Since the creation of the Silk Road, authorities have waged a war against the online drug trade with a wave of surveillance and enforcement. However, crypto-anarchists are developing new ways to evade the states tentacles as the next technological phase started to emerge in late 2017. On Monday, the Cypherpunk Bitstream podcast discussed the evolution of darknet markets as new ideas like dropgangs and dead drops proliferate into the next decade.

Also read: Why the Counter Economy Is Necessary to Bitcoins Survival as a Disruptive Currency

At the end of 2019, the publication Vice highlighted the fact that since 2014 the number of users buying illicit narcotics on darknet markets (DNM) has doubled. Vice columnist David Hilliers report underlines the fact that DNMs have increased since the Silk Road, but the growth of Snapchat dealers and other instant messenger service drug operations has multiplied. For instance, Hillier cites a report called DM For Details which explains that in 2019, 24% of young people said they see illicit drugs advertised for sale on social media. 56% of the drugs being sold are on Snapchat, 55% of ads are seen on Instagram, and 47% leverage Facebook Messenger. The report detailed that cannabis is the most popular drug advertised 63% of the time, while cocaine was the second most popular drug.

Meanwhile, the podcast Cypherpunk Bitstream hosts Jonathan Smuggler Logan and Frank Braun published an episode which discussed the advancement of the online drug trade and Smugglers nine-page article Dropgangs, or the Future of Darknet Markets. Smugglers research studied how DNMs have evolved since they were first advertised on the clearnet and migrated to the deep web via the Silk Road (SR). When SR was seized by global law enforcement, dozens of new DNMs popped out of the woodwork with mega-markets like Dream and Alphabay.

However, in 2017, police forces shut down Alphabay and operated Hansa undercover for more than 30 days before closing it. Smugglers editorial notes that the loss of darknet markets led to severe disruption of client-merchant relationships.

Identities and reputation being lost, previous marketing efforts being negated often leading to temporary or even permanent collapse of merchant business, he added. Despite the cat-and-mouse game of surveillance and evasion, Smugglers research notes:

The problems of darknet markets have triggered an evolution in online black markets.

On January 6, 2020, Smuggler conversed about the topic of dropgangs on episode 0x04 of the podcast Cypherpunk Bitstream. Smuggler talked about the premise of his article with Frank Braun and defined what a dropgang is for listeners. Dropgangs are organizations that distribute contraband by using mostly messenger services, often cryptocurrencies, and dead drops.

Smuggler also gives an example of a dropgang that leverages messenger services like Telegram. Basically you text on Telegram, agree on a price, and the dealer sends coordinates to a secret location where you can pick up the goods. [Darknet markets are] not the end of development when it comes to the distribution of contraband, Smuggler emphasized on the podcast. One of the tendencies of [DNMs] is that they appear, theyre used and then they go away. And in between, you have a lot of people that are arrested.

Smuggler notes that in Eastern Europe and throughout the Balkan States, theres another end of the spectrum of the online drug trade where DNMs have evolved. In a lot of Eastern European countries, the dominant model is different to a centralized DNM website that simply sells product. This is because vendors from these regions started using dead drops early, Smuggler told Braun during the podcast. Braun agreed and said that this was because the postal system in that area of the world was never really trustworthy. The dead drop method allows the vendor to drop the product at a secret and random geographical location that only the two parties are aware of. This idea skips the global mail systems and customers can remain anonymous and dont have to reveal an address.

During the mid-section of the episode, Smuggler and Braun go into great detail on how the postal service flags and tracks suspected contraband dealers. Smuggler highlights the global mail systems flagging infrastructure and sorting equipment is digitally augmented. Some things are augmented so far that the letters get a tracing code printed on it and people dont notice it, Smuggler says. If a package or letter is found suspicious, the hidden tracing code is added which flags all letters posted in the same container and allows investigators to track origins and create heat map-like data points. Smuggler insists that over time, the heat map tracking system is perfected and you get a map with a statistical overlay. The podcast host says this kind of mail inspection gives investigators a really good indication about where the sender is from and the frequency of mail the vendor ships.

The issues tethered to centralized DNMs and the postal service mail inspection process make Braun and Smuggler stress the importance of evolving black market practices. In addition to the discussion about dropgangs, dead drops, existing DNMs, and the postal service, the two hosts talk about the idea of drone mix networks that could leverage drones and hard-to-trace communication mixes.

Cypherpunk Bitstreams episode 0x04 also touches upon concepts like sneakernet. Rather than transmitting information via connected computer networks, individuals leveraging the transfer of data via physical devices can greatly improve privacy. For instance, a person could create a BCH bearer bond instrument by using an optical disc, USB flash drive or external hard drive loaded with BCH and pass it along a network of individuals without the transactions ever being seen on a public block explorer. Sneakernet crypto trading might be essential after the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) and the updated FATF Travel Rule take effect this year. Four years ago, before bitcoiners became infatuated with institutional interest, a few decentralized marketplace ideas emerged.

On August 30, 2015, Reddit user miracle-max_ described a decentralized marketplace layer written on top of the BTC chain called the Drop Zone Protocol. The system was originally tested on BTCs testnet and the author of the concept released a paper on the cryptography mailing list. The paper called Drop Zone: An Anonymous Peer-To-Peer Local Contraband Marketplace describes the systems properties. It featured concepts like anonymous and encrypted communications with built-in reputation controls. Additionally, contraband markets can be open and anonymous, Miracle Max wrote at the time.

Another concept similar to Maxs Drop Zone is Voluntary Labs project Bitmarkets, an idea that leveraged Bitmessage for listings and buyer/seller communications and runs on Tor by default. Both Bitmarkets and Drop Zone never really materialized and people remained mostly dependent on centralized DNMs up until 2017. Since the fall of the major DNMs in 2017, the peer-to-peer application Openbazaar has been used lightly to facilitate contraband deals, mainly with narcotics like cannabis. Centralized DNMs have been a mess over the last two years and several of the most popular marketplaces went under in 2019.

The recently published Cypherpunk Bitstream podcast is over three hours long, but gives a comprehensive overlook of where things are headed within the modernized online drug trade. Law enforcement seems to be leading the cat-and-mouse game but the podcast shows that evasion schemes are growing stronger in certain regions. Readers who are interested in this subject can read Smugglers article published last year, and listen to Smugglers podcast in its entirety via the link below.

What do you think about the evolution of DNMs and ideas like dropgangs and dead drops? Let us know what you think about these topics in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the subject matter written above. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any ideas, software, concepts, content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Bitmarkets, Openbazaar, Twitter, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, and Pixabay.

Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here.

Jamie Redman is a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source code, and decentralized applications. Redman has written thousands of articles for news.Bitcoin.com about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

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How Dropgangs and Dead Drops Are Transforming Darknet Practices - Bitcoin News

Hotmine, a company based in Ukraine which engineers home appliances for crypto enthusiasts, is not new to mining equipment development. But sometimes it takes the right time and the right technology to be able to create and offer solutions that consumers would be willing to buy and use. Thanks to tech progress and proper market conditions, cryptocurrency mining at your home is once again becoming an option to support your budget with some satoshis or save on utility bills.

Also read: Bitcoin Emits Less Carbon Than Previously Claimed, New Study Finds

Cryptocurrency mining has passed through different stages since the invention of Bitcoin and Oles Slobodenyuk, the owner of Hotmine, was willing to explain why he thinks that after a period of industrialization, the minting of digital coins can once again return to living rooms and garages. And it can not only bring households some additional crypto income but also heat air and water without affecting the noise comfort of a home.

Hotmine produced its first hashboards using 55nm chips and developed a system to utilize the thermal energy emitted by the hardware in September 2013. In October the same year, 10 hashboards with 12 chips each were capable of mining three bitcoins a day. A complete module had 80 hashboards and a total of 960 chips. This equipment was exploited for a few years until it was eventually replaced with a more productive hardware. Hotmine can change the hashboards, which act as the heating elements in its systems, with new ones based on 16nm, 10nm, and 7nm chips.

In the early days of Bitcoin, a period Hotmine CEO describes as Mining 1.0, a miner was a full-fledged cell of the crypto community, he pointed out. Later, when the first video cards, ASICs, and mining pools appeared, having an account on a pool was enough and the mined bitcoins were often immediately withdrawn to an exchange. Eventually, hardware manufacturers started mining themselves. Creating 20-40-100 MW datacenters became much more profitable than working on small-scale solutions, Slobodenyuk noted referring to that industrial era as Mining 2.0, when the minting of coins became noisier. Speaking to news.Bitcoin.com, the entrepreneur further elaborated:

Plugging your equipment as soon as possible became a priority. It all turned into an arms race. No one was thinking about complex infrastructure projects with beneficial use of the generated heat.

Advancements in technology are now making it possible for crypto mining to decentralize and return to private homes. The Mining 3.0 period will see mining equipment being used in home applications again, like powering water boilers and heating radiators. Hotmines new product, the Prometheus smart heater, mines cryptocurrency to allow users to save up to $0.064 per kWh of spent electricity, the company claims. So if you pay 12 cents per kWh, for example, Prometheus can help you save approximately 50% on your electricity bill, Slobodenyuk insisted. According to its website, Hotmine has already produced its first batch of 60 heating convectors in late 2019.

