Bitcoin (OTCQX:GBTC) is a totally different investment asset type than traditional asset classes. Traditional analysis methods do not applying when forecasting the price of bitcoin. That's why we apply a more fundamental approach in this article in order to come up with a bitcoin price forecast for 2017.

How NOT to forecast a bitcoin price

Most readers would turn to the cryptocurrency blogosphere where they will read ultra-bullish bitcoin price forecasts for 2017 similar to this one from Coindesk. The issue with this approach is that those sites only feature bitcoin enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, so they offer a very biased view.

Traditional financial media, on the other hand, have their classic story telling format. That is not a useful approach either for investors. For instance, CNBC looked at the ongoing stream of articles that compare bitcoin with gold (NYSEARCA:GLD), and concluded that "the comparison is perhaps a positive signal that bitcoin is being commoditized. But bitcoin is not a commodity, while gold has been a commodity for thousands of years." That obviously does not tell anything about the future price of bitcoin.

Fortune.com explained how demand for safe haven assets have fallen since the elections "on a stronger dollar, signs of future interest rate hikes, and potentially business-friendly policies that may arise from the Trump administration. Those potential regulatory changes would raise the chances of higher-yielding stocks." That also is not useful as input for a bitcoin price forecast.

The most interesting headline comes from CNBC: "Bitcoin predicted to rise 165% to $2,000 in 2017 driven by Trump's spending binge and dollar rally."

There is obviously no correlation between the bitcoin price and the dollar or any other regular asset. Large investors simply don't pull money out of currencies, stocks (NYSEARCA:SPY) or gold in order to buy bitcoins.

A legitimate bitcoin forecast for 2017

We believe that a combination of price analysis and fundamental analysis is the most appropriate way to come up with a legitimate bitcoin forecast.

Fundamentally, the bitcoin usage data look great: Usage of bitcoins keeps on increasing, and that is exactly what it fundamentally is all about. Because of the fact that bitcoin is a form of money, the widening acceptance of bitcoin is the most fundamental data point to consider.

According to Statista, bitcoin usage keeps on growing as seen by the number of Bitcoin ATMs, which increased from 538 in January 2016 to 838 by November. Most Bitcoin ATMs, as of July 2016, were located in the United States (345) and Canada (108). The Bitcoin ATMs located in Europe as of June 2016 constituted 24.02 percent of the global ATM market share.

Moreover, several bitcoin charts confirm a growing usage and acceptance:

Last but not least, this research paper on bitcoin's big picture trends identifies 3 marked regimes that have evolved as the bitcoin economy has grown and matured: From an early prototype stage, to a second growth stage populated in large part with "sin" enterprise (i.e., gambling, black markets), to a third stage marked by a sharp progression away from "sin" and toward legitimate enterprises.

In other words, fundamentally, the picture for bitcoin looks very good. This is not only a market for speculators anymore, but one of real users.

We are confident, based on the objective data set outlined above that bitcoin's price rise is not only legitimate, but will continue. That results in a bullish bitcoin price forecast for 2017 and beyond.

From a bitcoin price analysis point of view, the long-term chart (courtesy: Finviz) looks very constructive. Readers should compare the steep rally in 2013 with the steady and solid rise in the last 2 years. As the price of bitcoin took out all-time highs, it suggests it has much more upside potential.

The only 'negative' is that the price rise has accelerated in recent weeks. Investors want to see a steady rise, not a parabolic rise. So we hope there will be a healthy correction sooner rather than later to cool off emotions. Ideally, bitcoin's price corrects to the $1,000 to $1,100 area in the coming weeks.

We could easily see bitcoin's price move to $2,000 in 2017.

This bitcoin price forecast for 2017 originally appeared on InvestingHaven.com

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Continued here:

Bitcoin Price Target For 2017 - Seeking Alpha

By Parke Shall

Those that read us know that we have been Bitcoin bulls for quite some time. With the price of 1BTC now approaching $1300, the question of whether or not we are staying in or cashing out has come up several times.

We wanted to write today to inform readers that not only are we staying long bitcoin, but we will, as we have been saying in the past, continue to add small amounts on any dips. We had a short term bitcoin price target of new all-time highs for this year that we reiterated in a previous article out in December 2016. In December of 2016, with bitcoin at $800, we stated that "Bitcoin Would Soar Through $1200 in 2017".

Now, it is time for us to focus on our multiple year long-term outlook for bitcoin. We don't believe that $5000 or even $10,000 is out of the question eventually, though it may take many years for the digital currency to reach that point. Needless to say, we remain bullish.

We know that bitcoin is becoming more and more of a news item over the last couple of weeks, as its price has run up significantly to now over $1200 per BTC. Anytime there's a price movement in any type of security like this, it makes the news. Many times, when penny stocks or other lesser-known securities rise in value, the media covers them without adequate understanding of what they are and how they work. Bitcoin is no different.

It has been getting more and more media coverage this past week yet the media, for some reason, continues to want to compare the price of one BTC to 1 ounce of gold. Yes, it is true that bitcoin has passed 1 ounce of gold in value. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing.

As bitcoin bulls, we would love to sit here and give you some convoluted meaningless answer as to why the price of one bitcoin passing 1 ounce of gold is meaningful, but there is really no common denominator basis of comparison between the two. You can put gold and silver on a ratio because you can reduce both metals to weight. You can't put bitcoin on a ratio with gold because one is a physical item with weight and a somewhat unknown but relatively finite supply and the other is a digital product that exists only online or in cyberspace.

So if you are a member of the financial media and are reading this, stop comparing the price of gold with the price of bitcoin.

Moving on, we could spend many paragraphs and many pages defending bitcoin as a storer of value. We could also, as generally Austrian thinking economists, make the argument that it has no value because it doesn't really exist. We think the answer for the short term is going to be somewhere in between. It exists because people are buying into it (not unlike Federal Reserve notes). It is a storer of value because it is limited in its supply. We have maintained in many of our articles that the major risk to bitcoin is the fact that it exists on an infrastructure that must be in place in order for it to be transacted. Whereas one person can go and hand gold to another person if the entire infrastructure of the world is brought down, bitcoin doesn't exist without our smartphones, our computers, and the Internet.

With this all said, we have written many articles over the last year talking about why would be buying the dip in bitcoin at various circumstances. After the Bitfinex crash, we came out and said that we would be buyers and after that, we wrote that we thought the digital currency was going to easily eclipse $1000 and then move through new highs. So far we have been right on.

Now let's talk about our outlook for the future. Despite bitcoin being incorrectly compared with gold, it continues to come up as both a hedge and a storer of value. Well you can take dispute with either of these, it is quite obvious that the public believes both of these to be appropriate. We do as well. Like any other financial asset that is in demand, it doesn't really matter what the ultimate product is, it only matters what the demand for said product is.

With the big banks and even the central banks working on different ways to incorporate the Blockchain into their business, it is obvious there has been buy-in on a major scale for a bitcoin. Many have argued that other digital currency's may come and take the place of bit coin and we actually believe just the opposite. We believe that because bitcoin was the original digital currency that it is going to have the most staying power and legacy status for many years to come. Other digital currencies may gain value on the fact that bitcoin has value, but there's only going to be one bitcoin at the end of the day.

