening upside momentum as traders adjust their sentiments near key resistance areas.

The benchmark asset on Wednesday plunged by up to 3.15 percent in what appears to be a corrective action. The move downhill prompted it to establish an intraday low of $8,202.57 on Coinbase. It also escalated the possibilities of an extended downside action as the market heads into a perceivably relaxed US session.

So it appears, investors are betting that the Iranian missile attacks on American stations in Iraq would not extend the conflict in the Middle East. The perception alone helped oil prices and global stock markets stabilize. Investors now await President Donald Trumps statement on the matter after his all is well comment last night.

Bitcoin rose majorly because speculators believed global demand for the cryptocurrency would increase amid the rising US-Iran conflict.

On the day a US-sponsored airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, head of Irans Quds force, the cryptocurrency surged in tandem with other haven assets. It almost formed a lagging correlation with gold and oil, eventually topping to register a two-month high of $8,469.39 today.

The US stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday in the aftermath of Irans attacks and Trumps relaxed response to them.

Futures for the S&P 500 index were up 0.17 percent as of the time of this publication while Nasdaq delivered an equally attractive 0.16 percent gains. Nevertheless, Dow Jones looked constrained owing to the aftermath of aBoeing Co. jet crash in Tehran on Wednesday. Its futures were up by just 0.1 percent.

Dow Jones Futures weakest in an otherwise stable US index market | Source: TradingView.com

The visible yet interim correlation could be one of the reasons why bitcoin rejected a potential price rally above $8,400. It gets further validated with the performance of Gold. The yellow metal plunged by 0.12 percent to trade at $1,572.40 an ounce.

From a technical perspective, bitcoins latest correction formed what appears like a traditional Bull Flag pattern.

Bull flag formation on Bitcoins hourly chart | Source: TradingView.com, Coinbase

In retrospect, a Bull Flag formation is a continuation pattern that indicates that the underlying asset would resume its uptrend. That said, bitcoin has a likelihood of continuing the price rally purely from a bulls standpoint.

Nevertheless, larger timeframes such as the weekly one show a crucial resistance area capping bitcoins upside attempts. As long as the cryptocurrency stays below it, its likelihood of revisiting the local bottom of $6,400 is high.

Bitcoin rebounds after testing 20-weekly MA | Source: TradingView.com, Coinbase

The oranged 20-weekly moving average, coupled with the upper trendline of the greened Descending Channel, is behaving as an ideal resistance area for traders to exit their long positions for small profits. More likely, the price would extend the pullback and retest $7,280 as its interim support.

All eyes on how Trump plays out Irans latest attack.

Follow this link:

Bitcoin Just Got Rejected at $8,400, And It Means a Big Fall Ahead - newsBTC

Law360 (January 9, 2020, 5:30 PM EST) -- If ransomware attackers were to write a year-end thank you note to Bitcoin, it would probably look something like this:

Thank you, Bitcoin. We now have a powerful way to orchestrate extortion schemes with little risk of ever getting caught. You have breathed new life into our wares, ushering in a golden era of strength and vitality for our innovative and devastating virtual blackmail conspiracies. Even more exciting, we can now stage-mange our shakedowns from anywhere on the planet with ease, efficiency and speed. Meanwhile, our legion is not just growing in size, but we have also dramatically expanded the scope...

In the legal profession, information is the key to success. You have to know whats happening with clients, competitors, practice areas, and industries. Law360 provides the intelligence you need to remain an expert and beat the competition.

TRY LAW360 FREE FOR SEVEN DAYS

Read the original:

Ransomwares Year-End Thank You Note To Bitcoin - Law360

Bitcoin is a movement founded on individual monetary sovereignty, transparency and peer-to-peer auditability enabled by a breakthrough in technology. It launched at a time when trust in the worlds financial institutions was at an all-time low and struck a chord. Bitcoins success has led to profits, which has, in turn, led to complacency. Today, people are once again placing their trust in new crypto institutions, some of which have done very little to earn that privilege. Over $4.4 billion was lost as a result of crypto exit scams and thefts in 2019 alone and billions more are likely at risk right now.

The technology to provide auditability and transparency for bitcoin held in custody has been inherent to the protocol from its inception. However, the industry has been slow to incorporate these features for end customers. As once-siloed companies bid to broaden their offerings (exchanges adding custody, lending, etc.), complexity will increase and transparency on proof of reserves (allowing customers to confirm that the service they are using does in fact hold their bitcoin, on-chain) will become even more important. The ability to offer proof of reserves will become a tool to earn and retain customer trust.