The Ukrainian company decided to construct a silent miner-heater in August 2018 using 57 J/Th, 16nm Bitfury Clarke chips. The power consumption of their device is between 550 and 900 Watts per hour with a productivity of 8 11 Th/s. The convector is linked to the internet via wifi. The first prototypes appeared in April 2019, with a regular configuration (0.5-0.7 kW) mining at up to 11 Th/s and a mini version (0.1 kW) at 1.5 Th/s. Both modules rely on fanless cooling which allows them to utilize the excess heat without producing noise, making them suitable for home application.

Oles Slobodenyuk believes there is a place for his convectors in every home. In order to bring down the manufacturing costs to around $450 $550 per module, however, he has estimated that Hotmine has to assemble and sell 100,000 smart mining units or more. The company has a road map to achieve that and hopes to manufacture 1,000 smart convectors and 2,000 smart water boilers in 2020, gradually increasing the numbers in the next few years until it reaches its goal. At the same time, Hotmine also hopes to expand its community of users and supporters which can improve sales and ensure funding.

We can quickly develop new equipment, R&D is our strong side, but we are yet to learn how to better advertise and promote our products. Our initial strategy was to look for clients and investors on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform but we also realized that success comes with creating a community, said Slobodenyuk. His team is currently working to increase the number of Hotmines followers on social media and takes every opportunity to present its products at conferences and other events in the crypto space. Volunteers are currently testing some of the Prometheus smart heaters, the company founder revealed.

Slobodenyuk believes Hotmine has two options for its future development. One is to organize mass production of mining modules in China and arrange distribution around the world. The other is to find partners in export markets and start assembling the mining rigs in each country. In any case, building a successful business with crypto mining home appliances will not be an easy task, not least because of increasing competition from other contenders in the niche like Qarnot or Comino, as Hotmines management acknowledges. Nevertheless, the continuing crypto market recovery that made mining profitable again certainly opens new possibilities before all these companies.

Do you think crypto mining can be successfully integrated in home heating systems? Share your opinion on the subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any third party products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Hotmine.

Did you know you can earn BTC and BCH through Bitcoin Mining? If you already own hardware, connect it to our powerful Bitcoin mining pool. If not, you can easily get started through one of our flexible Bitcoin cloud mining contracts.

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Bulgaria. Quoting Hitchens, Lubomir says: Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do. International politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

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This Company Sets Out to Prove Crypto Mining Has a Place in Your Home - Bitcoin News

Last year everyone was going bonkers for Bitcoin, and thats no surprise, seeing as how the number one cryptocurrency had an absolutely explosive price performance in 2017. Things have cooled off in 2018 as prices fell significantly, however many are still bullish about Bitcoins long-term potential.

To that end, the scarce, deflationary quality of Bitcoin makes it totally unlike traditional fiat currencies, which are usually prone to inflation and even hyperinflation in the worst of cases. That means as more investments pour into BTC, its price will likely continue to see upward pressure because there will be no supply response.

Think about how when the price of oil surges, more companies begin producing oil, which then increases the supply and acutely deflates the price of oil accordingly.

No similar supply response can never happen with bitcoins. There will never be more than ~21 million, and even contemporary estimations say more than 3 million BTC have been lost for good, making BTC considerably scarcer than many realize.

That means the BTC could potentially shoot up exponentially in future years. But how high?Lets take a look at some of the more prominent projections weve seen thrown around in recent days.

Once renowned for being a prominent Wall Street hedge fund manager, Mike Novogratz has now set his sights on the cryptocurrency space, and hes not turning back. Running the crypto-based Galaxy Investment Partners, Novogratz is betting big on the Bitcoin boom in general as his mid-term BTC price projection suggests.

Bitcoin could be at $40,000 at the end of 2018, Novogratz said. It easily could.

And for Novogratz, theres no confusion as to why that particular price point may end up really materializing. In a November 30th interview on Fox Business, Novogratz unabashedly declared that Bitcoin is going mainstream.

And Novogratz knows what mainstream and institutional looks like; he used to run a Goldman Sachs trading desk in Asia before becoming a hedge fund manager at Fortress. If he thinks the herd is coming, as it were, then we all best pay attention.

Going much more long-term, Novogratz said it was within the realm of possibility that the bitcoin market cap could one day reach the current market cap of gold, which is around a whopping $8 trillion USD.

If this reality were to materialize down the road, that would put each BTC around the $390,000 price point.

Firebrand Bitcoin pundit Max Keiser has never made his love for BTC and its potential a secret.

As such, youll commonly find him on Twitter making new price predictions based on the Bitcoin booms momentum.

For now, hes pegging his short-term bitcoin price target at $15,000. Thats a reasonable figure, to be sure, especially with BTCs parabolic price performance in Q3 and Q4 2017.

Beyond that, though, Keiser has his eye set on the impressive $100,000 BTC price milestone.

Love him or hate him, Adam Back is an OG cypherpunk whos made incalculable contributions to the cryptocurrency space as a whole. Theres a reason Satoshi Nakamoto reached out to Back (and Wei Dai) first in starting up Bitcoin.

In other words, Backs been around the block once or twice. He knows the ecosystem as well as anyone.

And its his opinion that the next major target for the bitcoin price to hit is $100,000, echoing Max Keisers aforementioned prediction.

In a recent tweet, Back even went as far to say that users should be careful selling bitcoin in 2018 because the price could rocket so acutely over the next 12 months that people wouldve made considerably more by just holding.

John McAfee is best known as the creator of the popular McAfee antivirus software. Hes also become a Bitcoin aficionado over the past several months, and he never hesitates to voice his opinions on the cryptocurrency craze accordingly.

And his opinions are exceedingly bullish, to say the least. McAfee was projecting $500,000 BTC in 2020 just a few weeks ago, but he modified his claim to be even more bold as bitcoins market surge has been moving faster than he anticipated.

Now, McAfee thinks $1 million per bitcoin will be reality by the end of 2020. Thats almost an unfathomable possibility at the moment, but maybe we havent seen anything yet. Especially if institutional interest keeps exploding.

But McAfee has even bolder ideas, to be sure. In an even newer Twitter exchange, McAfee explained that he believes the BTC price could reach into the billions one day.

Specifically, the tens of billions as he argues:

Thats certainly the most aggressive price prediction anyones made for BTC yet. But if that insane price materializes, McAfee will end up looking like even more of a madman genius than he already is.

Swedish Pirate Party founder Rick Falkvinge is a big proponent of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), going so far as to sarcastically call himself the CEO of Bitcoin Cash.

But that doesnt mean he doesnt respect the beast that BTC is and could be.

Bitcoin] can easily go to more than $1 million per bitcoin. Falkvinge said during a recent interview. But thats just Falkvinges conservative estimate. Hes actually more bullish than that, asserting that BTC can go as high as $5 million:

If cryptocurrency fulfills its promise, and theres no indication it wouldnt, then the equivalent of one bitcoin needs to be in the $2-5 million dollar range.

The cryptocurrency expert and venture capitalist, Tim Draper, has also given its opinion about the future price of Bitcoin. According to him bitcoin and blockchain technology are one of the best things that happened for businesses.

Mr Draper said in 2014 that Bitcoin could reach $10,000 in just three years, something that happened in 2017, exactly on the date he predicted. When he explained that bitcoin could reach that price ($10,000), the cryptocurrency was traded just at $413 dollars.

At the same time, he said that in the future Bitcoin could keep growing. About that, he is convinced that the cryptocurrency is the future and that the virtual currency market will gain its place among fiat currencies.

Bitcoin is the future currency. Why would I sell the future for the past? Why would I go and grab some weird fiat subject to the will of some governments? he commented during an interview with Bloomberg.

The world market for cryptocurrencies is 6 trillion dollars, and I think that that it will be crypto. And I am really excited about all the extraordinary things that can happen because of crypto and bitcoin.

Cameron Winklevoss is one of the two popular Winklevoss twins. The co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, stated that bitcoin could be worth 40 times its current value.

In order to explain why bitcoin could grow up to 40 times, he compared the cryptocurrency market capitalization with the market cap of gold.

During an interview with CNBC he said:

So if you look at a $100 billion market cap today, now last week it might have been more like 200, so its actually a buying opportunity, we think that theres a potential appreciation of 30 to 40 times because you look at the gold market today, its a $7 trillion market. And so a lot of people are starting to se that, they recognize the store of value properties.

He has also said that due to the fact that bitcoin has a fixed supply, it is still a very underappreciated asset. Indeed, he stated that he and his brother believe that bitcoin disrupts gold.

The Winklevoss twins emphasized that they will not sell their bitcoins even if the price surpasses $380,000 dollars. This is a special number, because if bitcoin reaches this price level, its market capitalization will be equal to golds market valuation.

An important portfolio manager that worked for more than six years in the cryptocurrency world, predicted this year that Bitcoin could reach $50,000 dollars. While speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he brought some calm to the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin could definitely see $50,000 in 2018.

At the moment of the statement, Bitcoin was traded over $11,000, days later it reached the lowest point in months when it was displayed in cryptocurrency exchanges under $6,000 dollars.

But Mr Singh said that the kind of volatility that bitcoin experienced is not unusual nor unexpected. And thats confirmed when we pay attention to the charts. In the past, Bitcoin suffered important corrections in just a few days.

