Shopify's (NYSE:SHOP) platform allows its merchants to accept payments in bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, andover 300 other types of cryptocurrencies. It recently expanded that reach by partnering withcryptocurrency payments processor CoinPayments, which helps merchants process 1,800 types of cryptocurrencies.

Shopify claims the partnership will "make cryptocurrency transactions easier and more accessible while reducing transaction fees." CoinPayments CEO Jason Butcher declared the partnership would deliver a "seamless process for anyone looking to do business using cryptocurrencies."

CoinPayments has processed over $5 billion in cryptocurrency payments since its founding in 2013 and provides clients with various APIs, shopping cart plugins, and digital wallets. Shopify's cryptocurrency expansion isn't surprising, but will this new partnership widen its moat?

Image source: Getty Images.

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have gained a lot of attention among speculators in recent years. However, the broad price swings -- which have ranged from about $500 to $19,000 for bitcoin over the past four years -- made them tough to accept as mainstream payments.

Last year, a survey by the Foundation for Interwallet Operability (FIO) found that only 30% of cryptocurrency owners actually used the coins forpayments. The vast majority held the coins as investments. A more recent survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit and digital payments platform Crypto.com found just 34% ofcryptocurrency usersprimarily used digital currencies for online payments.

Crypto Radar recently claimed 6.2% ofAmericans owned bitcoin, and 7.3% planned to buy some in the future. Yet the overwhelming majority (64.8%) didn't own any bitcoin and had no plans to buy any coins in the future. Another 21.8% hadn't even heard of bitcoin.

Those percentages indicate cryptocurrency payments don't appeal to mainstream shoppersyet. Nonetheless, manymajor companies -- including Microsoft, AT&T, and Expedia -- already accept bitcoin payments, though it's unclear how many customers actually choose those options.

Shopify alsorecently joined the Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)-led Libra Association, which wants to serve underbanked markets with its Libra cryptocurrency. That decision was surprising, since Libra had already lost many of its top members after regulators opposed its development.

Image source: Getty Images.

However, Libra is being developed as a "stablecoin" which is pinned to fiat currencies instead of mining algorithms. That stability could make Libra a more viable payment option than bitcoin and other volatile cryptocurrencies, and tethering them to Facebook's Calibra digital wallet, Messenger, and WhatsApp could quickly expand its reach.

CoinPayments also processes payments in other top stablecoins like TrueUSD, USD Coin, and Gemini Dollar (GUSD). These currencies could be more appealing to merchants and shoppers, who can sleep easier knowing the value of their payments won't plummet or skyrocket overnight.

Shopify's partnerships with the Libra Association and CoinPayments could pivot its merchants from bitcoin toward less volatile cryptocurrencies. That process might be glacial and won't move the needle anytime soon, but it could enhance its broader platform -- which already serves over a million businesses in more than 175 countries.

Shopify's cryptocurrency partnerships should also widen its moatagainst Adobe's (NASDAQ:ADBE) Magento, which recently partnered with cryptocurrency payments platform Utrust to provide its crypto transactions to over 250,000 merchants. Magento is arguably Shopify's toughest competitor since it's tightly integrated into Adobe's other cloud-based analytics, marketing, and advertising tools.

The cryptocurrency market remains a niche one, butit could still grow from $1.03 billion to $1.4 billion between 2019 and 2024, according to Markets and Markets. Shopify probably doesn't expect cryptocurrency payments to overtake traditional payment methods anytime soon, but it also doesn't want to be left behind a crucial tech curve. If top cryptocurrencies like bitcoin stabilize and stablecoins gain ground, Shopify's recent partnerships could widen its moat against Adobe and other rivals while planting the seeds for future growth.

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Will Shopifys New Cryptocurrency Partnership Widen Its Moat? - Motley Fool

No doubt, the Blockchain technology, along with the adoption of cryptocurrencies, is getting bigger. The business end of the market is expected to reach $21 billion over the next five years.

Expectedly, professional services giants are now taking a larger role in tackling new challenges in the market, the Big Four firms and other leading brands are working with several crypto and blockchain firms on ways to combat interoperability, regulatory challenges and development of the technology.

Henri Arslanian, PwCs global crypto leader, told Cointelegraph that the Big Four firms majorly have a vital role in the advancement of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, saying:

Although Bitcoin was designed with a trustless ideology, the reality is that the industry still requires trusted entities to catalyze the development of the ecosystem.

READ ALSO: Positive outlook as Africa FinTech attracts over $100 million in investments

Arslanian added that when he first joined PwC years back, few people took crypto seriously. However, he saw an increasing demand for crypto assets, with some businesses starting to accept Bitcoin payments from clients.

Over the last couple of months, weve expanded our work. We recently closed the first-ever crypto fundraising deal at PwC, in which we led a $14 million Series A round for a Swiss-based crypto firm with Asian family offices. We are also the auditor for BC Group, a publicly listed crypto company in Hong Kong.

BC Group CEO, Hugh Madden, also said that BCs vision was to make use of crypto assets in Asias financial market. In turn, BC Group must set standards for compliance, security, and performance. Madden buttressed on the role of audits play by saying:

Auditing, like regulatory clarity, provides confidence to all stakeholders that companies are operating transparently and adhering to expected industry standards. As the business of digital assets continues to grow and mature, and compliance and regulatory standards become more robust, auditors will continue to play a pivotal role.

READ MORE: Blockchain technology expected to tackle Africas challenges across industries

KPMG United States blockchain audit leader, Erich Braun, further contributed by saying that a businesss blockchain system should be developed with the intent to meet both accounting and operational needs to meet with accounting standards:

SEC issuers will want to design blockchain technologies to support the entitys internal control over financial reporting. Being able to prove how these technologies achieve their aims in a well-controlled environment is critical to a successful blockchain strategy. If the technology is not auditable, the immense benefits it brings, such as increasing efficiencies and cutting costs, may not be realized.

Henri Arslanian, added in his closing remarks that the Big Four firms are indeed the most important players for the crypto asset space. He said:

I believe the Big Four firms will serve as the bridge between the crypto ecosystem and the institutional world. It is good for both the crypto ecosystem and for professional services firms like ours as a new source of clients that we can help.

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Meet Theta Fuel, the cryptocurrency that catches world's attention - Nairametrics

Photo: Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME

If youre a fan of the Showtime drama Billions but having a tough time following the current seasons cryptocurrency story lines, youre not alone. Not only do the actors have trouble keeping up with the series twists and turns, even those who work in the financial sector dont necessarily understand crypto mining, a subject that pops up several times in season five. Half the people in finance couldnt explain what mining is to you, says New York Times best-selling author Ben Mezrich, who joined the Billions writers room this season as a consulting producer. A large percentage of them have no idea, because its complex.

As the writer of Bitcoin Billionaires and The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal the latter of which was adapted into the movie The Social Network Mezrich is a natural fit for the Billions team. His expert knowledge of cryptocurrency has provided the series with an opportunity to further explore this once-dark, underground area of finance. He also wrote this seasons third episode, which has Gordie Axelrod (Jack Gore), son of billionaire Bobby Axe Axelrod (Damian Lewis), running his own crypto-mining operation.

From the safety of his home in Quechee, Vermont, where hes riding out the COVID-19 pandemic, Mezrich was kind enough to guide Vulture through the intricacies of these esoteric plotlines. The result is this useful explainer for those of us who love Billions, but are still lost when characters like Axe and Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) start talking Bitcoin and blockchain.

Its a form of electronic money that sparked interest in recent years due to its skyrocketing prices. Its money that goes instantly from one person to the other, and theres no middleman, says Mezrich. A can be sent from person-to-person via their phone, just like a text.

The most well-known example of cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, which was created in 2009. But theres almost an infinite amount of cryptos at this point, says Mezrich.

This is the process of how the money is transferred from person-to-person. Because cryptocurrency doesnt use banks, miners are the ones who verify each transaction. Say I send you a Bitcoin, says Mezrich. The way that transaction is verified is, miners are working on computers attached to the network, which are doing these mathematical equations. And these equations, when theyre solved, they verify our transaction, and as a reward, the miner gets a certain amount of Bitcoin.

The process is very much like a contest, because all these different miners are competing to solve the equation, with the winner getting the Bitcoin. Mezrich likens mining to the race for the golden ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: You open all these wrappers and one of them is gonna have a piece of gold in it. But you dont know which one, and so youre incentivized to get all the [chocolate bars] you can. This is what these miners are doing: Theyre just continually trying to solve these equations. Because whoever solves it first, gets the golden ticket the Bitcoin.

You probably remember this term being bandied about by Chuck last season regarding mobile voting. A blockchain is a digital database containing information that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large, decentralized, publicly accessible network, according to Merriam-Webster.

