Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin price managed to stay above $7,200 support in the wake of rejection from levels under $7,500. The most traded cryptocurrency has stepped above $7,300 but is currently struggling with the resistance at $7,400. Across the cryptocurrency market, bears appear to be taking over control. All the top three cryptoassets are slightly in the red. Ethereum is trading marginally below the opening value at $173.31 while Ripple is down 0.88% to trade at $0.20.

A cryptocurrency trader and analyst on Twitter Henrik Zeberg is not afraid to openly speak of Bitcoins possible dive to $1,000. Zeberg is choosing to remain bearish in spite of Bitcoin price recovery from levels around $3,864 (reached in March) to highs close to $7,500 (earlier this week). Using the chart below, the trader points out that Bitcoin is vulnerable at $7,200.

Alongside the gold, the worlds most precious metal, Bitcoin is likely to fall into another selloff. Zeberg says that Bitcoin and gold are so misunderstood at this point! We have strong illiquid phase in front of us.

According to the daily chart, Bitcoin upside is limited by the 50-day SMA. Movement above $7,400 (tipping point) could push the price above $7,500. This is likely to shift the focus back to $8,000.

However, in relation to Zebergs bearish prediction, a bearish pennant patent puts Bitcoin in grave danger of breaking down to retest the support at $6,000 or even $5,000.

Meanwhile, short term analysis shows Bitcoin is likely to embrace consolidation as long as the RSI keeps on with the leveling motion between 50 and 60.

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin and gold toying with a massive selloff, is $1,000 in the picture? - FXStreet

Most of the weaknesses of crypto security are attributable to the human factor, particularly a failure to adequately secure personal crypto wallets.

For years, crypto proponents have touted the security of cryptography and blockchain-based digital currencies. These are supposedly extremely difficult to hack. Thats why its puzzling why theres never a shortage of news that involves hacking or theft of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

In mid-2019 Taiwan-based Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange based on transaction volume, admitted that they became the victim of a large scale data breach, which resulted in the loss of over US$40 million worth of cryptocurrency. Binance said that over 7,000 BTC was stolen from the companys hot wallet. Also, in early 2019, the Ethereum Classic blockchain was reportedly compromised.

Cryptocurrency hacking and theft may only be a small part in the cyber threat index, but they are a significant risk worth getting acquainted with. Strategies range from the simple to the sophisticated and large-scale, all of which emphasize the need for cybersecurity mindfulness.

Blockchain unhackability may no longer be a bragging right for cryptocurrency advocates. In January 2019, Coinbases security team observed irregular activities in the Ethereum Classic network, as the alternative currencys history of transactions appeared to be under attack.

A hacker managed to take control of the Ethereum Classic networks computing resources. This enabled the rewriting of the transaction history, which led to double spending of crypto coins. The hack allowed the hacker to steal coins equivalent to $1.1 million.

This attack is dubbed as the 51%, wherein a hacker succeeds in controlling more than half of the computing capacity of a cryptocurrency network (half+1%). Armed with more computing resources than everyone else in the network combined, the hacker gains the ability to tamper with the blockchain.

Once the consensus mechanism is compromised, its difficult to guarantee the integrity of the system. If its any consolation, though, 51% attacks have only worked on smaller cryptocurrencies so far. There were reports of such attacks on Vertcoin, Monacoin, Verge, and Bitcoin Gold, but none on Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, and other top digital currencies.

This blockchain-defeating hack requires humongous computing power, which has to be at least 51% of the entire cryptocurrency network, hence the name. Multiple superfast computers working together or millions of devices infected by cryptojacking malware would be needed. This tremendous computing power requirement is the reason why 51% attacks have mostly focused on less popular cryptocurrency, since their underlying network of computing resources is correspondingly small.

The attack does not directly snatch coins from wallets. What happens is that the attacker generates an alternative and isolated version of the blockchain. The attacker builds blocks that are not broadcasted (which in normal situations ought to be broadcasted) to other miners. This results in a forkone that is followed by the regular miners and another by the attackers miners.