Mr Singh commented:

If you look at Microsoft of Apple when they went public their stocks were very volatile because the market wasnt mature. There are not so many vendors right now who can accept cryptocurrencies but theres huge adoption on the black market.

Cryptocurrency adoption keeps growing all over the world. In past articles we wrote that enterprises are investing in blockchain technologies and virtual currencies. Businesses all around the world, including small shops and merchants, are adopting bitcoin and other currencies as a means of payment.

If the adoption trend continues, bitcoin could lead the market towards new all time highs. Additionally, payment processors are working with cryptocurrencies trying to spread their benefits.

Lets get really speculative just for the purposes of illustration the growth thats possible in the coming years.

The current market cap of all global stock markets is around $100 trillion USD. Woah, right? Accordingly, lets say that the entire cryptocurrency market one day reaches this $100 trillion cap.

And lets also say that BTC maintains its current position as hovering around a 50 percent share of the entire crypto market (though, of course, theres no reason to believe itll stay at 50 percent forever).

That would put Bitcoin as having around a $50 trillion market cap. At this point, all we need is to divide $50 trillion by the number of bitcoins in existence.

Lets go with 17 million instead of 21 million since many bitcoins have been lost already.

Alas: $50 trillion divided by 17 million = ~$2,941,176. Round up, and thats $3 million per bitcoin.

Now, we cant count our eggs before theyve hatched. Theres still quite the mountain to climb for the crypto market to get even close to hitting $100 trillion. But maybe its possible in 30 or 40 years. Maybe not at all.

Its going to be a wild ride no matter what happens between now and then, that much is for sure.

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Bitcoin Price Today Live Bitcoin Value - Charts & Market ...

As we turn our calendars to 2020, now is an opportune time to reflect on the year ahead. What does our financial future hold in store? With the S&P 500 booming, its difficult to imagine a shift toward alternative finance, but the landscape could change in a hurry.

Geopolitical and corporate forces are on a collision course, and our financial lives might be upended in an instant. From Chinas exploration of a digital yuan to Facebooks insistence on Libra (its own digital money), the worlds powers are gearing up to seize financial control. The question is, will it work? Simultaneously, legacy digital currenciesespecially the hundreds of cryptos that arose in 2017could fall by the wayside.

With that in mind, here are my predictions for digital money in 2020:

After a rejuvenating 2019, it appears bitcoin is on the rise once more. While its underlying market is virtually inscrutablebillions of dollars shuttle between traders in the black marketthere is one fundamental change on the horizon. Sometime in May, the bitcoin network will automatically reduce its block reward, the money paid to miners who secure the network.

While miners currently receive 12.5 bitcoins (market value: $87,000) for adding each new block of transactions, the network will programmatically adjust to provide a smaller payout, a reward of just 6.25 bitcoins. This reduction, which occurs every 210,000 blocks,is called the halving, or sometimes, the halvening.

The last time this happenedin July 2016, when the reward dropped from 25 bitcoins to 12.5 bitcoinsthe crypto market wasnt nearly as popular. Back then, bitcoin traded in the mid-$600s. Now, though, with greater attention on its contracting issuance rate and finite supply, bitcoins price could rocket up the charts. While some argue the halving is priced in (i.e., everybody knows its going to happen), others suspect the shrinking reward will make buying bitcoin more urgent.

Kicking a project while its down isnt my style. But with so little to show over the last three years, its hard say that ethers market cap ($14 billion) is justified. Arguably, if bitcoin ascends, it might take ether with it.

But if theres any rationality to crypto trading (hint: theres not) then ether should rightfully plunge. Perhaps Im locked into an outdated expectation that ether will be more than digital moneyits creators billed ethereum as a decentralized internet, a place where peer-to-peer platforms could flourish without corporations. From file storage to new-age lenders, ethereum was/is supposed to change everything. Maybe my prediction is colored by my disappointment. But, other than currency, there still isnt a provable use case for ethereumand as long as we have bitcoin, who needs another one? Its time for the market to reflect ethers bland reality.

Continuing with my hard-truths tour, I anticipate that Libra will not launch this yearat least not in anything close to the format Facebook initially promised.Can you even imagine Facebook launching a digital currency in a US election year? If Libra launched and was even remotely tied to election interference, there would be hell to pay.

Libra has already stained Facebooks reputation, showing that the company jumped on the blockchain bandwagon without much planning,and it (briefly) made regulators laser their focus on big tech. If Facebook moves forward, Id expect it to make Libra much less crypto and much more conventional financesomething like a Facebook debit card, not full-blown Facebook money. In my view, its much more likely Facebook will focus its effort on WhatsApp Payand hopefully, warding off fake news.

All right, its time to get bold. While theres been a lot of buzz about Chinas digital money experiments (link in Chinese), Id wager that this is the year when the country will actually release something to the public. The digital currency/electronic payments (DC/EP) plan has been years in the making, and I see little reason why China would continue to wait in the wings.

While I dont expect a complete rollout, China might begin limited tests of the DC/EP, perhaps with corporate partners. As the country makes its push onto the world stage and grapples with possible US sanctions, this centrally-planned effortcould shift the balance of financial power. And its something that few othershave the wherewithal to pull off.

Yes, there are challenges to be ironed out with a digital wallet system, but with the increasing desire for insights into citizen/consumer behavior, a digital currencyissued by and linked to the Peoples Bank of Chinawould provide exactly the leverage the country seeks. My guess would be that this happens in the middle of the year.

The quiet collapse of the blockchain industry hasnt made headlines. But projects are absolutely running out of moneyand patience. How long are programmers and community managers willing to work on something that doesnt ship? Or just doesnt make sense?

In 2020, I think lots of blockchain developersand especially researcherswill return to academia. Likewise, the hangers-on in the marketing machine will move on to the next hot thing. Perhaps cannabis or 5G?

Finally, Ill go out on a limb once more to say, I think the US Securities and Exchange Commission will finally approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Realistically, theres little reason for the agency to hold it up any longer. Concerns about bitcoin market manipulation dont relate nearly enough to the financial product itself. Additionally, it seems, the competition from a bitcoin ETF would probably make private investment vehicles lower their fees.

Bits & Pieces

Please send news, tips, and your predictions to privatekey@qz.com. Todays Private Key was written byMatthew De Silvaand edited byKatie Palmer. Only rich people tell you not to talk about money.

Link:

2020 predictions for bitcoin, Libra, and the digital yuan - Quartz

THE TEAM

Bitcoin was created by an anonymous name called Satoshi Nakamoto Other notable names rumored to be part of the team include

The practical uses of Bitcoin

If you have the required hardware, you can mine bitcoin even if you are not a miner. There are different ways one can mine bitcoin such as cloud mining, mining pool, etc. For cloud mining, all you need to do is to connect to the datacenter and start mining. The good thing about this is that you can mine from anywhere and you dont need a physical hardware to mine.

For mining pool, all you need to do is to join a mining group, and if that team solves a computational problem, blocks are added to the blockchain, they get the reward and you get a share of it based on your contribution.

PoW algorithm-SHA-256 is used for mining. Which utilizes a lot of computational power.

How Does Bitcoin Mining Work?

Bitcoin mining saps energy, costly, uses more power and also the reward delays. For mining, run software, get your wallet ready and be the first to solve a cryptographic problem and you get your reward after the new blocks have been added to the blockchain.Mining is said to be successful when all the transactions are recorded in the blockchain and the new blocks are added to the blockchain.

Bitcoin Price Today

Die-hard BTC supporters believe that bitcoin is the future; we are just scratching the surface.Considering the continuous rise of bitcoin in the market capitalization, it is one investment every investor needs to take advantage of it.

The current market capitalization of bitcoin stands at an all-time high of $109 billion. As at January 2016, bitcoin was traded at I BTC for $970 but today is being traded at $9,600 for 1 BTC.

From the statistics presented above, it that bitcoin is one investment, you will never regret embarking on. It keeps recording an impressive results daily in the cryptocurrency market.

MUST READ!

Cryptocurrency investment is speculative, and it involves unquantifiable risks the market is full of uncertainty, susceptible to attack and capital loss, and sensitive to secondary issues, time may do not permit to mention here.Seek advice before investing.

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Bitcoin Price Live, Bitcoin Chart , BTC Value Today, BTC ...

TEHRAN, IRAN - (ARCHIVE): A file photo dated September 18, 2016 shows Iranian Revolutionary Guards' ... [+] Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani during Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's meeting with Revolutionary Guards, in Tehran, Iran. The U.S. confirmed Thursday that it carried out a strike that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The strike near Baghdad International Airport killed Soleimani, one of the most powerful commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, vice president of the Hashd al-Shaabi group, or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), local media reported. (Photo by Pool / Iranian Supreme Leader Press Office /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The bitcoin price got a shot in the arm as news came out last night that theU.S. assassinated Qassem Soleimani, head of the feared and formidable Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

As of this writing, the bitcoin price is up 4.74%, approaching $7,400. It is tempting to take this observation and assume that bitcoin will continue to climb as tensions between the two countries continue to ratchet upwards.

All of this feeds the narrative that bitcoin is a safe haven asset.