In a world that is increasingly switching to digital, it is going to be tougher and tougher to make a case against bitcoin as long as large banks and governments continue to buy into the technology. There is no doubt that the blockchain technology is going to be the next step for a number of corporations and potentially a number of governments.

Investors need to realize that 100% of capital is at risk when they are dealing in such a speculative asset with very little track record behind it. With that said, we believe the bitcoin is going to remain in demand, become further accessible to retail spiking demand, and will have its credibility continue to improve going forward. While there are a varying group of long term estimated price ranges for bitcoin between $0 dollars and $1 million per bitcoin, depending on how seriously it is taken as a hedge against the financial system, we certainly don't think that the digital currency is going to stop growing in value anytime soon.

Over the course of its lifetime, we believe bitcoin is still in its extreme infancy and we would not be surprised to see the price eclipse $2000 by the end of the year this year. Further, our long-term targets for BTC remain between $2000 and $5000 for the next year or two. At this point, we may see corrections and we may see some stagnation but ultimately the most important point is that in the finite amount of supply and growing demand are going to continue to push prices much higher in the future. We remain long bitcoin.

Disclosure: I am/we are long BITCOIN.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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We Love Bitcoin, But Stop Comparing It To Gold - Seeking Alpha

Chinese banks in two cities are testing a custom-built digital currency developed by the Peoples Bank of China, according to information gleaned from local media reports and interviews with two individuals who are familiar with the central banks thinking.

The digital currency, known to the broader world as ChinaCoin, but officially referred to inside China as digital renminbi, or RMB, was developed by the PBOC in partnership with other private and public entities.

Eventually, Chinese authorities hope digital RMB will help the government strengthen oversight of the countrys banks, while helping to prevent financial crime.

The reason theyre doing this is because they want to have more transparency to regulate how money flows between banks, said Patrick Dai, founder of the Qtum foundation, creators of the Qtum blockchain project.

In recent months, certain local banks based in Shenzhen, a financial hub in southern China, and Guiyang, the capital of a province in the countrys southwest, have begun experimenting with first using the digital RMB network for settlement and clearing of transactions in the countrys interbank bond market.

Chinas national media frequently cites transparency and efficiency as among the potential benefits of the digital renminbi project. However, in an interview with Caixin, a Chinese business publication, Peoples Bank of China Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan said it would take China approximately 10 years to fully embrace the digital renminbi. Chinas currency USDCNY, +0.0101% is interchangeably referred to as yuan and renminbi.

But once it is widely launched, digital RMB will be more convenient, protect citizens privacy and maintain social order, Zhou said. Eventually, the digital adoption will allow the central bank to make better-informed decisions about monetary policy by allowing it to more closely monitor the movement of capital through the Chinese economy, he said, adding the system could also make it easier to prevent financial crimes such as money laundering.

Zhou also emphasized key differences between digital RMB and bitcoin, arguably the best known cryptocurrency. While the digital renminbi will incorporate some elements of blockchain technology, like the cryptographic algorithms that help secure the bitcoin network, it will more closely resemble a permissioned blockchain a type of closed system that limits who can access and change information.

Read: This bitcoin rival nearly doubled in value in one week

The Chinese system will also be centrally controlled by the government, a concept that contravenes what bitcoin enthusiasts consider to be the cryptocurrencys most revolutionary innovation: the ability to maintain a monetary system that is resistant to centralized control.

The elephant in the room is how much it could potentially increase [the PBOCs] control, said Chris Burniske, Blockchain analyst and products lead at ARK Invest.

The price of a single bitcoin US:BTCUSD was at $1,280 in recent trade, just shy of an all-time high reached late last week. Part of the rise has been attributed to anticipation of the Securities and Exchange Commissions decision on approval of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, which is expected by the end of the week.

The PBOC isnt the only central bank thats exploring the feasibility of its own digital currency. The Bank of England joined with researchers at University College in London to create RSCoin, a digital currency for central banks. The Bank of Canada has also said it is developing a blockchain-based digital version of the Canadian dollar.

See more here:

Chinese banks experiment with bitcoin-like system - MarketWatch

It has been a while since we last looked at bitcoin scam sites, even though they are even more common than ever before. Coinomia is another cloud mining Ponzi Scheme that aims to defraud users. The company makes some very bold claims which are not backed by any solid or credible evidence by any means. Avoid this company at all times and invest wisely.

A lot of companies who claim to be active in the world of bitcoin and cryptocurrency require a lot of budget to set up mining operations. That being said, it would appear there are so many companies active in the world of cloud mining bitcoin, even though there are very few legitimate offerings available. Coinomia is definitely not a legitimate mining company, as they provide no evidence whatsoever.

When one opens the Coinomia website, it becomes evident the company is trying to trick as many users into investing as possible. The company also claims to be mining since 2014, yet there is no proof of this claim being true by any means. It is possible this may have taken place under a different name, although it is unclear which company that would have been. Rest assured this is the first sign of Coinomia being a scam.

Users who sign up with Coinomia will get 3TH/s for signing up. Users who prefer to mine Ethereum will receive 0.58 MH/s of hashing power. It is rather unusual to see companies give away such large amounts of hashing power in exchange for US$100, as it requires a fair amount of hardware to provide these speeds. Then again, Coinomia has no mining hardware in the first place, and all of this free mining power only represents an update in the database.

To top it all off, the mining plan comes with 8% referral commission. The goal of Coinomia is to get users to invite as many people as possible to make sure the people running this cloud mining scheme can fill their pockets. More expensive plans are also available, ranging from US$1,000 to US$10,000. It is rather odd to see these prices not listed in BTC or ETH value, but then again, this is a scam site after all. More expensive plans result in higher referral commissions, which is absolutely bogus.

What is even more troublesome is how Coinomia positions itself as being a mining application, rather than a cloud mining company. They also claim any device or gadget can be used to mine cryptocurrency and earn these returns. That is a very strange business model, considering the company claims to have ASIC chips and mining equipment located in data centers around the world. If that is the case, why do users need to download this software? Very strange indeed.

Not much information can be found about the company itself either. Although Coinomia Technologies LTD has an office address listed on the website, it is doubtful that location houses any office related to this business. Moreover, there is no company registration number, although the team would probably be able to present a company number when requested. All it takes is a bit of cash and the paper is issued automatically. All things considered, it is best to steer away from Coinomia and not lose your money.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Bitcoin Scam Site Warning Coinomia - The Merkle

Bitcoin jumped to a new high Friday, a day after soaring past the price of an ounce of gold for the first time.

One unit of the virtual currency was trading above $1,292.71 at 7:30 a.m. in New York, compared with $1,226.89 for an ounce of gold. The metals had a terrible week, declining for the fourth time in five days.

The latest surge in bitcoins value has been attributed to tighter currency restrictions in countries such as China, India and Venezuela, as well as speculation about prospects under the Trump administration.

Bitcoin still has a lot to prove, John Butler, head of wealth services for GoldMoney, saidin an interview.