Because its where all crypto transactions are logged. If I send you one Bitcoin, says Mezrich, that transaction is logged onto the blockchain. And the way it becomes verified is by these miners. Theyre the ones who essentially put these equations onto the blockchain.

Those guys are miners, and they were dealing with the aforementioned mathematical equations, which are not only very complicated, but require enormous amounts of computing power, says Mezrich. If you walk into a crypto mine, its computer after computer after computernot unlike what was inside the sketchy warehouse that served as the miners base in the episode.

The miners were drawing power from a town in upstate New York, which is where the legal issue comes into play. The problem is, if youre mining Bitcoin and you need to draw tons and tons of power, eventually, that cost can be more than what youre earning, explains Mezrich. So miners are always trying to find cheaper electricity. Enter the small town in question: The town gave the miners priority over their electrical power. By doing that, the miners are saving a lot of money, and they make a kickback deal with the town to get cheap electricity, but the way they get the cheap electricity is its being routed to them rather than the rest of the town, causing brownouts.

Axe is involved because hes the leader of a consortium that combined its resources to fund this operation. In the general scheme of things, its not a bring-down-Axe crime, but its certainly a way in [for Chuck], says Mezrich. So for now, there isnt enough evidence connecting him to this venture for Chuck to take legal action yet.

Instead of just mining Bitcoin, Gordie was mining a lot of different cryptos at once out of his prep-school basement. The way Axe describes his sons scheme to Wags (David Costabile) Its the smart way to do the stupid thing he was doing isnt much different from how Mezrich explains it. With multi-mining, you have a better chance of making money and you have less of a chance of getting caught, because youre hacking electricity on a smaller scale.

He was trying to pull down enough electricity to power a whole bank of crypto mines a bunch of computers to run all these calculations, says Mezrich. In so doing, he ended up short-circuiting and causing a massive power-grid failure.

Mezrich admits that Billions took a bit of dramatic license here.

He absolutely committed a crime by tapping into his schools (and the towns) power grid. If he had had his own power source, if he was just working at home with that, it wouldnt be illegal, says Mezrich. As for the actual crypto mining, Mezrich used Gordies tradition-bound prep-school headmaster as a stand-in for those who still see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as the dirty part of the finance world. The mainstream has still not accepted it, he says. The headmaster would be one of the types who sees [Gordies behavior] as an affront to the men of honor that these kids are supposed to become.

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What to Know About Billions' Cryptocurrency Drama If You Know Nothing About Cryptocurrency - Vulture

The pseudonymous inventor of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, who has yet to reveal their identity, may have indicated that they are still active in the cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin was the first decentralized cryptocurrency a digital currency generated, or mined, when a computer solves a complex mathematical problem and was invented after Nakamoto wrote a white paper on the subject.

Each cryptocurrency can be tracked online on a publicly viewable ledger called a blockchain.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

On 20 May, a tweet from a cryptocurrency transaction tracking account suggested that 40 bitcoins ($391,055) were transferred from an account that had been dormant since 2009.

The coins in this transaction were mined in the first month of Bitcoins existence, the account said.

Speculation quickly grew that the funds could belong to one of the early bitcoin miners, such as Satoshi Nakamoto.

The account, which generated the coins on 9 February 2009 when they were worth zero US dollars, moved them on 20 May 2020.

It is reportedly the first time since August 2017 that someone has spent coins from early 2009.

However, while the age of the coins suggests that it was an account owned by Satoshi, many have raised questions about whether that is the case.

Jameson Lopp, chief technology officer of bitcoin security company Casa, said: Yall need to up your analysis game, arguing that the miner does not fit the Patoshi Pattern. The Patoshi Pattern looks at the cryptographic hash (called nonces) used in the blockchain process.

A flaw in the early bitcoin code means that some blocks have different patterns to others, and so can be identified as belonging to the pattern or not. Coindesks Zack Voell also suggested that this was not Satoshi, based on the Patoshi Pattern, as did the CEO of Blockstream.com Adam Back.

The reason that detecting Satoshis movements is so attractive to the cryptocurrency community is not simply to discover the identity of bitcoins founder; 99.9 per cent of all Patoshi Pattern blocks are unspent, meaning that 1.1 million bitcoins (approximately $7bn) is out there somewhere.

What is Bitcoin Everything you need to know

Satoshis identity is controversially claimed by Australian tech entrepreneur Craig Wright, who in 2016 said that he would release information verifying that he is the founder of bitcoin. As of writing, such evidence has not been reliably produced, but he has said in the past that he would sue doubters of his claim for defamation. Mr Wright has also been accused of using bogus contracts and false signatures to steal $5bn worth of bitcoin from his late business partner Dave Kleiman.

With regards to this most recent transfer, Mr Wright has reportedly denied that he moved the cryptocurrency. It is reported that Mr Wright made a statement saying: These coins are not my personal coins and I did not move them and as I have mentioned before I have no intent of dumping BTC or otherwise touching trust assets.

That statement, however, has since been removed with Mr Wright also laying claims to the wallet by providing a list of bitcoin addresses to a court as part of an ongoing legal issue against the estate of Dave Kleiman. Included on the list provided was the address used in the transfer, but that does not confirm ownership. Alongside the evidence that the transfer does not fit the Patoshi Pattern, the Kleiman estate has argued that the list provided was fake. We have reached out to Mr Wright for clarification.

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Bitcoin founder may have just moved nearly $400,000 in untouched cryptocurrency - The Independent

What is hodling?According to Bitcoin analyst Phillip Swift, 60% of all the Bitcoin (BTC) available has not moved in the last one year essentially, this 60% of the cryptocurrency has not been traded at all. This is known as hodling a term that means holding but is spelled as such due to a typing error.

60% of all bitcoin has not moved on the blockchain for at least 1 year. This is an indication of significant hodling. The last time this happened was in early 2016, at the start of the bull run, said Swift.Advertisement

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Interest from institutional investors like Goldman Sachs turned Bitcoin investors bullishOne of the reasons behind the massive hodling in Bitcoin could be the interest from institutional investors like Goldman Sachs and hedge funds.Advertisement

Apart from GS, well known hedge fund manager and founder of Tudor Investment Corp., Paul Tudor Jones came out in support of Bitcoin. Bitcoin reminds me of gold when I first got into the business in 1976, he said in a market outlook note.

The best profit-maximizing strategy is to own the fastest horse. If I am forced to forecast, my bet is it will be Bitcoin, he further added.Advertisement

Bitcoin stalls at key $10,000 resistance level, but has significant upside if it can break through

Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones says he's loading up on bitcoin (GBTC)

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Bitcoin hodl waves indicate 60% of the cryptocurrency is being hoarded analysts suggest a bull run could be - Business Insider India

Stemming from the confined venue of speculation and economic theory, there is much to address regarding the probability of whether Bitcoin will ever reach $100,000.

To bring light upon the query in motion, well analyze long-standing economic theories versus economists doubts while taking under due consideration deeply-rooted market variables, projections, and global acceptance that are all bound to distill a change in the value of Bitcoin in one way or another.

The Most Diverse Audience to Date at FMLS 2020 Where Finance Meets Innovation

With these truths in mind, lets begin.

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts have long poised the likelihood of Bitcoin reaching $100,000.

Evidence of this can be noted from high-profile individuals such as Anthony Pompliano, Co-Founder and Partner of Morgan Creek Digital.

I still think Bitcoin will hit $100,000 by end of December 2021. Fixed supply. Increasing demand. Time will tell.

Charles Hoskinson, Ethereum Co-Founder, had tweeted in late 2019:

Then, of course, we have the more recent actionable insights rendered through The Great Monetary Inflation proclaimed by macro investor Paul Tudor Jones, who acquired Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation earlier this month.

Despite acquisitions and proclamations attesting to Bitcoins impending worth, one should also assess whether these claims are rather a publicity stunt to increase Bitcoin participation or rather a deep-rooted belief originating from a coupling between past experiences and a desperate desire of riches to prolong extravagant lifestyles.

Regardless, these speculations should be taken with a grain of salt and weighed accordingly.

While crypto enthusiasts rely upon speculation in the crypto news, investors and Bitcoin participants tend to primarily formulate their assumptions upon tangible evidence that is derived from projection models and macroeconomic theories.

Projection models such as the Bitcoin S2F Model and M2 capitalization theory project astronomical valuations for Bitcoin but as time has shown us one of these models has already been debunked.

Over the past few years, and more prominent now as a method used to combat the financial ramifications of the Coronavirus pandemic, quantitative easing has been performed by countries central banks.

Take for instance the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has been printing U.S. dollars at an exponential rate since 1970.