This may be true, and the price of bitcoin may continue to rise. However, the expected fallout will serve as a defining test of Bitcoins presumptive role as currency of last resort or the final port in the storm.

Soleimani was the Tip of the Iranian Spear

It is hard to overstate the impact of Soleimanis assassination. While few outside of Iran will mourn his passing, there is no denying the level of power and influence that he held in Iran and around the region as a whole.

Aveteran of the devastating decade-long Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, one which most people outside of the region have likely never heard of, Soleimani grew to become a glorified and almost mythical figure within Iran.

By leading the IRGC, he was a central player in virtually every major Iranian action in the region, including defense of the Assad Regime in Syria, securing Iranian influence in Iraq (lest the two countries ever go to war again), or supplying and supporting Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel. Some of his lesser-known activities included backing the Houthi rebels in Yemen and other groups across Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Taking out Soleimani was analogous to the U.S. losing a Secretary of Defense or National Security Advisor.

Map Strait of Hormuz and Persian gulf countries

A Stick of Dynamite into a Tinderbox

With this context, it is unsurprising thatJoe Biden likened the Soleimani assassination to tossing a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox. After all, while the world is surely better without Soleimani, nobody really knows what will happen next. All we do know is that the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameneivowed to take tough revenge against the U.S.

The anticipated response in and of itself should be enough to rattle markets and drive investors toward safe havens. Iranian-backed forces reach as far west as Turkey, south as Yemen, and east as Pakistan. If we take into account cyber or terrorist attacks, the entire world comes into play.

Further complicating the issue is the fact that this drama is playing out during a period of already heightened tensions in the region. U.S-Iranian relations were already poor following President Trumps withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian Nuclear Deal and application of his maximum pressure campaign against the country.

Arab Spring-esque protestshave also broken out across the region in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, and even Iran against causes such as income inequality or political freedom. In fact,Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul MahdiandLebanese Prime Minister Saad Haririboth resigned in recent months in response to their inability to calm the protests.

Plus, there is currently aproxy war playing out in Libyapitting Turkey and the United Nations against Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia, among others.

It is hard to think of a worse time in the region for someone to light a match.

What Comes Next

Iran is unlikely to provoke all-out war against the U.S., as Khamenei and the rest of the leadership in Tehran are well aware that the fighting will largely take place in their home country (Iran does not have conventional military means of reaching the U.S.).

More likely, they are going to leverage their proxies across the region to attack U.S. allies and soft targets as they seek to exact revenge. For instance, they could try a repeat of theirattack on Saudi oil infrastructure in September 2019or disrupt the transit of oil through theStrait of Hormuz(which accounts for 20%) of the global supply.

The U.S. is on heightened alert,is deploying thousands of troops back into the region, and the State Department asked all Americans toleave Iraq immediately.

Map of the Middle East with Saudi Arabia in focus with bullets draped across

Trial By Fire

If there ever was a time for bitcoin and crypto to prove itself, this is it.

Safe havens like bitcoin, gold, and U.S. treasuries are up, while emerging market currencies have seen their biggest fall since September 2019.

These broad trends will likely continue if tensions escalate and people will seek alternatives to preserve their wealth.

However, the story is not this simple.

For the bitcoin price to continue to climb in the face of this instability, it needs to prove its resiliency and relevancy in local market conditions. Put another way, it must demonstrate utility. This means that there need to be on-ramps to the network, consistent Internet access or dense mesh networks, and users must have ways to simultaneously maintain privacy (perhaps from governments), but still find counterparties for commerce. Leigh Cuen fromCoinDeskwrote an excellent piece detailing some of these challenges in emerging markets around the world.

Now, this may be too much to ask of bitcoin right now, as it remains in its infancy, but at the same time it is hard to imagine a better proving ground for crypto.

See more here:

U.S. Assassination Of A Major Iranian Official Poses An Unprecedented Test Of Bitcoins Role As A Safe Haven Asset - Forbes

Im reviewing the 2010s in Bitcoin. This is the story about 2019 in Bitcoin. Read about 2018here.

2019 saw Wyoming enact sound blockchain legislation, Bakkt launch, and further normalization of Bitcoin into global financial markets. Heres 2019 in Bitcoin.

Wyomings Blockchain Legislation

The biggest news story of 2019 could very well be the work done in the State of Wyoming towards robust and progressive blockchain legislation. Establishing itself as the only US state to provide a comprehensive, welcoming legal framework that enables blockchain technology to flourish, as Caitlin Long wrote on Forbes.com, Wyoming enacted in March altogether 13 blockchain-friendly laws.

Long, who is a Forbes Senior Contributor and co-founder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, worked with legislators and senators, such as Wyoming State Representative, Tyler Lindholm, Senator Ogden Driskill, and Senator Tara Nethercott, on the bills.

Wyoming spotted an opportunity to lead in this field last year, and realized it had just as many advantages in competing for this nascent industry as any other place - and more so, Long explained. Blockchain is software, so its global. A line of code doesnt care who wrote it or where it was written. As Joe Lubin said when he spoke at WyoHackathon last fall, theres no reason why the next Google cant be here in Wyoming."

Long explained: In a nutshell, thats what Wyoming has now done for blockchain technology.

Wyomings move put it at the forefront of digital asset regulation in the U.S., with over a dozen other U.S. states, as well as Congress, considering implementing Wyoming-inspired legislation. The laws recognized direct property rights for digital asset owners, created a regulatory sandbox, and authorized a new state-chartered depository institution that provides basic banking services to blockchain and other businesses. The bank must keep 100% reserves, cannot give out loans, and is available only to business depositors. The laws also enabled Wyoming banks to act as a digital asset custodian.

Wyoming now classifies digital assets in three categories, including digital securities, digital assets, and virtual currencies. Cryptocurrencies in the state are therefore treated as money.

The Bitcoin symbol looms over Bitcoin Conference 2019.

Bakkt Launches

Bakkt, a Bitcoin futures trading exchange, launched on September 23. On the first day of trading on ICE Futures U.S., there was strong industry participation in Bakkt Bitcoin Futures and the [October 2019] monthly contract had the tightest bid-offer spreads in the market, which was an exciting achievement, a Bakkt spokesperson told Forbes.com contributor Benjamin Pirus. As the only end-to-end regulated market for digital assets, Bakkt Bitcoin Futures will play a key role in bringing greater price discovery and risk management to the [b]itcoin market.

Bakkts CEO, Kelly Loeffler, was appointed in December to a seat in the US Senate representing Georgia. She was just the second woman in the states history to hold the position.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) picked Loeffler for a seat occupied by U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R), who retired at years end due to health issues. Loeffler is to be sworn into office on Jan 1. 2020, and plans to run in the next primary election to maintain her seat. Loeffler stepped down as Bakkt CEO before taking the oath of office, becomes the second woman in the state's history to hold the position.

The day after the launch, the price of Bitcoin fell more than $1,000.

BSDEX Introduces Bitcoin Trading Platform

The second-largest German Stock Exchange, Brse Stuttgart, introduced a regulated bitcoin trading platform. It is Germanys first regulated trading venue for digital assets where investors orders are executed directly against each other according to fixed rules, explained Brse Stuttgart Digital Exchange GmbH.

As of now, selected users in Germany can connect directly to the trading venue, where they can trade the bitcoin-euro pair initially, reads a press release. BSDEX will open over time to retail and institutional investors.

BSDEX will give retail and institutional investors direct access to digital assets and provide flexible and relatively low-cost trading, said Peter Grosskopf, CTO at Boerse Stuttgart Digital Exchange GmbH.

Bitcoin Cant Die

Patrick McHenry, a US Congressman from the 10th District of North Carolina, shared thoughts on how Bitcoin cant die and Facebooks Libra is a copycat coin.

I think theres no capacity to kill Bitcoin, he said. Even the Chinese with their Firewall and their extreme intervention on their society cannot kill Bitcoin. So, distributed ledger, full and open, in the essence of Bitcoin, as a first mover in the space, the developer of this technology [] My point here is, you cant kill Bitcoin.

He added: New iterations of this, that are trying to mimic it, they are not fully distributed, they are not fully open, there are different mechanisms to kill it...the essence of Bitcoin is what Facebook and Libra, and other corporations are trying to mimic.

Happy New Year!

Link:

2010s In Bitcoin: The Year 2019 - Forbes

Bitcoin struggles to move out of the consolidation phase that began in late November 2019. Heres what it would take to trigger a BTC breakout.

After peaking at nearly $14,000 in June 2019, Bitcoin went through a corrective period that saw its price drop over 50%. The significant selling pressure took BTC down to the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level where it has been hovering over the past two months. This Fibonacci retracement area is considered by many traders as the golden retracement zone due to the high probability of a rebound.

Yet, the buying pressure behind the pioneer cryptocurrency must increase to allow it to bounce off the current price levels. If volume indeed picks up, then Bitcoin could have the potential to surge to the 50% Fibonacci retracement zone that sits at $8,500.

Conversely, an increase in supply could push BTC below the golden retracement zone. Such a bearish impulse could trigger a major sell-off sending this crypto down to the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level, around $5,500.