Eventually, the attacker will take advantage of the isolated alternative blockchain to reverse transactions or enable double spending. This is done by broadcasting the isolated blockchain to the network and, with the superior computing resources, outpace other miners in completing blocks. Since most blockchain-based cryptocurrencies are designed to defer to the rule of the majority, the regular miners are forced to acknowledge the faster, longer, and heavier alternative blockchain version (created by the attackers miners) as correct and switch to it as the new canonical transaction history.

The setting of a new transaction history does not mean that new crypto coins are created out of nothing. Rather, the hack makes it possible to re-use coins that were already spent or transferred to other wallets. In the process, previously confirmed transactions can be reversed or ongoing transactions may be voided to give way to a new transaction history. The latter can mean the loss of coins held by an original owner to recognize a new holder based on the new transaction history.

Hackers messing with blockchains sounds highly alarming. However, 51% and other similar attacks are extremely challenging to undertake, especially when used on the leading digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple. The 51% attack against the Verge blockchain back in April 2018 only succeeded because of a flaw in the Verge blockchain protocol, which made it possible to quickly generate a longer version of the blockchain.

Thats why cybercriminals still turn to the usual attack methods to steal bitcoin and other crypto assets. These attacks usually involve social engineering and malware.

One early example of a social engineering attack on Bitcoin happened in 2013 when 4,100 coins were stolen from the now-defunct digital wallet Input.io. The attacker succeeded in deceiving the sites owner to provide the details needed for a password recovery request via email. The attack has since put Input.io out of commission.

When it comes to the use of malicious software, there are several possible variants. The most popular of which involves a clipboard hijacker or a malware that copies the information stored in the clipboard when someone copies something. Hackers take advantage of the natural instinct of most cryptocurrency owners to do the copy-paste combo when inputting their private keys to set up their online crypto wallets.

Attackers may also employ screenshot takers and keyloggers to steal login credentials and access online wallets. There are also those that use compromised crypto-trading add-ons written in JavaScript. Moreover, attackers may also use slack bots, which send fake notifications about nonexistent wallet issues in an attempt to convince the target to enter their private keys.

These crude attacks may not be as advanced direct assaults on blockchains, but they work because of the human factor in security weakness. Many still fail to use strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and other security measures. Others continue frequenting unsafe websites, exposing themselves to various kinds of malware.

Cryptocurrency security is far from perfect. However, security issues are not enough to discourage the use and further development of this new class of digital assets. Most of the weaknesses of crypto security are attributable to the human factor, particularly a failure to adequately secure personal crypto wallets. Yes, Bitcoin and other cryptos are hackable, but this is not reason enough to ditch the idea of decentralized currency.

Having obtained a diploma in Intercultural Communication, Julia continued her studies taking a Masters degree in Economics and Management. Becoming captured by innovative technologies, Julia turned passionate about exploring emerging techs believing in their ability to transform all spheres of our life.

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What You Need to Know about Cryptocurrency... - Coinspeaker

The cryptocurrency market is being treated to a couple of halving events this week. Bitcoin Cash and its rival sibling Bitcoin SV will both undergo a mining reward halving. Halving is an event that reduces the reward miners get per block of coins mined. Bitcoin Cash halving is its first since it hard forked from Bitcoin in 2017. It is scheduled to take place on Wednesday and will have mining rewards slashed in half from 12.5 BCH to 6.25 BCH. On the other hand, Bitcoin SV halving will take place a proximately a day after that of BCH.

BCH/USD has surged 8% on the day as investors take their positions ahead of the mining. It is exchanging hands at $274 after advancing from $252 (opening value). An intraday high has been reached at $280. However, buyers eye $300 while riding on the speculation surrounding the halving event.

Bitcoin price has made a considerable movement above $7,000 this week. The price stepped above $7,400 on Tuesday but lost steam short of $7,500. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $7,330 following an intraday growth of 1.77%. Immediate support has been established above $7,200, further cementing the buyers position on the market as they look forward to testing the level at $8,000.