While the idea of proving that bitcoin sent to a particular service or company is still held by such company might seem trivial to some, there are about as many ways to structure custody and interaction with customers as there are altcoins in the crypto universe.

Some services like cold-storage vaulting allow for relatively straightforward implementations while others, like trading on exchanges, can be more complex. Beyond the technical challenges, it is important to highlight some of the business reasons.

Many exchanges are structured in a hot-warm-cold wallet security framework. In this setup, the hot wallet manages a limited balance and is used for inbound and outbound transactions. The warm wallet is a whitelisted bridge between the cold and hot, and the cold, as the safest, holds the majority of the assets. This setup allows for quick withdrawals, improving customer experience as well as operational efficiencies through transaction batching, and at the same time, be able to benefit from the safety of cold storage.

Some services offer periodic audits of their cold, warm and hot wallet balances. They have used increasingly clever ways for customers to verify that their balances were indeed included in the audit. (This has to be done openly while at the same maintaining customer privacy). Although the audit verification methods to date are still somewhat cumbersome for customers (given they are not real-time), they are a step in the right direction.

Contrary to what some may think, there is an enormous supply of bitcoin looking to be lent to earn a yield. In fact, the rates to lend and borrow bitcoin are lower than those to lend and borrow cash and equivalents (USD), meaning that (currently) there is an oversupply of bitcoin in the market (in comparison to the demand for borrowing bitcoin).

While this phenomenon has been primarily led by the increasing popularity of bitcoin interest accounts, competition is bringing new players into the space looking to monetize bitcoin that is in their custody. Presently the market is becoming flush with digital assets looking for yield and it shows no sign of stopping. As the allure of holding fractional reserves of assets increases, proof of reserves can act as a way for end customers to keep the platforms levels of fractional lending in check or verify whether their funds are there or not.

Irrespective of the type of asset or industry, aggressive lending practices eventually leads to trouble. In order to prevent a credit bubble from occurring, transparency on funds is paramount. Lets try to build the right tools and educate the Bitcoin community on the importance of transparency before another QuadrigaCX or Mt. Gox happens.

And it can be profitable! In an industry with such low switching costs and a growing user base, transparency can be the winning differentiator for people looking for a new service provider for their digital asset needs and a good reason to remain there.

Bitcoin has given us the tools to build a new financial system that is transparent and open to the world an opt-out of an existing system full of unknowns as Satoshi described. Let's keep the ethos of Bitcoin alive as we build financial services for it lets not recreate the world we had to escape. Services that give customers the information they need to make good decisions will win in the long run.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Read the original post:

Why Proof of Reserves Is Important to Bitcoin - Nasdaq

Its always refreshing to hear that a company or individual is prepared to accept Bitcoin in exchange for goods and services. Its even more refreshing when they actually know enough about the cryptocurrency to want to hold it.

British rapper Zuby announced earlier that he not only accepts Bitcoin payments, but that he doesnt intend to convert them payments immediately to fiat currency. Demonstrating that he has at least done a little homework, in true Bitcoiner lingo, he claims hed rather HODL than sell it straight away.

NewsBTChas reported on numerous previous occasions about high profile Bitcoin acceptance stories. Some pretty massive companies, such as AT&T, have recently started to allow customers to pay for goods or services using the digital asset.

However, there is a problem with this. When a big company claims to accept Bitcoin, more often than not, they dont. In the example of AT&T, the company used the controversial payment processing company BitPay to facilitate payments.

When someone pays AT&T with Bitcoin, BitPay acts as a middleman. The company immediately converts that money to fiat currency and sends the funds to the telecom firm. The payment is no longer peer-to-peer and it isnt censorship resistant, as the Hong Kong Free Press discovered last year. Political pressure can force BitPay to censor a payment, which runs at odds with what drew many people to Bitcoin to begin with. Had BitPay been involved with WikiLeakss now famous Bitcoin funding raising efforts, the website might have received no donations whatsoever, instead of the almost $3 million it managed to generate.

Another issue with using such a payment processor is that the payment immediately creates selling pressure since the company needs to exchange the Bitcoin for fiat to pay the intended recipient. Although British rapper, author, and podcaster Zuby is working with Coinbase Commerce to facilitate payments for his goods and services, he does claim to be a holder, rather than an immediate seller:

In response to the above tweet, a Twitter user asked Zuby if he kept them or instantly converted them to fiat. The singer replied simply:

HODL

Another user recommended that he consider switching to the open source cryptocurrency payment processing platform BTCPayServer. The service is championed by many of those critical of the likes of BitPay. Zuby responded that he would indeed look into using BTCPayServer going forward.