Perhaps the most noticeable effects of the exponential printing of U.S. dollars would be inflation, where the price of goods and services has been rising in unison to meet the money supply.

Generally, a healthy economy would be characterized through depreciation in prices due to entities finding more efficient and affordable alternatives for similar goods and services but that is not the case.

To highlight the core point of this theory, should the Federal Reserve continue to print U.S. dollars at an exponential scale then, as a result, the U.S. dollar price of Bitcoin will also continue to rise at an exponential rate until it has reached a value of $100,000 per Bitcoin.

Also known as the Bitcoin S2F model, the Bitcoin Stock-to-Flow Cross Asset Model ratio created by @100trillionUSD seeks to measure the effect of scarcity on BTC price through measuring current Bitcoin circulation and production rate.

As @100trillionUSD suggested in 2019 through Modeling Bitcoin Value with Scarcity, The predicted market value for bitcoin after May 2020 halving is $1trn, which translates in a bitcoin price of $55,000. That is quite spectacular. I guess time will tell and we will probably know one or two years after the halving, in 2020 or 2021. A great out of sample test of this hypothesis and model.

While it doesnt take a mathematician to deduce how significantly short this economic model failed, up to 8 additional flaws have been reported regarding the Bitcoin scarcity valuation model.

As a result, we can no more put stock in economic theory than we can through unwarranted speculations.

The most level-headed forerunners for predicting future Bitcoin prices may be contributed to economists who have yet to be proven incorrect regarding their cynical-based projections.

Such examples include the projection laid upon us by Kenneth Rogoff, an economist and Harvard University professor, who went on to express the following during a CNBC interview:

ATFX Thanks NHS Frontline Workers with 1k Fruit Boxes DonationGo to article >>

I think bitcoin will be worth a tiny fraction of what it is now if were headed out 10 years from now I would see $100 as being a lot more likely than $100,000 ten years from now.

Basically, if you take away the possibility of money laundering and tax evasion, its actual uses as a transaction vehicle are very small,

It should be noted that Rogoff isnt the only economist who feels that Bitcoin wont amount too much value in the future.

Joe Davis, a lead economist for Vanguard, a high-profile investment firm, stated, Im enthusiastic about the blockchain technology that makes bitcoin possible As for bitcoin the currency? I see a decent probability that its price goes to zero,

The bitcoin its value is based off of scarcity and an artificial scarcity thats out there, Its really tough to imagine where the long-term return comes from other than speculation. Joe Davis

If speculations regarding Bitcoins future applications are truly the driving force behind the volatility then the valuation of BTC as a whole is crippled as a result of diminished cash flow.

While speculation and debunked theories are two sides of the same coin, black swan events are an entirely different entity that has been known to characterize an era of hardship and uncertainty.

Unforeseen black swan events, such as the recent Coronavirus Stock Market Crash, have gone to illustrate that no economy is impervious to flaws while also dismantling the long-standing ideology that Bitcoin is a safe haven asset.

Given the ramifications that can materialize from the wake of black swan events, no Bitcoin valuation can be complete without the possible occurrence of these devastating events.

To expand, modern times must be taken into account.

Such as, those of us reading this have already survived one black swan event but given how countries are starting to open their borders and governing states are once again re-opening their economies, the likelihood of another black swan event occurring as the byproduct of a second outbreak of Coronavirus only increases with each easing of confinement limitations folded back.

Therefore, it would be optimistic to the point of foolishness not to weigh these truths in your mind when speculating the possibility of BTC reaching $100,000.

One variable piece of the puzzle that can significantly influence Bitcoins likelihood of $100,000 per coin would be the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin.

Should a significant surge in Bitcoin participation become present, then the generalized economic theory of supply and demand can be implemented as an increase in participation will likely be contributed to an increase in demand.

Through an increase in demand comes an appreciation of value, which given how Bitcoin supply is limited, should further strengthen the ideology that an increase in Bitcoin demand will increase the price of Bitcoin.

Lets ditch the economic theories and speculations to conduct some simple arithmetic.

The maximum sum of Bitcoins that will exist is 21 million.

Should the value of Bitcoin reach $100,000 per coin then the total potential market capitalization of Bitcoin, once all mined, would be equivalent to $21 million x $100,000 = $2,100,000,000,000 or $2.1 trillion.

According to CNBC in late 2019, the value of the global equities market surpassed $85 trillion, or $85,000,000,000,000.

It should be noted that the global value of the equities for 2019 started under $70 trillion, meaning it saw an increase of no less than $15 trillion throughout the year 2019.

To put that into perspective, should Bitcoin reach a value of $100,000 per coin (even if all were mined) that would mean that the market capitalization of Bitcoin would be more than 40xs less than what the value of the global equities market was at the end of 2019.

($85,000,000,000,000 global equities value / $2,100,000,000,000 = 40.4761904762)

Putting stock in speculations asserted by cryptocurrency advocates will get you no further than faulty economic theories that can in no way, shape, or form take under due consideration all the innumerable variables that nest their way into the ever-changing Bitcoin valuation equation.

Through M2 capitalization theory and the renowned principles of supply and demand, we are rendered rather convincing insights into the possibility that Bitcoin could reach $100,000 which is further strengthened when you compare the capped off Bitcoin market capitalization of $2.1 trillion to that of the $85 trillion for global equities in 2019.

While, at first, it may have seemed like a highly unrealistic projection of Bitcoin reaching $100,000, but when you stop to put it in perspective with the total value of global equities then it may appear, to some, as only a matter of time.

Regardless, and to conclude, it is impossible to accurately predict the value of Bitcoin in 10, 20, or even 40 years from now but if history has taught us one thing it would be that anything is possible.

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Bitcoins $100K Probability Speculation or Economic Theory Backed? - Finance Magnates

Dont miss another episode of Truth In Data! Click on the red bell in the lower-left corner of your screen to receive notifications as soon as the episode publishes.

Data for todays episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Groups report Cryptocurrency: A New Growth Segment for Prepaid Debit Cards?

Everything to Know about the Emergence of Prepaid Cryptocurrency Debit Cards:

Cryptocurrency prepaid debit cards are the method of choice for spending cryptocurrency off the blockchain.

A major cryptocurrency prepaid debit card serving the U.S. market closed in 2018. Only a year later, in addition to BitPay, there are two new entrants. Should you be a part of the new Wild West of cryptocurrency prepaid debit cards?

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Everything to Know about the Emergence of Prepaid Cryptocurrency Debit Cards:

Description

A major cryptocurrency prepaid debit card serving the U.S. market closed in 2018. Only a year later, in addition to BitPay, there are two new entrants. Should you be a part of the new Wild West of cryptocurrency prepaid debit cards?

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Everything to Know about the Emergence of Prepaid Cryptocurrency Debit Cards: - PaymentsJournal

LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading cryptocurrency exchange bitFlyer, is partnering with crypto-trading game developer Quazard, to bring the first ever gamified trading competition to the Botwars Ultimate Trading universe.

The competition, which launches today, allows Botwars players to compete in a free to enter crypto-trading simulator to win real Bitcoin. This is the first trading competition to launch on Botwars, and the only live trading competition of its type.

In Botwars Ultimate Trading, players need to build an army of trading robots (each representing a trade) and lead them into battle to conquer the cryptocurrency markets.

Botwars is a real-time, gamified currency trading experience where you will learn new trading skills, unlock powerful new trading robots and discover advanced ways to dominate the global battlefields.

bitFlyer Europe, the European arm of bitFlyer Inc. the Japanese-owned cryptocurrency exchange, is providing the prize pool to enable Quazard to bring the competition alive.

The latest release of Botwars is available to download on iOS and Android and the competition launches on 1st June.

Paul Lindsell, CEO and founder of Quazard said, Millennials are looking for experiences from brands, rather than just services, and that includes cryptocurrency exchanges. Gamification and game based learning can help provide that. Working with bitFlyer means we can not only give newbie traders a safe environment to learn how to trade within Botwars, but also a safe and reputable exchange to trade cryptocurrency for real.

Andy Bryant, COO of bitFlyer Europe, said, Gamification in trading is a growing trend and this industry-first partnership between bitFlyer and Quazard is a step forward in bringing cryptocurrency trading to the mainstream. Its a fantastic opportunity for people to try out trading in a risk-free environment, but with the incentive to earn a reward for developing their skills.

bitFlyer launched in the USA in November 2017, followed by bitFlyer Europe in January 2018, both as fully owned subsidiaries of bitFlyer, Inc., a household name in the cryptocurrency space in Japan, and one of the longest-standing cryptocurrency exchanges. It is the only cryptocurrency exchange to be licenced in Japan, the US and Europe combined, and has also recently been recognised as one of only 10 exchanges that isnt faking trading volumes.