Ethereum has also been in a bullish phase this week. The price action took a positive turn on breaking above $140. The rally above $160 9 (former resistance) allowed the improved sentiments towards Ether to improve. This catapulted Ethereum to test $180 resistance. For now, the price trading at $171 after adding 3.91% to its value on the day.

Ripple price is trading 3.77% higher on the day. The price movement has been bullish from the opening value at $0.1928 to $0.2001 (market value). The step above $0.20 is key to the next rally eyeing $0.30. Therefore, it is essential that bulls find support above this level and shift their focus to $0.30.

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin Cash rallies ahead of halving, Bitcoin stable above $7,200, ETH and XRP in the green - FXStreet

Introduction

India is known as a country that embraces all the new technologies and for the first time, India failed to embrace the new technology of bitcoins. Specially bitcoins are very helpful when you think to trade online from anywhere on earth. As the other best parts like easily transferable and could be sent anywhere on earth, this coin is extra money for you.Internet Users are Increasing

A large number of people are gradually moving into the digital world or the world of the internet very quickly. As of now, it can be said that there are about 480 million internet users in India which are growing rapidly and soon it is expected to rise as high as 660 million internet users. This number of users have been given to be increasing by 2023, magically dragging more people to the digital world. This is really good news for bitcoin trading applications because the greater number of people will use the internet will be able to use bitcoins for a better purpose. As per experts and the bitcoiners, India is a much stronger fertile ground for the use of bitcoins.

Digital Population for the Younger Generation

A concept-driven technology is a cryptocurrency or a bitcoin concept. This concept of cryptocurrencies is most appealing to the young population of India. India has the largest number of people below 35 years of age which covers like 65% of the people while 55% of the citizens are below 25 years. The average age of an Indian is somewhat around 29-30. On average, if we calculate more than 870 million it below 30 years old. It makes one thing clear that most of the Indians should use crypto to have some great time earning money.

The IT Sector is Enough

India has the required intellect to grow the best base for an intellectual industry strongly on the earth. Luckily India has an abundance of access to the crypto concept, but it is a different story that they do not want to use it. India has the miserably high number of Computer Engineers and plenty of people who are fresh graduates they join the software industry PR the IT sectors every year. Not only that the graduates are interested, in fact, but some of the best and well-known companies are also in India such as Wipro, TCS, and HCL, Infosys, etc. Some of the Indian cities like Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore are house to the best IT sectors and Software shades in India which are known globally. This also proves that the crypto world can work in India very easily without brining much difficulty on the way to deal with it.

India always had and still has everything that is required to have a great crypto trade in the market but somehow, it has failed to accept the concept gladly and it still considers it to be a crime. There are many reasons that have led to the ban on usage of the cryptocurrency but the major setback has been brought by the RBI.

RBI is a Curse on Cryptocurrencies in India

The finance regulatory body of India is the RBI who is solely responsible for the banning of the use of cryptocurrency in India. As soon as the RBI banned cryptocurrency in India, the roots of Cryptocurrency began to freeze brick by brick in India.

Conclusion

The Coronavirus that affected the entire world has also added some disappointment for the ones who deal with cryptocurrencies. The crypto-community is India has been left open mouth for the kind of a disappointment that they are facing from the government as well as the pandemic.

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Cryptocurrency is a Curse on the Indian Reserve Bank - Programming Insider

According to experts, the Supreme Courts recent verdict on setting aside RBIs circular on banking ban should not be interpreted as the legalisation of cryptocurrency trade in India.

On April 5, 2018, Reserve Bank of India had issued a few advisory guidelines concerning cryptocurrency activities in India under a circular titled Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies.

Paragraph 13 of the circular asked entities governed by RBI not to deal with or give services to any person or business organizations dealing with or transacting in virtual currencies. Additionally, it also asked these entities to end such ties if any. As per RBI, the circular was issued in the public interest.

This circular was challenged by the chief petitioner Internet And Mobile Association Of India in the court of law. On March 4, 2020, the Supreme Court of India delivered a historical judgment.