BTC/USD by TradingView

The ambiguous outlook that Bitcoin presents is also perceivable on its 1-day chart. Under this time frame, BTC can be seen trading between the lower and upper Bollinger bands since the beginning of December 2019. The low levels of volatility made the bands squeeze, which indicates that a period of high volatility is underway.

Due to the inability to determine which direction the flagship cryptocurrency will breakout, the current trading range between $6,880 and $7,660 is a reasonable no-trade zone.

A daily candlestick close below the $6,880 support level would likely be followed by a move down to the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level. However, breaking above the $7,660 resistance level could take BTC to the 50% Fibonacci retracement level.

BTC/USD by TradingView

The market sentiment around Bitcoin is in fear, according to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index. As BTC continues to hover around $7,000, investors worry it could test lower lows extending the bearish trend it entered in June 2019. Based on the previous technical analysis, such a bearish perspective is extremely feasible. However, it remains to be seen whether the support or the resistance level will break first, which will determine the direction of the overall trend.

Read the original here:

Bitcoin is on the Cusp of a Major Price Movement - Crypto Briefing

On January 3, 2009, the pseudonymous developer(s) Satoshi Nakamoto bootstrapped the Bitcoin network by mining its first ever block, block 0. The Genesis Block, as it has become known, came etched with a message that would invariably position Bitcoin as an alternative monetary system to rival the realm of central banking: Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks, the memo read, in reference to a headline about the U.K. governments actions during the global recession of 2008 and 2009.

The rest, as you no doubt know, is history. Eleven years on and Bitcoin has harnessed the fervor of a community that was inspired by the philosophical tenets embedded in the Genesis Block message. Bitcoins meteoric success in the past decade defied the expectations of believers and skeptics alike, and with a thriving market that has captured $130 billion in value, it has graduated from fringe interest to a global economic phenomenon.

To commemorate Bitcoins 11th birthday and usher in a new decade, we compiled some stats to plot Bitcoins growth from 2019 to 2020 and provide a hard picture of the state of the network today.

From 2019 to 2020, we saw the following year-over-year changes to Bitcoins market, network and technical infrastructure:

At the beginning of 2019, 601 contributors had provided 19,104 commits to the Bitcoin Core Github; these figures would grow to 22,536 commits from 678 unique contributors by 2020.

Bitcoins price increased from $3,860 to $7,180, an 85 percent increase from the onset of 2019 to the onset of 2020. This accompanied a doubling of bitcoins market capitalization from $65.5 billion to $131 billion.

Amidst the wider crypto market, bitcoins dominance (i.e., its share of market value compared to that of altcoins) climbed from 51.8 to 68.3 percent.

Bitcoins supply grew from 17,457,634 to 18,135,846 over the course of the year, an annualized inflation of roughly 3.8 percent.

Bitcoins daily transaction volume grew fivefold over 2019, from $4.3 billion to $20.2 billion by the first day of 2020.

On the first day of 2019, Bitcoins network logged 235,813 transactions; this would increase a modest 6 percent by the first day of the new decade to 251,867. Notably, over this timeframe, the percentage of SegWit transactions out of the total transactions surged from 33.4 percent to 62.2 percent.

The value of daily transactions on the network shot up from $1.4 billion on January 1, 2019, to $4.1 billion to ring in the new year in 2020. As the value of transactions on the network trends with the price, the networks all-time high transaction volume in 2019 was $21.3 billion on June 18, 2019.

The highest median bitcoin transaction fee in 2019 was $3.55, while the lowest median fee last year was $0.03. The latest data available for January 2020 shows a median fee of $0.07.

The total number of unspent transactions (aka UTXOs, or bitcoin that havent been spent and included as an input for a new transaction) rose from 49,591,771 to 64,530,177 over the course of 2019, a 30 percent increase.

Bitcoins blockchain size grew 29 percent, from 198 GB to 256 GB from the beginning of 2019 to the beginning of 2020.

Bitcoins hash rate experienced an explosive increase over 2019, jumping from 42 exahashes per second (EH/s) (or, 42,000,000,000,000,000,000 hashes per second) to 112 EH/s.

Mining difficulty more than doubled from the beginning to the end of 2019, rising from 6 T to 13 T.

Bitcoin node count across the board unfortunately dropped from 2019 to 2020. The total number of listening nodes (i.e., nodes that are publically open to connect to other nodes) fell from 6,344 to 5,859, a 7 percent decrease. The total number of active nodes fell a drastic 25 percent from 64,746 to 48,141.

The number of total active addresses rose from 433,715 to 524,360, a nudge of 20 percent.

The total number of (known) Lightning Network channels jumped from 21,130 to 36,130 by the end of 2019 for a 41 percent increase. The average capacity per channel decreased from 3,115,316 sats to 2,721,418 sats, a fall of 12 percent on the year.

2,297 Lightning Network nodes were operational at the beginning of 2019. This increased 114 percent to 4,923 by the start of 2020. The average capacity per node, however, fell similarly to the average capacity per channel from 45,781,712 sats to 34,693,516 sats, a 24 percent decrease.

525 bitcoin were locked in Lightning channels for a cumulative value of $1.9 million at the onset of 2019. At the time of writing, 853 bitcoin worth $6.2 million are locked in Lightning channels, representing a 62 percent increase in total capacity and a 226 percent increase in the value of this capacity.

The number of cut channels on the Lightning Network (i.e., channels between two nodes that serve as a bridge to otherwise disparate nodes by providing a routing path) increased from 518 to 1,567 from 2019 to 2020. These channels comprise 31.8 percent of the network at the time of writing.

More here:

Happy Birthday Bitcoin! Here's a Look at Bitcoin's 11th Year by the Numbers - Bitcoin Magazine

For Bitcoins scaling solution, the Lightning Network, 2019 passed in a flash of innovation.

Developers made major progress in enabling large sums to be transferred across the network; the first neutrino mobile wallet was launched; the first Lightning conference opened; the first major exchange integration went live, and more. Huge milestones, as Ryan Gentry, lead analyst at crypto investment firm MultiCoin Capital, told Decrypt.

But for Lightning, a super-fast payments layer on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that allows users to send and receive bitcoin quickly and cheaply, 2020 promises plenty more thrills, and perhaps some spills too.

This is a very exciting time for Lightning, said Samson Mow, chief strategy officer at Canadian blockchain services provider Blockstream. For 2020, I expect to see continued growth of the network and further privacy improvements as well.

Payments on the Lightning Network are becoming easier, with developers anticipating further progress with multi-path payments. These allow for multiple channels to be used together in concert, meaning that payments can be split into smaller chunks. That, in turn, means that large amounts of bitcoin can be sent both quickly and cheaply.

But multi-path payments arent the only option being worked on.

Roy Sheinfeld, co-founder of bitcoin wallet and payment services provider Breez, said that the startup is working on asynchronous payments via Lightning Rod, a new offline-style payments protocol that will enable users to make payments without the need for mobile nodes to be online at the same time.

Channel capacity is also set to increase, he predicted. So-called Wumbo channels are in the works. These would not only remove the current 0.167 BTC channel limit, but leave payment participants free to set it as high as they wish.

Another upcoming innovation to look out for is Trampoline routing. This should enable clients to simplify their network transactions by relying on a so-called trampoline node to relay payments, instead of having to do it manually.

Well also see more exchanges jumping on board. Bitfinex just added support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network, and Bitfinex wallets can now send and receive bitcoin using Lightning.

In February, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey announced that Squares Cash App will integrate Lightning capabilities sometime in the future. Dorsey is a high profile Bitcoin cheerleader as well as an investor in Lightning; hes recently doubled down by funding the development of Lightning.

In the same month, Jeremy Welch, the chief executive of Casa, which provides Bitcoin multisig key security and Lightning nodes, told Decrypt that Dorseys support for Lightning via Square would simply be huge.

Messaging functionality is in the works, too. A peer-to-peer, instant messaging protocol, Whatsata portmanteau of WhatsApp and satoshiwas created for Lightning in November. It enables encrypted messages to be sent without the use of a third party, like Facebook or WhatsApp. For the time being, its free; implementing a low-cost version is the main challenge.

Theres even a Lightning ATM in development that will allow you to convert all your spare change to satoshi.

All that progress comes at a price, however.

For 2020, I'm anticipating tension between those on the network that want to onboard millions of users now, and those that want to go slow and prioritize user privacy first, said Ryan Gentry, lead analyst at crypto investment firm MultiCoin Capital.

Gentry questions whether the networks liquidity management tools are currently robust enough to handle a sudden influx of payments. It will be very interesting to see how the network holds up if a game like Litenite or Raiki goes viral, he said.

We have to check that the network can scale, that the clients can scale, admitted Sheinfeld.

Be the first to get Decrypt Members. A new type of account built on blockchain.

With Breez, Sheinfelds ultimate aim is to improve Lightnings UX. We want to obfuscate complexity, and make it a seamless experience, like with the Internet, he said. Lightning service providers, he believes, will play a leading role in onboarding users, performing a similar function to Internet Service Provider (ISPs).

If we want to provide UX thats on a par with fiat, were not there yet, but I think well be there in six to 12 months.

If the Lightning networks going to achieve mass adoption, it has some hurdles to overcome, thenbut its going flat-out. In the meantime, why not help things along by building your own Lightning node.