ENDS

About bitFlyer EUROPE S.A.bitFlyer EUROPE S.A. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of bitFlyer, Inc., a leading bitcoin and blockchain company based in Japan. The European office is located in Luxembourg and operates an exchange platform for European traders to buy and sell virtual currencies. bitFlyer EUROPE S.A. site: https://bitflyer.com/en-eu/

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bitFlyer Europe and Quazard Partner to Bring First Ever Trading Competition to Botwars Ultimate Trading - Business Wire

In response to the global challenges in various financial markets, recent trends suggest that Africas youth is leaning towards cryptocurrency as an alternative. Despite the obvious attraction, a number of questions persist on how cryptocurrency will shape the future of finance.

A study conducted by Arcane Crypto a Norway-based crypto researcher in collaboration with Luno, a leading crypto exchange provider, maintains that Africa is ideal for rapid crypto adoption due to current high inflation rates, volatile currencies, and a dearth of banking infrastructure, as well as a young digital-driven population.

According to CoinMarketCaps Q1 2020 report on cryptocurrency adoption, Africa had the second-highest adoption of cryptocurrencies worldwide. The continent had a percentage youth growth of 91.47%, owing much to Nigerias 210.6% growth in young crypto users.

At 210.6%, Nigerian youth led the rest of the world in percentage growth of cryptocurrency adoption, far ahead of Australia (+158.07%), Spain (+120.71%), Canada (+112.45%), and Mexico (+97.33%) that make up the top five.

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These numbers might seem impressive considering that the global crypto market was not spared from the pandemic in Q1 2020 when its market cap fell by 57% to $150 billion in March 2020.

However, as shown by Arcanes research, African countries lag behind others in infrastructure that will support the use of cryptocurrency. There is no meaningful mining activity, and it still has the lowest number of merchants that accept cryptos as a means of payments.

Africa also has relatively low numbers for non-P2P trading but has a higher focus on P2P trading. This means the main drive for most African users is buying cryptos when they are cheap and selling to others for a profit.

While cryptos are neither legal nor illegal, Arcane believes the hesitance of most African governments to take a stance is linked to the low adoption levels. It would then seem that several Africans are still not sure what to make of this currency.

Cryptocurrencies are the talk of the Internet these days, but you dont see where to spend them when purchasing an item because theyre not yet legal. Our best option is to buy them, sell, and make money, says Kevin* a crypto trader in Nigeria.

According to Kevin, without this option, several Nigerian youth will not see the value of cryptos or take it seriously as a possible currency for the future.

Arcane reports that the rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies is being fueled by the volatility of traditional currencies, an unstable political and economic terrain, and a large population that is underserved by banking services.

However, the cryptocurrency market is also subject to volatility which constantly shoots the price up or crashes it within a short time. Between January and May, Bitcoin has gone as high $10,000 and as low as $3,900. A difference of $6,100.

While this might be linked to the pandemic, that has always been the case for most cryptocurrencies. From December 17, 2017, to that same date in 2018, Bitcoin fell in value from $19,870 to $3,391.

An analysis by Investopedia reveals that just like the regular stock market, market forces still affect the price of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

News reports speculating that Bitcoin is about to be regulated, experts speculating the directions the price will go in, or just plain bad news regarding the sector has greatly caused a lot of volatility.

When the values of normal currencies are about to drop, governments can intervene to limit the impact, but as an unregulated market, the fluctuations are uncontrollable and subject to the activities of big influencers of the market.

For Kevin, Bitcoins represent another means to make money, but no one is certain as to what the future holds for it.

I started trading Bitcoins in 2015, and then you would hear things like Bitcoin was just $2 in 2011, if you had bought it then, you will have $504 now. Today, at roughly $9,000, the same message is still being preached, he recounts.

Rather than let their money sit in the bank where it will accumulate charges, Kevin insists most youth would prefer to brave the uncertain waters of Bitcoin like they do in the forex market or with US stocks.

No one holds a patent for cryptocurrencies, so anyone can create them. While the market is uncertain for unregulated digital currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, recent trends are showing that world governments and the corporate world are not entirely averse to cryptocurrencies.

In a rumour that was later denied, with the country stating it remains open to experiments, Tunisia was said to have issued a central bank digital currency (CBDC), Senegal has piloted an eCFA, while Ghana and Rwanda are exploring the development of their own CBDCs.

Companies like Facebook, IBM, and JPMorgan Chase are developing their own internal cryptocurrencies.

While Arcane believes that this might influence the adoption of cryptos, the creation of digital currencies by governments or corporations might change how it is used and monitored.

Cryptos developed by juggernauts like JPMorgan Chase will only be used internally within the company and will be tightly controlled and closely monitored.

Kevin believes that once governments start creating their own cryptos, they will be eerily similar to fiat money since they will be regulated and protected against the fluctuations normally seen in the unregulated and decentralised crypto market.

* not real name.

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Africa's young population and the drive for cryptocurrency - Techpoint.ng

The CEO of the US-based crypto exchange Kraken says he believes Bitcoin is on the cusp of a new long-term rally to $100,000.

In new a conference call hosted by Pantera, Jesse Powell says the masses dont yet understand the importance of Bitcoins scarcity and independence from banks and middlemen. He expects that to change in the decade ahead, if and when the value of the dollar dwindles.

I dont think Bitcoin is even priced into Bitcoin. Most people have heard about Bitcoin but they dont own any Bitcoin. They dont know what the future of Bitcoin is. I think if everyone knew about Bitcoin and the potential of Bitcoin and how great it was, the price would be a trillion dollars a Bitcoin. We would all just be switched over to Bitcoin and not be using anything else

I think that theres a lot thats not priced in, even though its predictable, like what the future is. Ten years down the road, the US dollar is going to continue to be printed like crazy. Its going to be totally worthless. No one is going to want it. Everyone is going to want Bitcoin. But thats not priced in because of perceived risks or perceived uncertainty about the future, about regulation, about how does the government respond in different situations as Bitcoin continues to develop, or how useful does it actually become?

Kraken is already witnessing an explosion of institutional trading. According to Powell, BTC will likely hit $100,000 in about two years.

I believe that were in a completely unprecedented time in terms of the global political and economic systems. I believe that this is going to continue to drive a pretty massive shift into digital currency. I think the next couple of years well likely see 1 BTC exceed $100,000

Just anecdotally, in the last two months, weve seen a huge surge in new accounts, from institutions. I think, again, I mentioned it earlier, something thats preventing more institutions from getting in is just the uncertainty around the regulatory situation.

I think many are in a wait and see mode, many maybe trying to have their mandates changed to allow them to invest in these asset classes. But I do think its coming. I think that more LPs are going to demand that their GPs invest in crypto. I think its going to come from the bottom up. The returns are just so hard to ignore. It seems irresponsible not to have crypto be a piece of your portfolio.

Despite his optimism, Powell says that right now, cash remains king, which is a significant factor working against Bitcoin in the current macro economic climate.

In a time like this, with so much uncertainty, I think people are looking to what they know, which is cash. Ive got to pay my rent in cash. Ive got to buy my food and my toilet paper with cash.

Theyre not looking to hold a volatile asset, however a good investment it might be in the long term. People are thinking very short-term right now. I think thats one thing working against Bitcoin.

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Kraken CEO: Bitcoin (BTC) Would Be Worth $1,000,000,000,000 If the Masses Knew the Power of Cryptocurrency - The Daily Hodl

Cardano, the cryptocurrency was trading at $0,082729 at 11:23 (08:23 GMT) on the stock exchange Investing.com Index Sunday, changes made up of 15.35% for the day. It was the sharp one-day rally in the cryptocurrency since may 30.

This growth has pushed the market capitalization of Cardano to $2,14732 B, 0.00% of the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. Earlier at the peak of capitalization Cardano was $23,91700 B.

In the past 24 hours the currency Cardano was trading in the range of $0,074890 to $0,084612.

In the last 7 days Cardano showed growth within gained-pct. The volume of Cardano in the last 24 hours was $676,45782 M or 0.00% of total cryptocurrency. She was trading between $0,0511 to $0,0846 during the last seven days.

Currently, the price of a Cardano is still below 93,87% from their peak values, amounting to us $1.35, which was achieved on 4 January 2018..

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin was worth $9.563,1 on the stock exchange Investing.com Index up 0.31 percent on the day.

The Ethereum was trading at $238,85 on the stock exchange Investing.com the Index showed an increase by 2.68%.

The market capitalization of Bitcoin previously was $175,92495 B or 0.00% of total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, while the capitalization of the Ethereum was $26,36678 B or 0.00% of the total cryptocurrency market.