Were a long way from bitcoin establishing its properties as anything that could be considered to be a reasonably stable store of value, Butler said.The fact that its passing through gold is just arbitrary.

Chinas three biggest Bitcoin exchangessuspended withdrawalslast month after pressure from the Peoples Bank of China, which was concerned people were using bitcoin to move money out of the country, sidestepping official efforts to shore up the yuan.

Investors may also be betting on a more relaxed regulatory environment under U.S. PresidentDonald Trump. The U.S.Securities and Exchange Commissionis expectedto rule on a proposal for an exchange-traded fund based on the digital currency by March 11.

QuickTake Bitcoin and the Blockchain

Some people may be frontrunning what they see as the ETF demand down the road, Butler said.

In January, the volatile cryptocurrency passedits 2013 peak of $1,137. After the previous peak, it fell 53 percent in less than a month.

Commerzbank analystCarsten Fritschnoted the small size of the [bitcoin] market and low level of distribution, the lack of general understanding of the concept, the short history of bitcoins, their extreme price volatility and the high proportion of speculators.

With assistance fromEddie Van Der Walt.

The rest is here:

Bitcoin Soars to a Record High - Bloomberg

1

Cases of fraud related to bitcoins are becoming more frequent, officer said.

2

Bitcoin is a digital crypto-currency that is computer generated and not printed

3

Experts also claim that people in India are mostly interested in buying bitcoins

As more and more investors take to digital currencies like bitcoin, leading to a sharp rise in their prices postdemonetisation, cyber criminals are also exploring innovative ways to pick virtual wallets.

Last week, a Delhi-based businessman lost Rs8.5 lakh to an alleged 'bitcoin miner', the term used for an agent who generates digital currency, who promised him 10 bitcoins with an assurance that the investment will rise twofold within next six months. The businessman chose not to file a complaint with police as digital currencies are not recognised by the RBI, even though there are varied views on its transactional legality.

"Cases of fraud related to bitcoins are becoming more frequent," a senior crime branch officer told Mail Today. This is partly because many global companies have started accepting digital currency. "This has attracted many new investors. However, cashing on its rising popularity, some scamsters are also running fraud set-ups," said the officer, requesting anonymity.

"After demonetisation in November 2016, demands of bitcoins have gone up in the country and what gold was to the previous generation, bitcoin is to today's tech-savvy investor," he said, adding that it will be a big nuisance to crack such case as these currencies are not tangible.

WHAT IS BITCOIN

Bitcoin is a digital crypto-currency that is computer generated and not printed or minted physically like a country's currency. The denomination is created and held electronically in a decentralised system which means no single person, bank or authority has any regulatory control over it. It works as conventional forms of currency and is traded worldwide.

According to leading Bitcoin trading exchanges in India, there has been an increase in its user base by 250 per cent in last one year. Scamsters are also reaching out to new investors for dealing into other crypto-currency than bitcoin which includes TimeKoin, OneCoin, LitecoinNuBits, Tether etc.

"It is a popular currency on the internet where anything can be bought using bitcoins such as drugs, arms, pornography.

Even hackers demand digital currency in ransomware attacks carried in India. But, tracking crypto-currency is difficult on the web and beyond a country's boundaries is impossible," said Triveni Singh additional Superintendent of Police (Uttar Pradesh STF).

"Apart from Bitcoin, there are other 2,000 plus lesser-known virtual currencies and there are several cases of fraud related to virtual currencies these days," said Hitesh Malviya, a bitcoin expert.

Experts also claim that people in India are mostly interested in buying bitcoins and not selling them in the market in order to increase its valuation. Cops also claim that after the demonetisation announcement, many traders exchanged 'black money' for bitcoins.

Also Read

EXPOSED: The unrestricted bitcoins bazaar that helps dispose illicit wealth during demonetisation

Bitcoin hits highest level post demonetisation

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Cyber criminals go digital, lay bitcoin trap for investors - India Today

The Bitcoin network has been congested for quite some time now, blocks have been full and the debate has been at a stalemate. As Bitcoins adoptions is rising, along with increased coverage in the media about the price breaking all time highs, the amount of transactions has been on the rise. This has contributed to an increase in the average fee paid as users need to pay more and more in order to get their transactions to confirm in a reasonable amount of time.

Developers and users have been long aware of the problem that faced Bitcoin when the amount of transactions exceeded the available space in the blocks. The mining fees will increase because more transactions are competing for the miners hash power.

While this is beneficial to miners, users have to pay higher transactions fees. That fee has been slowly rising until now, it finally has reached the levelof an old school financial institution. Checkout this chart that shows the rise of Bitcoin transaction fees over the past 2 months:

The good news is that SegWit activation is progressing alongas the current amount of nodes signaling it is hovering right around 30%. Furthermore, as the development of the Lightning network and other similar solutions progresses we may be able to fit much more transactions in the same amount of space.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Average Bitcoin Transaction Fee Has Exceeded $1 - The Merkle

The only way to properly store your bitcoin wealth is by using a safe wallet solution. It is hard to quantify what makes one wallet safer than the next, as users have their individual preferences and needs in this regard. However, there are some wallet solutions out there that take keeping funds safe to a whole new level.

On the software side of things, there are quite a few different bitcoin wallets to choose from. However, one of the primary wallets people use in this regard is Multibit, due to it being lightweight and easy to integrate with hardware solutions. Although Multibits interface looks rather traditional, the wallet receives regular updates to improve security. A convenient and secure software solution to store funds, that much is certain.

Any bitcoin wallet provider providing cold storage and multi-signature support deserves to be on the list of top secure bitcoin wallets. Armory checks the right boxes in this regard, as the software stores private keys in an offline computer. This makes it impossible to steal bitcoins, unless someone has access to the physical location of the computer. No one knows where this location may be, though. Moreover, giving users the chance to set up cold storage solutions themselves is a big bonus.

On the mobile front, there is a lot of competition for the crown of being the most secure wallet solutions available today. Mycelium has gotten a lot of support in this regard, as they are considered to be a must-have secure bitcoin storage application. Their HD wallet support, as well as an option to delete the private key from the device and integrate watch only accounts make Mycelium one of the top secure mobile bitcoin wallets.

Hardware bitcoin wallets have become quite popular over the past few years. That is only normal, as storing bitcoin in a secure manner becomes more important than ever. Hardware wallets are designed to facilitate secure funds storage, with quite a few companies launching their products in recent years. KeepKey is one of the top solutions in this regard, as the device requires users to manually approve every transaction. Moreover the device has PIN protection, adding an extra layer of security.

The Ledger line of hardware bitcoin wallets can not be ignored. The company prides itself on making affordable yet secure bitcoin wallet solutions. There is no reason to pay hundreds of dollars for a device when the same goal can be achieved with a device costing a fraction of the price. Dont let the cheap price fool you, though, as every one of Ledgers devices is more than capable of keeping your wealth safe.