As per popular interpretation of the verdict, it signalled the legitimacy of virtual currencies in India; that is, the Supreme court had lifted the ban on virtual currencies, and thus, trading in virtual currencies was now legal. The petitioners had been entitled to supersede, and the challenged circular issued on April 6, 2018, was subject to be taken down, as per the Supreme Court.

Though the Supreme Court of India upheld the plea for striking down the applicability of the circular, the order pronounced by the bench consisting of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Aniruddha Bose and V. Ramasubramanian, may need careful evaluation for better understanding of the judgement.

The arguments in support of petitioners were on Article 19(1) (g). The denial of banking access to a profession not prohibited under the Indian law was deemed a violation of Article 19(1) (g) of the Constitution of India (which provides the right to practice any legal profession).

The petitioners also argued that the power contained in the circular lied outside the powers of the RBI, but the Apex Court negated that argument. The Supreme Court held that anything that may act a threat to or have an impact on the financial system of India should be regulated or prohibited by RBI, despite the said activity not constituting part of the credit system or payment system of the country.

In its judgement, the court observed, It is no doubt true that the Reserve Bank Of India has pervasive powers not only in view of the statutory design but also in view of the special status and role that it possesses in the economy of India. These powers can be applied both in the form of preventive as well as curative measures.

The court was convinced about wide powers of RBI and issuance of the circulars as preventive measures for the betterment of Indian financial scenario, but as the circular could not pass the test of proportionality, the circulars were smacked down. So, it should not be seen as the Supreme Court has lifted the ban on cryptocurrency in India, or that cryptocurrency trading is official in India as many of us are construing this decision, said Advocate Dr Mahendra Limaye, who heads cyber law firm- Mahendra Limaye Associates.

The Supreme court stated RBI did not show any empirical data highlighting the damage caused by cryptocurrency exchanges on the entities regulated by RBI, which is a significant reason that petitioners were able to win. Given that official ban on cryptocurrency still not exist India, RBIs ban on banking support for crypto firms remained unjustified on the grounds of proportionality.

The availability of power is distinct from the manner and extent to which it can be exercised by RBI. To test the proportionality of banking ban, it required RBI to present at least some semblance of any damage endured by its regulated entities. But there is none, the Supreme Court stated.

So, the overturn of the circular does not mean cryptocurrencies are legal in India or that crypto exchanges will be permanently allowed to function, according to experts.

Given RBI will further challenge the verdict to prove the alleged risk that cryptocurrencies pose to the banking system, the banking ban could be reinstated later. Plus, we know that an Inter-Ministerial Committee proposed in February 2019 a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies.

Known asBanning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Act,the draft bill is yet to be presented in front of the legislature. If passed, it could make buying, selling, mining, and even holding of cryptocurrency a punishable offence. So, have we interpreted the recent verdict by the Supreme Court wrongly?

Dr Limaye says, In my views, the mainstream interpretation of the verdict is wrong. The petitioners received the benefit of doubt and lassitude from governments part also played an imperative role in tiling the balance in favour of petitioners. The Apex Court has accepted the powers of RBI to issue circulars in Public Interest. There was no blanket order banning Virtual Currency and diametrically opposite views by the Central government regarding virtual currencies, and it let down the populous move of RBI banning VC exchanges from banking exposures.

What is essential to note, is that all petitions are filed against the Reserve Bank Of India, and not the Finance Ministry draft ban bill. The verdict remains only short-term relief as the verdict against the RBI does not impact activities on the policy level, also wrote Tanvi Ratna, a technology consultant and CEO of Policy 4.0 in herblog.

The verdict had been welcomed and celebrated by professionals in the crypto industrymultiple exchanges like Unocoin, Wazirx and CoinDCX started INR deposit services soon after.

The announcement also was followed by multiple investment announcements in cryptocurrency-related startups. This included Binance, Aeternity and HashCash investing in the countrys blockchain and cryptocurrency economy in 2020.

The cryptocurrency ecosystem in India saw a revival of fiat liquidity and resurgence of fiat-based trading at exchanges and as well as investments in startups. But, is this festive mood going to be a short-lived affair if Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Act is passed?