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Cryptocurrency Cardano increased by 15% - The Times Hub

The cryptocurrency market volatility is on the rise as the market gets ready for Bitcoins futures expiration on CME. These contracts expire every two months and often lead to the sell-off on the spot market. According to the recent data, compiled by Cointelegraph and Arcane Research, BTC/USD tends to lose 2.3% of its value ahead of the expiration. The traders will be closely watching the spot prices to be ready to react to the situation.

Currently, the total capitalization of all digital assets in circulation is registered at $264 billion, while an average daily trading volume reached $110 billion. Bitcoins market share increased to 66%.

Read also:Cryptocurrency Market News: Cardano and Bitcoin set the pace for the end of May crypto rallies

Bitcoin (BTC) hit the intraday high above $9,600 and retreated to $9,450 by press time. At the time of writing, the first digital coin is moving within the strong bearish trend amid expanding volatility. Since the start of the day, BTC/USD has lost nearly 1.5%, though it is still 3% higher from this time on Thursday. The resistance area of $9,500-$9,600 remains unconquered so far. The support is created by $9,000.

Ethereum tested the intraday high of $224.80 during early Asian hours on Friday, but retreated to $220.30 by the time of writing. The second-largest digital asset has stayed unchanged since the start of the day, though it is still nearly 7% higher from this time on Thursday. Despite the retreat from the intraday high, the price is moving within a bullish trend amid low volatility.

XRP/USD has experienced a sharp decline below $0.2000 after a failed attempt to clear a strong resistance at $0.2030. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is changing hands at $0.1980, down 1% since the beginning of the day and mostly unchanged on a day-to-day basis.

Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are also experiencing sharp sell-offs. Both coins has lost over 1% of their respective value in les than 5 minutes. LTC/USD is changing hands at $44.54, BCH/USD - $237.45

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin bleeding as the market gets ready for CME futures expiration - FXStreet

Earlier this week, Facebook announced that it would be renaming its Calibra wallet initiative to Novi. The announcement comes not so long after Libra unveiled Libra 2.0, a newer version of the global cryptocurrency project that is believed to have been designed to have greater regulatory appeal.

Though Calibra has always been separate from both Facebook and the Libra cryptocurrency project itself, the wallet was widely considered to be an important component of Libra, which was launched last June.

The Most Diverse Audience to Date at FMLS 2020 Where Finance Meets Innovation

The digital wallet firm that was slated to provide custody options for Libra token holders formerly known as Calibra is henceforth to be known as Novi.

Why did the rebrand happen? In a Facebook post on the name change, David Marcusthe head of the Libra projectstated in a Facebook post that the primary reason for the new name was that the old name was a little too close to the name of Libra.

Therefore, weve made an update to make sure there is clear differentiation and clarity, Marcus explained. Novi, like Calibra, will be just one of the wallets that will eventually be built on the Libra network.

Why Novi? Marcus explained that the new name for the wallet was not, in fact, named after a small town in the great state of Michigan; instead, the name comes from the combination of two Latin words, novus, which means new, and via, which means way, he wrote.

Marcus said that as such, Novi will offer a new way to send, receive, and secure Libra currencies.

A spokesperson from Novi told Finance Magnates that the rebranding is just that: a rebranding; that there wont be any changes in the functionality in how the-wallet-formerly-known-as-Calibra will operate.

As a member of the Libra Association, we [Novi] remain committed to the Libra mission and are eager to begin delivering on it, the spokesperson said, adding that we are thrilled that seven new members have joined the Association in 2020 already.

Among these seven are e-commerce giant Shopify, non-profit organization Heifer International, cryptocurrency brokerage Tagomi, and payment processor Checkout.com.

Although the change to Novi has been explained as an effort to differentiate between the Libra network and the Calibra wallet, the spokesperson also explained that originally, the similarity in the names between Libra and Calibra was intentional.

When we announced Libra and Calibra last June, we wanted to demonstrate that Calibra, the digital wallet, was closely linked to Libra, the global payment system, the spokesperson explained. Both brands were born out of the same vision, to give people more access to the global economy.

However, weve found that Calibra and Libra sounded too similar, and people were getting confused, so we set out to create a distinction between the two, the spokesperson said.

However, confusion between Libra and Calibra among potential users of the system may indeed be the primary reason for the name change; some analysts believe that the name change may be an attempt to distance the wallet from Facebook.

After all, much of the heat that Libra has garnered from regulators the world over has focused around Facebooks mishandling of its users data. Facebook chief executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg himself acknowledged this in a hearing before the United States Congress late last year.

This has been a challenging few years for Facebook, Zuckerberg said. We understand we have a lot to do to live up to peoples expectations on issues like privacy and security.

Haider Rafique, the chief marketing officer of San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin, explained to Finance Magnates that distancing the Libra projectas well as Calibrafrom Facebook may be important to the future of both the network and the wallet.

Indeed, although the fact remains that [] Novi, previously Calibra, is the Facebook-built wallet with integrations for their entities: WhatsApp & Messenger, Rafique said that it might be better to separate Libra from Facebooks direct involvement for the sake of the projects future.

ATFX Thanks NHS Frontline Workers with 1k Fruit Boxes DonationGo to article >>

Similarly, Reuben Yap, project steward for privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcoin, told Finance Magnates that some have opined that it is possible that they want to make it clear that Libra isnt just a Facebook project, but instead only a member of the Libra Association.

I do actually believe that the official reason is to prevent confusion of Libra, the digital currency or association, with Calibra, which is merely Facebooks wallet, Yap continued, especially since we have gone through this very same problem ourselves with Zerocoin (the privacy protocol) and Zcoin (the currency and project).

Notably, Ripple has also made branding efforts to create a clear distinction between itself as a company and XRP, the currency, and network that is only used in some of its products.

Therefore, we see some clear benefits of the rebrand, Yap said, adding that also, oftentimes, optics and public perception go a long way even with regulators.

Therefore, [] By having Facebooks official Libra wallet name not linked directly to the Libra brand, it may give an impression that Libra isnt a Facebook initiative,' Yap added.

One of the worries that regulators have is that Facebook is creating its own digital currency that challenges the sovereignty of traditional currencies, Yap continued. By showing that Libra is instead a consortium with many other members and that Facebook is merely a member among other equal members would assuage fears that Facebook will wield too much power.

OKCoins Haider Rafique also explained that indeed, by distancing themselves from it they make it seem more community-focusedthis likely is another effort to decentralize the Libra stablecoin in the eyes of regulators.

And indeed, the Libra Association involves many community members, Rafique explained. The new name may allow Calibra to fit in more casually with these other members of the Libra Association, as well as any potential other wallets that may be built to hold Libra tokens.

Novis spokesperson did say to Finance Magnates that the name change was an attempt to lessen the association between Libra and Calibra (now Novi) so that potential users would be more aware of the possibilities to use other wallets for their future Libra tokens.

With our new name, itll also be easier to address the misperceptions that were the only wallet for the Libra blockchain, the spokesperson said, adding that we hope that Novi will be one of many wallets.

By creating some critical distance between Novi (formerly Calibra) and Libra (and then perhaps also between Novi and Facebook), its also possible that Libra and Novi could be setting the stage to try and separate their respective regulatory futures.

The wallet and stablecoin could face very different regulatory paths, OKCoins Haider Rafique said. Libra will likely face years of regulatory battles to try and gain US approval of its stablecoin/currency, but its wallet (now Novi) could take a more narrow path and not need the same kind of regulatory approval.

And indeed, it is possible that years could pass before Libra is live in the world: the most important thing about Libra is that it still doesnt exist, remarked David Gerard, author of Attack of the 50-Foot Blockchain, to Finance Magnates.

Theres nothing to talk about yet, he said. Lets see what they come up with that doesnt absolutely horrify the regulators.

So far, Libra has indeed attempted to come up with at least one other iteration of itself meant to be less jarring for regulators.

Earlier this year, Libra 2.0 was unveiled: a new version of the project that stripped away the single-token model of the original Libra, and plans to [enhance] the safety of the Libra payment system with a robust compliance framework and [build] strong protections into the design of the Libra Reserve.

While Libra 2.0 doesnt seem to have made a particularly strong impression on regulators one way or the other, Reuben Yap said that the new plan of action could change the regulatory course of the project: with its recent redesign, regulators are being re-engaged, he said.

And while the projects original launch date has been delayed, the project still has an ambitious plan for the future: the recent recruitment of pro-regulatory and compliance people to their ranks such as Stuart Levy as CEO and Robert Werner as general counsel also shows that they are serious in getting this off the ground.

I believe Libra is aiming to launch by the end of the year, while also continuing to recruit additional Libra Association members, Yap said.