All of Ledgers wallets come in the form of a USB-size, although there are minor differences between each type. The Ledger Nano S is by far the most popular hardware wallet, as it is capable of storing both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Moreover, users can complete wallet actions through the display on the device or by using the browser plugins. An affordable, robust, and secure line of products, that much is certain.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Top 5 Safe Bitcoin Wallets - The Merkle

While the market will occupy itself will all sorts of news over the week, the most important comes Friday. That's the day the Bureau of Labor Statistics presents its nonfarm payrolls count for February, a number that will have broad implications.

For now, Wall Street per FactSet estimates is expecting that report to show 185,000 new jobs created during the month, and the unemployment rate down a notch to 4.7 percent. While respectable, that jobs number would represent a significant drop from the 227,000 reported in January, smashing analysts' estimates.

Some folks think the Street is in for another pleasant surprise.

Andrew Hunter, a U.S. economist at Capital Economics, figures the actual number will be closer to 240,000. The big payroll gain in January "was no fluke" he said, and a strong February reading is bolstered by a series of economic reports that show U.S. companies are gearing up to hire.

View original post here:

Coming up this week: Jobs Friday, the Fed, bitcoin and more - CNBC

Forbes

Bitcoin Is Better Than Gold Forbes Bitcoin has left gold in the dust in recent months. The Bitcoin Investment Trust Shares have almost tripled in value in the last twelve months, gaining more than 30 percent in the last three months alone. Meanwhile, SPDR Gold shares are down 3.78 ... Bitcoin hits all-time high as talk of US ETF approval intensifiesCNBC The rise of Bitcoin: Why bytes are worth more than gold for nowChristian Science Monitor Bitcoin Soars to a Record HighBloomberg VICE News -Futurism -CNNMoney -CoinDesk all 150 news articles »

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Bitcoin Is Better Than Gold - Forbes

The price of ether, the cryptocurrency powering the ethereum blockchain,has surged over the last week, approaching all-time highs set in 2016 as it hit its highest valuein nearly eight months.

All told, ether prices have risen as much as 59% during the week, reaching $20.67 at roughly 10:44 UTC today after opening slightly above $13 on 25th February, CoinMarketCap figures show.

At the time of reporting, ether had pulled back somewhat, but was still trading roughly 50% higher for the week at $19.54.

Driving the increased demand was perhapsthe formallaunch of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, a new consortium focused on the technology that has drawn members from majorfinancial services, software companies and firms in the oil and gas industries.

The groupaims to apply ethereum's fundamentalstoenterprise-grade blockchain implementations.

The project's launch helped give ether a boost, market observers told CoinDesk.

Tim Enneking, chairman of Crypto Asset Management, said of the development:

"The launch of the Alliance definitely fueled most of the price increase. Anything that increases the legitimacy and stability of an altcoin will cause its price to increase, sometimes dramatically."

Petar Zivkovski, COO of leveraged digital currency trading platform Whaleclub, adopted a similar stance.

Zivkovski saidthat the groupand its proposed solutions have "re-ignited hope and legitimacy in ethereum, which was, until recently, mired in controversies and uncertainty."

Still, ether's recent price gains at least in the public eye have been arguably overshadowed by those of bitcoin and dash, which have bothrecently hit all-time highs and seen major media coverage.

Of the two, bitcoin has undoubtedlystolen the show in the last few weeks with string of fresh, all-time highs amid robust trading volume and bullish market sentiment.

The digital currency has risen to several new highs in recent sessions, after failing to set a new record level for more than three years. It even hit parity with the per-ounce spot price of gold this week.

Dash, by comparison, has surgedmore than 75% in the last week and upwards of 200% over the last month, CoinMarketCap data shows. The token hit an all-time high of $58.90 on 2nd March, after opening slightly north of $26 on 25th February.

Market observers have offered numerous explanations for this rally, though no consensus on what is driving the push has emerged.

Images via CoinMarketCap, Bitcoinity, Shutterstock

DashEthermarketsPrices

Original post:

Ether Prices Surge Past $20 to Approach All-Time Highs - CoinDesk

Making Sen$e columnist Vikram Mansharamani assesses whether the recent digital currencys boom is bubble about to bust. Photo by George Frey/Getty Images

The rapidly rising price ofbitcoinis leading many to question if the digital currencys boom is about to bust.Strategist Peter Schiff, for instance, recently warned todays bitcoin could be tomorrows beanie babies. As of this writing, bitcoin is up almost 30 percent in the past month and over 100 percent in the past year.It has been hitting new highs on an almost daily basis and recently crossed the $1,200 mark.So is there a bitcoin bubble about to burst?

As of this writing, bitcoin is up almost 30 percent in the past month and over 100 percent in the past year So is there a bitcoin bubble about to burst?

To try to answer this question, lets apply the framework for spotting bubbles that I articulated in my 2011 book,Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst.The approach is based on the application of five lenses and generates a probabilistic assessment of a forthcoming bust.

Most mainstream economic theories utilize a supply and demand driven price determination model that generally results in pricestendingtoward equilibrium.I say tending because most serious scholars admit that behavioral and informational issues can distort the price at any one point in time, but there exists an overarching belief that such distortions are rapidly ironed out.Markets are, according to this view, basically efficient.Higher prices dampen demand, and lower prices disincentivize supply.

But what if thats not true?What if higher prices increase demand?Such a dynamic might arise for many reasons, but one eloquent explanation is the Theory of Reflexivity, as proposed by George Soros.Although it has many subtleties beyond the self-fulfilling logic that many ascribe to it, the underlying implication is that prices can and do tendawayfrom equilibrium.The result: booms and busts.

READ MORE: In the age of the Panama Papers, is Bitcoin technology the future?

So has the higher bitcoin price been accompanied by higher demand?Its unclear.The evidence is mixed.On the one hand, it sure seems that as news about and interest in bitcoin rises, so does its price. Its been seen as a safe-haven asset during times of elevated geopolitical, financial or regulatory riskand may even attract price-insensitivebuyers at those times.But on the other hand,the volume of trading has not gone up as prices have.And while volume is at best a crude proxy for demand, it tells us about the general activity level.Lens one: half-check.

Another telltale sign of a bubble is the presence of significant leverage supporting lofty prices.And while its unclear if bitcoin prices are bubbly or not, I dont see any evidence that leverage is fueling the potentially elevated prices. There are no futures contracts that enable large exposures with minimal collateral. There are no options that providede factoleverage.Sure, some investors may be utilizing other collateral to secure credit that is in turn used to buy bitcoin, but this is impossible to track.

Another telltale sign of a bubble is the presence of significant leverage supporting lofty prices.

But more importantly, perhaps, we can look at the amount of debt that has been holding up many of the countries that back traditional fiat currencies. (Hint: its not a small number!)In addition, the fact that printing presses around the world continue to print more and more money implies that traditional currencies are being debased at an alarming rate.With a fixed algorithmic release of additional bitcoins into the market and a cap on the total number that will ultimately be issued, the cryptocurrency represents a non-printable currency (similar in this respect to gold).Lens two: blank.

Overconfidence and new-era thinking are the hallmarks of my third lens, psychology. Whenever individuals develop a devout belief that its different this time, buyers beware.It is rarely different, and asset prices have never risen indefinitely.Rather, they generally go up and down, and in this regard, bitcoin prices are no different.