Read more:

Why 2020 will be the best year yet for Bitcoins Lightning Network - Decrypt

Bitcoin price (BTC) has been in a sidewards range for several weeks now, with some people on team bear calling for fresh lows in the region of $3,000 while the bulls have been calling for astronomical all-time highs soon. One thing that is apparent in the market, is that you have to take it one week at a time.

With Bitcoin currently heading towards the mid-$7,000 range, is it time to flip bullish? Or is this yet another low liquidity Sunday pump to create CME gap-filling opportunities?

Daily crypto market performance. Source: Coin360.com

Whether you are leverage trading, or simply moving your Bitcoin into a stablecoin during the dips, if you are not capitalizing on the weekly CME gap, youre missing a trick. However, the more obvious these gap fill trades become, the more likely it is that they will soon become a thing of the past.

Christmas week is a week that I took off trading. The reason is that the CME was closed on the 24,25 and 26th of December, which meant attempting to trade a gap fill was slightly more difficult. As the gap left on Friday, Dec. 20 would have needed to fill on Monday, Dec. 23, and then Monday, Dec. 23 left a new gap to be filled on Friday, Dec. 27.

Next week is set to be the same, with the CME Holiday Calendar citing that trading will be closed Dec. 31 to Jan. 2, 2020.

BTC USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

It seems that traders with greater exposure to Bitcoin are driving the price during the weekend when the volume is thinner, and then waiting on institutional traders to fill the gap the following week.

However, with institutional money taking an extra 6 days off over the holiday break, it means more thin volume periods for the price to be driven by whales in this 24/7 market.

So while the bankers may sleep, Bitcoin, in fact, does not sleep, and this could open up a window for a short-term rally before the bear cycle resumes.

BTC USD MACD weekly chart. Source: TradingView

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator is showing early tell-tale signs of a bullish reversal. However, I dont expect this to continue. As can be seen in the image above, the MACD line changed its bearish course on Dec. 16, but why?

I believe that due to a lack of institutional interest over the Christmas period, the market was easily moved upwards, which has changed the trajectory and with it, has continued to print pale pink candles, which are getting shorter by the week, usually indicating a cross into green territory. This has given some hope of a relief rally before the real pain begins for Bitcoin.

But where could we see the digital asset move?

BTC USD BB Weekly chart. Source: TradingView

Using Bollinger Bands (BB) Indicator overlayed with my indicator that shows pivot points based on momentum, Bitcoin appears to have entered a short-term bull phase that will most likely see a rejection around the moving average of $9,000.

I believe this to be the case, as short-term low liquidity pumps falter around the moving average, as can be seen at the end of October. This is where Bitcoin price experienced an unnatural pump, which saw the digital asset climb around $2,500 in 48 hours, and despite a momentary wick above the MA, it failed to hold above this point and soon resumed its bear trend, feeding off the blood of hodlers at the bottom of the BB.

As such, with the institutional players easing up over the holiday period, its a perfect opportunity for the price of Bitcoin to be pushed up to around this level.

At this stage, you may be asking why I only see a short-term relief rally and not a full reversal. The reason for this lies in the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator.

BTC USD RSI weekly chart. Source: TradingView

The RSI is currently very much in the middle with a reading of 42.20 on the weekly. This doesnt signal anything to anyone, and as such, would not attract any significant money into the market. When the RSI is planted between 30 and 70, were simply in a ranging market where scalpers feed and hodlers bleed.

Right now, anyone with any significant cash holdings would be hesitant to go all-in on an asset at this point, whether it be Bitcoin or anything else. As such, this to me says we must first see more downside before Bitcoin becomes an attractive investment opportunity for smart money.

You only have to look at the end of 2018 and the beginning or 2019 where Bitcoin held an average price of $4,000 to see why the RSI is a valid indicator for buying Bitcoin, as buying in the oversold territory would have seen you gain over 300% on your investment throughout 2018.

BTC USD RSI DAILY chart. Source: TradingView

The daily RSI is also incredibly neutral, more-so than the weekly RSI. Its currently sitting on 52.16, which again sends no buying or selling signal to investors.

A pump towards $9,000 would certainly plant this in oversold territory, which could spark a sell-off, with people trying to cover their hemorrhaging losses after FOMO-ing in at $10,000 levels earlier this year thanks to a wave of social media influencers prematurely declaring that BTC is in a bull market.

Incidentally, the monthly RSI is reading the same as the daily, so no need to look at that today. However, I will look at the monthly BB.

BTC USD BB monthly chart. Source: TradingView

As Bitcoin continues to stay in a sidewards range, the inevitability of an extinction-level event that will cause even the die-hard Bitcoin maximalists to question why they HODL lines of code, looks more and more likely.

Having pierced through the MA two months in a row, and with the red candles getting longer by the month, it seems that Bitcoins support is only around $400 away, before falling to painful lows.

The support on the Bollinger Bands is currently $2,550 and whilst Bitcoin has never actually touched the support on the monthly BB, thats not to say it wont have a good run towards it should $7,010 fail to hold in the short term.

With the CME only being open 2 days next week, expect the unexpected. This could go both ways (and I expect it probably will). But from a bull's perspective, Id be looking at the moving average on the weekly of $9,000 as the target before being rejected. If it continues past this price, the next level of resistance is $11,300. However, this doesnt seem likely.

After the CME gap fills at $7,265 which is likely to happen tomorrow history tells us that the price will revert to the previous trend. However, should it continue to fall, the Bitcoin price only needs to fall a further $150 before it finds itself at the support of $7,010.

If this fails to hold, its game over Bitcoin, and the road of pain will truly begin. Any move below $7,000 could quickly recover on Friday, Jan. 3 depending on when the CME closes Monday evening.

But since this is still the holiday season, I dont expect the real bear trend to resume until the week commencing on Jan. 6 once all the suckers have gone long. That being said, if it did continue to fall, $6,800 is the support on the daily BB for Bitcoin, which is a key level to take note of.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of @officiallykeith 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.

Here is the original post:

Bitcoin Price Could Rally to $9K Before a Massive Collapse, Heres Why - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin price is climbing with a bullish angle above $7,000 against the US Dollar. BTC is likely to accelerate higher if it clears the $7,260 resistance.

Recently, there was a downside extension in bitcoin below the $7,100 and $7,000 support levels against the US Dollar. BTC price spiked towards the $6,880 support and traded to a new 2020 low at $6,863.

However, the bulls took a stand, resulting in a sharp upward move above the $7,000 resistance. Besides, there was a break above the $7,080 resistance area. More importantly, there was a break above a key bearish trend line with resistance near $7,120 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

The pair spiked above the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $7,530 high to $6,863 low. Though, the upward move was capped by the $7,260 resistance area.

Additionally, the price is facing hurdles near the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $7,530 high to $6,863 low. Bitcoin is currently correcting lower below $7,200.

On the downside, an initial support is near the $7,120 level and the broken trend line. The next major support is near the $7,080 level, below which the price is likely to resume its downtrend.

Conversely, the price might continue to rise above the $7,260 resistance. The next major resistance is near the $7,400 level. An intermediate resistance is the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $7,530 high to $6,863 low.

If the price continues to rise above $7,380 and $7,400, the next stop for the bulls may perhaps be $7,460 and $7,500. Any further gains could lead the price towards the $7,500 resistance area in the coming sessions.

Bitcoin Price

Looking at the chart, bitcoin price is reversing losses above $7,100 and the 100 hourly SMA. If there is another surge above $7,260, it will most likely confirm a trend change and a fresh increase towards $7,500.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is currently gaining strength in the bullish zone.

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

Major Support Levels $7,120 followed by $7,080.

Major Resistance Levels $7,260, $7,380 and $7,460.

See the original post here:

Bitcoin Just Reversed And Its Likely Heading $7,400 - newsBTC

As the New Year has started, not only tremendousamounts of XRP have begun to move but also gargantuan sums in Bitcoin.

Over the past two hours a $36.5 mln worth of BTC has been moved between the Bitstamp exchange and several unknown wallets. On January 1, Whale Alert showed one more transaction between an unknown wallet and Bitstamp totalling $8,974,648 (1,250 BTC).

In the comment threads, some are expressing opinions that Bitcoin whales are moving their funds.

The Whale Alert account reports that over the past hour three transactions have takenplace between Bitstamp exchange and two unknown wallets.

Even though the third transaction also mentions an unknown wallet, the page with details provided by Whale Alert states that it was done between two wallets that belong to Bitstamp.

Image via Twitter

On January 1, a wallet with an unidentified owner moved 1,250 BTC to Bitstamp as well.

Must Read

Prior to that, the Twitter account of Whale Alert reported several consecutive transactions between unknown wallets and the Binance crypto trading giant. The amount sentto both ends totals almost $30 mln in Bitcoin.

Image via Twitter

In the comment thread, the majority of users believe that a Bitcoin dump is coming after these large BTCtransactions. One user, however, believes that these huge amounts transacted mean an approaching Bitcoin price surge.

A user @cryptzos predicts that these massive BTC movements being made could mean a 10%-20% percent Bitcoin price drop.

Read this article:

$65 Mln Worth of Bitcoin Transferred to Bitstamp and Binance from Unknown Wallets - U.Today

Bitcoin Cash (BCH), a fork of Bitcoin and the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market map, has jumped in price by almost 14 percent within the last 24 hours.