However, David Gerard pointed out that in spite of the redesign and the Calibra rebrand, regulators are still drawing a hard line. Libra say they could launch before the end of 2020, but first they need to get buy-in from regulatorsat the very least the Swiss, US and EU regulators, he said.

The thing is, working with regulation was always 100% of the issue. The back-end technology being a blockchain, never mattered. The big issue was always going to be how to integrate this huge payment processor with existing real-world systems of regulation when youre a large enough player to have systemic effects.

Therefore, it seems that 2020 isnt in the cards for Libra or for Novi: I would be surprised if they do launch at the end of the year as planned, Zcoins Reuben Yap said. Perhaps sometime in 2021 is a possibility if they manage to assuage regulator concerns.

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Calibras Rebrand to Novi: An Effort to Create Distance from Facebook? - Finance Magnates

Bitcoin investors who poured millions intoVaultAge Solutions are concerned that its CEO has made a run for it after not hearing from him since December.

There is speculation that Willie Breedt is staying near Jeffreys Bay and while the Hawks are investigating, information indicates he has left the country.

The Hawks, who are investigating a case of fraud, say they cannot reveal any more information about their probe into Breedt.

Investors who were contacted by News24 said they have not heard from the CEO of VaultAge Solutions (VS), Willie Breedt, since December when he promised to pay back their money.

The Hawks have stepped in to investigate after an investor opened a case of fraud against Breedt.

Some have speculated Breedt is staying at a luxury mansion in the well-known Marina Martinique Estate in Ashton Bay, Jeffreys Bay.

However, officially he seems to be still out of the country. According to information from the Department of Home Affairs, Breedt left the country for Mozambique on 21 December via the Kosi Bay border post.

There is no indication on the system he had returned to the country; however, a source said a glitch in the system might not have updated his movements.

In the meantime, investors are concerned they will never see their money again.

VaultAge Solutions, which is not registered as a legitimate financial institution with the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA), has more than 2 000 investors.

Millions of rand have been invested in Breedts cryptocurrency scheme, with one investor depositing more than R6 million.

Besides a few generic emails from Breedt promising to repay the outstanding amounts, no other communication has been received.

I dont have R50 in my purse, Lettie Engelbrecht from Krugersdorp said.

We are pensioners and invested R200,000. From December until April, we received payments on the growth of our investment. Since then, we never got any money. We are desperate and living on a shoestring budget.

In a written reply to News24, Breedt said: I am busy attending to the commitments I have made to

He, however, did not respond to the questions about his whereabouts and his visit to Mozambique.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale confirmed they were still investigating the case and cannot reveal any information at this stage.

For more news your way, download The Citizens app foriOSandAndroid.

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SA investors fear cryptocurrency CEO accused of stealing millions could be on the run - The Citizen

What Is a Cryptocurrency?

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technologya distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.

Cryptocurrencies are systems that allow for the secure payments online which are denominated in terms of virtual "tokens," which are represented by ledger entries internal to the system. "Crypto" refers to the various encryption algorithms and cryptographic techniques that safeguard these entries, such as elliptical curve encryption, public-private key pairs, and hashing functions.

The first blockchain-based cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, which still remains the most popular and most valuable. Today, there are thousands of alternate cryptocurrencies with various functions and specifications. Some of these are clones or forks of Bitcoin, while others are new currencies that were built from scratch.

Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by an individual or group known by the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto." As of Nov. 2019, there were over 18 million bitcoins in circulation with a total market value of around $146 billion.

Some of the competing cryptocurrencies spawned by Bitcoins success, known as "altcoins," include Litecoin, Peercoin, and Namecoin, as well as Ethereum, Cardano, and EOS. Today, the aggregate value of all the cryptocurrencies in existence is around $214 billionBitcoin currently represents more than 68% of the total value.

Some of the cryptography used in cryptocurrency today was originally developed for military applications. At one point, the government wanted to put controls on cryptography similar to the legal restrictions on weapons, but the right for civilians to use cryptography was secured on grounds of freedom of speech.

Central to the appeal and functionality of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is blockchain technology, which is used to keep an online ledger of all the transactions that have ever been conducted, thus providing a data structure for this ledger that is quite secure and is shared and agreed upon by the entire network of individual node, or computer maintaining a copy of the ledger. Every new block generated must be verified by each node before being confirmed, making it almost impossible to forge transaction histories.

Many experts see blockchain technology as having serious potential for uses like online voting and crowdfunding, and major financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) see the potential to lower transaction costs by streamlining payment processing. However, because cryptocurrencies are virtual and are not stored on a central database, a digital cryptocurrency balance can be wiped out by the loss or destruction of a hard drive if a backup copy of the private key does not exist. At the same time, there is no central authority, government, or corporation that has access to your funds or your personal information.

Cryptocurrencies hold the promise of making it easier to transfer funds directly between two parties, without the need for a trusted third party like a bank or credit card company. These transfers are instead secured by the use of public keys and private keys and different forms of incentive systems, like Proof of Work or Proof of Stake.

In modern cryptocurrency systems, a user's "wallet," or account address, has a public key, while the private key is known only to the owner and is used to sign transactions. Fund transfers are completed with minimal processing fees, allowing users to avoid the steep fees charged by banks and financial institutions for wire transfers.

The semi-anonymous nature of cryptocurrency transactions makes them well-suited for a host of illegal activities, such as money laundering and tax evasion. However, cryptocurrency advocates often highly value their anonymity, citing benefits of privacy like protection for whistleblowers or activists living under repressive governments. Some cryptocurrencies are more private than others.

Bitcoin, for instance, is a relatively poor choice for conducting illegal business online, since the forensic analysis of the Bitcoin blockchain has helped authorities to arrest and prosecute criminals. More privacy-oriented coins do exist, however, such as Dash, Monero, or ZCash, which are far more difficult to trace.

Since market prices for cryptocurrencies are based on supply and demand, the rate at which a cryptocurrency can be exchanged for another currency can fluctuate widely, since the design of many cryptocurrencies ensures a high degree of scarcity.

Bitcoin has experienced some rapid surges and collapses in value, climbing as high as $19,000 per Bitcoin in Dec. of 2017 before dropping to around $7,000 in the following months. Cryptocurrencies are thus considered by some economists to be a short-lived fad or speculative bubble.

There is concern that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not rooted in any material goods. Some research, however, has identified that the cost of producing a Bitcoin, which requires an increasingly large amount of energy, is directly related to its market price.

Cryptocurrency blockchains are highly secure, but other aspects of a cryptocurrency ecosystem, including exchanges and wallets, are not immune to the threat of hacking. In Bitcoin's 10-year history, several online exchanges have been the subject of hacking and theft, sometimes with millions of dollars worth of "coins" stolen.

Nonetheless, many observers see potential advantages in cryptocurrencies, like the possibility of preserving value against inflation and facilitating exchange while being more easy to transport and divide than precious metals and existing outside the influence of central banks and governments.

View original post here:

Cryptocurrency Definition

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency watchers are nervously waiting for bitcoin to make another move after a sudden sell-off this week.

The bitcoin price, the main driver of the cryptocurrency market, had been more-or-less trading sideways after rallying hard through April.

Now, one small cryptocurrency that isn't even in the top 30 most valuable tokens has suddenly soaredclimbing a staggering 230% over the last month.

Many bitcoin and crypto analysts are worried the bitcoin price could be heading lower before it ... [+] rallies again--but some small cryptocurrencies, such as omiseGO, have outperformed the wider market.

OmiseGO, an ethereum token that powers a smart contract platform and trades as OMG, was sent sharply higher after San Francisco-based bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase revealed it would list the token.

"The good ol' Coinbase listing pump is back," Larry Cermak, director of research at bitcoin and crypto news and analysis outlet The Block, said via Twitter, pointing to OmiseGO's sharp rally since "it was announced that it's listing on Coinbase."

OmiseGO's smart contract platform, based in Bangkok, is designed to facilitate the movement of funds between traditional payment systems and decentralized blockchains like ethereum.

The omiseGO price began climbing earlier this month after Coinbase, the largest U.S. bitcoin and crypto exchange, said it would allow Coinbase Pro users to make inbound OmiseGo transfers.

OmiseGO, which has a market value of just $257 million compared to bitcoin's $170 billion, jumped again this week after Coinbase said it would fully list the minor cryptocurrency everywhere but in New York State.

"Coinbase customers can now buy, sell, convert, send, receive, or store OMG," Coinbase said in a blog post on Thursday announcing the listing.

The OMG price is still heavily down on its all-time high of almost $30 per token set in late 2017 as bitcoin and cryptocurrency mania was sweeping the globe.

The omiseGo price has soared by 234% in just a month as investors cheer its new Coinbase listing.