Its also clear that there is increasing agreement that cryptocurrencies are the new new thing and offer the promise of freedom from authoritarian manipulation of monetary instruments.Even investorPeter Thiel noted the promise of bitcoinby highlighting his own failure: Paypal had these goals of starting a new currency.We failed at that, and we just created a new payment system.I think bitcoin has succeeded on the level of new currency.

And like gold bugs, bitcoin believers tend to exhibit religious conviction in the cryptocurrencys ability to store value.They often go further, suggesting the amazing upside potential they exhibit.Internet analyst Henry Blodget has even suggestedbitcoins could be worth $1 millionper coin.In fact,CNBCs Brian Kelly described bitcoin asnot just digital gold it is a once-in-a-generation investment opportunity, similar to the internet, growing just as fast, if not faster its the internet of money.Lens three: check.

My fourth lens is politics, broadly defined to include both regulations and moral hazards.As with any asset, regulations can distort prices by either artificially increasing or dampening supply or demand.

Just think of what happened when political motivations to increase home ownership in the United States nudged more and more people into houses.Without the political incentives, prices may not have risen as handsomely as they did during the housing bubble.Further, the moral hazard endemic in the use of government sponsored mortgage finance enabled lenders to play a game of heads I win, tails you lose.If loans worked out, the lender profited.If it didnt, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac bore the losses.

When it comes to bitcoin, are there any artificial government interventions that are supporting bitcoin prices?No.On the contrary, regulators are trying to discourage interest in bitcoin.Just look to China, where itsmajor bitcoin exchanges were effectively shut down last month by government officials.Butas noted by Elaine Ou inBloomberg View, even China cant kill bitcoin.Bitcoin prices briefly fell upon the news, but quickly recovered and marched higher.Theyre up more than 25 percent in the three weeks since China tried to control trading.

And when it comes to moral hazard, there are no signs of it in bitcoin land.No one bailed out those who lost millions whenbitcoin exchange Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy.No regulator prevented or intervened to managethe governance disputes that arose on the bitcoin algorithm.Many bitcoin market participants are transacting with open eyes, fully aware of the risks of doing so.There is no FDIC protection, no Federal Reserve put.Lens four: blank.

Kolin Burges, a self-styled cryptocurrency trader and former software engineer who came from London, holds a placard to protest against Mt. Gox. Tokyo-based Mt. Gox was a founding member and one of the three elected industry representatives on the board of the Bitcoin Foundation. Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters

An application of epidemic logic to the study of financial bubbles can help gauge the relative maturity of manias.If we analogize an investment hysteria to a fever or flu spreading through a population, the variables of concern to us would include the infection rate, the removal rate, and perhaps most importantly, the percentage of the population not (yet) affected.The last metric can be thought of as the fuel available to keep the fire burning.Once we run out of people to infect, so to say, the partys over.New demand will disappear.Prices will fall.

When it comes to bitcoin, the number of potential buyers (that is, those still vulnerable to infection) is very large indeed.To begin, its not particularly easy to buy bitcoin, and thats deterred institutional investors.Specialized exchanges, online wallets and the need to protect private keys create huge friction in transactions, keeping many potential bitcoin buyers away.There isnt an ETF, at least not yet.Stay tuned, however, asan ETF is in the works.And if approved (well know more later this month), theWall Street Journalnotesit might generate a buying frenzy with up to $300 million of inflows during the first week alone, a volume that dwarfs the currently traded daily value of any bitcoin exchange.

READ MORE: Alleged Bitcoin creator comes forward, but questions remain

And with a current market capitalization of around $20 billion, the bitcoin market is miniscule relative to its potential.Consider that the value of privately held gold is in the trillions of dollarsor that the global remittances (a potential use for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin) currently tally into the hundreds of billions of dollars. The bottom line is that bitcoin just isnt as widely held or used as it could be.There is still an enormous population of potential buyers waiting on the sidelines.Andin a recent Twitter poll conducted by investor Mark Hart, only 22 percent of respondents indicated that they were Max Long bitcoin, with 49 percent Planning to buy/add or Curious.Lens 5: blank.

So on my five-point scale, with five being a virtually certain bubble likely to burst imminently, bitcoin only registers one and half points.On the margin, this means that the stage may be set for it to become a bubble, but it doesnt appear to be one yet.It may one day become a full-blown bubble with high bursting risk, but the evidence doesnt suggest were there yet.Recall that government attempts to contain bitcoin have failed, anointing the cryptocurrency with a forbidden fruit status and driving new demand.Or that the possibility of an ETF or other investment instrument may emerge to ease the frictions of purchasing bitcoin.

While short-term price corrections are always possible, there are compelling reasons to believe the long-term outlook for blockchain-enabled currencies like bitcoin is bright.

And the promise of smart contracts inspires visions of unprecedented demand for digital currencies. In fact, just yesterday, a collection of large companies including Microsoft and JP Morgan announcedthey would be forming the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.Ethereum is a distributed computing platform based on blockchain technologies that features the ability to design smart contracts.The cryptocurrency native to Ethereum isether, and its beencalledthe hottest new thing in digital currency.As the standard-bearer for cryptocurrencies, bitcoin will benefit from any attention ether generates. (Full disclosure: I own both bitcoin and ether.)

While short-term price corrections are always possible, there are compelling reasons to believe the long-term outlook for blockchain-enabled currencies like bitcoin is bright.If youre looking for beanie babies, you best look elsewhere.

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Column: Is the boom of bitcoin a bubble that's about to burst? - PBS NewsHour

Time to Be Long Bitcoin (BTC) Investopedia I jumped on board the Bitcoin train last year and added it to my research platform. Our clients really enjoy it, whether they are actively trading it or just interested in the product. But of the biggest reasons why I decided to start including it in ...

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Time to Be Long Bitcoin (BTC) - Investopedia

By Arnav Joshi

Virtual currencies like Bitcoin are all the rage in FinTech, and could potentially transform global commerce in the years ahead. Users are adopting them in the thousands each day and the value of trade in these currencies is witnessing unparalleled growth.

The world over, regulators are working out carefully-crafted regulations to foster Bitcoin growth. In India, however, even with the new cashless push by the government and existing Bitcoin trade spiking post-demonetisation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues to shy away from recognising and regulating virtual currencies.

On February 1, the RBI issued a yet another cautionary press release, on the back of an earlier one issued in December 2013, warning users of a risk they are likely to already be aware of -- that it (the RBI) does not regulate and has not licensed any virtual currencies in India, and anyone using them does so at their own risk.

A month later, on March 1, RBI Deputy Governor R. Gandhi raised concerns over virtual currencies, saying they pose potential financial, legal, customer protection and security-related risks.

While the central bank seems to be insulating itself from the repercussions of these currencies remaining unregulated, their use continues to grow exponentially across the world, including in India.

As of an August 2016 (pre-demonetisation) estimate, the number of Bitcoin (the most prominent of several virtual currencies) users in India stood at 50,000 and growing. India now also has a large number of prominent Bitcoin exchanges such as BTCXIndia, Coinsecure, Unocoin and Zebpay. Globally, by some estimates, Bitcoin users alone could breach five million by 2019.