The verdict of the Supreme Court solely addresses the Reserve Bank of India circular. The Supreme Court is very unlikely to issue any action against the Finance Ministry, and impact their view on the subject, according to Tanvi Ratna.

Experts believe the Supreme Court seemingly gave a verdict in favour of the cryptocurrency industry as there is no such law yet in India which bans cutting banking support for exchanges. This means the judgment would not hold once there is such anti-crypto regulation is in place.

In the entire judgement, the Supreme Court never uttered a single word about legitimacy or genuineness of virtual currencies or about exchanges trading such virtual currencies. But SC only decided that the activities of petitioner exchanges, trading in virtual currency were not declared unlawful. Hence, their bank accounts could not be debit frozen by the banks citing the challenged RBI Circular, said Dr Mahendra Limaye.

Also Read: How Lifting Crypto Ban In India Will Accelerate Jobs And Blockchain Startups

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SC Verdict On Lifting Cryptocurrency Ban In India May Be Misinterpreted, And We May See The Ban Reinstated - Analytics India Magazine

Nexo early this month expressed how happy they are to see that the ZeroFees initiative, which they pioneered in the last year considering the financial well-being of their clients in mind, is bringing improved value than ever in the current moment. Nexo further stated that it adds to the finest user experience without any withdrawal, transaction or hidden fees.

Nexo Tweeted: We asked, you answered! Despite the recent price drop, 53% of you believe that #BTC will see $11k 6 monthsfrom now proofthat the #crypto community will come out of the temporary setback stronger. #HODL your precious assets with Nexos Instant Crypto Credit Lines!

Nexo state that they are here to provide a lending hand for the miners as the mining business is recovering from the market turmoil. Of the initial ideals of Nexo, the chief of them was to provide miners with the cash required to run operations and therefore miners will not have to sell their crypto.

Sydney Ifergan, the crypto expert tweeted: Nexo is good at helping unlock the full value of BTC without having to sell it. A feedback on the tax efficiency of the Nexo Credit Lines is something that real time users should vouch for.

The miners and their response rate after the Forth Coming Bitcoin halving will provide for real time testimonials and market efficiencies. With real time testimonials and when miners say that the Nexo Finance Works for them, the cryptocurrency space is going to line up for Nexo Credit Lines. Proving sustainability!

There are an increasing numbers of investors who are willing to hold NEXO for a longer period of time. They are willing to benefit from the price rise. So, when it comes to facilitating as a power player in cryptocurrency Nexo is the King. Those who are willing to hold can continue to hold their Bitcoin and they can borrow against it. Thus, they will not lose out on the benefits accumulating by going long on their crypto.

Crypto investors love the credit lines as they are timely and tax efficient. The 5.9% APR does not have a player at par in the blockchain industry in finance.

Investors know that it is exponentially beneficial to hold Bitcoin. The value of the Bitcoin increases with each halving. And with the Nexo Credit Lines investors are able to benefit by holding their crypto for long at the same time get some needed liquidity out of it.

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Nexo Facilitating Cryptocurrency Turnover with Tax Friendly Credit Lines - The Cryptocurrency Analytics

The crypto market is on fire this week, with Bitcoin price exploding well above $7,000 and the rest of the market outperforming the leading crypto by market cap.

However, even though prices are taking off across the market, according to the Fear and Greed Index, the market is still in extreme fear. One crypto analyst says that prices rallying while investors are fearful is suggests the market is in a classic disbelief phase and following should be the first signs of hope of a sustainable long-term recovery in the digital asset class.

Crypto analysts have long argued over what stage of a classic market cycle the market is in. All markets are cyclical in nature, and the crypto market is no different.

Financial markets and even crypto assets go through regular, alternating periods of uptrend and growth, followed by downtrend and decline.

Related Reading | Despite Cryptocurrency Market Recovery, Sentiment Is Still Extremely Fearful

During these cycles, investors experience specific sets of emotions depending on where they are in each cycle. For example, when a top is near, and a cycle is about to peak, investors tend to be irrationally exuberant in their expectations for continued growth.