The likes of bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies have also failed to return to their all-time highs, with the bitcoin price now trading around half its December 2017 high.

Some smaller cryptocurrencies, such as chainlink and tezos, have rallied hard in recent months, however, pushed higher by demand for decentralized finance platforms.

Meanwhile, the broader bitcoin and cryptocurrency market is closely-watching for price swings after bitcoin went through a supply squeeze earlier this month.

The number of bitcoin rewarded to those that maintain the bitcoin network, called miners, was cut by half, dropping from 12.5 bitcoin to 6.25 on May 11.

Some had warned the bitcoin price could crash in the aftermath of the third halving but most analysts seem confident the bitcoin price will climb eventually.

Here is the original post:

As Bitcoin Struggles, This Tiny Cryptocurrency Has Soared A Massive 230% - Forbes

Paying with crypto has long been at the center of the discussions of why cryptocurrencies exist and why they are useful.

But despite promising growth and excitement during cryptos bullish phases, payments with crypto still remain a fringe niche at best. Cointelegraph interviewed both merchants and industry leaders to find out why.

As a general rule, crypto payments are used where they make sense. This remains the case for darknet markets, which according to a January 2020 Chainalysis report continue posting new volume highs.

Source: chainalysis.com

Despite their tiny share of the overall crypto activity, marketplaces selling primarily illegal goods simply cannot use traditional payment mechanisms. Nevertheless, these markets pale in comparison to the traditional cash-based drug trade, whose volume is estimated at approximately $400 billion yearly.

In legal settings, Crypto.coms CEO Kris Marszalek told Cointelegraph what kinds of products see meaningful usage of crypto:

Its still mostly crypto stuff. So we've got Travala, which is the travel merchant that accepts crypto. Ledger.com [...] when we launched on day one we were doing similar volume to Mastercard.

Marszalek cited figures from leading crypto payment providers BitPay and Coinbase Commerce, which report yearly volumes of $1 billion and $200 million, respectively.

The numbers are very small, Marszalek said bluntly.

Indeed, compared to Visas figure of $2 trillion for a single quarter in 2018, crypto payments have a long way to go.

Marszalek identified a series of issues that are preventing crypto payments adoption, with lack of trust one of them:

For the vast majority of the merchants out there, just like for the vast majority of retail banking users out there, crypto is still something unknown, something they still didnt learn to trust.

Peko Wan, the chief ecosystem officer of crypto point of sale provider Pundi X, told Cointelegraph a similar story:

For the mainstream, the general perception toward crypto are complicated to use or risky to own cryptos.

This attitude is reflected by a U.K.-based business owner operating a recreational plane simulator, whom Cointelegraph interviewed. Despite adding the crypto payment option, they said that no one has ever paid using crypto. They further said to be wary of all cryptos as there are so many scams out there.

Even among crypto enthusiasts, payments are a low priority use case. This is best exemplified by the issuance of WBTC for Ethereum decentralized finance, which is now more than double the size of the entire Lightning Network.

Marszalek believes that part of it is the chicken and egg problem, which limits the amount of merchants accepting crypto:

Because if you only have 50 million people in crypto globally, merchants have very little incentive to deploy this, unless they are in a business that is covering a similar demographic as crypto.

One of the biggest problems of crypto payments is the volatility of even the most established assets. Marszalek believes that most people only know about cryptos price swings, which is not really conducive to merchant adoption, he added.

Furthermore, the premise of many crypto payment providers is that merchants can completely avoid exposure to cryptos volatility.

Marszalek believes that stablecoins are super powerful for e-commerce transactions, citing their speed and cost, and sees Crypto.com eventually creating its own stablecoin as part of its vision of a complete ecosystem.

Claudio Barros, the Portugal-based owner of DBR Electronica and one of merchants using Pundi Xs solutions, believes that stablecoins would be a great addition to the ecosystem:

Any improvement in stability of coins will be a benefit, we need a range from pegged coins to super volatile coins to cater for different needs.

Crypto is competing both with established e-money systems like WeChat in China, and novel technologies like Calibra. Marszalek believes that it is better than either of those, both due to better performance and better privacy.

Marszalek, who is based in Hong Kong, personally witnessed how the cashless transition in China left him unable to pay in a Beijing restaurant, as Hong Kong WeChat does not work in mainland China. Either way, WeChats extreme level of surveillance makes him feel uncomfortable.

Wan also pointed to developing countries, noting:

For the past two years, we also observed that in the countries where the local currency has decreased over time [people] are more aware of crypto or interested in having cryptos.

For Crypto.com, payments are just at the beginning of the beginning, Marszalek said. But he strongly believes that it is the companys most important product, which will take our overall platform to a hundred million users in five years.

For crypto in general, the same statements could likely be made as well.

Here is the original post:

Why Have Cryptocurrency Payments Failed to Take Off So Far? - Cointelegraph

Aren't we all searching for a safe haven? Whether we mean literal shelter four walls and a roof over our heads or something more sophisticated, the craving for a dependable defense against random chaos has always been our instinct.

With the COVID-19 pandemic rearranging society at every level, the allure of a safe haven reigns supreme for our battered psyches. In the realm of financial instruments, the search for the safest of safe havens, also known as a store of value, has taken on a new urgency. Is Bitcoin (BTC) a safe haven? Will cryptocurrency prove to be a store of value above all?

Many Bitcoin believers have been confident in crypto's ability to securely serve as a safe haven. But even the most devout blockchain boosters would admit that the coronavirus is betraying their store of value expectations, at least in the short term, as Bitcoins price has not remained resolute since COVID-19 became a global concern. It has exhibited big swings from around $10,000 to a low of near $4,100 in the first quarter of 2020 and now sits at approximately $9,500 at the time of this writing.

While Bitcoin has the potential to shelter value for many more of us than other safe-haven options, we will need a well-coordinated effort among the crypto community and regulators to get us there.

Safe havens have long played a key role in economics and investing. Traditionally, a safe haven has been an investment in an instrument expected to increase its value during market uncertainty. Safe havens add diversification to portfolios and are crucial investment strategy components for retail players and institutional investors alike.

With their deep history in serving humanitys sense of well-being, there is not surprisingly a long list of safe havens that predate Bitcoin. These include commodities, United States Treasurys and select fiat currencies, equity strategies and hedge funds, as well as more tangible assets such as precious metals (gold and silver), real estate and even art.

Now, cryptocurrencies have been added to that list. Although Bitcoins origins are firmly rooted in a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, a funny thing happened on the way to fulfilling those utilitarian aims. Satoshi Nakamotos blockchain-based creation morphed into something much more akin to a security, as long settlement and transaction times make it a less attractive method of payment. Meanwhile, its rise in value over the last decade has far exceeded anyone's expectations: Bitcoin has outperformed every other asset class including real estate, gold and the S&P 500.

Bitcoins financial status has evolved yet another step and is seen in many circles as a safe-haven instrument. Complete decentralization is at its core, keeping Bitcoin away from the whims of central banking and governments appetites for quantitative easing. In a brilliant stroke, digital scarcity is hardwired into its DNA: The supply of tokens is firmly capped at 21 million, a key characteristic that should continue to drive its price higher over time and has led to the widespread perception that Bitcoin equals digital gold.

And as a bonus, Bitcoin trumps all other safe havens as a tool for global trade. While that aforementioned transaction time currently standing at a tick over nine minutes is unacceptable for buying your proverbial cup of coffee, it sure beats trying to transact with gold bullion over the internet.

To be sure, Bitcoin has flaws preventing it from becoming a rock-solid store of value. Global regulation of cryptocurrency is still maturing. With few universal rules on how trades can be executed, there is room for market manipulation, which can lead to questions regarding how authentic some crypto price movements are. And while Bitcoin currently trades at gains that are positively astronomical compared with when it first came online, cryptocurrency remains a very volatile asset class.

That shouldnt stop Bitcoin from succeeding in a big part of its core promise: helping the worlds population to be better prepared for unforeseen global economic crises such as the current market crash that was brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

In perhaps an ironic twist to Bitcoins borderless ethos, this progress starts at the government level. With solid regulation of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, everyday people can be more in control of their wealth. Peer-to-peer lending, instead of loans and mortgage rates from banks, would make loans easier to access for everyone globally, leading to more accessible and affordable credit.

While increased oversight introduces more processes, more regulation also enables the market to progress. A lack of regulation means a lack of trust, which means a lack of adoption and when theres a lack of adoption, theres a lack of markets. Institutional investors stand to see great gains with solid regulation, which will open doors to the mass adoption of products. Investor confidence and trust will naturally follow, as will fresh innovation opportunities, with the overall market capitalization increasing commensurately.