The latest red flag from the RBI may well have been prompted by the recent surge in the price of Bitcoin on Indian Bitcoin exchanges post-demonetisation. Bitcoin is freely tradable currency, and has its own exchanges (including in India) where users can sign up and speculate, buy and sell Bitcoins for other currencies (such as the rupee).

After the cash ban, Bitcoin was quoted to be inflated 20-25 per cent over cost. As of March 2, Bitcoin was trading at Rs 90,000 to a single Bitcoin. In October 2016, this value was Rs 40,000 to a Bitcoin.

The question that arises then is how long can the RBI afford to adopt a hands-off approach to virtual currencies, when regulators elsewhere are adopting proactive measures?

The RBI's research wing, the Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology, issued a white paper on the applications for blockchain technology in the banking and financial sectors in India in January 2017, which acknowledges the prominence of virtual currencies, but steers towards the underlying distributed ledger (blockchain) technology, rather than virtual currency regulation.

A large number of countries, not just in the West but in India's own neighbourhood, have either adopted or are close to adopting virtual currency regulation in some form. These include China, Russia, Singapore and the Philippines, which issued guidelines for virtual currency exchanges as recently as January.

Interestingly, the precursor to regulation in a number of these countries were warnings similar to those issued by the RBI. However, these warnings largely came around 2013, at a time when the understanding of the technology and the use of virtual currencies was much lesser than it is today.

In 2017, when users, trading and payments in these currencies are growing and maturing faster than ever, the warn-watch-wait approach simply will not work.

There are a number of downsides to not bringing in regulation when virtual currency use in India is still modest. Prominent among these is that regulation which kicks in when products and technologies have become systemic will invariably cause friction between regulators on the one hand, and businesses and users on the other, requiring stakeholders to make slow and possibly expensive changes to the way they transact.

Another issue is the key role regulation plays in consumer awareness and security. While the RBI may sleep soundly having issued its caveat emptor, given the attractive investment opportunity and ease of use and access virtual currencies offer, users are likely to throw caution to the wind and invest anyway.

The clear downside to this is that investors will likely fall prey to unregulated and unscrupulous Bitcoin exchanges and wallet operators (similar to a Paytm or Mobikwik, but exclusive to storing Bitcoin). Without any oversight, these operators rely on self-regulation. They could have severe gaps in data security, could charge exorbitant interest and transaction fees, and in a worst-case scenario, disappear with investor money altogether.

More importantly, the jury is still out on whether virtual currencies can be used to pseudonymously finance crime, including terrorism, and given the sensitive security scenario in India, it is important for the government to understand, and for the law to control, who can buy them and what they can do with them. As transactions grow, so will the chances and potential for virtual currency-related fraud.

Legal scholars Jack Goldsmith and Timothy Wu have said "government regulation works by cost and bother, not by hermetic seal", which appears to be the line the RBI is taking on virtual currencies.

With emerging technologies, however, especially those as radical as virtual currencies, governments are increasingly learning that the cost and bother of reactive regulation can be substantially greater than proactive regulation.

If the Indian government is serious about its cashless drive, it will have to consider virtual currencies as an integral part of the panacea being touted for our archaic economy.

It is up to the government and the RBI to lead the way by bringing forward-looking regulation for virtual currencies sooner rather than later, because there is already much catching-up to do.

The writer is a Senior Associate at J. Sagar Associates and advises internet and emerging technology clients. Views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at arnav.jo@gmail.com

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Bitcoin: Can RBI ignore the elephant in the room? - Economic Times

BBC News

'I bought Bitcoins in 2011 - now they're worth 19000' BBC News "For years critics have said Bitcoin will never last - that its value will drop, that it will never be adopted, and even that it's some kind of ponzi scheme," he told Newsbeat. "Today's all time high is another example of how, year on year, Bitcoin is ...

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'I bought Bitcoins in 2011 - now they're worth 19000' - BBC News

Bitcoin has been on a bull run for much of this year, increasing from $920 to now stand at $1,239, surpassing gold parity by around $2 at the time of publishing.

Bitcoin Surpassed Gold Parity image from cryptowatch

The currency has broken its all-time high while retaining value at current levels for some time. Benefiting from monetary mismanagement by authorities across the world during the second half of last year, its adoption has increased with bitcoins market cap now a hairbreadth away from $20 billion.

Gold has also increased during this year after reaching a low of $1,122 as some apparently began diversifying to bitcoin. For much of 2016, the two appeared to be inversely correlated, but began increasing at the same time this year. Gold, however, has fallen in value by $20 over the past 4 days.

Golds Price image from tradingview

The main reason for bitcoins current rise is probably due to the much-anticipated Bitcoin ETF. Only nine days to go now before a decision deadline. If it is not rejected by the 11th of March, then the ETF is automatically approved.

The two commissioners, Michael Piwowar and Kara Stein were profiled for CCN earlier this week. Piwowar probably leans towards approval. Stein is less certain, but as Piwowar is acting chairman, his decision would prevail. It is more probable, however, they will either both approve, reject or if they are split then allow the deadline to pass and thus default approve the ETF.

Prediction Markets have now moved to almost equally split, leaning slightly towards approval, with bets giving the ETF a 51% chance of approval at the time of writing. At one point, it reached a 70% chance of approval.

They can be gamed and there would be good reasons to do so in this case, but, as the deadline nears the chances of approval might increase.

Analysts are predicting stratospheric price rises if the ETF is approved, with some targeting a price of more than $3,000 per bitcoin. Hundreds of millions are expected to move in during the first week of trading as stock investors diversify with bitcoin a unique asset which does not correlate with anything else.

Piwowar has recently made some comments which appear to be directed towards the bitcoin ETF, including a mention of uncorrelated assets. In a speech at the SEC Speaks conference six days ago, Piwowar states:

In my view, there is a glaring need to move beyond the artificial distinction between accredited and non-accredited investors. I question the notion that non-accredited investors are truly protected by regulations that prevent them from investing in high-risk, high-return securities available only to the Davos jet-set.

In further comments, which seem to indicate the commissioner is in favor of approving the ETF, Piwowar states:

By holding a diversified portfolio of assets, investors reap the benefits of diversification. That is, the risk of the portfolio as a whole is lower than the risk of any individual asset. The correlation of returns is the mathematical key. When adding high-risk, high-return securities to an existing portfolio, so long as the returns from the new securities are not in perfect positive correlation with the existing portfolio, investors may reap higher returns with little to no change in overall portfolio risk. In fact, if the correlations are low enough, the overall portfolio risk can even decrease.

Kevin Lu, a hedge fund analyst, concludes in a detailed article for Seeking Alpha:

Bitcoin is a unique, uncorrelated asset class that is not strongly affected by the macroeconomic factors that drive most asset classes. There are extremely few assets that are this uncorrelated with other assets and that makes bitcoin extremely desirable from a portfolio construction perspective.