BCH is now trading for right around $220 per coin, roughly a $20 jump from where it stood just yesterdayand a nearly $40 increase compared to two weeks ago.

Perhaps 2020 will prove to be a more positive year for Bitcoin Cash than the second half of 2019. Following a high of nearly $500 per coin during the summer, BCH has been on a steady decline ever since.

In mid-November, for example, the cryptocurrency led the market in terms of losses, along with its close crypto-cousin Bitcoin SV.

Nevertheless, Bitcoin Cash seems to be growing in popularity in regions such as Venezuela, where it is purportedly accepted by more shops and businesses than Bitcoin. So all hope for BCH hodlers isnt lost.

Meanwhile, crypto traders today are seeing green across the board. Bitcoin, for example, is up nearly 6 percent (possibly as a result of todays airstrike in Iran). Ethereum is up around 5 percent and trading at $133 per coin, and Bitcoin SV is up 10 percent and currently worth $102 per coin.

View post:

Bitcoin Cash surges nearly 14 percent to close first week of 2020 - Yahoo Finance

The CEO of Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the company behind Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, has announced in a recent Ask me Anything (AMA) on YouTube that Cardano will replace Bitcoin as the number one cryptocurrency by the end of 2020. However, he did not commit himself to a specific the metric by which he wants to judge success (market capitalization, number of users, transaction volume, etc.).

In order to achieve market leadership, Hoskinson says that the major parties in the Cardano ecosystem (IOHK, Emurgo and the Cardano Foundation) will focus on commercializing the project. As CNF reported, the Cardano Foundation recently announced a collaboration with McCann Dublin. Together with the advertising agency, which has also worked with Microsoft and LinkedIn, a gigantic marketing campaign is planned for 2020. Hoskinson said:

This year in particular we really gonna start hitting the commercials hard. I have announced to my company that we are on a Cardano first strategy. [] We gonna get very aggressive about the commercialization of the technology as Shelley turns on and as Goguen turns on.

Hoskinson goes on to describe how Cardano aims to reach over 1 billion users over the decade and aims to become a true social operating system:

We are particularly interested in investing resources at IOHK and our partners ar EMURGO and the Cardano Foundation are investing a lot of time to make sure we fully understand. And as we finish 2020 and go through the decade, this is something that we are continuously researching, and the better we get, the better the feedback loop, the faster we can grow and get to those billions of users and become a true social operating system that benefits everyone in the world.

According to Hoskinson, these three things are crucial to displacing Bitcoin and becoming the number one cryptocurrency: Commercialization, incentives and technology. At the same time, he also showed his appreciation for Bitcoin, stating that the oldest cryptocurrency will always be valuable. He further stated that Bitcoin is now accepted by governments worldwide. Accordingly, Bitcoin is a gateway to smooth the acceptance of Cardano.

Hoskinson further noted that Cardano is a commercial project. Accordingly, all parties involved are interested in the network growing and being used by many people.

Commercialization, technology and incentives are the three things which need to be line for us to achieve that number one spot. [] We build Cardano not as a academic project. Its a comercial product so we want to see it grow.

He attributed Bitcoins growth to the mining incentive system. Accordingly, staking is a key success factor for Cardano:

In terms of incentives we look at Tokenomics []. The reason why Bitcoin were so succesful was that [] Satoshi created an incentive for mining. [] So with the launch of the testnet we are learning a lot about the business of stakepools and we are learning a lot about maintaning a cryptocurrency and creating stability there. We have already over 500 stakepools registered.

A focus in 2020 will be on cooperation to create new use cases for Cardano.

One thing we gonna be focused on a lot this year is collaboration and to learn from other people, work with other people. Whether that will be through standard groups like Hyperledger or W3C or that will be through direct relations to other cryptocurrency projects. For example, Horizen I felt we always had a good relationship with. But there are many more.

You can watch the complete AMA session below.

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Last Updated on 5 January, 2020

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Hoskinson: Cardano will replace Bitcoin as number one by end of 2020's - Crypto News Flash

Bitcoin became increasingly popular in 2019. The value of the cryptocurrency rose substantially during the year, although it has since retreated.

As such, investors might be thinking of taking advantage of this recent price decline to add the currency to their portfolios. However, the Bitcoin price could fail to offer better returns than the stock market. Many FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 stocks have better growth prospects and income credentials.

Therefore,investing 5,000 in the stock market could be a better means of making a million.

At the time of writing, Bitcoins price has fallen to around 5,000. This might look cheap compared to its trading history, but weve no way of knowing whether the current price represents good value for money.

Thats because the Bitcoin price doesnt trade on fundamentals. The price is entirely dependent on sentiment its only worth as much as other investors are willing to pay.

Its much easier to ascertain the value of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 stocks. Unlike Bitcoin, the constituents of these indexes produce tangible cash flows. We can use these figures to create an underling fundamental value for each stock.

Therefore, its easy to figure out whether or not these assets offer value at current prices. Lower valuations can provide the opportunity to buy high-quality businesses at discount prices. Such a margin of safety can help investors achieve market-beating returns over the long term.

Focusing on companies that have solid balance sheets with favourable growth outlooks and robust cash flows is likely to produce better returns over the long term than speculating on an asset without any underlying fundamental value.

As the Bitcoin price has languished over the past 12 months, FTSE 250 investors have seen the value of their portfolios rise substantially. The index gained nearly 29%in 2019, including dividends.

According to my calculations, over the past two decades, the index has produced an average annual return for investors in the region of 11%. At this rate, it would be relatively straightforward to make a million with an initial investment of 5,000, and subsequent monthly contributions.

An initial investment equivalent to the current Bitcoin price,coupled with monthly contributions of 300, would grow to be worth just under 1m after 30 years at an average annual rate of return of 11%.

While 2020 could be a volatile year for the FTSE 250, the fact the index has produced such impressive returns over the past two decades should reassure investors that, over the long term, the stock market is an attractive place to invest your cash.

Considering all of the above, now might be the time to focus your efforts on the stock market rather than Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency price might look attractive after recent declines but, from a long-term perspective, stocks and shares seem to offer a better risk/reward ratio.

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Rupert Hargreaves owns no share mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Motley Fool UK 2020

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Forget the Bitcoin price! Id invest 5k to help me make a million like this - Yahoo Finance UK

Two well-known Bitcoin (BTC) figures have resorted to a painfully public Twitter exchange to settle an argument over a $20,000 unpaid bet.

The heated debate, which is ongoing, revolves around a pledge which investor Ronnie Moas made in 2018.

If Bitcoin was not worth $28,000 by the end of last year, Moas said he would donate the lump sum to FreeRoss.org, the charity working to free jailed former Silk Road owner, Ross Ulbricht. The bet was made with Vinny Lingham, CEO of blockchain identity startup Civic.

With BTC/USD trailing at $7,200 on Jan. 1, 2020, Lingham asked Moas to confirm he had made the payment as promised. Moas then surprised by saying he would no longer honor his commitment.

The tone swiftly became unfriendly, with Moas describing Lingham as a f*cking bastard and demanding he explain the near-total drop in the price of Civics native cryptocurrency, CVC.

I will keep my word and distribute $20,000 in 2020 to organizations highlighted at my website, he replied, explaining he would instead divide up the FreeRoss funds between up to five charities of his choosing. In an ironic twist, Moas advised Lingham:

Read my last three posts ... and the ones preceding from the last 24 hours you f*cking jackass ... stop making a fool out of yourself in a public forum.

Moas claimed he had more than a dozen reasons not to send money to FreeRoss.

Responses predictably sided with Lingham, as Moas had nonetheless reneged on the original terms of the wager.

As the argument gained traction, other Bitcoin figures, including What Bitcoin Did podcast host Peter McCormack, began pledging to replace the lost funds out of their own pocket. FreeRoss then thanked McCormack and his fellow participants, who each pledged $1,000, for their donations.

Further efforts continue to take place on the Bitcointalk forum, where users are selling collectible items.

They include an altered Venezuelan bolivar note, emblazoned with the heading Banco de Bitcoin and an image of Charlie Shrem in sunglasses. Shrem, who is now free, was also implicated in the highly controversial takedown of Silk Road by United States authorities.

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Ronnie Moas and Vinny Lingham Come to Blows Over $20K Bitcoin Bet - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin has one flaw: it is too transparent. Thats what Matt Odell, advisor to bitcoin payments company Bottle Pay and prominent bitcoiner, claimed yesterday, in a podcast hosted by Ministry of Nodes co-founder Stephan Livera.

Every problem has a solution, though. In this case, it means accepting the transparency of the Bitcoin blockchain and adapting to it by protecting your own financial privacy. If enough people do this, Odell argued, it could do wonders for the Bitcoin ecosystemand, potentially, its price.

I think Bitcoin becomes more valuable, becomes more resilient and robust long term if individual users practice financial privacy because that is the single biggest vulnerability that Bitcoin has today, he said.

One way of achieving financial privacy is by using mixing services. Mixing is a process where you anonymously swap bitcoin with some other anonymous person, making it harder for anyone trying to keep a birds eye view of the money shifting over the blockchain. But it's not without controversy.