Zubys welcoming of Bitcoin, as well as his apparent willingness to hold the crypto asset and use services supportive of the ideas underlying the industry, appears to have impressed at least one follower. Shortly after the rappers announcement today, Twitter user Caleb Gregory quickly became the first person to pay for Zubys merchandise using the cryptocurrency.

Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Plunges to $7,900; Can Bulls Save the Day?

Read the rest here:

Bitcoin Accepted: This Rapper Welcomes BTC Payments and HODLs - newsBTC

Bitcoin (BTC) awakened from its post-holiday slump, breaking easily above $8,000. A combination of geopolitical tensions and renewed appetite for trading led BTC as high as $8,360.

The most recent price move also shifted the analysis of technical indicators, signaling bitcoin may be ready to follow a bullish scenario. Three technical indicators suggested a new upward drive may be possible. Bitcoin price managed to bounce off the years-long trend of higher lows. The second technical factor was a small head-and-shoulders pattern.

Following those two completed chart moves, bitcoin has the chance to enter a six-month appreciation channel, though this move is not yet certain and depends on closing levels in the coming days.

The renewed predictions based on current chart action also match the expectations bitcoin may continue to rally for the first half of 2020. The price moves also mean BTC made its local lows at around $6,500 in December, avoiding the scenario of a dip to $5,000.

Bitcoin price has once again entered a period of active spot trading, based on a cant afford not to hold it attitude. Trading activity expanded to above $30 billion in the past day, as the price broke through milestones above $8,000.

In January, BTC now continues with a new set of support levels at $7,800-$7,900, and further potential for price development.

The current price move also sees bitcoin generally in a longer-term bull market, which started off from lows of $3,200 in December 2018. Despite the temporary fluctuations, BTC has remained above $6,000 for most of the time, with still a preserved trend for a slow climb.

The other matter remains the timing of an altcoin season. For now, the spotlight is on bitcoin, which has expanded its market cap dominance to 69.1%. But there is also a possibility the higher BTC prices may trigger altcoin speculation.

The renewed rally also reignited the narrative that the halving is not priced in yet, and may lead to a new price range.

The bitcoin bull rally also impacted Litecoin (LTC), an asset that moved in unison, adding around 14% in its first week of 2020.

For the leading asset, the current price is taking it closer to its 200-day moving average, however a Golden Cross is still a while away.

What do you think about the most recent BTC price move? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @KevinSvenson @Cryptopatel @PeterLBrandt

See the rest here:

Bitcoin Bull Run: 3 Reasons Why BTC Will Continue to Surge - Bitcoinist

Bitcoins meteoric uptrend over the past several days and weeks has allowed BTC to smash through multiple resistance levels that were previously hampering its price action, and yesterdays break above $8,000 led to a sense of euphoria amongst the cryptocurrencys bulls.

Analysts are now noting that Bitcoin could currently be caught within the early stages of the next major bull run, but it is important to note that how it responds to this one key price level could be the single factor that validates or invalidates this incredibly bullish possibility.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading down roughly 1% at its current price of $8,020, which marks a notable decline from its daily highs of just under $8,400 that were set at the peak of the recent rally.

It does appear that in the near-term Bitcoin could be on the verge of breaking below its key support at $8,000, although each slight dip below this level over the past couple of hours has been quickly absorbed by buyers.

HornHairs, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, explained in a recent tweet that he is closely watching to see how BTC responds to $8,000 for insight into which direction it will go next, as it could be the determining factor for whether or not this recent rally marks a long-term trend shift.

May be jumping the gun here but Im willing to hop back in if we see another solid bounce & recovery at this demand. On the other hand a close back below the range high would make me flip my bias & short a retest. If this does trend higher this will be an entry worth holding, he explained.

Peter Brandt, a renowned analyst, spoke about Bitcoin in a recent tweet, explaining that it is currently attempting to break above the upper boundary of a multi-year descending channel, but bulls need to continue to maintain their buying pressure in order for this to be confirmed and in order for BTC to enter the early stages of its next bull market.

Has a new bull market began in #Bitcoin $BTC? 1. Market held support at lower boundary of multi-yr channel 2. Small H&S bottom on daily chart 3. Pending penetration of 6+ mo channel If enough cryptocultists have been shaken out since Dec 17, then yes If not, then no, he said while referencing a chart showing the aforementioned channel.