And for a planet under quarantine, crypto only becomes more important. For the 1.7 billion people who are currently unbanked, living under physical mobility restrictions makes sending or receiving money that much harder. Whether they need to transact internationally or with a neighbor, people who are sheltering in place can use layer-two protocols to send crypto payments anywhere and settle within seconds, 24/7. The cost of doing business can also be drastically reduced with crypto, thanks to relatively low fees. In 2019, for example, a $1 billion BTC transaction cost a frugal whale a mere $690 in transaction fees such a low fee would be impossible to achieve in the foreign exchange markets with interbanking rates applied.

Better regulation is just half the battle. As has often been the case with all things blockchain, the bottleneck to wider cryptocurrency adoption therefore making it a safe haven for billions more people is a lack of reliable information.

Were more than 10 years into the blockchain revolution, yet only a very small percentage of the global population understands what it is and even fewer understand its connection to cryptocurrency. When the average person has a firm grasp of the blockchain/crypto ecosystem, adoption will face less friction.

As popular as crypto seems to those of us in the industry, we must exit the echo chamber and accept that it is not in the mainstream. The general public mostly hears about Bitcoins large price fluctuations or negative stories about how it could be used in a money-laundering operation. Very few journalists outside of our vertical know what to make of it.

A lot of people use fiat currency without understanding central banks and monetary policy, but they do know how to spend it and access it. Cryptocurrency faces an extra hurdle in that regard: Not only do people not understand it, they also dont know how to spend or gain access to it.

No wonder, then, that theres insufficient engagement in cryptocurrencies. We suddenly have thousands of currencies on blockchains, but most people cant comprehend how a currency can work, or be worth something, without a bank or a government backing it.

Engagement will require more people to grasp what a blockchain does and what the various cryptocurrencies can accomplish in their jurisdictions. Every person in the industry is responsible as a pioneer to educate as many people as possible on the benefits of crypto and how it can become one of our everyday means of payment and value storage. We also need to take some time out of our busy schedules to pass the message on to regulators as to how they can best manage the role of cryptocurrency in the global economy.

When Bitcoin and cryptocurrency make sense to everyone, well truly see it as a digital safe haven one that diminishes our fear of the economic impact of pandemics and other disasters. The more we can put our time into education and disseminating clear information, not just perfecting our investing, the sooner we can build a bigger boat with blockchain.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Arthur Wiseberg is the head of institutional sales in Europe at Apifiny, a digital asset marketplace that facilitates institutional access to regulated, global financial markets. He began his career in investment banking, focusing on regulation, portfolio structuring and sales across various traditional asset classes for firms such as BlackRock, Barclays Capital and Societe Generale. Prior to Apifiny, Arthur worked with various digital assets as the head of CIS institutional business for Huobi Global.

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Cryptocurrency and COVID-19: Bitcoins Path to a Safe Haven - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin prices retreated Wednesday afternoon amid speculation that a long-dormant block of coins, with links to the presumptive creator of the virtual asset, just changed hands.

A Twitter account set to issue tweet alerts when coins tied to certain addresses trade, indicated a trade of a batch of virtual currency that is possibly tied to Satoshi Nakamoto, the person or persons who wrote the software code for the digital currency back in 2009. The identity of Nakamoto has long been speculated on but the originator of bitcoin has never been verified.

Read:Elon Musk says hes not bitcoins mystery man Satoshi Nakamoto

Check out: Legendary sci-fi author says suggestion he invented bitcoin flattering but untrue

About 11 years ago, he created, or mined, the original batch of bitcoins that are widely known as the genesis block.

The tweet suggests that the batch of some 40 or 50 bitcoins that changed hands on Wednesday were mined within the first month of the creation of bitcoin.

See:Craig Wright Claims He Is Bitcoin Inventor Satoshi Nakamoto

To be sure, the anonymous nature of the bitcoin makes it impossible to know the owner of the coins but the technology that underpins bitcoin makes tracking addresses of the certain blocks of coins possible.

Sleuthing for coins tied to the progenitor of the digital asset has become a regular pastime in the crypto community. Tracking big blocks of bitcoin also helps to understand the habits of those who hold substantial influence on bitcoin prices by dint of their holdings.

Bitcoin futures, representing a single bitcoin, were off 1.3% in Wednesday afternoon, with the most-actively traded May BTCK20, +0.21% BTC.1, +0.21% at $9,550, while bitcoin spot prices BTCUSD, +0.70% were off 1.8% at $9,525, according to data from CoinDesk.

Bitcoin futures are up more than 32% so far in 2020, and they had been trading at an intrasession peak at $9,895 on Wednesday before settling lower.

A number of industry participants have pointed out that the fact that the bitcoins are 2009 vintage doesnt necessarily mean that they are related to Nakamoto.

However, that didnt stop interest in bitcoin surging on Twitter, with the term satoshi becoming a viral term on the social-media platform Twitter Wednesday afternoon.

Bitcoin was created as an alternative payment system 11 years ago, one that operated anonymously and peer-to-peer, eliminating the so-called trusted third party.

The cryptocurrency was born amid worries that modern currency is manufactured by central banks printing fiat money to boost economic growtha view that has gained increasing traction amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Proponents of bitcoin argue that because the digital asset is decentralized from central banks or governments, individuals can conduct transactions without an intermediary. That is part of the appeal of bitcoin.

However, the nascent asset hasnt made significant headway in price since hitting a December 2017 peak near $20,000.

Critics also point to the cryptocurrencys association with money laundering as one of its biggest drawbacks. So far, bitcoin hasnt achieved sufficient scalability to make it a legitimate currency much less a store of value, other opponents say.

That said, bitcoin has managed to hold its own compared with gold thus far this year, with gold futures GC00, -0.04% up 15% in the year to date. By comparison, the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.23% is down 8.1% so far this year and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.03% are off nearly 14% after a coronavirus-induced downturn virtually brought the equity markets to their knees in March.

Read:What is the bitcoin halving and which day does it happen?

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Bitcoin prices slip amid speculation that a block of the cryptocurrency possibly linked to creator Satoshi Nakamoto just changed hands - MarketWatch

Over a decade since Bitcoin was first launched, there are now myriad cryptocurrencies on the market, such as NEO, Litecoin and Ethereum, but Bitcoin still remains the most well-known. Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency, which requires no central banking system. It sits on a platform called blockchain, and Bitcoins are mined in exchange for Bitcoin rewards. Anyone can mine Bitcoin, and because the transactions have to be verified by several individuals, there is no need for a central bank to control it, it is decentralised. But you dont have to mine Bitcoin in order to own it, many people are now simply investing in cryptocurrencies through trading platforms.

But is cryptocurrency a good investment? And if so, will 2020 be a good year to invest? Its certainly been an interesting year so far, and a rocky ride in terms of many investments, with prices fluctuating, largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The value of Bitcoin has risen as high as $9,000 and seen a low of $4,000, before gaining ground to $6,600, marking the greatest fluctuations since 2017.

The most recent rise in Bitcoins value, as well as other cryptocurrencies, may have been triggered by US Federal Reserve quantitative easing, an attempt to reduce the damage Coronavirus could cause to the economy. This has led some to move investments into Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, to hedge against the potential devaluing of currency caused by quantitative easing. As there is a finite number of Bitcoin on the market, some believe it should not be susceptible to such devaluing, as the amount of new Bitcoin being mined is always reducing. The increase in demand, and the reduction in supply, should drive up the value, in keeping with the principles of supply and demand, according to experts such as Simon Peters, a crypto analyst at eToro.

Cryptocurrencies first became popular after the economic crisis of 2008, when the value of other traditional shares and investments took a major hit. Similarly, since news of the Coronavirus outbreak first hit, transaction volumes on trading platforms seemed to have increased.

Cryptocurrency trading platforms Binance and MyEtherWallet have also seen increased investment and significant growth. It certainly appears that quantitative easing has been the catalyst for investors to seek alternative options.

But theres another reason to consider cryptocurrency investment in 2020 the Bitcoin halving this May, meaning the number of Bitcoin available will halve. This means less supply, and with the pandemic pushing up demand, some are anticipating a bull run.

If past performance is any indication, a halving is likely to push Bitcoin values up. The first halving in 2012 saw a whopping 8,000% increase in the value of Bitcoin over the following year, and the second one in 2016 saw Bitcoins value rise by 2,000% in the subsequent 18 months.

With no clear end in sight for the current lockdown situation, many businesses are losing value, if they survive at all, so traditional stocks and shares are taking a battering. Could cryptocurrencies be considered a safe haven in 2020? It is a fluctuating market, but steely investors may be prepared to take a punt.

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Is 2020 the year to invest in cryptocurrency? - About Manchester