At that stage, investors often think theyre somehow a genius, and are about to strike it rich. They are blinded by their portfolio numbers increasing by the day and dont see the collapse coming right in front of them.

The inverse is true at the bottom.

Crypto investors have been mentally conditioned to expect more downside, have become fed up with the asset, and have lost hope for a recovery. This is called the disbelief stage and sneaks up on unsuspecting investors who have often have just been shaken out during a downtrend.

Crypto sentiment at peak fear

As the asset begins to pick up positive momentum once again, investors ignore the signals that an uptrend is starting.

They simply dont believe the recovery is real or will have legs, and dont take a position. Sooner than later, the asset has taken off on a powerful rally, and investors must FOMO-buy back into the asset at a higher price than they would have liked to, because they ignored the early signs that a recovery was taking place.

Related Reading | Is the Coronavirus The Black Swan Event That Crushes Cryptocurrency?

Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market has nearly doubled since the extreme low set back in mid-March, meanwhile, the crypto market Fear and Greed Index remains in a state of extreme fear, showing that this very well could be the disbelief rally that leaves burned and beaten investors in its dust, as the asset class takes off to new highs.

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Peak Fear Crypto Market Shows Big Bitcoin Recovery is Imminent: Analyst - newsBTC

Bitcoin has rebounded this week, climbing along with gold and other safe-havens as major stock markets struggle.

The bitcoin price is up just over 2% over the last weekmaking strong gains yesterday as investors search for somewhere to put their cash.

However, one major cryptocurrency has outpaced bitcoin's gains over the last week and is still rocketing higher.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors have been hard hit by the coronavirus crisis but the bitcoin ... [+] price has begun to climb again this week--outpaced by just a handful of smaller cryptocurrencies.

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero, currently ranked as the 11th most valuable cryptocurrency on data site CoinMarketCap with a total value of just under $1 billion, has added almost 5% in the past weekbeating bitcoin's gains.

Monero, which masks the identity of users better than the likes of bitcoin, is up by over 6% over the last 24-hour trading period, soaring as the broader cryptocurrency market climbed.

The precise reason for monero's sudden surge wasn't immediately clear, though there have been a number of positive developments for the bitcoin rival over recent months.

Monero developers recently rolled out an update to its Carbon Chameleon software, designed to improve transaction execution and how the cryptocurrency works with the privacy networks Tor and I2P.

Monero and privacy coins have also recently gained support from some high profile figures in the tech and crypto industry.

"I think well also see privacy integrated into one of the dominant chains in the 2020s," Coinbase's chief executive Brian Armstrong wrote in a blog post back in January.

"Just like how the internet launched with HTTP, and only later introduced HTTPS as a default on many websites, I believe well eventually see a privacy coin or blockchain with built in privacy features get mainstream adoption in the 2020s. It doesnt make sense in most cases to broadcast every payment you make on a transparent ledger."

The monero price has surged over the last week, beating out bitcoin itself as the broader ... [+] cryptocurrency market bounces back.

John McAfee, the controversial and outspoken antivirus software developer and curve-ball U.S. presidential candidate, named monero as his cryptocurrency of choice earlier this year.

McAfee, who has reneged on his promise to "eat [his] own dick on national television" if the bitcoin price didn't hit $500,000 per bitcoin by the end of 2020, praised monero, along with ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency after bitcoin.

McAfee made similar allusions to monero's technological superiority over bitcoin.

"Bitcoin was first. It's an ancient technology. All know it," McAfee said via Twitter before recommending monero to cryptocurrency users.

"Newer blockchains have privacy, smart contracts, distributed apps and more. Bitcoin is our future? Was the Model T the future of the automobile?"

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Just One Major Cryptocurrency Is Outperforming Bitcoin Right Now And Its Climbing Fast - Forbes

Investing has never been easier now that on-chain metrics enable market participants to determine who is on the other side of the trade. While this is only possible in the cryptocurrency market, IntoTheBlock maintains that this data can empower investors worldwide.