The next few hours may shine a light on the validity of this pending channel breakout, as a dip below $8,000 could spark a larger sell-off that puts the crypto firmly back into the middle of this wide trading channel.

Excerpt from:

Bitcoin Flashes Signs of Starting a Massive Bull Run, But One Key Hurdle Remains - newsBTC

Bitcoin price started a downside correction after rallying to a new 2020 high near $8,460 against the US Dollar. BTC corrected $500, but the price is still above many key supports.

This week, we saw a strong rise in bitcoin price above the $8,000 resistance against the US Dollar. BTC traded to a new 2020 high near $8,460 before it started a downside correction.

The bears were able to push the price below the $8,300 and $8,200 levels. During the decline, there was a break below a key bullish trend line with support near $8,040 on the hourly chart.

Besides, the price failed to stay above the $8,000 support area. Finally, it traded as low as $7,867 and is currently consolidating in a range. On the upside, there are initial hurdles near $8,000, and the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $8,426 high to $7,867 low.

The first key resistance for bitcoin is near the $8,145 level. It represents the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $8,426 high to $7,867 low.

If there is a clear break above the $8,145 and $8,200 levels, the price is likely to resume its upward move. The next major resistance is at $8,280, above which the bulls are likely to aim a new 2020 high.

On the downside, there are a couple of key supports for bitcoin near the $7,800 level. More importantly, the 100 hourly simple moving average is near $7,800.

Therefore, a successful bearish close below $7,800 might invalidate the current bullish view. In the mentioned case, the price is likely to revisit the $7,500 support.

Looking at the chart, bitcoin price is clearly under stress below the $8,000 and $8,100 levels. In the short term, there could be a downside extension, but the price is likely to bounce back as long as it is above $7,800.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is slowly reducing its bearish slope.

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

Major Support Levels $7,860 followed by $7,800.

Major Resistance Levels $8,000, $8,145 and $8,200.

Read more:

Bitcoin Starts Corrective Decrease But Bulls Not Out Of Woods Yet - newsBTC

Bitcoin has gained tremendous popularity since its launch in 2009, sending ripples across major economies of the world. The cryptocurrency witnessed massive interest among investors, so much so that the price shot up to a whopping $20,000 apiece in 2017, thereafter plummeting and rallying around $10,000 in 2019. The prices saw extreme rallies owing to a strong combination of global investor interest and pure speculation. The block-chain powered currency has sparked several controversies with respect to the lack of global regulation, legality, and potency of misuse.

However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was quick enough to pick the red flags before the Bitcoinbubble burst. The biggest problem with Bitcoin, also popularly known as digital gold is that it has no collateral-backing, which essentially means that the intrinsic value is zero and the prices are purely based on speculation. Moreover, there are no guidelines or regulations governing the trading and use of the virtual currency as a legal tender.

The Indian central bank sent out multiple public warnings and caution notices regarding the risks associated with Bitcoin and eventually enforced a ban on Bitcoin trading in India vide a notification on April 6, 2018. Thereafter, a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies was planned with a draft policy Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019 and is under process.

ETBFSI had earlier reported that the RBI had called for a banking restriction on all financial institutions offering services to cryptocurrency exchanges, that led many Indian startups Bitcoin India, Koinex, Zebpay to close operations or moved outside India or launched P2P platforms to sustain.

Does the virtual currency need regulatory support rather than an outright ban? The use of virtual currency can bring a sea change in the way transactions take place in an economy. The advantages seem to outweigh the risks associated with the use of virtual currency when brought under a regulatory framework of the RBI and SEBI. The blockchain technology would allow secure P2P transactions and could be easily monitored by the regulators. On the other hand, SEBI regulated virtual currency exchanges may be established to regulate the market movements and trading activities associated with the crypto-currencies. Further, the use of virtual currencies would lower transaction costs and could potentially eliminate the need of paper currency, thereby boosting efficiency in the monetary system.

Originally posted here:

Can digital gold Bitcoin ever be mined in India? - ETCIO.com

As reported by U.Today recently, Justin Sun has set up a channel on YouTube where he intends to post short videos to tell the community about himself, the Tron Foundation and BitTorrent. He did it despite the fact that just recently, YouTube briefly banned all crypto-related videos from both prominent and little-known bloggers.

This came to be known as crypto purge and Justin Sun, along with Binances CZ and other top crypto community figures urged bloggers to join such platforms as VibraVid, DLive (both powered by Tron),BLive (running on BitTorrent), etc. Still, it seems that good old YouTube has a much bigger audience and is best for shilling cryptocurrencies and blockchain project so far.