The podcast focused on the relative merits and drawbacks of using mixing services to hide the transaction history of some bitcoin. While they do make it harder for blockchain analytics companies to track what's going on, if you use a mixing service you could be swapping your coins for stolen bitcoin, or bitcoin that had been used to fund a terrorist attack.

The issue had been raised by Trace Mayer, known for leading the proof of keys movementencouraging everyone to take their bitcoin off custodial walletswho had pointed out the downsides of using mixing services in recent interviews.

Odell defended mixing services, arguing they are akin to virtual private networks (VPNs), where individuals swap IP addresses to mask where they are accessing the Internet. Because these projects are to protect the average user, they have to protect all users, he argued. Theres no way to know whats a good user and a bad user. Because as soon as youre able to delineate whats a good user and a bad user, then you have centralization.

While Odell acknowledged that mixing services currently have low volumes, making them less effective, he said this proves people need to use them more frequently. In particular, he said that anyone using centralized exchanges would benefit from using them to counteract the amount of data the exchange is collecting about them.

However, exchanges are legally required to perform know-your-customer protocols on their users, and this can include using blockchain analytics companies to survey their users. Were everyone to start mixing their coins, it could lead to a crackdown by exchanges. Odell said, I think [Mayer] is right in that a lot of these exchanges will start blocking transactions with CoinJoin history. CoinJoin being a popular mixing service.

This could have wider implications for those wishing to look after their own bitcoin, Odell argued. If they say CoinJoin is illegal and youre trying to withdraw from, lets say CashApp, and you withdraw from CashApp, you go through the five hops and then it goes to CoinJoin, are they going to block your account for that? he asked, adding that if they do, that amounts to completely banning self custody.

Despite the drawbacks and a potential clash of heads in the future, Odell maintained that mixing services are key to protecting financial privacy when using Bitcoin. Financial privacy, he said, is the only thing separating ourselves from dystopian governments with the power to financially enslave us.

I look at the world today and I look at all my peers that are using Venmo and PayPal, all these credit cards, all these centralized payment processors and theyre basically exposing their whole lives not only to these companies but also to the governments that theyre affiliated with, he said. If you have an authoritarian come in, theyre going to use that against you.

Time to get those mixers running.

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Opinion: Bitcoins price will go up if everyone does this one thing - Decrypt

As the decade draws to a close, it's time to look at the investments that were the most successful. And, unsurprisingly, cryptocurrencies top the list of the most profitable investments of the decade.

Up first, is Bitcoin. The first cryptocurrency, built by an anonymous programmer known as Satoshi Nakamoto, it led to the creation of many Bitcoin forksalternative versions running on similar codeand thousands of altcoins, either using the same code or trying out new features. But, if you got in early, you had the chance to make a quick buck.

Since the first bitcoin was available for trading, its price has accelerated 62,500 percent. Outshining many traditional stocks, it even spawned an entire culture built around prices "mooning" and the promise of lovingly labelled "lambos." Due to the extreme rise, many critics have called it a Ponzi Scheme and say that its price pumps are bubbles that keep popping. But despite the criticism, an entire industry has been built around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, leading many countries around the world to start adoption blockchain technology.

Much of the promise of blockchain technology can be seen with Ethereum. It offers features known as smart contracts, which allow for the creation of decentralized apps. These have interesting applications, particularly in the world of finance.

The price of Ethereum has shot up too. Even though the price has dropped heavily since its all-time high in January 2018, the price of Ethereum is still up by 17,900 percent. One ETH is currently worth $132.

However, some traditional stocks have not been far off. Netflix had a strong performance this decade, rising 4,280 percent. It's not too surprising given how ubiquitous it now is. Even new films are now launching on Netflix instead of heading to the cinema. But it's epic rise has led to an increase in the number of competitor video streaming companies. Will it be able to fend off the competition going into 2020?

Along with the rise of Netflix, and watching TV at home in general, another company did particularly well. Domino's Pizza saw an increase in share price of 3,000 percent. Who knew pizza and TV were a winning combination?

In line with the trend of not needing to go outside, Amazon grew considerably in the last decade, rising 1,250 percent. It's worth noting that not only does Amazon ship products to your door but it also offers a TV streaming service. What's next, Amazon pizza?

Those doing yoga, trying to work off the 1,000 calorie pizzas, helped to boost the price of Lululemon shares, a retailer known for creating activewear and clothes for "most other sweaty pursuits." They rose by 1,300 percent.

On a different track, healthcare company Abiomed saw a 2,000 percent rise in the last decade. It creates medical devices, such as artificial hearts.

Shotly behind Amazon is NVIDIA, known for creating computer chips. Interestingly, it pulled in $1.95 billion in revenue from its crypto mining business. But it wasn't without controversy. In September, critics accused it of surreptitiously influencing the development of an upgrade to the Ethereum network. But nothing was ever proved.

Other profitable investments of the decade were payments processors, including Mastercard and VISA, up 1,100 percent and 760 percent respectively. Google shares rose by 350 percent and Apple shares went up by 840 percent.

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Bitcoin, Ethereum are most profitable investments of the decade - Decrypt

I have made a few dollars in BitcoinSV since I started paying to post on blockchain-based apps like Twetch. I have been investigating whether paying to post will shape the future of the social internet. But where can you spend your hard-earned Bitcoin?

With a lot of help from Twitter users @Street5Wall, $DiegoSV, and @BsvDevs, I have found a few places -- from the hundreds of online and physical stores where I can spend my virtual cryptocurrency and turn it into tangible goods. Here is a selection of vendors around the world where you can spend your cryptocurrency.

Adelline is a Korean cosmetics company that sells a range of beauty products and will ship internationally.

Las Vegas, NV-based Shiny Leaf produces skin and hair care products and a range of bath and body products. BitcoinSV is accepted amongst its other payment options.

AGRsicurezza is a business consultant, focusing on health and safety at work, training, and project management services. It accepts BitconSV payments.

Fivebucks is a global marketplace where vendors will design anything from logos to business cards and websites for an agreed fee. You can register your hand cash wallet $ID and transfer the cash over using Bitcoin.

North Greece-based Lord is an online fashion website that sells underwear to individuals and trade. It will accept a wide range of cryptocurrencies.

To invest in cryptocurrencies, the app Abraenables you to buy ad sell currencies, fund your cryptocurrency from your credit card account, or withdraw currencies to an external wallet.

Italia Clickis an international food distributor that embraces technologies such as Bitcoin and uses them to accept payments. In November, it added crypto to its payment options and will accept payment in several different cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin SV, Etherium, and Ripple. I can vouch for the deliciousness of the chocolate!

Crete-based 35North sells extra virgin olive oil from where the 35th parallel north crosses the mountains of Crete. Although its Twitter account states that FIAT and crypto payments are accepted, the online shop only offers the choice to pay by card or PayPal. You will need to make a special request for your crypto to be accepted via the online store.

Hot Hogs BBQ is a food truck in New Hampshire, which gets enthusiastic reviews from customers and won WMUR Best Barbecue in NH 2019. It accepts Bitcoin, dash, BitcoinSV, and Bitcoin cash for your BBQ, but hold fire before hot-footing it over to New Hampshire. Hot Hogs is now closed until the spring.

The Lucky Hot Dog is a food truck in Chicago serving dogs, burgers, beef, and chicken. Payment by Bitcoin, card, or cash.

The Yarron Valley Bottleshop in Australia accepts Bitcoin, amongst other payment methods for drinks. You do need to buy your alcohol in-store instead of online.

RPGStash offers MMORPG services and tradable video game items for Runescape, Fortnite, Tibia, Diablo 2, etc. It accepts Bitcoin as payment.

GamerAll offers skins, keys, and services for games such as Rust, Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Escape from Tarkov, and others. It also sells console and game titles and has over 100 ways to pay, including Bitcoin.

Medical device provider, Premier Medical Inc., has an enthusiastic president who supports Bitcoin payments for its medical products.

UK-based Performance Ticket Printers will print customized tickets for your event or membership organization and will accept cryptocurrency.

GPS Tracker Shop offers vehicle trackers and fleet tracker solutions for business, law enforcement surveillance, and family safety. It accepts BitcoinSV on its online store.

HostingSSi is a provider of web hosting, domains, VPNs, Streaming, and SSL Certificate focused on Venezuela and Latin America. It accepts Bitcoin and Litecoin payments, amongst others.

The Living Room of Satoshi is a crypto payments gateway in Australia that enables you to pay bills.

Lithuania-based Greitai is an online travel site, part of the Otravo group offering online airline tickets, hotels, and car rental searches. It offers cheap flights to England, Ireland, USA, Spain, Italy, France, etc.

There is a graphical map of vendors around the globe who accept Bitcoin and are marked with pushpins on the OnChain BSV/Maps site and the Satoshi Maps site. If you know of any vendors who accept Bitcoin SV, you can add your own marker to the map.

The Cryptwerk website has a list of services and vendors who accept Bitcoin across a range of offerings.

Agora has a marketplace selling Bitcoin related items, amongst others. ClassifiedSV is a Craiglist-like site allowing trading for goods and services using BitcoinSV.

There are many more outlets, and the list is growing daily. Which is your favorite Bitcoin vendor that we should know about?

inn

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From crypto currency to chocolate, where to spend your Bitcoin - ZDNet