Contrary to popular belief, one of the biggest advantages of the cryptocurrency market is transparency. Through on-chain analytics anyone can determine how many investors are in a given asset, when they bought, and what their cost basis is. These key datasets are essential to determine which digital asset to invest in.

IntoTheBlock uses machine learning and statistical modeling to provide a view of a crypto assets profitability and capital stack. Bitcoin, for instance, is a great example of decentralization, which makes it ideal to consider as an investment vehicle, according to the firm.

The flagship cryptocurrency only has one whale that holds 1.4 percent of its circulating supply. This address has approximately 255,100 BTC and belongs to Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi. The other 98.6 percent of the total Bitcoin in circulation is distributed among investors and retail investors. The former holds 10.1 percent while the latter keeps 88.5 percent.

Not only Bitcoin is decentralized, but the amount of holders in the network is at all-time highs, according to IntoTheBlock.

The Ownership by Time Held model estimates that nearly 30 millon addresses have a balance in Bitcoin. Currently, almost 63 percent of those addresses are holding 10.8 million BTC for more than a year. This represents a 23.7 percent growth since last year.

IntoTheBlock added:

To give you more accurate information about this we can see that the number of Bitcoins that hasnt been moved in over 5 years is up from 3.6m BTC on April of 2019 to 3.95m BTC on April of this year.

Other assets such as Maker do not provide the same levels of decentralization as Bitcoin and most of its investors will be in the red if they were to sell their tokens today.

In fact, IntoTheBlocks Global In/Out of the Money model shows that 89 percent of the addresses holding MKR are losing money while only 3 percent of addresses are in the money.

On-chain metrics also reveal that of the 57,520 addresses holding Maker, just 13 of them control almost 65 percent of the circulating supply. And, there is one address that holds nearly 25 percent of the circulating supply.

IntoTheBlock maintains that this could suggest that if anyone were to buy MKR, there is one major address would probably be the one dumping their tokens at a profit.

The ability to determine how centralized an asset is, how large holders can manipulate its price, or how confident investors are is only possible with this new asset class. Although this is not enough data to consider whether or not a given cryptocurrency provides a good investment opportunity, counter-party analysis makes this decision easier.

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These are the main factors to consider before investing in the cryptocurrency market - CryptoSlate

Staking is a way for cryptocurrency users to generate passive income as they earn interest on their investments. And now, to meet the demands of its customers, popular exchange Bitfinex has launched a staking rewards program, according to a Tuesday announcement.

The new staking services will allow Bitfinexs users to earn interest of up to 10% per annum for depositing and holding their digital assets on the exchange.

For the time being, however, the staking program only features EOS, Cosmos (ATOM), and v.systems (VSYS). The exchange plans to add support for Tezos (XTZ) sometime in May.

Speaking about the development, Paolo Ardoino, Bitfinexs Chief Technology Officer, said the exchange is committed to engaging their existing customers and the broader crypto community with innovative products and features.

The Bitfinex Staking Rewards Program provides our users with another avenue to increase their holdings on our platform, he added.

Staked tokens will remain under the control of the exchange and will be secured like other cryptocurrencies on the platform. The company assures users that funds will be safely stored on the platform through the use of its secure in-house custody solution, so customers do not need to worry.

To celebrate the launch, the exchange is hosting a competition that allows participants to win a branded Bitfinex t-shirt.

Bitfinex is not the first cryptocurrency exchange to launch a staking rewards program. The likes of Kraken, Coinbase, and leading exchange Binance, have launched similar staking services offering users between 5 and 7% returns per annum.

While crypto staking seems attractive, it also comes with some risks. It is generally not advisable for users to store large amounts of cryptocurrencies on exchanges unless they are trading with the funds. An exchange is only secured until it is hacked.

Hackers are the nightmares of cryptocurrency exchanges. These nefarious players are always targetting exchanges, and one can never tell which trading platform will be the next victim. They have been several reports of exchanges like Mt Gox and Cryptopia that went bankrupt after suffering severe security breaches, which led to the loss of users funds.

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Bitfinex Launches Cryptocurrency Staking With Up To 10% Annual Returns - CryptoPotato