In his recent YouTube video shared by Justin Sun on Twitter, he says that DLive, which started migrating to the Tron chain on December 30, is a platform used bythe worlds famous streamer PewDiePie. He has 102 mln subscribers on YouTube and over 65,000 followers on Twitter.

Sun shows a part of a stream, in which PewDiePie talks about BitTorrent and Tron chain and it looks like a clear promotion.

Must Read

Tron-powered VibraVid offers rewards in BeatzCoin. BLive allows users to reward their favourite content makers with BTT. When Justin Sun first teased the announcement of the future DLive migration to Tron, he mentioned that this acquisition would be also good for TRX.

Therefore, perhaps, later on the Tron community may expect TRX rewards circulating on DLive as well.

The rest is here:

Bitcoin (BTC) and Federal Reserve Have One Thing in Common, According to CNBC's Guy Adami - U.Today

As the world anxiously watched the turbulent events in the Middle East this week, investors have turned to the known safe havens for times of crisis. Throughout history, gold has been a proven investment vehicle during similar tumultuous times, from wars to crises to economic depressions. Yet, over the last week, we saw a notable development that should be carefully analysed. The increasing heat within the Middle East fueled an event that many anticipated, which allowed the digital heir of gold to demonstrate its intensity and power for (almost) the first time. Who is this heir? Bitcoin, of course.

The assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and the Iranian missile attacks on US forces in Iraq gave rise to aggressive statements by both the US President and Irans leaders and raised genuine concerns regarding potential escalation crossing into other parts of the world. Third World War headlines were even spotted in certain media outlets. The response of investors was short and sharp: the global stock markets fell, and everyone rushed for financial cover, many to buy Bitcoin.

Throughout history, the acknowledged destination for investment in such situations has been Gold: a scarce asset that retains its value and is detached from the possibly harmful influence of governments and the ordinary markets. And indeed, this week Gold hit a seven-year high (together with a hike in oil price, also directly related to the events in the Middle East).

A far less predictable result was the sharp leap of Bitcoin by more than 20% over only a few days; from less than $7,000 US up to $8,350 US. With every new devastating headline, Bitcoin soared yet further. The very fact that along with gold it has since slightly declined, as the news from the US-Iran front became more relaxed, only reinforces the fact that Bitcoin has demonstrated its role as a digital safe haven for investors.

Bitcoin has significant advantages over gold, thanks to its digital and decentralized nature, which promises a smarter and more up-to-date alternative for investors. It enjoys the uniqueness of gold as an investment tool with the characteristics of a perfect store of value, thanks to its scarcity, with a maximum supply of 21 million coins. On top of this, and significantly unlike gold, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be transferred across the world, within minutes or hours, without censorship or intervention of any kind by a third party.

Recent years have shown growing evidence that Bitcoin is a useful and active investment vehicle in distress situations around the world. Investors are looking for ways to keep their money separate from the unknown impact of governments and the negative situation in the ordinary capital and consumer markets. For example, Bitcoin is increasingly used in countries in severe economic crises, such as Venezuela.

The trade war between the US and China is still casting a shadow over the global markets. The growing pile of debt of trillions of dollars and the weakening of the traditional money are raising fears of a coming financial and monetary crisis. And if that isnt enough, the fragile economic growth even in the strongest countries isnt promising a bright future. Under such conditions, it could be expected that the search of investors for alternative assets, such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be even stronger in the coming future.

Buy Bitcoin

eToro offers an holistic solution to crypto, with all your crypto trading needs under one roof. Buy Bitcoin on the eToro trading platform, using the eToro Wallet or on the eToroX Exchange.

Continued here:

The Recipe that Causes Bitcoin to Rise: Economic and Geopolitical Uncertainty - newsBTC

While everyone is fawningover Tesla and its stock that continues to set new all-time highs almost on a daily basis, there is one naysayer who is not amused by Elon Musk's "NSFW" dad-dance.

Mark B Spiegel,an investor at Stanphyl Capital, recently lambasted Tesla (TSLA) and Bitcoin on Twitter. He states that BTC is used by criminals while the leadingelectric car maker is actually run by one.

Must Read

TSLA has had an incredible run for the past six months, surging by more than 100 percent, which definitely rubbed the famous short-seller the wrong way.Spiegel was convinced that its shares would be trading below $200in January and actually put his money where his mouth was by buying a bunch of $200 put options contracts. However, this most likely resulted in a humongous loss with Telsa's highflying stock surging above $490 for the first time.