The commissioner has probably read that article and appear to be referring to it, but we wont know for certain until a decision is made or the deadline passes. For now, the market is trying to place their bets as well as price in a potential approval.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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Bitcoin Just Surpassed Gold Parity - CryptoCoinsNews

This week, gold rose to a new short-term high and Bitcoin to a new all-time price peak. Gold is traditionally a safe-haven asset. In times of uncertainty and fear, gold tends to outperform other assets. Gold is also a traditional hedge against inflation that eats away at the value of many assets. Gold metal has a long history as a commodity and a means of exchange, a currency.

Over the course of history, gold has been around a lot longer than all of the currencies now traded in the foreign exchange market around the world. Gold is a commodity, and in the United States the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates the largest and most respected gold futures market in the world, the COMEX division of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that is new on the financial scene. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission has defined Bitcoin as a commodity but it is much more than that. Bitcoin is a pan-global currency. Central banks, monetary authorities, or supranational financial institutions around the world do not control Bitcoin in any way, shape, or form.

So far in 2017, the prices of both gold and Bitcoin are moving higher. The bullish price action in these two assets could be telling us a lot about the value of paper money these days as well as the future for the status quo of foreign exchange markets.

Gold takes off in December, again

After a sharp and painful correction that took gold from over $1345 on November 9 to lows of $1127.20 on the active month COMEX April futures contract on December 15, the yellow metal shifted back into bullish mode.

Source: CQG

As the daily chart highlights, gold took off to the upside again after making lows in the middle of December and traded to a high of $1264.90 on Monday, February 27. The next level of technical resistance for the yellow metal is above $1300 per ounce. Gold has moved higher as fear and uncertainty in markets has caused a flight to quality assets and gold has a long history as a safe haven for investors.

The all-time nominal high for the price of gold came back in September 2011 when it traded to $1920.70. Gold has been making a statement about the faith in paper currencies since it initially rallied from the $1046.20 level in December 2015 and the trajectory of price is, in many ways, a commentary on faith in currencies and other asset prices these days. While gold has been shinning, another alternative currency has blown the roof off and traded to a new all-time high this week.

Bitcoin moves to a new all-time high

The price action in Bitcoin has been more bullish than in gold.

Source: CoinDesk

On March 1, the cryptocurrency traded to its highest level in history when the price hit over $1225 against the U.S. dollar, and by the time you read this piece, it is possible that Bitcoin is even higher.

The price action in both gold and Bitcoin has been bullish in 2017, which I interpret as an important event for the future value of world foreign exchange markets.

Paper currencies are losing value - backed by nothing but goodwill

Paper currencies around the world have the backing of the full faith and credit of the governments that print the dollars, euros, yen, Swiss francs, pound sterling, RMB, and many other world foreign exchange instruments. Gold and Bitcoin have appreciated against all of these currencies so far in 2017.

There are virtually no countries in the world today that back their monetary units with gold, silver or any other hard asset. While central banks, monetary authorities, and supranational financial institutions continue to hold gold as part of their foreign exchange reserves, the days of a gold standard ended decades ago.

The global financial crisis of 2008 and slowdown in Chinese economic growth over recent years has caused a tremendous amount of volatility in markets across all asset classes. Central banks have used monetary tools such as low short-term interest rates and quantitative easing to stimulate economic conditions. While many of these tools have avoided financial disaster by encouraging spending and borrowing and inhibiting savings, the trend in monetary policy and effects of massive liquidity has diluted the value of currencies to a point where faith in central banks and governments has been on the decline.

The value of a currency is a reflection of both economic and political conditions within the nation that prints legal tender. In China, a devaluation of the RMB has led many within the nation who have seen their wealth grow over recent years to seek more stable vehicles to preserve the value of their savings.

In Europe, Japan, and many other nations around the world, economic conditions remain lethargic. Only in the United States has the economy seen a turn of events with unemployment declining and GDP starting to show signs of growth. However, the new administration in the U.S. does not wish to see a runaway dollar when it comes to value against other currencies.

The administration wants the dollar lower

In 2014, the U.S. central bank began tapering off its quantitative easing program, and in late 2015, the short-term Fed Funds rate rose above zero for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008.

Source: CQG

As the monthly chart of the U.S. dollar index illustrates, the greenback took off against other world currencies in 2014 and rose from 79.83 to 100.38 in only ten short months. The over 27% appreciation of the dollar caused hardship for multinational U.S. companies, which found their products less competitive on world markets as a result of the rally in the dollar.

The dollar index stabilized and traded in a range from 92-100.60 during a twenty-month consolidation period that following the ten-month rally. However, after the election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth President of the United States, the U.S. currency broke above technical resistance on the upside and rallied to the highest level since 2002 when it traded at 103.815 at the beginning of January 2017.

In the past, administrations in the United States followed a strong dollar policy. However, there are signs that the Trump Administration under Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will not be advocates for a strong dollar at this time. Additionally, when the U.S. Federal Reserve released their monthly minutes of the latest FOMC meeting last week, one of the biggest concerns voiced by members of the body that determines short-term interest rates was that a strong dollar could weigh on economic growth.

The bottom line is that the dollar is strong against virtually all other currency instruments but the administration and central bank do not want to see the dollar continue to rise to new heights versus the world's other major currency instruments. Therefore, it is probable that the rallies in gold and Bitcoin are a reflection of a world where all paper currencies are losing value.

So many issues on the horizon favor both Bitcoin and gold

Currencies are a reflection of politics and economics. It was the financial crisis of 2008, an economic event that caused central banks to add liquidity to markets to avoid recessions or worse around the globe. However, today it seems that political forces have taken over and weigh on the value of monies printed by the governments of the world.

In China, the devaluation of the yuan and the non-convertibility of the currency for many Chinese, has led to an increase in the demand for pan-global monetary instruments like gold and Bitcoin. The rest of Asia depends on China, the world's second richest nation, for economic growth and stability. Therefore, the Chinese economic slowdown and currency devaluation could be leading other Asian citizens to safe haven and pan-global monetary instruments. In Japan, short-term interest rates at negative forty basis points make the yen a less than attractive currency to hold.

In Europe, the Brexit vote last June was likely the first shoe to drop on the political front. With the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, the economic might of Europe suffered a blow. In 2017, three other major E.U. member nations will go to the polls to elect leaders for the coming years. In the U.K., many voted to exit the E.U. because of immigration policies made in Brussels. These policies are not popular with many in other member nations and it is possible that the other member nations will also go rogue and decide to elect candidates that are not supportive of E.U. policy.

The first election will take place in March when citizens of the Netherlands go to the polls to elect a Prime Minister. A populist candidate is currently close to the top of the polls. In April, France will elect their next leader and Marine Le Pen, a far-right, anti-immigration, and anti-E.U. candidate is also receiving a lot of support in the polls leading up to the election. Later in this year, Germans will go to the voting booth to either give Chancellor Andrea Merkel another term or replace her with another candidate.

Germany is the largest and most influential economy in Europe. The Brexit vote in the United Kingdom started a nationalistic trend in Europe and if these three nations decide to reject the status quo in the months ahead, it will have dire ramifications for the future of the European Union and the euro currency.