To top that off, Tesla also became the most valuable automaker in the US history. Its market value has surpassed $85 bln, dwarfing Ford and General Motors (GM).At the same time, TSLA is known as one of the most shorted stocks in the US. Elon Musk, who has no shortage of passionate fans, also has plenty of critics who believe he should be locked in cuffs.

Must Read

In his series of tweets,Spiegel compares trading TSLA to gambling. Notably, he has the same take on Bitcoin.

Spiegel claims that the pseudo-anonymous cryptocurrency, which has a penchant for volatile price moves,is only good for gambling and money-laundering. In order to become useful, BTC needs to become stable.

As reported by U.Today, Bitcoin accounts for 95 percent of all illegal crypto-related transactions.

See the rest here:

Bitcoin (BTC) Compared to Tesla (TSLA) by Prominent Investor. Elon Musk Won't Like It - U.Today

Bitcoin (BTC) made a sudden jump of 8% yesterday and is currently hovering at around $7,300. As the price bounced from $6,900, a higher low is presenting itself on the chart, but does this mean that the bottom is there?

Crypto market daily performance. Source: Coin360

BTC USD 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

The price of Bitcoin is still moving inside this downwards channel since last years high of $13,900. Remarkably, the price corrected towards the Golden Pocket Fibonacci area (0.618-0.65 level) and is currently showing a potential higher low.

The green area is also a significant area from 2018, as that was the zone the price of Bitcoin bounced on for 6-months.

Given that the price bounced from $6,900 to $7,400, theres buying pressure shown from this area, indicating that the price might be bottoming inside this range.

BTC USD 1-day linear chart. Source: TradingView

The linear chart shows similarities with the log scale chart. However, theres more of a falling wedge construction rather than a channel. Meaning that the price is gathering strength for a breakout through the coming weeks, marking this level as a bottom area.

The chart is also showing a bullish divergence, which marked the temporary low at $6,500. Generally, bullish divergences mark a trend reversal (also seen in the December 20118 low at $3,100).

If price maintains this red box as new support and a higher low is established, then Bitcoin could face a rally towards $9,000 over the coming months.

Total market capitalization 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

Similar signs show the total market capitalization chart, which has retraced to April 2019 levels. A test was confirmed by a sharp bounce upwards, followed by a potential higher low construction as we speak. Aside from these signals, a substantial bullish divergence potentially marked the bottom of this retracement.

This retracement is currently hovering around the 0.618-0.65 Fibonacci level as well (similar to Bitcoin). If market capitalization can maintain this higher low and consolidate on this level, a breakout to the upside of this falling wedge looks more likely than further downside momentum.

Crypto fear & greed index. Source: Alternative.me

Usually, when an asset is marking a temporary top, the sentiment is euphoric and greed becomes palpable. The opposite effect is the case around bottoms. People are usually scared and depressed as they are expecting further downwards momentum. The Fear & Greed Index has been showing fear for the last weeks, indicating that the overall market sentiment doesnt expect a breakout to the upside.

The price is still moving south, which means that some fear is warranted in the market. However, as the price is trying to bottom here, it would be interesting to look at potential upside momentum rather than further downwards. The same can be spotted on altcoins, for example, Ethereum (ETH).

ETH USD 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

The ETH chart is showing a similar wedge formation as the Bitcoin and total market capitalization charts, meaning that a breakout to the upside is likely to occur in the next month. Aside from that, the price bounced from a support area here and is potentially making a bottom formation.

ETH BTC 2-day chart. Source: TradingView

On the BTC chart, many altcoins are facing a long term downtrend. Ether, for example, is in the midst of a 2-year old downtrend that it must break out of. Interestingly, the months of January/February have historically seen Ether price significantly increase and/or breakout of downtrends.

During 2016, a similar breakout was shown, after which 2017 repeats the same move. First, a bottom formation includes a bullish divergence. After this, a higher low is marked, followed by a breakout to the upside.

In 2018 and 2019, a significant move to the upside was seen in the ETH/BTC pair as well, though no breakout of the general downtrend occurred. This time its possible, however, as Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are already breaking their downtrends that have been in place for two years.

So what must Bitcoin price do now to generate such a breakout to the upside?

BTC USD bullish scenario. Source: TradingView

As discussed previously in the article, the price needs to maintain the blue area as a higher low and not drop below it. As long as that level is sustained as support, a breakout to the upside is likely to occur. This would cause the 6-month old downtrend to break to the upside, which potentially means the end of the downward momentum.

The targets based on previous support/resistance and Fibonacci levels first include $8,000. If thats broken, the price is ready to aim for $9,100-9,500, which would typically shift the sentiment from fear to neutral.

BTC USD 1-day bearish scenario. Source: TradingView

A bearish scenario can be warranted through the opposite of the bullish scenario and is pretty basic. If the price of Bitcoin is not able to hold the blue area as support, the bullish divergence is not confirmed, and the price is ready to continue downwards.

In that regard, a potential retest of the $6,900 level would grant an excellent short opportunity, and then the next support zones can be found in the $6,200-6,500 area.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Originally posted here:

Heres What Must Happen for $9K Bitcoin Price in the Coming Months - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin has had a rough past two days, with its recent rally to highs of $8,400 resulting in yet another strong rejection that appears to have sparked another downtrend.

This downtrend has forced BTC back below $8,000, and it appears to be on the cusp of seeing significantly further losses as bulls go on the defensive and struggle to generate any further upwards momentum.

There are a couple key factors, though, that may signal that this latest selloff is simple a short-term event that will soon be followed by a continuation of the cryptocurrencys recent uptrend.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading down just under 4% at its current price of $7,870, which marks a notable decline from its daily highs of just under $8,200, and an even further decline from its multi-day highs of $8,400 that were set at the peak of the recent rally.

Most analysts had anticipated that Bitcoins break above $8,000 would mark a turning point for the cryptocurrency, as it was able to find enough buying pressure above this level to hold it there for several hours.

Its strong and swift rejection at $8,400, however, signaled to analysts that this latest rally could have been a bear trap.

HornHairs, a popular crypto analyst on Twitter, spoke about this in a recent tweet, noting that a weekly close on Sunday below $7,870 will mean that BTC could retrace all the way to $6,000.

$BTC We got the breakout, which was a good start, but as the weekly chart stands, it looks like a bull trap. If we close below $7870 on Sunday, my expectations will be a move down to $6k. Very important next few days. Nothing conclusive until Sunday, he said while pointing to the below chart.

In spite of this, there are two factors that could signal that Bitcoin will soon see significantly further upwards momentum with BTC flashing some bullish divergence on its RSI, and low conviction amongst sellers.

$BTC: On the less negative side, the potential hidden bullish divergence with RSI is still intact on the 4 hour chart and volume has been decreasing with price since the top. Thats a sign of consolidation price and volume are not in agreement. Low conviction selling so far, Scott Melker, another popular crypto analyst explained in a recent tweet.

If Bitcoin continues to grind lower without incurring any significant buying pressure, it could soon retrace all of the gains it incurred throughout the past couple of weeks.

Read the original:

These Factors Signal that Bitcoin is Just Taking a Breather Before Another Rally - Ethereum World News

Over the past few hours, Bitcoin (BTC) has begun to gain momentum once again, pushing past $7,400 after remaining trapped under that level for the past two-odd days. As of the time of writing this, the leading cryptocurrency is trading for $7,470 registering a 2.22% gain in the past 24 hours. Altcoins have followed suit, posting similar slight gains across the board as bulls are stepping in.

Although already a strong performance, analysts expect Bitcoins gains to continue into next week, with some even going as far as to say that the cryptocurrency could top $9,000 by the end of the month, maybe sooner.

Cryptocurrency and forex trader Livercoin posted the below tweet on Saturday, showing that he believes Bitcoin has been trading like a textbook Wyckoff Reaccumulation-esque pattern over the past few days.

The textbook pattern, should BTC follow it to a T, suggests that BTC will break higher and higher in the coming days, in an upward move that will bring the asset back to the high-$7,000s.

Another analyst echoed this optimism, posting the below chart. In it, he notes that if BTC can break the neckline of the inverse head and shoulders pattern formed over the past five weeks, which it did, a 15% move to hit $8,500 could be had in the coming weeks.

Seeing that Bitcoin has broken past the neckline over the past few hours and may see an end-to-end Ichimoku Cloud move, the cryptocurrency could begin to act on this pattern, surging higher to the aforementioned target.

Also, Su Zhu, the chief executive officer of forex and crypto fund Three Arrows Capital,recently remarked on Twitter that he believes Bitcoins price outlooking heading into 2020 is looking rather bullish. The prominent commentator specifically cited his analysis of the BTC/USDT trading pairs and their premiums to BTC/USD markets and the overall price action, which shows there are clear signs of accumulation and money flow back into risk.