Source: CQG

As the monthly chart of the euro currency highlights, the currency has declined from around the $1.40 level against the dollar in May 2014 to under $1.06, the lowest level since 2003. A rejection of the current leadership and those who favor the Union over a nationalistic solution will likely cause the euro currency to weaken further in the months ahead. Like in Japan, the short-term yield on the euro is at negative forty basis points and the European Central Bank continues to follow a course of quantitative easing making the euro currency a less than attractive instrument to hold.

The election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth President of the U.S. was yet another blow to the trend towards globalism in the world. President Trump has pledged to "put America first" when it comes to relations with the rest of the world. The new administration ran on a platform that was against many multilateral trade agreements negotiated by former administrations. President Trump has told the world that trade agreements will be on a bilateral basis going forward.

He also told the rest of the world that protection comes at a price and that other allied nations around the world will need to start contributing their fair share as America has been shouldering the financial burden of keeping the world safe causing the nation's deficit to grow to over $20 trillion. A dramatic change in U.S. relations with the rest of the world is yet another reason for uncertainty and fear when it comes to the future of financial markets.

Gold and Bitcoin are moving higher so far in 2017 and the value of paper currencies are in question as citizens across many nations are going to the polls and expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo. It is interesting that a move away from globalism towards nationalistic candidates in the political world is causing gold and Bitcoin to appreciate. After all, in many ways, gold and Bitcoin are pan-global currency instruments that attract safe haven buying.

For centuries, gold has been not only a store of value, it has been an instrument used when the political climate creates the need for flight capital. When it comes to Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency is a means for people all over the world to avoid the manipulation and restrictions placed on money by central banks and governments so they can money wealth and savings around the globe. Many around the world are rejecting the politics of globalism in exchange for nationalism.

The world has become a smaller place because of advances in technology. The strength in gold and Bitcoin is telling us that many embrace a global view towards economics and that their money and wealth should not be under control of the governments and central banks in power. It will be interesting to see if global wealth and free flowing money that travels under the radar of governments can coexist with nationalistic political policies around the world and if the governments can do anything about the increasing popularity of these assets.

The Chinese have a saying that goes something like this, "May you live in interesting times." It will be interesting to see if the trend that started in 2016 with the Brexit vote and Presidential election in the United States continues in Europe and around the globe in 2017. Right now, both gold and Bitcoin are saying that the trend is firmly in place.

I have introduced a new weekly service through Seeking Alpha Marketplace. Each Wednesday, I will provide subscribers with a detailed report on the major commodity sectors covering over 30 individual commodity markets, most of which trade on U.S. futures markets. The report will give an up, down or neutral call on these markets for the coming week and will outline the technical and fundamental state of each market.

At times, I will make recommendations for risk positions in the ETF and ETN markets as well as in commodity equities and related options. You can sign up for The Hecht Commodity Report on the Seeking Alpha Marketplace page. Additionally, check out my website for more information about commodities.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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What Are Bitcoin And Gold Saying About Paper Money - Seeking Alpha

Bitcoin nodes are an important part of the Bitcoin ecosystem, they help validate transaction and keep the network alive. While there is no direct reward for running a Bitcoin node, there are plenty of reasons why you should run your own full node. Not only will you learn more about how the Bitcoin network works, but you can benefit from increased anonymity and faster blockchain querying for a mere $5 a month. This article will show you how to setup a Bitcoin node in under 5 minutes using a cheap digitalocean VPS.

Step 1: Create a droplet

If you do not already have a digitalocean account you can create one here. Proceed to your accountand create a new Ubuntu 16.04.2 x32 droplet, choose the cheapest $5 a month option which comes with 512MB and a 20GB SSD disk. It should only take a few seconds to create the droplet and you should receive an email with the required login information.

Step 2: Login to your droplet

Using Putty and the information provided in the email, we need to login to the VPS in order to begin setting up the Bitcoin node. The way digitalocean has it setup, the first time you login you would also need to set a new password. Once that is done you should have access to the machine.

Step 3: Begin Installation

We createda simple install script which you can use in order to setup all the required libraries and frameworks for the Bitcoin network. Simply enter the following line into the terminal and the installation will start:

If you want to know more about the libraries that the bitcoin binary uses and for a more detailed guide checkout this article on the importance of bitcoin nodes and how to setupone. The installation may take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour depending on what kind of CPU your VPS has. If you selected the minimum $5 / month option on digitalocean, the installation process usually takes around 30 minutes. You will know it is done when the server sends a message that it is restarting

Step 4: Enjoy your Bitcoin node

Fire up Putty again and login to the VPS. Your node should start up automatically when the server boots up and you should be able to use the command btc inexecute calls on the bitcoin client. For a complete list of availableclient calls visit the Bitcoin Wiki. Congratulations, you now run a Bitcoin node and help secure the network.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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How To Set Up a Bitcoin Node for $5 With 1 Line of Code - The Merkle

Bitcoin is showing no sign of dropping below its all-time highs.

Aftertrading above $1,000 for more than two weeks, the bitcoin price has now provided what analysts believe is ample evidence the digital currency's price has established a floor at this level.

The cryptocurrency has been enjoying its longest stretch above $1,000 in history, a period it began on 14th February.

During this period, bitcoin prices have been pushing steadily higher, reaching a new all-time high of $1,186.33 on 23rd February and then rising to new record levels over the following sessions, according to the USD CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).

The digital currency most recently hit a fresh all-time high today, when it reached $1,210.16 at 03:00 UTC, BPI figures show.

At the time of report, bitcoin prices had pulled back slightly from this level, trading at $1,196.38.

Many market observers have emphasized that bitcoin prices could soon enjoy significant upside if the SEC approves the proposed Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF, an investment fund which has an approvaldeadline on 11th March.

Traders have already incorporated this event into bitcoin prices, according to several analysts.

However, many market observers have projected that the proposed fund has low odds of receiving authorization from the government agency.

Investor and serial entrepreneur Vinny Lingham, for example, gave the fund 10-15% odds of being approved in a recent blog post, while Spencer Bogart, former analyst with investment bank Needham & Co LLC, has indicated the ETF's odds of approval are less than 25%.

While acceptance could fuel sharp price gains, a rejection could push bitcoin prices lower,analysts say.

Still, amid this uncertain situation, bitcoin prices have been experiencing little volatility in the last few days, moving largely between $1,170 and $1,210 even as they have enjoyed a steady, upward climb.

Price charts image via Shutterstock

Prices

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$1,210: Bitcoin Price Hits New All-Time High Amid Sustained ... - CoinDesk

Forbes

New Guidelines Give Bitcoin Startups In The Philippines 'A Fighting Chance' Forbes Earlier this month, the Filipino government issued regulatory guidelines concerning Bitcoin use in the country. The guidelines were welcomed by startups in the country, as official clarity and endorsement of the cryptocurrency are expected to help ... Latest Regulatory Changes Give Bitcoin Startups in the Philippines A Chance to SurvivenewsBTC all 2 news articles »

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New Guidelines Give Bitcoin Startups In The Philippines 'A Fighting Chance' - Forbes