Read this article:

Why Analysts Think Bitcoins Surge to $7,450 is Just the Beginning - newsBTC

At approximately 02.30 GMT today a US drone strike killed senior Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani at Baghdads international airport. The event triggered a dramatic escalation in tensions in the region, with oil prices surging on the news. Bitcoin was not far behind; bouncing back from under $7k, the cryptocurrencys price proceeded to jump over six percent within hours of the attack.

But while a surge in bitcoins price would normally be an occasion for celebration among bitcoin maximalists, todays news met with a muted response on crypto twitter, and even denial. If the unwelcome prospect of another war in the Middle East is the price of bitcoins success, is it one crypto enthusiasts are willing to pay?

Political instability is often seen as a bellwether of crypto price, although economic stability remains the most important factor; the viability of bitcoin as a safe haven in the face of catastrophe is a common argument.

Today, it was given some credence. Gold prices climbed to a four-month high. Oil, meanwhile, shot up over 4 percent amid concerns of disruption to supplies.

There's a clear flight to safety among traditional assets with stocks declining (about 1.5%) across the globe and safe havens like gold and the Japanese Yen have seen minor gains as well, wrote crypto analyst Mati Greenspan in his daily newsletter Quantum Economics.

The surge in crude oil is to be expected, the surge in bitcoin is a total surprise, he added.

The blue line represents the price of crude oil, which reacted quickly to this morning's news, contrasted with BTC across various exchanges. IMAGE: Mati Greenspan.

Nevertheless, some doubted that the strike, and the political instability it unleashed, bore any responsibility for the surge.

Bitcoin maximalist and talk show host Peter McCormack quickly decried US President Donald Trumps action.

Others saw the rally as short lived, before business as usualor an overblown reaction. Yet the threat of war is very real.

The Pentagon had accused Major-General Soleimani, Irans highest ranking military official, of orchestrating attacks on US forces in Iraq, and says it acted in self defence.

Iran, meanwhile, has vowed to take action in response. US citizens have been told to leave Iraq, US military bases are on high alert and officials in the region told the Financial Times that they were braced for Iranian retaliation across the Middle East. From Israel to Saudi Arabia and even India and Pakistan, the entire region is on high alert.

"Certainly Iran is going to retaliate in some way. Theyre not going to confront the US directly but they will perhaps attack Saudi tankers again, maybe Saudi oil refineries," John Tirman, executive director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies, told Al Jazeera.

Part of bitcoins appeal is that, up to now, it has been uncorrelated to other, non-crypto safe haven assets such as gold, Matthew Graham, chief executive of Beijing-based Sino Global Capital, told Decrypt.

This history is not consistent with being a safe haven for geopolitical risk, he said. However, in our view, as bitcoin matures, its correlation with other assets is likely to increase. As part of this process, geopolitical and macroeconomic factors are likely to have increasing influence on bitcoins price.

He added that for similar reasons, in the long-term, bitcoin is likely to become more positively correlated with the price of gold, and there is already evidencesome in the past 24 hoursfor this view.

Following this logic, some speculated that Iranians could be buying up Bitcoin to counter the prospect of further sanctions. Others even suggested that the rising price could be due to cryptotraders speculating that Iranians are buying bitcoin.

Its clear that many crypto traders are closely watching events in Iran, Graham told Decrypt. In our view, its possible that this geopolitical risk factor impacted bitcoins price in combination with other factors, including a short squeeze. Overall, its important to not overstate the case, he added.

Greenspan held a similar view: The Iranian market in and of itself is likely too small and slow to have caused this move single-handedly. More likely, one or several players have been waiting on the side for a good buying opportunity below $7,000 per coin and it seems one has presented itself, he wrote.

There may be further cause for concern. Bitcoin itself is a concern for the US, as far as Iran is concerned

Almost a year ago, the New York Times reported that bitcoin is helping Iran to undermine US sanctions. These have cost Iran $200 billion in foreign-exchange income and investment, the countrys President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.

Iran is moving to regulate Bitcoin, and mining was reportedly legalized in the country in August. Iran has also dangled the prospect of a national cryptocurrency over the world since February 2018. In December, Rouhani called on Islamic countries to create a Muslim cryptocurrency to fight US economic dominance.

But in the short term, as tensions escalate in the Middle East once again, bitcoin looks set to play its partwhether for sanctions busting or as a foil for speculation. And conflict could combine with global recession to increase the demand for bitcoin, gold and oil alike.

The good news? Even bitcoin maximalists are in tune with the old Edwin Starr hit:

War, huh, good god. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.

Lets hope we dont get to find out whether that applies to bitcoin anytime soon.

Read the original post:

New crisis in the Middle East: Good for bitcoin, bad for the world - Decrypt